Dances with Wolves analysis

Dances with Wolves is an 1990 filmed directer Kevin Costner, also the main character in the film as Lt. Dunbar. This film masters the use of pathos to appeal to human emotion through music techniques, as well as varies shots and angles to convey feeling to the audience. In the beginning of the film during a battle in the Civil War at stalemate, Dunbar rides out in the middle of the battle field with his hands out in a Christ pose and this action turned the tide and helped them win that battle. This scene is accompanied by muffled sounds of cheers, gun shots, and background music of triumph, in muffling the sounds, it creates a enlightened effect in relation to Dunbar's Christ pose to emphasize his state of mind of loyalty and sacrifice to his army. The sounds then fade back into a chaotic mix of gunshots and yelling, pulling the audience back to reality from Dunbar's "peaceful" mind. This creates a drastic contrast between the reality of war and the romanticized version of war and glorification of sacrifice. Dunbar chooses his reward and recognition for this sacrifice to go out on the frontiers and see the plains, in which he meets Major Famsbrough, who has intense PTSD. During the scene as Famsbrough opens and closes his drawers, theres sound of alcohol bottles rattling around, suggesting the severity of his PTSD in developing a drinking problem as a way to self medicate and cope. Obviously, it was an ineffective way because at the end of the scene, he takes a drink and shoots himself; in which Dunbar hears the gunshot but has no idea what happened, totally unaware of what's waiting for him ahead.



Through a long and exhausting  journey, Dunbar finally arrives at hispost with a peasant name Timmons; it's a place of new beginnings and discoveries for Dunbar, but unfortunately, it's where Timmons meets his end. When Dunbar's smoke summoned a group of the Pawnee nation, one of the Pawnee's saw Timmons and shot&scalped him. This scene is particularly heartbreaking because of the low pitch sound of despair as Timmons tried to crawl away but just got shot by arrow more; and as he breathing his last breathes, he did not beg for his life but rather the safety of his mules. This demonstrated the cruelty of the Pawnee member and the miscommunication between the two sides where the Pawnee thought of Timmons as a white settler but really he's just trying to get home.  Another native nation comes into the picture when Dunbar is bathing and washing in the pond and Kicking Bird from the Sioux Nation comes to his post looking around and attempting to take his horse. In this scene Dunbar is completely naked, suggesting his vulnerability of being alone and open to the unknown; but it does not stop him from confronting Kicking Bird to protect his horse, the one thing that keeps him company and sane in a time of absolute loneliness.   After his encounters with the Sioux Nation, he decides it's time to stop waiting around and take action to find "indians." On his way he encounters a Caucasian woman dressed in native clothing, cutting her wrist and bleeding out; he helps wrap her wounds with strips of the American flag and carries her with him as he find the Sioux Nation. This scene is shot as the cliche hero saves the beauty story, the shot focuses  on Dunbar carrying the woman and overlooking the plains with the sunlight leaking through, it's a romanticized shot of him stepping into the unknown and pulling away from the American society he is use to.