Pure cinematic excitement...
Author: Righty-Sock (robertfrangie@hotmail.com) from Mexico
14 July 2002
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
The year is 1757... The principal occupants of the region are Native Americans and a great diversity of wild life...
It is the third year of the war between French and British, for the possession of the continent, somewhere on the frontier west of the Hudson River... The Mohicans are allied with the British while their old enemies the Hurons side with the French... There, three men roam the forest making their living as frontier trappers and scouts... The first is Hawkeye, a superb frontiersman raised by the Mohawk, who can reload and fire a flintlock at full run; the second is his adopted father Chingachgook, the last of the Mohicans, and the third, his brother Uncas, 'a warrior swift and straight as an arrow shot in the sun.'
This trio seems have nothing to do with the early Colonial wars, until they come upon the vengeful Magwa and his Huron war party as they attempt to slaughter the Munro sisters, Cora and Alice, heading with a small regiment of redcoats to meet up with their father, Colonel Munro, at Fort William Henry...Eventually, the compassionate Mohican family comes to the rescue with a spectacular style of fighting... The film takes full advantage of their graphic capabilities with incredibly fast and fluid fighting action and mind-blowing attack moves... Shortly thereafter, two love stories take place...
The three men lead the survivors to the English fort besieged by French forces and their Huron allies... The siege is a grand affair of roaring nighttime cannon and mortar attacks...Michael Mann's historical romance film gives a realistic picture of the frontier life, and a vivid impression of the horrors of warfare in the wilderness at the time where the combatants often had time for one shot before being overpowered and reduced to hand-to-hand fierce combat... The movie is filled with scenes of incredible, brutal violence... It's warfare at a primal level...
Academy Award Winner Daniel Day Lewis also known as "The long rifle" is splendid as Hawkeye, the legendary warrior who encourages the Colonial militia to desert... He agrees to surrender in exchange for the life of two sisters and one British officer... He vows romantically to Cora that he will find her no matter how long it takes, no matter how far...Madeleine Stowe manages to find in Cora's fiery character a balance between sensitivity and strength... War and tragedy swirl around her as she struggles to protect her man... Cora's attraction grows for the soft-spoken warrior, who shows marked differences when compared to Major Heyward...
Jodhi May is the blonde Alice, Cora's younger timid sister... By that long shot of her innocent face - a portrait of extreme torment and despair - we are all aware of her sufferings... We sense more pain than she can cope with... May has almost no lines, but her eyes, brimming with tears, are saying everything... No matter how much she wants to remain standing, she was retreating further and further from the ugly face of Magua... Her heart was crying out in anger... We all know that she will do anything than surrender... Her breakdown turns the scene into a willpower for revenge..
Russell Means is powerful as the Mohican elder Chingachgook... His running battle along that majestic ridge is some of the finest film-making we've seen in terms of action and intensity... There is no dialog in these moments but the scene leaves us certainly breathless.. Wes Studi is Magua, the infamous Huron Indian who always speaks of himself in the third person... He is fluent in English, French, and Huron... Magua is a strong, vibrant villain consumed with hatred... Magua plots the massacre of the retreating troops, their women and children...
Eric Schweig is Hawkeye's gentle and valiant brother Uncas... His quiet tenderness for Alice adds emotional weight to what could be passionate and unique... He asserts his mythic stature in a battle on a mountain top with Magua, not only to determine the winner in a struggle between good and evil, but also to decide the destiny of a race...Steven Waddington is the last survivor of a troop of English soldiers caught by France's Indian allies... He is a jealous and snobbish officer who wants the radiant Cora at any price...
Heyward brings some realistic touches of duality, showing his courage with one life-saving act...Maurice Roëves seems impotent as Munroe... His blindness to the realities of "honor" brings destruction... Patrice Chéreau is the French General Montcalm who gives Magua the go ahead to attack Munro's retreating army... He begs Munrow not to sign the death warrant of so many, and promises safe passage for the English so long as they return to England and fight no more on the continent...
The real inspiration of 'The Last of the Mohicans' is the extraordinary action sequences, the intensity of its music, and the exotic romanticism of such 1930's adventures as 'Charge of the Light Brigade', 'Gunga Din', and 'The Lives of a Bengal Lancer', where unshaken heroes never hesitate in the face of savage adversaries Michael Mann's camera exploits the beauty of the North Carolina mysterious Smoky Mountains, its verdant forests, and its white-water rapids and waterfalls... The opening shot of the fog misting through the Smokies are enough to take your breath away...
