"Dances with wolves" was the debut as director of Kevin Costner. It was an overwhelming success. It paved the way for actors such as Clint Eastwood and especially Mel Gibson to persue a directorial career.
"Dances with wolves" also changed the character of the Western genre. In the 30's and 40's the rules of the game were clear. Indians were savage and bloodthirsty and the White men was bringing civilisation. Although from the '50s onwards nuances start te appear, "Dances with wolves" turns the division of roles completely upside down. In this film the Indians are the good guys. This is true of the Sioux clan. The rivalising Pawnee clan is portrayed just as in the early days of the Western.
"Good" means in this film above all living in closer harmony with nature. This is the most obvious in the scenes with the buffalo's. White men killing them for their skin only and leaving the naked corpses rotting on the prairie. The Indians killing them only for food and survival.
"Dances with wolves" is not the only Western in which a little orphaned girl is adopted by the Indians and becomes one of them. I am espacially thinking of "The searchers" (1956, John Ford). In "The searchers" however John Wayne is not interested in the Indian culture and way of life and only wants to rescue his niece from these "wild people". In "Dances with wolves" John Dunbar (played by Kevin Costner) falls in love with the white girl turned into an Indian woman and becomes an Indian himself.
The character of John Dunbar is politically correct, the character of John Wayne is unfortunately historically correct. The way John Dunbar and the Sioux are showing interest in each other and work hard to overcome the communication gap is much more generic than the difference between Indians and White men alone. As Roger Ebert put it in his review: "A civilized man is a person whose curiousity outweights his prejudices.".
"Dances with wolves" contains very beautiful images. It was filmed in Panavision and there is a 70 mm copy of the film. 70 mm film is unsurpassed in quality but is heavy, expensive and hard to handle. I just read in the paper that in the Netherlands some art house cinema's have re-installed equipment to project 70 mm filmstock to give special performances for film buffs.
"Dances with wolves" also changed the character of the Western genre. In the 30's and 40's the rules of the game were clear. Indians were savage and bloodthirsty and the White men was bringing civilisation. Although from the '50s onwards nuances start te appear, "Dances with wolves" turns the division of roles completely upside down. In this film the Indians are the good guys. This is true of the Sioux clan. The rivalising Pawnee clan is portrayed just as in the early days of the Western.
"Good" means in this film above all living in closer harmony with nature. This is the most obvious in the scenes with the buffalo's. White men killing them for their skin only and leaving the naked corpses rotting on the prairie. The Indians killing them only for food and survival.
"Dances with wolves" is not the only Western in which a little orphaned girl is adopted by the Indians and becomes one of them. I am espacially thinking of "The searchers" (1956, John Ford). In "The searchers" however John Wayne is not interested in the Indian culture and way of life and only wants to rescue his niece from these "wild people". In "Dances with wolves" John Dunbar (played by Kevin Costner) falls in love with the white girl turned into an Indian woman and becomes an Indian himself.
The character of John Dunbar is politically correct, the character of John Wayne is unfortunately historically correct. The way John Dunbar and the Sioux are showing interest in each other and work hard to overcome the communication gap is much more generic than the difference between Indians and White men alone. As Roger Ebert put it in his review: "A civilized man is a person whose curiousity outweights his prejudices.".
"Dances with wolves" contains very beautiful images. It was filmed in Panavision and there is a 70 mm copy of the film. 70 mm film is unsurpassed in quality but is heavy, expensive and hard to handle. I just read in the paper that in the Netherlands some art house cinema's have re-installed equipment to project 70 mm filmstock to give special performances for film buffs.