Kevin Costner
Balla Coi Lupi

We are witnessing a masterpiece. The first film that shows the differences in traditions, customs, and history between Native Americans and whites. The first film that viscerally investigates Indian society. The first film that exposes the violence of the white invader against the Native Americans.

Directed by Kevin Costner and released in 1990, "Dances with Wolves" has solidified over time as one of the most interesting and dramatic cinematic works in modern cinema history. The themes addressed, but especially the depth with which they are brought to the screen, have made Costner's directorial debut one of the cult films of the nineties.

The film is set during the American Civil War in the year 1864. The protagonist of the struggle is Lieutenant John Dunbar (played by Costner himself), who after a heroic act, requests to be transferred to a military outpost located on the western frontier to "see the frontier before it disappears." Upon arrival, he finds the place abandoned, and he becomes the last bastion waiting for the arrival of troops. But the soldiers are delayed, and all his attention turns to a horse, a wolf, and a diary. Until he encounters a Sioux tribe...

"Dances with Wolves" is a film with a complex intent: to "picturesquely" represent the slow destruction of Native Americans. A "racial demolition" that occurs due to the continuous expansionism of the whites, their violence, and their relentless claim to something that doesn't belong to them. However, whites can prove to be friendly, generous, even surprising. Kevin Costner shows us the contact between the two "sides" as it would have happened in 1864: the language difficulties, an initial approach to "sugar and coffee," growing respect, and a mutual learning of the language of what should be defined as the "enemy." It does not happen, as it has at other times, that suddenly everyone can speak each other's language; rather, subtitles will be a constant companion in the film.

This cinematic work, an inseparable union of drama, irony, and adventure, has managed to perfectly combine spectacle with a great historical authenticity. Framed by Costner's direction at his highest levels, a majestic soundtrack, and an epic narrative that places the characters as the true focal point. Characters are portrayed with their inner psychological conflicts, their fears, but also their ironic and friendly spirit. The director also pays great attention to the landscapes, depicted in all their beauty.

Adventure and friendship: with "two-socks," the wolf, and with Cisco the horse. But above all, an unexpected friendship between two completely different peoples who seem to have so much in common.

The almost four hours of "Dances with Wolves" show us the horrors of the white man but also let us see a moving human bond of friendship from a people capable of accepting as their own a white man...

The contact with nature. Immersing oneself in the boundless prairies of South Dakota. Finding oneself. Finding the reason for a useless conflict. Yielding to friendship, love, life...