Dances with Wolves
1990  PG-13  WESTERN  3h 1min
CAST— Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, Rodney A. Grant, Floyd Red Crow Westerman, Tantoo Cardinal, Robert Pastorelli, Charles Rocket, Maury Chaykin, Larry Joshua, Wes Studi
MUSIC— John Barry  DIRECTOR— Kevin Costner  BASED ON— Dances with Wolves (novel), by Michael Blake

    Cowboys and Indians? Please! Kevin Costner gives us an amazing directorial debut with this emotional roller coaster of a motion picture. He stars as a Union soldier during the Civil War, Lt. John Dunbar, who after suffering an unknown accident, fears that he will lose his foot. Well, he would rather die than lose a limb. After an unsuccessful suicide attempt that brought the enemy within firing range, he is treated by the best doctors, decorated for bravery, and given his choice of post. He chooses a post in the Great Plains, to see the last frontier before it’s all gone. Upon arriving, he finds the post deserted. After living there for a while, he starts to befriend a nearby tribe of Sioux Indians. So begins a long, fruitful relationship with this tribe, who, over time, truly become a family to him. Amazingly, they have living among them a white woman who speaks English (however fitfully). The two soon fall in love as John (who has been given the Lakota name Dances with Wolves because of his being seen playfully dancing around a fire with a wolf) falls in love with the Lakota way of life. Soon no one even notices the color of his skin, because everyone has come to know and love the person inside— he has become family now and forever. The film, shot with magnificent scope, is so broad and has such scale that the characters are too real to be just characters. The drama is too tense to be just scripted. Yes, this film is a fine piece of art, deserving of much high praise. Oscar-winner for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, and Best Sound Recording. Special Edition also available. Deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the United States Library of Congress National Film Registry.
OUR RATING— ****