No. 2 - Dances With Wolves (1990)

Inside everyone is a frontier waiting to be discovered.

Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance-age 13) for frontier violence

Director: Kevin Costner; Screenplay and novel by Michael Blake

Starring: Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Graham Greene, Rodney Grant, Floyd Red Crow Westerman, Tantoo Cardinal, Jimmy Herman

Movie Introduction: After an unintentionally heroic deed during the Civil War, Lt. John Dunbar (Costner) heads west, astride his trusted mount Cisco. He is assigned duty at Fort Sedgwick on the American plains. He arrives to find the desolate fort deserted. While there, he develops a relationship with a lone wolf that he calls "Two Socks". He also starts communications with a nearby tribe of Sioux Indians, more specifically "Kicking Bird" (Greene) and "Wind In His Hair" (Grant). Attracted by the simplicity of their lifestyle, and sheer loneliness, he chooses to spend more and more time with them. Having observed his behavior with Two Socks, the tribes now calls Dunbar "Dances With Wolves". Soon he becomes a trusted member of the tribe. He also falls in love with his translator "Stands With A Fist" (McDonnell), a white captive girl who was raised by the tribe as their own. Soon Union cavalry soldiers arrive at the fort, they are incensed that Lt. Dunbar has become an ally with the natives.

Defining Moment: buffalo hunt

When the buffalo herd finally returns, members of the Sioux tribe, along with Dunbar, follow the massive beasts, looking for the right moment to harvest the buffalo they will need for their survival. The hunt is a breath-taking segment from start to finish. Riders run down the great plains creatures at full speed, loosing their arrows, casting their spears. You cannot watch this scene without being overwhelmed by its shear power. This film segment, set to a haunting, epic soundtrack, is like peering back in time to witness a ritual our eyes will never see. (watch it on YouTube)

Something subtle you might have missed:  grazing grass

Early in the film, when John Dunbar finally reaches the prairie, he walks out into the high grass and outstretches his arms to feel the tall stalk heads graze his fingertips. This is a man of deep thought.  A few minutes later, we are also introduced to Sioux medicine man, Kicking Bird. Like Dunbar, he is walking through the tall grass, arms outstretched. This small commonality immediately links the two men. Despite their vast differences, they have a shared inner thoughtfulness, and a basis upon which to build a connection.

Memorable Quotes:

"I’ve never known a people so eager to laugh, so devoted to family, so dedicated to each other.  And, the only word that came to mind was harmony." - John Dunbar

"I was just thinking that of all the trails in this life there is one that matters most. It is the trail of a true human being. I think you are on this trail and it is good to see." - Kicking Bird

Dad's Review:

Many classic Western films traditionally follow a similar formula. This was contrived by Hollywood and helped create part of what is known as the "Western myth". Many of these films were shot with Monument Valley as their scenic backdrop.

These Westerns centered on the quiet, honorable loner, who could take care of himself. He was usually running from something in his past and was deadly accurate with a six-shooter pistol. Cast in this role were always handsome white actors such as John Wayne, Jimmy Stewart, Gary Cooper, Joel McCrea, Glenn Ford and Randolph Scott. With my Texas heritage, of course, I loved these movies (and mostly still do), especially films with Wayne and Stewart.

Native Americans were almost always the films' antagonists – the colorful, yet impersonal danger, always savagely attacking the innocent settlers and their wagon trains. The injuns, as they were referred to, were killed with no more remorse than swashing an ant.

The audience was shown lots of action, some cheeky romance, and a nice, dependable ending, where our hero rides off, his job done, leaving may broken hearts to ponder his future.

Dances With Wolves has very little in common with these old Westerns. It takes us in a different direction, and changed how I look at Westerns (and really all films). We FINALLY have a movie that chooses to portray a more honest perspective of the American frontier. Native Americans are seen as they really lived. Their characterization is fleshed out. In some ways, the film feels like we are watching a well-made documentary.

Kevin Costner found Michael Blake’s wonderful story and decided it was time to finally put the truth on screen. That truth being the genocide of the Native Peoples who populated our country before white expansion. Yes, that same expansion which is a deep part of my own family's heritage. Thank you Blake and Costner - for having the courage to tell the story avoided by past and most high school history books.

In the film we see all angles and conflicts: settlers, brutal soldiers, murderous warriors. From all this, a friendship arises between one man, feeding his need to explore the vanishing wilderness, and another man, trying to face the unbearable truth of this tribe's inevitable demise.

Finally, this film explores what it means to be savage. It also asks, "Who is more savage?"

American cinema, and "the victor's" version of history, has conditioned us to see Native Americans as the villains. Are you good with that? I'm not, and honestly never have been. 

This film shows us a more accurate perspective. The Native Peoples were just that - people, just like you and I. They loved, danced, fought, raised children, defended their families, even created councils using many principals of democracy we adhere to today.

It's high time we acknowledge that many of the American West's horrible acts were perpetrated by a treaty-breaking government, greedy white settlers, and racist murdering soldiers. These "fine people" took without asking, murdered without cause, lied with impunity, destroyed everything in their path, and caused endless suffering.

Who was more savage? Such is the shame of one chapter in my country’s history.

Onto No. 3...Rescuing Personal Gosling