SNMR 4.6: "Dances With Wolves"

Tonight's SNMR feature is "Dances With Wolves" (1990, PG-13, 236 minutes), starring Kevin Costner, Graham Greene, Rodney A. Grant and Mary McDonnell. This film was Kevin Costner's directing debut. The film won 7 Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director, and was nominated for five more Oscars. I'm watching the two-disc special edition.

I believe that the first time I watched this movie was in college, when I worked at the campus cinema. It was one of the movies that I at first had no interest in seeing but once I got involved in watching, liked what I saw. Since then, I've watched this movie a few times.

Kevin Costner plays civil war era US Army Lieutenant John Dunbar, who fails at committing suicide and is rewarded for bravery with his choice of assignments. He chooses to go out west, to the frontier and into Indian Territory. When Dunbar arrives at Fort Segwick, he is the lone soldier there. Dunbar falls in love with the prairie and befriends a lone wolf and eventually a tribe of Sioux Indians. After many encounters with the Sioux, he learns their language and becomes a part of the tribe, becoming Dances With Wolves and leaving his identity of John Dunbar far behind. As the movie ends Dances with Wolves and wife Stands With a Fist leave the tribe to go and attempt to reason with the white man's government.

WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THIS MOVIE:
This is one of Costner's more believable roles and I think, one of his best in what has turned out to be a so-so career. The supporting cast is superb and the use of subtitles adaptation from novel to screenplay is seamless, since the author of the novel also wrote the screenplay. Despite the special edition's near four hour length, this is a very watchable movie. I think that the subtitles are helpful to the progression of the story. I think that it portrays a realistic view of Native Americans as a whole in that they just wanted to be left alone and only resorted to violence as a means of defense against the white man's aggression and that a peaceful relationship could have developed if given the opportunity.

WHAT I DID NOT LIKE ABOUT THIS FILM:
I think this film was a bit too long overall . The film drags for the first hour or so but eventually picks up. Other than that I have nothing to complain about with this film.

****1/2 out of *****