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Rated: PG-13
Starring: Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, et al.
Director: Kevin Costner Review
This is the movie that sent director-producer-actor Kevin Costner on his
hubristic way. It is such a resonant and powerful film we can almost
forgive him the arrogance of his later "epic," The Postman. Costner plays
a Union solder who is stationed at the far edges of the West, and left
there to rot at his post. He finally sees the wisdom of the Lakota Sioux
and finds peace within their community. His decision to "go native" is
greatly frowned upon by his military commanders. The story is told simply,
and wastes not one word of dialogue, while the South Dakota locations
provide a magnificent backdrop. Costner plays an American Everyman who
awakens to himself and the world around him. We are drawn to him, and his
story, because of his accessibility. As a filmmaker, his attention to
detail, along with the stark beauty of the locations, will leave you
wishing this ran longer than a mere two hours and 25 minutes. Costner
thought so, too, as he also released his 237-minute European cut onto
video. ---------- "I've always wanted to see
the frontier," says U.S. army lieutenant and Civil War veteran John
Dunbar, "before it's gone." DANCES WITH WOLVES is a beautiful, moving film
about the closing of the American frontier and all that disappeared with
it. Dunbar (Kevin Costner) is granted his wish when he is
sent to tiny, ramshackle Ft. Sedgwick. Alone in the middle of the prairie,
his first visitor is a curious wolf he names Two Socks, who is both a
bridge to the untamed nature that Dunbar seeks to explore and a metaphor
for Dunbar himself -- he's not a conquering white man, just an inquisitive
one. So it's fitting that the Sioux tribe he befriends bestows him with
the name Dances With Wolves after watching him run and play with Two
Socks. Dunbar's initial encounters with the Sioux show him
that they're very like him -- the warrior Wind In His Hair (Rodney A.
Grant) is all bravado at first, yelling at Dunbar that he's not afraid of
him; the holy man Kicking Bird (Graham Greene) is thoughtful, genuinely
interested in communicating with this strange stranger. Indeed, DANCES
WITH WOLVES is notable for its unstereotypical, realistic depiction of
Indians as human beings, people who are sometimes gentle, sometimes
savage, and always worthy of respect, just like the rest of us. Dunbar
finds another bridge to the new world he is looking for in Stands With A
Fist (Mary McDonnell), a white woman adopted as a girl by the Sioux after
her family was massacred by Pawnee. His leaving behind of his old life is
marked twice in a single moment: His realization that he loves Stands With
A Fist occurs simultaneously with Two Socks daring to eat from his hand
for the first time. Dunbar embodies all the best qualities
that exemplify America: self-reliance, intelligence, a thirst for
exploration, respect for nature, and innate friendliness. When Dunbar
rides out alone, in full dress uniform and bearing the Stars and Stripes,
to formally introduce himself to his Sioux neighbors, it's an astounding
demonstration of the best kind of American audacity. But contrast that
with the arrival of more U.S. soldiers at Fort Sedgwick, long abandoned by
Dunbar, bringing with them the worst of America: small-minded cruelty.
When these troops set out after the "traitorous" Dunbar and his adoptive
Sioux friends, the flag they bear represents only violence and revenge.
DANCES WITH WOLVES is one of the most visually and emotionally stunning
movies I've ever seen, a glimmer of another world where less might have
been lost if more people had been as open and friendly as John Dunbar.
From John Barry's stirring score -- I swear I can hear the prairie grass
blowing in the wind in the music -- to director/producer Costner's daring
presentation of a huge chunk of the movie in the beautiful Sioux Lakota
language (with subtitles), this is a majestic requiem for a world that is
gone.
Well done Kevin..!!!!!!!
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