ReelWorld Film Festival: Horizon Beautiful Review

Horizon Beautiful (2013)

Cast: Shitaye Abraha, Alemayehu, Mamush Alemayheu
Director: Stefan Jäger
Country: Switzerland | Ethiopia
Genre: Comedy
Official Site: Here

Editor’s Notes: The following review is part of our coverage for the 2014 ReelWorld Film Festival. For more information on the festival visit www.reelworld.ca and follow ReelWorld on Twitter at @ReelWorldFilm.

Vibrant colors from careworn clothes and plastic bags swaying lazily in a gentle midday breeze bring the diverse Ethiopian streets in Horizon Beautiful to life with multifaceted charms. Makeshift wooden chicken coops add rich visual texture to narrow alleyways while the whisper of a blacksmith’s hammer falls with quotidian precision, bringing the world within the film to life with its invaluable contributions to the gentle tapestry of sound. When you have nothing then everything is sacred; carefully constructed cardboard shinguards are cared for like priceless treasures, and plastic garbage bags combined with small scraps of misappropriated leather are cherished as the essential components of a “professional” soccer ball as a charismatic street urchin named Admassu will do nearly anything to realize his dream of becoming a professional soccer player.

Vibrant colors from careworn clothes and plastic bags swaying lazily in a gentle midday breeze bring the diverse Ethiopian streets in Horizon Beautiful to life with multifaceted charms.

Across the tracks in the gentrified part of the city a Swiss soccer magnate is enjoying poolside time at the Hilton, taking a break from his mission of opportunistic philanthropy to soak up some sun. He has come to Ethiopia to find talented soccer players to grant them the opportunity for an otherwise impossible future but his motivations are self-serving and even philanthropic Swiss guys can be assholes. Franz is suffering from heart conditions both literal and figurative but with a little help from Admassu and near fatal accidents caused from Admassu’s affiliation with the lovable scamps in the newly formed “Hammer Gang”, he will find the path to healing at least one of his heart conditions. It will take a journey of self discovery through lands of arresting beauty in the Ethiopian countryside to a village filled with people possessing unfettered generosity of spirit and unparalleled charm for Franz to appreciate the most wonderful parts of life.

The chemistry between first time actor Henok Tadele and veteran Swiss actor Stefan Gubser is one of the film’s strongest attributes as the two share in laughs and heartache and build a naturalistic and honest friendship…

The camera captures images of breathtaking color and texture and builds astute compositions that accentuate the emotional state of Admassu on his own journey from the confines of the city slums to a village filled with diffident charm. He is filmed as a young king among his group of friends that do not share his enthusiasm for soccer nor his infectious charisma. On the soccer field he is framed at the center of his group of friends, at home in this domain where he feels the most comfort and joy. During his journey to the gentrified section of the city he is filmed from low angles, making an imposing monolithic skyscraper from the Hilton as this place is foreign and filled with unknown dangers. In the countryside we see his face close up and can fully appreciate the sense of wonderment in his eyes as he gazes over lands full of mystery and uncorrupted by the hand of a civilization that left children like him alone on the unforgiving streets.

The chemistry between first time actor Henok Tadele and veteran Swiss actor Stefan Gubser is one of the film’s strongest attributes as the two share in laughs and heartache and build a naturalistic and honest friendship, their smiles (particularly the whole hearted smiles of Tadele) possessing an earnest quality that are an infectious joy to watch. There are some moments of heavy-handed emotional manipulation, but these maudlin moments do not detract from the core strengths of the film as the unmitigated beauty of the Ethiopian countryside stretches into the horizon, untouched and filled with awe inspiring color as the sun performs unassuming miracles through the leaves of the trees. Horizon Beautiful captures gorgeous landscape vistas from areas of the world typically ignored, the colors and textures of villages that are the stuff of dreams, and honest emotional connections between actors of vastly different age and experience level and crafts a charming and beautiful film that is a joy to watch.