Kevin Costner Talks Diversity in Western ‘Horizon,’ Promises to Keep Shooting Part 3 “as Far as My Money Takes Me”
In defense of his portrayal of the ancient West in his most recent movie, Kevin Costner stated that he "is absolutely conscious of what's at stake" when it comes to representation, citing the portrayals of Native American, Black, and Asian characters in particular.
After Horizon: An American Saga - Part 1, the first of a planned four-part Western epic, had its world premiere on Sunday night at the Cannes film festival, Costner said he wanted to portray Native and minority characters as “well-rounded people,” much like he had done with Dances With Wolves more than thirty years earlier.
"Every time I try to make a movie, I can't check every box. However, I'm fully aware of the stakes," Costner remarked. African Americans and Chinese, for instance, played a significant role in the history of the American frontier and the West's population growth. They are thus significant to me.
The film Horizon, starring Costner with Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone, and Luke Wilson, tracks white settlers as they go west, claiming land "from people that had been there for 15,000 years," according to the director. During our relentless march across America, we decimated more than five hundred cultures.
Costner's portrayal of Indigenous people in the movie, who are originally seen from the settlers' point of view as dangerous and frightening, has drawn criticism from certain critics, including those at The Hollywood Reporter. Costner doesn't extend the viewpoint until much later in the film to demonstrate how Native American attacks on settler homesteads are a direct reaction to the occupation of their ancestral lands.
In spite of acknowledging that he will "probably fail and succeed at every turn" in his attempts to include Native Americans in his movies, Costner maintained that "my aim is true."
But with Horizon, the director made no pretense of narrating a Native story. Similar to Dances With Wolves, Costner's latest picture is unmistakably narrated from the viewpoint of its white leads.
Many people claimed that Dances With Wolves was a Native American tale, but I refuted them. "It was a narrative about myself," he remarked, "about a man from Calvary who traveled to the West." The [Native] individuals he encountered were different because I made an effort to portray them as real people, not just clichés. I could never be the one to "set the record straight" for African Americans, Native Americans, or anyone else. I basically made an effort to be as authentic as possible.I created it from [my] perspective.
Warner Bros. has slated the first installment of the tale for release in the United States on June 28 and Chapter Two for release on August 16. Costner has already wrapped up production on his second Horizon picture. Costner stated that he had begun work on Chapter Three but had to halt it after three days in order to travel to Cannes for the world premiere of the first movie. "It may seem unusual, but visiting this place was crucial to me; it's important to be in an environment where films are watched with great transparency."
In addition, Costner made use of the Cannes trip to pass the hat, claiming to have "knocked on every boat in Cannes" in an attempt to persuade the floating 1 percent to take out their checks and finance the last two Horizon movies. He made a joke about the assembled journalists joining him outside at the harbor, telling them to "don't let those rich people off" unless they agreed to finance his films.
It looks like Costner will put about $100 million of his own money into the Horizon series. He expressed his desire to leave his four houses to his children at the press conference, but he said that he would "risk those homes to make my movies...my children will have to live their own lives."
Costner stated that he will resume filming Horizon Chapter 3 and "go as far as my money takes me" after returning from Cannes.