In 1991, Dances with Wolves was my first cowboy movie: 33 years later, I was talking about a western with Kevin Costner at Cannes.

– Well, I’m very glad you came… With eyes full of kindness, Kevin Costner (what a voice!) smiles as I begin the interview with him by sharing my excitement at being able to (finally) talk Westerns with him in this Cannes palace, thirty-three years after his discovery. His Dances with Wolves on the big screen in Nice, a few kilometers from the Croisette.

Here we are in 1991 – the film was released on my eleventh birthday, quite a symbol – and I discovered my first Western in the cinema with its huge film that would leave an indelible mark on the heart and memory of the young viewer that I was. Confirming more than ever my passion for the 7th art. and my dream “Working in the film press” If I have a chance one day.

Always fair

Thirty-three years later, the passion is intact. And I was able to fulfill this dream in the yellow and black house of AlloCiné. Meanwhile, Kevin Costner Will be one of the stars that most influenced my love of movies in the 80s and 90s, along with Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, Patrick Swayze and Dennis Quaid. The unforgettable Elliot Ness in The Untouchables (very western in his approach), the brilliant Prince of Thieves in Robin Hood, the intense Jim Garrison in JFK, the touchy-feely robber in A Perfect World… all Kevin Costner finds favor in my eyes.

Even his lesser-known films (Nugget to the End of the Dream, The Price of Exploitation, his episode Fantastic Stories), his grand failures (Water World, The Postman) or his recent productions are certainly less memorable than his incredible 1990s. Coast Guard, Draft Day, One of Us or the Highway). Kevin Costner is always right. Even in an under-exploited blockbuster like Man of Steel , in my eyes he’s the (only?) vector of emotion, capable of injecting some real humanity into the midst of the soaring CGI of Zack Snyder’s Superman in a few scenes.

Dancing with the brothers

In 2016, I already had the opportunity to have my first exchange with Mr. Kostner. From the press officer (to whom I will never be grateful for this gift) I could have my big brother with whom I “decorated” the filmography of the actor in our youth. The big day has arrived, and we gather again among the brothers, in front of Kevin Costner. The one whose posters covered our teenage walls.

Throughout the interview, I can feel the actor being intrigued by the presence of this “double” at the back of the room (we look a lot like me and my brother) silently watching our questions/answers. At the end of the junket, I will finally explain who it is and make an introduction.

The exchange that follows, obviously too brief, is a truly beautiful moment, Kevin Costner admitting to us that he makes movies to inspire joy, dreams and passion in young audiences. Therefore, to see these two forty-year-old brothers coming to thank him, together, touches him deeply. And he even suggests that the three of us take a souvenir photo. Since then it has been in frame condition.

Let’s talk about Western

However, in 2016 it was an interview for a thriller (crime). This is no time to talk about the “Kevin Costner Western” that resides in me. dances with wolvesWyatt Earp, Open Range, Hatfields & McCoys, Yellowstone: so many remarkable works that comprised his filmography before Silverado forty years ago.

And now Horizon, a sprawling new genre epic directed entirely by Kevin Costner to tell the story of the true West and those, and especially those who made it, to make several feature films. A hybrid format between a TV series and a movie, the first opus of which, presented out of competition at Cannes, will be released on July 3rd, and the second part on September 11th. The third and fourth films are still in production.

“There is a sense of vastness and openness in the Western, a sense that anything is possible”The director-screenwriter, actor-producer tells me (he financed a large part of the project himself). “But the skills needed to survive in the West were very special, and the people who came here didn’t always have them. The West was difficult for people. Nothing was easy. People died because of a dream. They crossed the ocean thinking there. It was something for those who found their dream, and there were always tragedies in the West. was..

“It’s a Journey”

So much for the West in general. And specifically for the Horizon project? “I knew there were going to be four movies. This story didn’t end after the first movie. These people are just starting the journey, which is hard and they’re just learning. Some people are lucky in the West, some people are lucky. The violence missed someone and the violence affected others, so we don’t know. , who will go down in history.

“But it’s not a bank robbery. It’s not a conspiracy. It’s a journey. And I hope it’s interesting. I hope you feel like you’re seeing real people make real decisions in a country that was open when nothing was.”

“It represents everything cinema was to me growing up”

The interview ends. My six minutes and fifteen seconds flew by in the blink of an eye. I only asked five of the countless questions I’d been planning…for thirty-three years. But the meeting was great, and a big thank you to Kevin Costner “for everything” With a salute (with a cowboy handshake…I hope so). I will remember this moment for a very long time. Passion Kevin Costner.

And surprisingly, I’m not the only one. In the hospitality room, the hotel room has been transformed into a giant waiting room where all the journalists are waiting for an interview slot, all exchanging their memories of “The Boss”, as the press staff nicknamed him this morning. A colleague confides that he brought and showed (!) Kevin Costner his teenage diary, full of declarations of love for the actor. When a colleague recalls, as I do, his discovery of “Wolves with Wolves” on the big screen during an intermission (long feature films were rare at the time).

Sienna Miller, who I also had the pleasure of meeting during this junket, also shared her passion for cinema. And for that dances with wolves especially. “That was the first time a movie woke me up. I named my bunnies Sock and Cisco. (The names of the wolf and the horse in the film, editor’s note). “I watched it again before Horizon, and it’s still powerful. No one knows how to tell the story of that era better than Kevin Costner. He represents everything that cinema was to me growing up.”. Nothing better.