Upon its 1990 premiere, Dances with Wolves immediately became a classic. With its expansive vistas, poignant performances, and stirring tale of a Union soldier named John Dunbar who develops a relationship with the Lakota Sioux tribe, Kevin Costner’s film enthralled viewers. It became a cultural landmark thanks to its portrayal of Native American culture, breathtaking cinematography, and moving soundtrack. It went on to win seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.
Nevertheless, Dances with Wolves has shortcomings despite all of its praise and recognition. Its emotional depth and cinematic beauty belie a slew of underappreciated errors, errors that have gone mostly unnoticed for years. In this in-depth examination of the film’s little-known aspects, we’ll find undiscovered flaws and behind-the-scenes tales that even the most ardent viewers might have ignored, and we’ll investigate how these omissions might change how we view this cherished picture.
Let’s start by recognizing the compelling elements of Dances with Wolves. The film is frequently recalled for its epic depiction of the post-Civil War American West. Audiences are drawn in by the film’s strong emotional bonds between its characters, especially Dunbar and the Lakota Sioux, rather than just its breathtaking visuals. Large and unspoiled, the landscapes themselves appear to reflect the pristine souls of the indigenous tribes and the immense void created by the loss of their way of life.
Nevertheless, despite the movie’s great acclaim, a few minor flaws somehow made their way through. One of Dances with Wolves’ most obvious mistakes is in the famous buffalo hunt scene, which has been ingrained in audiences’ memories. Hundreds of buffalo charging over the plains is a breathtaking sight, but many viewers have overlooked a stark historical contradiction.
Because of the growth of European settlers and the U.S. government’s efforts to suppress Native American resistance, the buffalo population had really been wiped off by overhunting by the time the film is set, which is in the middle of the 1800s. But in Dances with Wolves, we see a herd of buffalo that seem much more abundant than they would have been in that time period. Despite its apparent visual impact, this scene fails to acknowledge the buffalo’s near-extinction history, which is a crucial omission given the movie’s goal of telling a historically accurate tale.
Although the buffalo tableau is unquestionably a potent visual moment, it also ignores the terrible truth of the animal’s near-extinction, which played a crucial role in the demise of the Plains nations’ way of life. This absence is a serious mistake for a movie that aimed to depict Native American culture in a genuine and nuanced way.
The accents of some of the Native American characters are another unnoticed fault; they don’t quite sound authentic to the historical setting, but they’re not bothersome either. Specifically, the Lakota Sioux characters’ accents, despite their good intentions, frequently come across as uneven. Some actors’ delivery of their lines, for instance, seems too contemporary or dramatic for a 19th-century movie.
Although this might not seem like much, it has the potential to quietly compromise the realism Dances with Wolves aims to attain in its depiction of Native American life. Although the movie uses subtitles for dialogue in Lakota, many of the actors did not speak the language, and because it relies so heavily on the actors’ own voices (with different accents), not all of them were able to portray the role with the historical accuracy the movie aims for.
One of the more subtle but intriguing errors is the military gear that is shown in the movie. In Dances with Wolves, the American soldiers are armed with somewhat too sophisticated equipment and weapons for the era. Even though the film takes place in the 1860s, some of the weapons that the soldiers use seem to be of a later type that was not yet popular at the time. Though most viewers won’t notice it right away, this anachronistic error is a clear blunder for any history buff or military specialist.
This weakness is particularly noticeable in a movie that otherwise tries so hard to portray the reality of its environment. It is perplexing that some of the equipment wasn’t more thoroughly researched or chosen to correspond with the exact historical period, considering that the production crew went to considerable efforts to replicate appropriate costumes, props, and settings.
A conversation of Dances with Wolves wouldn’t be complete without acknowledging Kevin Costner’s own impact. Although Costner’s enthusiasm for the picture is clear throughout, there are a few behind-the-scenes tales that give the making of the movie an interesting depth. The performer was well-known for his meticulousness, going to considerable measures to make the movie as realistic as possible, including studying Lakota. However, Costner’s domineering involvement in the film’s production also caused considerable tension behind the scenes, especially with the Native American advisors and performers who contributed to the project.
Some have stated that some of the film’s historical mistakes or oversimplifications of the tribe culture may have resulted from Costner’s vision of the story periodically overshadowing the Native American players’ opinions. A major milestone in Hollywood at the time, the movie did manage to give Native American characters a voice despite these difficulties.
Notwithstanding these errors, Dances with Wolves is still an incredibly potent movie. The ability of the Western genre to develop and take on intricate stories concerning race, identity, and cultural conflict is demonstrated by this. The historical errors could make the movie seem less credible to some, but they don’t necessarily lessen its emotional impact.
After being pointed out, the errors give the movie’s legacy an additional level of mystery. They serve as a reminder that even the most recognizable movies may make mistakes. Furthermore, these omissions, in a sense, add to the discussion of Hollywood’s relationship to history and how it depicts both indigenous and colonial cultures.
It’s crucial to acknowledge these errors as we continue to honor Dances with Wolves for its storytelling accomplishments and its audacious attempt to depict the American West through Native American perspectives. This is not to disparage the movie, but rather to use it as a springboard for a deeper understanding of both its strengths and weaknesses.
Dances with Wolves is ultimately a sophisticated film, and its flaws only serve to highlight its humanity. They serve as a reminder that all great works of art ultimately reflect the flaws of their own eras.
