' Dances with Wolves': Academy Award-winning western that wasn't what we wanted

``Dances with Wolves'' had a lot of negative elements.

The reason why Kevin Costner spent his own money on this project was because no major Hollywood studio was willing to pay for the production. Kevin Costner, who founded the production company TIG Productions, scraped together $18 million in funding, but the production costs ended up being about $5 million over budget. Simple math shows that, for example, a three-hour movie (the original version was 181 minutes) would allow two 90-minute screenings. If the audience pays the same admission fee, the theater will show fewer screenings, which will reduce revenue (in that respect, the fact that the movie made nearly 20 times its production costs shows its box office strength). For both theaters and distributors, movies with long running times are not profitable business-wise.

Furthermore, for American audiences at the time who were not accustomed to subtitles, the addition of English subtitles unfortunately did not result in a "realistic expression of the language!", but rather a negative reaction of "it's a hassle to watch." This is the kind of reaction audiences have when they encounter a scene in a Hollywood movie where a foreigner suddenly starts speaking English. In that respect, it feels like a different era for a film like the Korean film " Parasite " (2019), which is entirely subtitled in English, to win an Academy Award.

Kevin Costner, who had become the new "conscience of America" ​​with his roles in " The Untouchables " (1987) and " Field of Dreams " (1989), began filming "Dances with Wolves" while taking on commercial risks, but he recalls that the difficulties were just the beginning.

   "Dances with Wolves" (c)Photofest / Getty Images

As one example, this movie features a large number of buffalo. However, at the time of filming, wild individuals were already on the brink of extinction. Today, it would be processed with CG, but in this era, " Jurassic Park " (1993), which revolutionized CG expression, had not yet been made (the original novel was published in 1990). After scrambling to secure thousands of buffalo and a large amount of land for the buffalo to run on, Kevin Costner gained the cooperation of the former governor of South Dakota. If you watch the making-of footage, you can see that the buffalo hunting scenes were filmed using special effects machines. Naturally, not a single buffalo was killed during filming.

Although it depends on the budget of the film, the average number of days for shooting a Hollywood movie is said to be 60 to 90 days, but this film took 180 days, with as many as 300 staff members working on site. "The theme of this film is my love letter to a bygone era," Kevin Costner said in an interview, and the fact that this wish was fulfilled shows that it has been transformed into a "desired work" by monopolizing the Academy Awards and achieving box office success.

The end credits list the names of over 300 staff members, including the cast and crew involved in the film. Among them is Kevin Reynolds' name in the special thanks section. He is credited because he helped direct the buffalo hunting scene mentioned above. Kevin Costner and Kevin Reynolds were originally the star and director of " Fandango " (1985). The friendship between Costner and Reynolds, who worked with Costner on his directorial debut, continued as "the two Kevins" in films such as " Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves " (1991), "The Mystery of the Moai" (1994), and " Waterworld " (1995), and after parting ways with Costner, they spun a lineage into works such as the TV drama " Hatfield & McCoy " (2012).

【source】

Kinema Junpo 1986 late January issue and late February special settlement issue

・"Dances with Wolves" (TBS Britannica) by Kevin Costner, Michael Brake, and Jim Wilson, translated by Koyama Kiyoshi

・Deluxe Color Cine Album 46 "Kevin Costner" edited by Saburo Muraoka and Misuzu Mochizuki (Haga Shoten)

・"Dances with Wolves" theater pamphlet

・BOX OFFICE MOJO "Dances with Wolves"

  https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl944539137/weekend/

Text: Takeo Matsuzaki

Film critic Graduated from Tokyo University of the Arts, Graduate School of Film and New Media, majoring in film. After working on TV and movie sets, he turned to writing specialized in movies. Currently appearing on TV, radio, and online distribution programs such as ``Plus'' and ``Japan Group.'' He has contributed numerous articles to ``Kinema Junpo'', ``ELLE'', movie theater pamphlets, etc. Currently, he is a member of the Kinema Junpo Best Ten selection committee, a judge for the ELLE Cinema Awards, the Tanabe Benkei Film Festival, and the Creators Factory section of the Kyoto International Film Festival. Co-authored “Modern Movie Terminology Dictionary” (Kinema Junposha) and others.

Watch now

View work information

(c) Photofest / Getty Images