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The Last of the Mohicans, 1992
Cora (Madeleine Stowe) and Alice (Jodhi May) are the daughters of a British commander, Munro (Maurice Roeves), being escorted to their father by British Major Heyward (Steven Waddington) and Native guide Magua (Wes Studi). But when Magua betrays them, due to a fierce hatred of Munro, the travelers must rely on the Mohican family of Chingachgook (Russell Means), Uncas (Eric Schweig), and the adopted Hawkeye (Daniel Day-Lewis). Along their various adventures, Cora and Hawkeye begin to develop feelings for each other, something that disturbs Munro and Heyward, who wants Cora for himself.
Despite a story that betrays some old-fashioned narrative conventions, engaging performances and beautiful scenery make this an enjoyable adventure-romance.
The midst of the French and Indian War is a really interesting time period in which to tell a story. As various European powers jockeyed for power in the “New World,” different indigenous nations had to decide which allyships would best benefit them and/or allow them to retain some sovereignty over their land.
I appreciated that the film acknowledges the complexity of relationships between different indigenous nations, and that they have different cultures and traditions. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of depth that Chingachgook and Uncas were given as characters. They are not merely used as window dressing for Day-Lewis’s character, but have their own set of morals and emotions. Even Mangua, the outright villain of the film, has an understandable motivation and isn’t just an evil-just-because indigenous character.
The performances across the board are engaging. Day-Lewis is always solid, and he’s well-paired with Stowe’s strong but understated performance. Cora’s character is dealing with a lot of intense circumstances, and I thought that the portrayal of the growing attraction she feels toward Hawkeye made sense in the context of the film. It’s not merely that he protects her when she is in danger, but that she sees his moral treatment of others, even at risk to his own life. Means and Schweig also have good chemistry with Day-Lewis, and they make sense as a family unit, especially when Chingachgook is distraught at the British handling of Hawkeye. Studi brings a frightening ferocity to his performance as Mangua---someone who is out for revenge and laser focused on that outcome.
My favorite aspect of the film was probably the use of the forest settings. There is a very memorable battle sequence set in a field adjacent to a wooded area, but the movie as a whole makes great use of gorgeous landscapes. It amplifies the central romance of the entire story, giving a lush and sprawling sense of this as an epic tale. I think that the best use of wilderness in film captures both the danger and the beauty of it, and there are large doses of both in this film.
On the downside, well, a lot of this movie made much more sense when I learned that it was based on a novel written in the early 1800s. I’ve read more than my fair share of British and early American novels from that era, and a lot of the less endearing tropes are present and accounted for. The hero is white because . . . of course he is. You can definitely make an argument that Hawkeye’s race puts him in a unique position of being taken more seriously by the British, that being a white person adopted by a radically different culture is a special experience, but . . . eh. That’s not really explored in a very interesting way in the movie. It feels more like a way to dodge featuring a “mixed-race” romance. There is a very sweet parallel romance with Alice and Uncas, but anyone who’s read a novel from this era knows full well the trajectory of that sub-plot.
The story also feels a bit slight. Nothing against the romance, which develops pretty well. But the most interesting aspect of the movie for me was the historical stuff: the simmering tensions between the farmers who have been drafted to fight with the British, the French military commander negotiating terms for surrender, the different indigenous tribes choosing their allies, etc. Obviously the history is meant to be the backdrop for the romance and not the other way around, but on balance I wanted more of the stuff that was relegated to the background.
A solid historical romance with plenty of lush scenery.
The Last of the Mohicans, 1992
Cora (Madeleine Stowe) and Alice (Jodhi May) are the daughters of a British commander, Munro (Maurice Roeves), being escorted to their father by British Major Heyward (Steven Waddington) and Native guide Magua (Wes Studi). But when Magua betrays them, due to a fierce hatred of Munro, the travelers must rely on the Mohican family of Chingachgook (Russell Means), Uncas (Eric Schweig), and the adopted Hawkeye (Daniel Day-Lewis). Along their various adventures, Cora and Hawkeye begin to develop feelings for each other, something that disturbs Munro and Heyward, who wants Cora for himself.
Despite a story that betrays some old-fashioned narrative conventions, engaging performances and beautiful scenery make this an enjoyable adventure-romance.
The midst of the French and Indian War is a really interesting time period in which to tell a story. As various European powers jockeyed for power in the “New World,” different indigenous nations had to decide which allyships would best benefit them and/or allow them to retain some sovereignty over their land.
I appreciated that the film acknowledges the complexity of relationships between different indigenous nations, and that they have different cultures and traditions. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of depth that Chingachgook and Uncas were given as characters. They are not merely used as window dressing for Day-Lewis’s character, but have their own set of morals and emotions. Even Mangua, the outright villain of the film, has an understandable motivation and isn’t just an evil-just-because indigenous character.
The performances across the board are engaging. Day-Lewis is always solid, and he’s well-paired with Stowe’s strong but understated performance. Cora’s character is dealing with a lot of intense circumstances, and I thought that the portrayal of the growing attraction she feels toward Hawkeye made sense in the context of the film. It’s not merely that he protects her when she is in danger, but that she sees his moral treatment of others, even at risk to his own life. Means and Schweig also have good chemistry with Day-Lewis, and they make sense as a family unit, especially when Chingachgook is distraught at the British handling of Hawkeye. Studi brings a frightening ferocity to his performance as Mangua---someone who is out for revenge and laser focused on that outcome.
My favorite aspect of the film was probably the use of the forest settings. There is a very memorable battle sequence set in a field adjacent to a wooded area, but the movie as a whole makes great use of gorgeous landscapes. It amplifies the central romance of the entire story, giving a lush and sprawling sense of this as an epic tale. I think that the best use of wilderness in film captures both the danger and the beauty of it, and there are large doses of both in this film.
On the downside, well, a lot of this movie made much more sense when I learned that it was based on a novel written in the early 1800s. I’ve read more than my fair share of British and early American novels from that era, and a lot of the less endearing tropes are present and accounted for. The hero is white because . . . of course he is. You can definitely make an argument that Hawkeye’s race puts him in a unique position of being taken more seriously by the British, that being a white person adopted by a radically different culture is a special experience, but . . . eh. That’s not really explored in a very interesting way in the movie. It feels more like a way to dodge featuring a “mixed-race” romance. There is a very sweet parallel romance with Alice and Uncas, but anyone who’s read a novel from this era knows full well the trajectory of that sub-plot.
The story also feels a bit slight. Nothing against the romance, which develops pretty well. But the most interesting aspect of the movie for me was the historical stuff: the simmering tensions between the farmers who have been drafted to fight with the British, the French military commander negotiating terms for surrender, the different indigenous tribes choosing their allies, etc. Obviously the history is meant to be the backdrop for the romance and not the other way around, but on balance I wanted more of the stuff that was relegated to the background.
A solid historical romance with plenty of lush scenery.