“Kevin Costner Reflects on His Unforgettable Cinematic Moment That Outshone Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola for Best Director”
Kevin Costner is widely recognized today for his role in the neo-Western series Yellowstone. Yet, his career has been a dramatic journey since the ‘80s and ‘90s, spanning from his acclaimed performance in Field of Dreams to the infamous flop Waterworld.
However, the pinnacle of Costner’s career came with his directorial debut, Dances with Wolves. This film not only enjoyed significant commercial success but also earned him the Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture. One particularly challenging scene from the film, which involved an extensive buffalo hunt, stands out as a testament to his dedication and ingenuity.
Kevin Costner’s Oscar-Winning Directorial Debut
In 1991, Dances with Wolves received twelve Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress. Costner’s competition that year included renowned directors Francis Ford Coppola for The Godfather Part III and Martin Scorsese for Goodfellas. While Coppola’s earlier Godfather films had already set a high bar, Scorsese’s Goodfellas is celebrated as one of the greatest gangster films ever made, starring Ray Liotta and Robert De Niro. Other contenders included Stephen Frears for The Grifters and Barbet Schroeder for Reversal of Fortune. At the 63rd Academy Awards, Dances with Wolves emerged victorious, winning seven Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. Reflecting on the process, Costner shared with GQ:
“I had asked three prominent directors to consider directing it, and each had their own ideas about what they would change in the script. It made me realize that I might be the best person to direct it—not necessarily to improve it, but to bring it to life as it was intended on paper.”
The film became the second Western to win Best Picture, sparking renewed interest in the genre. Subsequent Westerns like Unforgiven and No Country for Old Men followed in its footsteps.
The Rigorous Buffalo Hunt Scene
In Dances with Wolves, Costner’s character, Union soldier John Dunbar, integrates with a Sioux tribe and partakes in a dramatic buffalo hunt. This scene, featuring over 3,500 buffalo, was particularly grueling to film. Costner described the arduous process to GQ:
“I was incredibly grateful that we could get the buffalo at all. Negotiating with the rancher, who was a former lieutenant governor, was quite the challenge. He initially questioned, ‘You want to chase my buffalo?’ I was young and persistent, and he eventually agreed. We had to chase the buffalo for six days with the help of his trucks and a helicopter.”
Costner noted that while the first day’s footage was less successful, he quickly adjusted his approach with the actors. The final sequence turned out to be spectacular, although the buffalo were less than pleased and even charged at the helicopter by the end of the ordeal.
