1990--Dances With Wolves, Kevin Costner

 

1990--Dances With Wolves, Kevin Costner

Nominated: Awakenings, Ghost, Godfather III, Goodfellas

Should have won: Dances With Wolves

Be sure to see: Darkman, Home Alone, Jacob's Ladder, Misery, Total Recall.

“The man the soldiers are looking for no longer exists. Now there is only a Sioux named Dances With Wolves.”--Ten Bears

     1980's winner Ordinary People is a movie that won best picture, I agreed with the choice, but most people say Raging Bull should have won. Now, a decade later, history repeats itself. Though Goodfellas is in the general consensus of being the choice of best picture of 1990, the statue was awarded to Dances With Wolves. Most cry foul; I agree with the decision.

     In his directorial debut, Kevin Costner took a genre that was considered dead and brought it back to the masses. A few crowd pleasing westerns popped up here and there like Young Guns or Silverado but the seriousness of Dances With Wolves struck a new tone. Also, a nice change in the genre is how the film depicted the Indians. Compared to classic westerns where many Indians were caricatures, each were full fledged characters with personalities and a purpose.

     In1865, Lieutenant John Dunbar requests to be sent to an outpost deep into the western frontier. He wants to see the land before civilization does and at 450 miles away, he might have some time to do so. He sets out with a guide who is soon dispatched by members of the Pawnee tribe. Dunbar finds an abandoned post and keeps a journal. He lives in solitude save for a wolf friend he names Two Socks. Soon he confronts members of a neighboring Sioux tribe (not Pawnee) and tries to communicate. He is accepted and learns of their ways.

     At a four hour running time, this synopses barely skims the surface. There are so many aspects of the film that captivates the audience. The cinematography captures the vast wilderness beautifully, the score is moving, and the sets are convincing. But this movie was more about its characters. At first, the Indians torment Dunbar by stealing his horses. Eventually, he has enough and chooses to confront them on their own turf, unaware of the consequences. Some are cautious but Kicking Bird (Graham Greene in an Oscar nominated role; he would lose to Joe Pesci who gives the shortest acceptance speech in history) is curious. As they gain Dunbar's trust, the audience gets familiar with them just as Dunbar does. Because there is a white woman at the camp who they had captured years earlier, she remembers some English and the language barrier which had frustrated Dunbar and Kicking Bird collapses slightly. She is known as Stands with Fist and one thing I didn't get was in the flashback when she is explaining how she came to live with the tribe she is a very young girl. But she tells Dunbar she was very old when she came to live with the people. I guess that was a mistake. But in time Dunbar is accepted, learns the language, and becomes a part of the tribe.

     In the best scene, the Sioux and Dunbar go on a buffalo hunt. It is one of the most beautifully photographed scenes I've ever seen. Thousands of buffalo run chaotically while the men run beside them. Some of the buffalo get trampled, I noticed, and I get the feeling the PETA people were not on the set because it looked authentic to me.

     Deep into the movie (2:18 in) we finally understand the title. Dunbar, who had previously been known as “the lieutenant” to the Sioux, is given a new name and he later realizes there is no more Dunbar. After a colossal fight with another tribe (another fantastic sequence) he hears his new name being chanted over and over and has a revelation. Not to trip over a great scene but I thought I saw a warrior wearing blue jeans. Just something to check out if you get the chance.

     As if the movie was not epic enough, in the final act we see a cavalry has arrived at the fort. Dunbar (or Dances With Wolves) has returned to retrieve his journal because the location of his Sioux friends is recorded in it. He is captured to the confusion of the cavalry on why a white man is speaking such a language. Two Socks makes an emotional return in this segment.

     The movie is full of drama and action (not easy to do) but even at almost four hours the movie captivated me. It is such a large scale movie and is completely deserving of its win, despite the brilliance of Goodfellas which is also a must see modern masterpiece in its own right. Dances With Wolves jump-started the 1990s and is one of the best films of the decade for sure. And I'd say it is the second best Oscar winner of the '90s.