I had seen Dances with Wolves way back in the early-90’s, but it was Danielle’s first time. Almost 20 years has passed between viewings so I was looking forward to re-watching Kevin Costner’s opus.
We meet Civil War soldier Kevin Costner on a very bad day. His leg is set for amputation, so rather than live like that; Costner tries to commit suicide by charging the enemy lines. This rallies the troops and Costner becomes an unwitting hero, is awarded the horse and given his choice of posts.
Completely isolated at his new outpost, due to the suicide of his C.O. and the scalping of Kevin’s driver, he befriends a lone wolf and is gradually accepted to the local Sioux Indian tribe. He stops fellow outcast white person Mary McDonnell (the President from Battlestar Galactica) from committing suicide – seems like all the whites are suicidal in this movie – and of course they hook up.
Things are good for a while, but we all know it can’t last. Everything goes to hell for Kev as his two worlds can’t come into contact without one being destroyed. A word of warning to animal-lovers – the animal kingdom fares about as well as the people in Dances with Wolves, i.e. not great.
Special mention goes to use of Lakota Sioux language throughout the film. So much subtitling was very unusual back in 1990, and it really ads to the authenticity of the film.
Whilst being grand, beautifully shot and willing to take it’s time with the story, I do feel Dances with Wolves sells itself short by staying too simplistic in its portrayals: white people (except for Kevin & Mary) are generally horrible and native Americans (except for the early scalpers) are universally good. In trying to portray the horror of the extermination of the Native American people, shortcuts have been taken and at times I felt more manipulated than moved.
In addition to Best Picture, Dances with Wolves won many other Oscars including Best Director (Costner), Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Sound and Score (seven for those keeping score). It had some tough competition that year against Awakenings, Ghost, Godfather Part III and Goodfellas. Whether I agree or not depends on the day, as they’re all good (well, maybe not Godfather III).
I scored Dances with Wolves 74.5/100 and Danielle scored it 74/100.
I remember this fondly, but it has been awhile and I've seen several movies since then.
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