Lone Star

The title Lone Star may suggest a good old-fashioned western, but even though the film is also preoccupied with the past, it is the present and the future that count. Lone Star is set in a provincial town in Texas (The Lone Star State) on the border with poor Mexico, from where illegal immigrants pour in - now as before. The town is thus an ethnic melting pot, for better and for worse.

While the town's quiet sheriff Sam Deeds gets together with his old childhood sweetheart, the schoolteacher Pilar, the parents at Pilar's school fight over which version of history is the right one and, not least, which the pupils should be taught. History turns up very tangibly with the discovery of an old sheriff's badge and a skeleton that turns out to belong to Charlie Wade, who was sheriff before Sam's legendary father Buddy. The mayor, Hollis Pogue, and other townsfolk would rather Sam did not dig up the past, but Sam insists on doing his duty. Besides, he has a personal interest in the case, for his now deceased father, with whom Sam had a strained relationship, is one of the suspects, because he disliked Wade's corrupt and racist regime.

Beneath the many plot strands lies a plea for tolerance. It is aimed first and foremost at the multi-ethnic and multicultural society that the town, indeed many towns, are, but that the film also pleads for sexual tolerance can be seen in the relationship between Sam and Pilar, who choose to continue the relationship even when they find out that they are half-siblings. Pilar does, however, assure Sam that she cannot have any more children.

The transitions between past and present are handled deftly in a film in which the past constantly intrudes. In some cases it should be examined more closely, in others it should be ignored so that one can make a fresh start.