Dances with Wolves (1990) - Costner's triumphant, simpatico western

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Kevin Costner on the prairie with a wolf on the poster for his own film, Dances with Wolves

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Lieutenant John J. Dunbar (Kevin Costner (Open Range (2003))) is wounded in the American Civil War and gets exiled to a remote western post, where he befriends wolves and Indians and comes at heads with his military commanders.

Wolves is a very beautiful salute to the native peoples of America, more specifically the Sioux Indians. The story, - Michael Blake (Winding Stair (1998)) adapted his own novel, - is very simple and elongated (the film runs 180 minutes), packed with grand nature, sympathetic Indians and gun-crazed Americans, who even SPOILER wipe their asses in Dunbar's journal.
The film also contains a stunning buffalo scene and Mary McDonnell (Donnie Darko (2001)), who is really super as Costner's  half-Indian flame.
Costner debuted as a director with this major film, which he had to help get finished by injecting 3 mil. $ to cover his budget overrun out of his own pockets. He has since only directed the similarly long, but ridiculed The Postman (1997) and the very good western Open Range.
Dances with Wolves is a very good film, which I think some people mistake for a masterpiece simply because they find it so sympathetic.
There also exists a 236 minute 'director's cut' version, - but beware; Costner has stated that he had no hand in this extended cut.

Related review:

Kevin Costner: Thirteen Days (2000) - Electrifying Cuban Missile Crisis thriller (actor/producer)

Watch the original trailer here

Cost: Estimated 19-22 mil. $
Box office: 424.2 mil. $
= Huge hit
[Wolves surprised skeptics, who were already waiting in the shades, calling the film Kevin's Gate, (alluding to Michael Cimino's infamous turkey Heaven's Gate (1980))), were put to shame, as the film took in 184 mil. $ (43 % of the total gross) in the US and became a worldwide smash, as per the international posters above. Wolves was also 10 times Oscar-nominated and won 7, including Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography (Dean Semler (Apocalypto (2006))), Sound, Editing and Score (John Barry (You Only Live Twice (1967)))! - The film thus, incredibly, became the first western to win the Best Picture Oscar since Wesley Ruggles' (The Monkey's Paw (1933)) Cimarron (1931)!]

What do you think of Dances with Wolves?

Donnie Darko (2001) - Kelly's pristine, powerful masterpiece

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+ 3rd Best Movie of the Decade

One iconic poster for Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko

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This is a review of the original theatrical cut of the film. A director's cut has also been released in 2004.

Donnie is a troubled teenager, who receives forewarnings about the end of the world from a giant bunny rabbit that only he can see.

God, this is a good film!
I've seen it at least a dozen times, and at every viewing have been left with amazement that someone could actually conjure up and film Donnie Darko. That someone is writer-director Richard Kelly (Southland Tales (2006)), who, - even more incredibly, - had not made a normal feature before this, (his little-seen sci-fi Visceral Matter (1997) is 48 min. long, so I'd say it doesn't really count.)
Here, he offers a poignant portrait of a cold, modern society, (less importantly, an American one.) The film is a period piece set in the 80s, but its atmosphere seemed highly in-sync with the time it was released to as well.
Donnie's sufferings are credible and fascinating; the time travel and parallel universe philosophies balanced perfectly with the realism. Audiences watch Donnie Darko and draw wildly different interpretations from it. Most will have a sense of shock, anxiety, dread or sadness in common, however.
- That may not sound like an enviable ride, but trust me; you don't want to circle around and miss Donnie Darko!
The images (cinematographer Steven Poster (The Box (2009)), the music (by Michael Andrews (Bridesmaids (2011)), besides the many fantastic original songs by artists like Tears for Fears, Duran Duran, Echo & the Bunnymen and Joy Division, and the conceptual mix of fast-forward and slo-mo. - To the acting: Especially Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler (2014)) as Donnie, Beth Grant (Flags of Our Fathers (2006)) as the zealous high school teacher/concerned parent Kitty Farmer, Patrick Swayze (Ghost (1990)) as the sleazy life coach Jim Cunningham and Mary McDonnell (Dances with Wolves (1990)) as Donnie's loving, struggling mother Rose - are all indelible.
Donnie Darko is a captivating, deeply unusual, unsettling, unique masterpiece.
In a sense it has haunted its maker Kelly ever since, because none of his following two films so far have been able to approach its greatness, (Southland Tales and The Box). He is in pre-production with a new drama now, entitled Soulmates.

 

Related post:

 

The 2000s in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Watch the great trailer for the film here

Cost: 3.8-4.5 mil. $
Box office: 7.6 mil. $
= Flop
[Donnie Darko was only barely released to theaters in the US, where it had a very poor audience response (right around the time of 9/11, in which the end of the world may not have been the most welcomed topic in the country) and only grossed 0.7 mil. $ (9 % of the total gross), largely from midnight screenings in an East Village, New York-cinema that ran for 28 consecutive months. The film got a way better response in countries like the UK and Italy. It became a big hit on DVD, though, and sold more than 10 mil. copies in the US alone.]

What do you think of Donnie Darko?
And Kelly's other works?