Dances with Wolves is a 1990 American epic
Western film directed by, produced by, and starring Kevin Costner. It is
a film adaptation of the 1988 book of the same name by Michael Blake
and tells the story of a Union Army lieutenant who travels to the
American frontier to find a military post and his dealings with a group
of Lakota Indians.
Costner developed the film with an initial budget of $15 million. Dances
with Wolves had high production values and won seven Academy Awards
including Best Picture and the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion
Picture – Drama. Much of the dialogue is spoken in Lakota with English
subtitles. It was shot in South Dakota and Wyoming, and translated by
Albert White Hat, the chair of the Lakota Studies Department at Sinte
Gleska University.
The film is credited as a leading influence for the revitalization of
the Western genre of filmmaking in Hollywood. In 2007, Dances with
Wolves was selected for preservation in the United States National Film
Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically,
or aesthetically significant".
Plot
In 1864, First Lieutenant
John J. Dunbar is wounded in battle at St. David's Field in Tennessee.
Choosing death in battle over amputation of his leg, he takes a horse
and rides up to and along the Confederate lines. Despite numerous pot
shots, the Confederates fail to hit him, and while they are distracted,
the Union Army successfully attack the line. Dunbar survives, receives a
citation for bravery, and proper medical care. He recovers fully and is
awarded Cisco, the horse who carried him, and his choice of posting.
Dunbar requests a transfer to the western frontier so he can see it
before it disappears.
Dunbar is transferred to Fort Hays, a large fort presided over by a
suicidal major who despises Dunbar's enthusiasm, but agrees to post him
to the furthest outpost they have, Fort Sedgewick, and kills himself
shortly afterwards. Dunbar travels with Timmons, a mule wagon
provisioner; they arrive to find the fort deserted and in poor
condition. Despite the threat of nearby Indian tribes, Dunbar elects to
stay and man the post himself. He begins rebuilding and restocking the
fort and prefers the solitude, recording many of his observations in his
diary. Timmons is killed by Pawnee Indians on the journey back to Ft.
Hays; his death, together with that of the major who had sent them
there, prevents other soldiers from knowing of Dunbar's assignment, and
no other soldiers arrive to reinforce the post.
Dunbar initially encounters his Sioux neighbors when attempts are made
to steal his horse and intimidate him. Deciding that being a target is a
poor prospect, he decides to seek out the Sioux camp and attempt
dialogue, rather than wait. On his way he comes across Stands With A
Fist, the white adopted daughter of the tribe's medicine man Kicking
Bird, who is ritually mutilating herself while mourning for her husband.
Dunbar brings her back to the Sioux to recover, and some of the tribe
begin to respect him. Eventually, Dunbar establishes a rapport with
Kicking Bird and Wind In His Hair, initially visiting each other's
camps. The language barrier frustrates them, and Stands With A Fist acts
as interpreter, although with difficulty; she only remembers English
from her early childhood before the rest of her family was killed during
a Pawnee raid.
Dunbar finds that the stories he had heard about the tribe were untrue,
and he develops a growing respect and appreciation for their lifestyle
and culture. Learning their language, he is accepted as an honored guest
by the Sioux after he tells them of a migrating herd of buffalo and
participates in the hunt. When at Fort Sedgewick, Dunbar also befriends a
wolf he dubs "Two Socks" for its white forepaws. Observing Dunbar and
Two Socks chasing each other, the Sioux give him the name "Dances With
Wolves." During this time, Dunbar also forges a romantic relationship
with Stands With A Fist and helps defend the village from an attack by
the rival Pawnee tribe. Dunbar eventually wins Kicking Bird's approval
to marry Stands With A Fist, and abandons Fort Sedgewick.
Because of the growing Pawnee and white threat, Chief Ten Bears decides
to move the tribe to its winter camp. Dunbar decides to accompany them
but must first retrieve his diary from Fort Sedgewick as he realizes
that it would provide the army with the means to find the tribe.
However, when he arrives he finds the fort reoccupied by the U.S. Army.
Because of his Sioux clothing, the soldiers open fire, killing Cisco and
capturing Dunbar, arresting him as a traitor. Senior officers
interrogate him, but Dunbar cannot prove his story, as a corporal has
found and discarded his diary. Having refused to serve as an interpreter
to the tribes, Dunbar is charged with desertion and transported back
east as a prisoner. Soldiers of the escort shoot Two Socks when the wolf
attempts to follow Dunbar, despite Dunbar's attempts to intervene.
Eventually, the Sioux track the convoy, killing the soldiers and freeing
Dunbar. They assert that they do not see him as a white man, but as a
Sioux warrior called Dances With Wolves. But, at the winter camp, Dunbar
decides to leave with Stands With A Fist because his continuing
presence would endanger the tribe. As they leave, Wind In His Hair
shouts to Dunbar, reminding him that he is Dunbar's friend, a contrast
to their original meeting where he shouted at Dunbar in hostility. U.S.
troops are seen searching the mountains but are unable to locate them,
while a lone wolf howls in the distance. An epilogue states that
thirteen years later the last remnants of the free Sioux were subjugated
to the American government, ending the conquest of the Western frontier
states and the livelihoods of the tribes on the Great Plains.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dances_with_Wolves
