Kevin Costner's directorial debut, the first western to win the best picture Oscar for 60 years, is a heartfelt attempt to create a frontier epic and to atone for Hollywood's shameful depiction of native American life. Costner himself plays the depressed, battle weary Union officer John Dunbar, a Civil War hero who, given the choice, opts for a remote posting in South Dakota to see the frontier before it disappears. After befriending the Sioux Indians he decides to join them, and marries Stands with a Fist (Mary McDonnell), a white woman also adopted by the tribe. Although the film is three hours long, Costner directs his pet project with a clear passion for the subject, and in so doing proves that epic westerns can still work if their heart is in the right place, the characters are real, and the cinematography is stunning - take a bow Dean Semler, another deserving winner of one of the seven Oscars awarded to Costner and co. Costner demythologises the westerns made by such directors as John Ford (for instance, much of the dialogue is in the Lakota Sioux language) to re-create the genre and present a wistful and poignant look at a way of life and a people that have all but disappeared. Admirably supported by fellow Oscar nominees Graham Greene, as Kicking Bird, and the brilliant McDonnell, Costner gives Dunbar an essential decency with which viewers cannot fail to empathise, right up until the moving climax. This is a marvel from beginning to end.

Wounded Civil War soldier John Dunbar tries to commit suicide—and becomes a hero instead. As a reward, he's assigned to his dream post, a remote junction on the Western frontier, and soon makes unlikely friends with the local Sioux tribe.