 A film in three minutes, Lone Star. When it comes to American cinema it's easy to forget that behind the glitz and glamour of Hollywood there has always been an alternative independent industry operating in the shadows of the big studios. This cinema portrays a different, more nuanced perspective on a country usually known for its big spectacle and happy endings. But if there was one filmmaker who could act as the best representative of this underappreciated strain of American moviemaking and one film that best displayed his craft, it would be director Jonathan Sales and his 1996 masterpiece Lone Star. The story follows Sam Deeds, the sheriff of Rio County, Texas, played by Chris Cooper, who upon discovering the skeleton of former corrupt sheriff Charlie Wade from the same county 40 years previously begins an investigation into the legacy of his father Buddy, the man who replaced Wade after his mysterious disappearance. Sam's journey forces him to face the public legacy of his beloved father uncovering a truth that has long since been buried by the local townspeople, a truth which causes Sam to confront his own feelings towards the popular local hero and whether or not his father was a murderer. For those unfamiliar with Sales's work, Lone Star acts as one of his best and most accessible films to date. The way in which his screenplay moves backwards and forwards through time gives the world of Rio County a rich sense of history as we see the elderly townspeople back in their youthful prime under the tyranny of Sheriff Wade. These transitions are made beautifully with the camera, turning a friendly bar scene into a nightmarish crucible as we drift back into the memory of the past. The sense of community that the film builds works hand in hand with Sales's presentation of the town's bloodied history, making us as the viewer appreciate how interconnected the lives and deceits of the population truly are over two generations. Tapping into the history of Texas as a state and the relationship Americans and Hispanics have with their own sense of history, Chris Christopherson is terrifying as the brutal sheriff, presented symbolically as the devil in many of his scenes. But the real standout performance belongs to Chris Cooper, who walks the tightrope of conflicted son and love-lawan idol to the townspeople of Frontera. Sam's struggle with the constant worship of his father, whom he despised, and his search for the truth, both in terms of the murder and the relationship he had as a teenager with his first love, constantly pulls him back to a past he yearns to understand, wishing to bury what was left of his father's memory back into the desert whilst rebuilding what he once had as a young man. Lone Star acts as both a Western, romantic drama and mystery thriller, combining genres to create a world unique in American filmmaking. Sales' ingenious weaving between what the past means to some and how others prefer lies rather than the truth is a metaphor for how real communities are built across the world, forcing us as the viewer to appreciate that nation borders and communities are never that different from one another, and no matter how buried the past might be, truth always has a nasty habit of being uncovered.