sandyg@sail.LABS.TEK.COM (Sandy Grossmann) (11/29/90)
DANCES WITH WOLVES
A film review by Sandra J. Grossman
Copyright 1990 Sandra J. Grossman
Cast: Kevin Costner, Mary McDonnell, Floyd Red Crow Westerman
(and Cisco, the buckskin)
Director: Kevin Costner
Screenwriter: Michael Blake, based on his novel
Synopsis: Visually rich story of a landscape and its inhabitants. The
familiar Western themes of honor and responsibility are
merely adequate, and the characters paleface--I mean pale--
in comparison with the visual splendor.
Lieutenant John Dunbar (Kevin Costner) secures a position as head
of a garrison on the remote edge of the frontier, smack in the middle of
Sioux territory. (He got this post--and his buckskin Cisco--through an
impulsive act of suicide that was interpreted as heroism.) The garrison
is deserted, but rather than turn back, Dunbar unloads the provisions,
begins cleaning the debris, drifts into a daily routine, and starts
keeping a journal.
For roughly one-third of the film, the journal serves as the device
that justifies Dunbar's narrative. We hear his written words, we see
the pictures he draws. Through the narrative, we begin to "see" the
man. He is quiet, he is unperturbed by isolation, he is content. He is
unaware that his movements are watched by the neighboring Sioux; he's
also unaware that other whites have been murdered by Indians.
In a break from the narrative pattern, we switch point of view and
sit in on a Sioux pow wow held to discuss Dunbar's invasion into their
territory. Soon we switch point of view again, this time riding on a
children's raid. Object: Cisco. This vignette is a wonderful set of
scenes that does much to further character development and entertain us
at the same time. Looking back, it's one of the most satisfying parts
of the film. It works well because it's on a human scale and it
portrays human foibles.
Gradually, and I mean gradually, Dunbar meets and interacts with
the Sioux. In parallel, Dunbar befriends a lone wolf. Those of us who
yearn for multiple levels in a film gladly recognize this wolf as
symbolic of Dunbar's developing relationship with the tribe. And the
tribe sees Dunbar's antics with the wolf as proving that Dunbar is
"more" than a white man, since wolves are revered in Sioux culture. (My
limited understanding is that wolves are spiritual, and honoring a man
with a name that includes "wolf" is a great honor indeed.) Dunbar
becomes Dances with Wolves.
A key event in the film is the buffalo hunt. What a scene! I'd
read earlier that the cast actually rode in a stampeding herd of 3,500
buffalo, but that didn't clue me in on the primal nature of the hunt
that shows so clearly in this scene. The theatre I saw this in had a
THX sound system, which provides an immediacy that can't be described
easily. Dunbar plays a pivotal role in the hunt, and the tribe adopts
him unreservedly. (Incidentally, Costner had a spectacular fall during
this scene, yet refused to let a stuntman ride for him and even took the
stuntman's horse in order to get back in the scene.)
Up to this point, the film develops in a leisurely fashion,
mirroring the slow way that Dunbar becomes integrated into the tribe.
Although some critics felt the movie was slooooow, the pace seemed
appropriate and even comfortable to me. What's lacking is much deeper
than a pacing problem.
The idea of a white man adopted into a tribe is alluring but
insufficient material for real drama. Another layer is required:
conflict. Not just a battle-scene-type of conflict, but the gut-type
conflict: take a half-white, half-Indian and pull on both sides. Make
him want both, make him see flaws in both, put him in conflict. If you
don't have conflict, you don't have drama. That's what's wrong with
this film.
The whites are portrayed as such barbarians and the Sioux as such
noble humans that Dunbar never has moments of doubt. Why should he?
Instead of Dunbar being pulled in two directions, the medicine man is
the one who has to weigh both sides and make the telling decision in the
film. That is so very very wrong.
Oh, the movie is beautiful and worth seeing, but it's a soft film
that ultimately falters and fades. There are at least three ways that
this film violates good filmmaking: shifting points of view, the
central character's lack of conflict, and an ending that happens before
the characters see the results of their actions.
To his credit, Costner stuck by his guns, getting Lakotah and
Pawnee dialects into the film with English subtitles. It was an
important decision that worked well. (The Sioux communities are
delighted with Costner--they've accepted him into their tribe.) Also to
Costner's credit is the length of the movie that he insisted on, which
befits the nature of the material. Another plus is the cinematography,
which is often breathtaking. The acting is acceptable and occasionally
is much better than that.
It's a good Western, in summary, but it's not a great or important
film. Go see it in a good theatre with a good sound system so you can
enjoy the things it does well. Its flaws will be too apparent, and the
grandeur lost, if you wait to see it on a VCR.
Comments?
Sandra J. Grossmann sandyg@sail.labs.tek.comleeper@mtgzy.att.com (Mark R. Leeper) (11/29/90)
DANCES WITH WOLVES
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1990 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: Epic portrait of a Sioux tribal life as
seen through the eyes of a Civil War officer. American
Indians have rarely or never been portrayed so believably and
sympathetically. Its biggest flaw is that the White Man does
not seem as realistically portrayed. The films resembles
WHITE DAWN and FAREWELL TO THE KING in plot and spirit.
Rating: high +2 (-4 to +4).
I suspect that of all the films of 1989, the one that will be best
remembered will be GLORY. It may not be the best film of 1989, but it has a
sort of timeless quality that will hold up for many years. That was 1989.
This year I think we have an even better film that has that same timeless
quality. There have been films in the past that have tried to give
sympathetic views of the American Indian. It is not hard to be more
sympathetic than films like FORT APACHE. LITTLE BIG MAN, unaccountably
popular, attempted to be sympathetic but gave the impression that the
writers knew nothing about American Indians. (I do not know if the novel
was as bad or not.) Other films such as CHEYENNE AUTUMN tried to speak of
injustices done to the Indians, but they too never got into the minds of
native Americans. Perhaps DANCES WITH WOLVES, based on the novel by Michael
Blake, is no more authentic than is LITTLE BIG MAN, but it certainly feels
like the most authentic film ever made about American Indian culture.
Kevin Costner directs and stars as John Dunbar, who is to have his leg
amputated due to wounds in a Civil War battle. Not having the courage to
face his future, he attempts suicide and in doing so accidentally makes
himself a hero. This not only wins him medical care sufficient to save his
leg, he is also given his choice of posting. Wishing to see the Western
frontier before it is overrun by the white man, he requests a posting to an
isolated and deserted fort far out on the frontier. His thoughts about
facing hostile animals and more hostile Sioux are overcome by his curiosity
and his willingness to accept and appreciate that which is alien to him.
The film picks up his enthusiasm to meet, understand, and befriend the very
alien culture of the neighboring Sioux. He must first overcome their
distrust. There the storyteller somewhat unrealistically contrives
circumstances in Dunbar's favor. This is a long film and each stage of his
acceptance by the Sioux is shown and not overly glossed over. In
particular, language problems are quite believably difficult and eventually
overcome by another contrivance. Eventually Dunbar is accepted into the
Sioux society and Costner can show us how Sioux lived and thought.
If the film has a major weakness it is that it exaggerates the
stupidity and strangeness (even if not the cruelty) of the hordes of
invading white men. The positive view of the Sioux would be more believable
if the view of the White Man had more credibility. There is a love story of
Dunbar with a white woman who has been Sioux since she was captured as a
child. This subplot could have been a distraction from showing us the Sioux
lifestyle, but if so it was only a minor one. Mary McDonnell, familiar from
MATEWAN, plays Dunbar's lover interest, Stands with a Fist.
DANCES WITH WOLVES is told with a grace and humor that keeps the viewer
constantly entertained through its nearly three-hour length. Costner is to
be congratulated for creating such an unorthodox film (about a quarter us in
Lakota, the Sioux language, and subtitled), and at the same time so
enjoyable a film his first time directing. I give it a high +2 on the -4 to
+4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
att!mtgzy!leeper
leeper@mtgzy.att.com