Dances with Wolves (1990)
Dances with Wolves is an epic, sprawling Western, only the second film from that genre after Cimarron in 1931 to win Best Picture, but perhaps it’s a bit too sprawling these days. As with other recent home-video releases for Amadeus, The Last Emperor, and future winner The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Dances with Wolves is presented in a Special Edition, adding a whopping 55 minutes to the running time. This extended cut first ran in movie theatres only a few years after the original release, and the film now clocks in just shy of four hours. The three-hour theatrical version is harder to come by, although you can find it in a pricey, three-disc, Blu-ray set by Shout! Factory. Amadeus still doesn’t have an HD version of the original edit available. Both versions of The Last Emperor and Return of the King are for sale, so at least you can decide which one to watch. I have mixed feelings about this revisionist history. I’m fine with new edits, especially if they improve or enhance a film—but for history’s sake and fans who remember their introduction to a movie a certain way, I don’t think that experience should be forgotten or buried. I’m reminded of George Lucas dismissing the past and cutting into his negatives for the original Star Wars movies to give us special editions. I was thrilled when Sony released Close Encounters of the Third Kind on Blu-ray and recently UHD/4K. All three edits are included—theatrical, special edition, and director’s cut—using seamless branching on the same disc. Viewers can choose for themselves which path to take.
Be that as it may, I saw Dances with Wolves in a movie theatre when it first came out, and I was impressed and moved by it. Today, I’m watching the Special Edition (no longer noted as such) on Blu-ray, and in all honesty, the four-hour running time without an intermission is a hindrance. I take breaks if I need to, and I need to. Pressing the “pause button” is inevitable. The story is well paced in the first half, but the last stretch of it feels bloated, particularly during the romance between Costner and McDonnell’s characters where a lot of the additional footage was inserted. Still, the payoff at the end is worth it. The final hour is overwhelming and heart-wrenching. A profound sadness washes over me when the Lakota tribe is forced off their land and destroyed for the sake of “American progress.” It’s a story that needs to be told … and on this scale.
Our window into the world of the Plains Indians is Lieutenant John J. Dunbar (Kevin Costner, serving triple duty on this film as lead actor, director, and co-producer), but the story doesn’t begin there. We find Dunbar and other soldiers injured during a Civil War battle in 1863, and while the exhausted Tennessee doctors discuss amputating his leg, a delirious Dunbar shoves his blood-soaked boot back on and escapes from the hospital tent. A standoff between the North and South at St. David’s Field ends in utter chaos when Dunbar mounts a horse and rides with his arms outstretched through the open field separating the two armies. This stunning attempt at martyrdom is enough of a distraction to allow the Union Army to attack. Dunbar ultimately receives a bravery citation as well as the use of the general’s private surgeon. Following a full recovery (and no leg amputation), Dunbar is awarded Cisco, the horse he commandeered for his fearless stunt. He is also allowed a choice of posts, and as soon as he arrives at Fort Hays, he informs Major Fambrough (Maury Chaykin in a fascinatingly unhinged performance) that he wishes to be transferred to the western frontier so he can “see it before it disappears.” Fambrough literally scribbles the order on a piece of paper, assigning Dunbar to Fort Sedgwick, the furthest outpost available. Then he orders Timmons (Robert Pastorelli), an obnoxious mule-wagon provisioner, to serve as his guide. After a mock-salute, Fambrough stands alone in his office and observes Dunbar from his window before putting a pistol to his head and blowing his brains out.
Dunbar arrives at Fort Sedgwick to find it deserted. Determined to remain in the wilderness, he keeps a journal of his solitary experiences as he sets up life at the post. While it’s well written, some of the voiceover narration just doesn’t work. Kostner sounds detached and disinterested rattling off his diary entries. In time, a lone wolf shows up and keeps him company from a safe distance. Dunbar names him Two Socks, due to his white forepaws. Eventually, a group of nearby Sioux dwellers approaches on horseback. They include a peace-minded “holy man” named Kicking Bird (Graham Greene in an Oscar-nominated performance) and a hostile warrior named Wind in His Hair (Rodney A. Grant, equally effective). A fundamental trust between them is established over time, and when Dunbar sets out to find their camp, he encounters a distraught woman alone, covered in her own blood. He brings her to the tribe where some assume he is the cause of her condition. We learn she is a White woman named Stands with a Fist (Mary McDonnell, also Oscar-nominated), who has lived with them since she was a little girl when her family was massacred by the Pawnee. She is recently widowed, and her act of self-mutilation is a rite of passage while in mourning. Stands with a Fist remembers some English from her early childhood, and she serves as interpreter between Dunbar and the Lakota elders. Dunbar soon realizes that everything he was taught about “these savage people” is untrue.
He agrees to help with their annual buffalo hunt, which sustains the tribe for the remainder of the year. After he spots a massive herd roaming nearby, he is more accepted and respected in their community. He is also drawn to Stands with a Fist, and the two soon fall in love.
Another distraction for me is that when Dunbar begins to transition into a full-fledged member of their tribe, his hair develops into a 1990s mullet. Coiffed on top, clipped close on the sides, and long in back. Yup, a mullet. McDonnell, who is very good in her role, also suffers from “salon syndrome,” sporting a jostled, high part with feathery bangs and shaggy tresses that cascade around her neck in highlighted streaks of well-planned color. It’s not just a bit off, it’s a gigantic misstep from the hair department on this film. It undermines McDonnell’s credibility as a result, which is a shame. So much care and attention went into dialects, rituals, locations, and cultural accuracy, but the ball was dropped on this obvious detail. I suppose I can excuse the ’60s beehives in a movie like My Fair Lady, because they’re not striving for authenticity (although they’re pretty bad, too), but in a film like this, it’s a glaring blunder.
The last hour of the movie yields one heartbreak after another. With the oncoming threat of more Pawnee attacks and murderous White settlers, the tribe plans to move to their winter camp. Dunbar realizes that he left his journal at the abandoned Fort Sedgwick, and before he joins them, he must return to fetch it, since it describes every detail needed to trace them.
Dunbar arrives on horseback to find Fort Sedgwick occupied by U.S. Army soldiers, and due to his native clothing, he is mistaken for a Sioux. They open fire, killing his beautiful horse Cisco. Dunbar is captured and arrested as a traitor where he is interrogated and brutally beaten. His refusal to cooperate ends in a formal charge of desertion. Preparations are then made to transport him back east, and when they head out, Two Socks, the devoted wolf that Dunbar “danced” with (giving him his titular Lakota name), is used for target practice by the soldiers. He is shot and killed. Watching this troop from Dunbar’s evolved perspective is an eye-opener. They are nothing short of entitled monsters, destroying everything in sight without concern or provocation. Thankfully, the tribe catches up with the convoy, killing these soldiers and freeing Dunbar, who sheds all remaining connections with his origins. He is Dances with Wolves now.
Upon arrival at the winter camp, Dances with Wolves announces he will leave with his wife Stands with a Fist, fearing that if he remains, he would endanger the tribe. It’s a bittersweet coda to the film. Actually, it’s more than that—it’s deeply sobering and sad. The young warrior Smiles A Lot (Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse, in a memorable performance) gives Dances with Wolves his recovered journal. Wind in His Hair shouts to him from a distance, proclaiming their friendship, and as they venture out, leaving their tribe for good, we see U.S. army troops searching the mountains in vain while a lone wolf howls. A title card at the end informs us that 13 years later, the last remaining Sioux were subjugated by the American government, bringing an end to the conquest of the great plains. This heartfelt story of a man who is accepted by his enemies, and whose perspective of them shifts 180 degrees, reaches its inevitable conclusion.
Dances with Wolves
Director | Kevin Costner |
Primary Cast | Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, Rodney A. Grant, Floyd Red Crow Westerman, Tantoo Cardinal, Robert Pastorelli, Charles Rocket, Maury Chaykin, Jimmy Herman |
Familiar Faces | none (no repeat performers from the previous winning films) |
Firsts | First feature film directed by Kevin Costner |
Total Wins | 7 (Picture, Director, Screenplay: Adapted, Cinematography, Sound, Editing, Score: Original) |
Total Nominations | 12 (Picture, Director, Actor: Kevin Costner, Supporting Actor: Graham Greene, Supporting Actress: Mary McDonnell, Screenplay: Adapted, Art Direction, Cinematography, Costume Design, Sound, Editing, Score: Original) |
Viewing Format | Blu-ray Disc |
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