Breaking Down the Opening Scene of 'Dances With Wolves'

Once in a while, a movie comes along, and it completely tears down the genre expectations that came with it. In the early 90s, that movie was Dances With Wolves , and it took on the Western.

The film was a passion project from writer, director, and star Kevin Costner and went on to sweep the Academy Awards.

But Costner didn’t wait until the third act to show audiences he was subverting expectations. He did it in the very first sequence of the movie.

If you want to understand how to use visual storytelling to dismantle an entire genre's history, you need to look at how Dances With Wolves begins.

Let's dive in.

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The Antihero Introduction

Most Westerns open with a stunning vista or a gunfighter, but this movie starts off with a disgusting and brutal Civil War surgery where a guy is going to get his limb cut off without any numbing.

We're in a hot tent after the battle, and we find Lieutenant John J. Dunbar (played by Costner) lying face up on a makeshift operating table. His boot is being violently yanked off, revealing a bloody, mangled foot.

This is not a hero's character introduction. It's a movie about a man who thinks he must be at his absolute rock bottom.

The doctors debate how to cut his foot off without being able to stop the pain; it's a harrowing situation for Dunbar. His fate feels sealed.

The Visual Language of Nihilism

Once the doctors take a coffee break, he drags himself out of the tent and returns to the frontlines, and we're treated to incredible cinematography and framing to convey a character's internal state.

It's one of the best "show, don't tell" setups in all cinema.

We're given a world that's muddy, bloody, and full of men at the wits' end.

Costner and his cinematographer, Dean Semler, deliberately keep the horizon low or obscured by tents and smoke.

Even though we're outdoors, there's a sense of claustrophobia and doom.

This visual choice is crucial for a Revisionist Western.

The Suicide Ride

Okay, so in this first sequence, Dunbar then heads to the battlefield, where he sees all the death and decides that's a fate better than the life he has right now. So he hops on a horse and rides it back and forth at the enemy, daring them to take his life.

What happens next is pure dramatic irony. Dunbar isn't trying to win the war; he's attempting suicide by rebel force.

But because the universe has a twisted sense of humor, his ride backfires. It rallied the Union army to charge and break the stalemate.

Dunbar's attempt to die turns him into an accidental hero.

That act then puts Dunabr in the position to pick his next assignment.

When his commander asks where he wants to go, Dunbar utters the line that sets the entire plot in motion: "I've always wanted to see the frontier... before it's gone."

And now we know what our story is about: a man who wants to die trying to learn how to live again.

The Takeaway for Filmmakers

Dances With Wolves is a great movie for many reasons, but I love how fast it starts. That kind of seems crazy, given that this movie is three hours long, but that time is not wasted. We're immediately taken into a world that's truly not the West, so that when he finally makes it our way onto the prairie, we know the story has begun, and a transformation is afoot.

For filmmakers, this is a lesson in using your protagonist's introduction, your cinematography, and your very first set-piece to signal to the audience that the old rules no longer apply.

If you want to shake up a genre, turn it on its head right away.

Let us know we're in for something new, unique, and true to your voice. That alone creates enough interest for the audience to lean in.

Summing It All Up

Costner is one of our great talents, and I love digging into how he's been able to put his own personal spin on Westerns.

Even if a genre is steeped in history, you can bring something new to it by staying true to yourself.

Let me know what you think of that in the comments.