Right its been quite a while since my last post on this blog as I have been caught up with other things but I thought it was high time I got back to it and this post will cover another movie, and its modern action classic, The Last of the Mohicans, directed by Michael Mann. So let's get the muskets loaded up, get out the tomahawks and get ready for battle.... (well not really!)
So to start with the usual plot summary, the film is set during the French and Indian war in the year 1757 where Nathaniel Hawkeye (Daniel Day Lewis) and his adopted father Mohican Chingachgook (Russell Means) and brother Uncas (Eric Schweig) visit the Cameron household on the frontier. A friend of Hawkeye's, Jack Winthrop (Edward Blatchford) tells him that they are recruiting men for a militia for the British army. General Webb (Mac Andrews) during a meeting with Jack and his fellow men, promises them that they will be granted leave if they're homes are attacked, while the man while act as reinforcements for Colonel Edmund Munro (Maurice Roeves) at Fort William Henry. Meanwhile Major Duncan Heyward (Steven Waddington) is to esort Munro's daughters, Cora (Madeline Stowe) and Alice (Jodhi May) to the fort, along with the help of a Huron guide named Magua (Wes Studi). Duncan also wishes to marry Cora, however his love for her is unrequieted as she feels only friendship for him. Magua however enroute to the fort betrays them and leads them into an ambush where they attacked by a Huron war party, however they are saved by Hawkeye, Chingachgook and Uncas, with Magua managing to escape. From here Hawkeye agrees to lead Duncan and the Monro daughters to the fort.
During their travels Hawkeye and the others come across the Cameron home which has been burned down and the family has been murdered. They then soon arrive at the fort while it is being attacked but they manage to get in unharmed. Munro is surprised to see his daughters as he had sent a courier to tell them to stay away, however the courier was intercepted by Magua. As the fort is struggling under the attack of the French, Munro sends a courier to Webb requesting more reinforcements. Cora and Hawkeye in the meantime have become attracted to one another, so while Munro and Hawkeye argue over the Cameron's being murdered at their home, Duncan out of jealousy denies that it was to do with the Hurons and instead it was just thieves. Webb also refuses to let the militia leave the fort to defend their homes as he insists they need all the men they can get. Later on Hawkeye helps the militia members escape and as a result he is arrested for sedition and sentenced to be hanged, despite Cora's efforts to plea against it. Munro then meets with the French General Montcalm (Patrice Chereau) and offers Munro and his men safe passage to Albany if they surrender and leave the fort, and also reveals that a message was sent from Webb stating that he had no reinforcements to send, which leaves Munro little choice but to accept Montcalm's offer. However Montcalm is in fact working with Magua, who reveals that his wife and family were killed at the hands of Munro and he intends to get his revenge.
The next day as Munro and the British soldiers and families leave the fort they are ambushed by a Huron war party and during which Munro is killed by Magua who cuts out his heart. Hawkeye manages to release himself and helps out with fighting the Hurons and he rescues Cora from nearly been killed by a Huron. Hawkeye and the others then flee using canoes they row over Lake George and then down a river to a cave behind a waterfall. With Magua's men close behind them, Hawkeye realises that they have no chance fighting them as they are outnumbered, so he tells Cora for her and Alice to submit to the Huron and he will try and find them later, then he jumps into the waterfall along with Chingachgook and Uncas. Magua and his men soon take Cora and Alice captive and to a Huron village, and from here Hawkeye far from afar goes after them in order to try and find a way to save them.
Based on the novel written by James Fenimore Cooper, The Last of the Mohicans has been adapted on the big screen several times and even on the small screen as well (by the BBC during the 1970s) and it has to be said that Michael Mann's adaption certainly is a fine one. The story is pretty much a classical telling of the good and bad guys, although it is also interestingly depicted as showing the views of the opposing sides, with American settlers trying to life their lives on the frontier, while the French and British fight over one another and the settlers are caught up between it. In the film Magua is shown to be the villain but he is one for a reason as it also deals with the acts of savagery committed by the British army, who killed his family and it is a natural instinct for Magua to want revenge. The film also depicts Hawkeye as a heroic figure but at the same time his only loyalities are to his adopted family and the Cameron family whom are murdered and he refuses not to get involve with either side and is reclutant to support the British as he says clearly at one point to Duncan. So the film certainly does well in telling the different sides of the story albet in a condensed way.
Moving onto the performances they are all excellent here, and Daniel Day Lewis does a great job in his leading role as Hawkeye, the heroic tracker and woodsman who get's involved in helping Munro daughters and fighting the Hurons. Lewis has several highlights in the film which include the scene where he starts to guide the Munro daughters and Duncan, who is rather snooty with him and as Duncan asks him "I thought all our scouts were in the militia??" to which Hawkeye replies "I ain't your scout. And we sure ain't no damn militia! Clear it up any??". And later when he and Duncan argue with one another as they dispute the attack on the Cameron's home with Munro, Duncan angrily says to Hawkeye "I will have you beaten from this fort!" and Hawkeye replies "You know one of these days you and I are going to have a serious disagreement!". Lewis also has a good moment where he talks with Jack Winthrop and the other militia members and he says he will stay behind as he has a reason to, and Jack says "That reason wear a striped skirt and work in the surgery?" and Hawkeye says "It does. No offence, but its a better looking reason than you, Jack Winthrop!". Lewis also handles the action scenes well as the film's impressive action sequences are pretty full on and Lewis does his bit with his musket and tomahawk.
Madeline Stowe is also pretty good (and very pretty) in her role as Cora Munro, the Scottish daughter of Colonel Munro, who falls for Hawkeye as they travel together. Stowe's Scottish accent however it has to be said isn't very convincing as it borders on being English at times and it sounds pretty muddled, but it doesn't really detract much from her performance. Stowe has some good moments such as in the scene where she argues with her father over Hawkeye being arrested for helping the militia members desert. And Cora argues with her father and says "If that is justice then the sooner that the French guns blow the English out of America the better it will be for the people here! I know exactly what I am saying and if it is sedition, then I am guilty of sedition too!". Steve Waddington is also excellent in his role as Major Duncan Heywood who is in love with Cora, but he feelings aren't returned and as a result he grows jealous of and resentful of Hawkeye. Waddington has several good scenes in the film, such as where he argues with Hawkeye (which is quite often!) and also the scene where he is captured by Magua and taken to the village and he translates for Hawkeye who arrives, and he ends up sacrificing himself so the others can leave. Waddington's best lines include when he talks to General Webb at the start of the film and he says to him "I thought British policies made the world England, sir!" and later as they flee on canoes from the Huron and he points his gun at Hawkeye from afar he shouts "When you fall into British hands again I'll have you hanged!". And also as he argues with Cora after Hawkeye is arrested he says "You are defending him because you are infatuated with him!".
Maurice Roeves is also excellent in his role as Colonel Munro, who desparately tries to maintain control of Fort William Henry as well as try and keep his daughters safe. Roeves best moments come in two scenes, the first being where he argues with Hawkeye at the fort and he says "I need more proof than this man's word!" and later "Any one fomenting or advocating the leaving of Fort William Henry will be hung for sedition! Anyone actually caught for leaving will be shot for desertion! Now my decision is final. Get out!". And later on in the scene where he meets with the French General Montcalm and receives the courier message from Webb, he ponders solemnly "I lived to see something I have never expected: a British office afraid to support another. Death and honour are thought to be the same, but today I have learned that sometimes they are not".
Wes Studi also does a fine job as the villainous Magua, the Huron leader, who launches an attack on the British soldiers when they leave the fort and hellbent on revenge over Munro. Studi has some good moments in the film which include where he escorts Duncan and the Munro daughters to the fort and Duncan tells him to stop so they can get water, and Magua says in his native tongue "Magua understands that he is a dog to his women. When they are tired, he puts down his tomahawk to feed their laziness" and Duncan asks him "What did you say??" and Magua replies "Magua said... I understand English, very well". And later when he is about to kill Munro he says to him "White hair, let it be known before you die, I will put under the knife your children, so your seed will be wiped out forever!" followed by his gruesome heart cutting scene. And lastly Russell Means and Eric Schweig both bring a quiet elegance to their roles as the Chingachgook and Uncas, with Chingy actually being the last of the mohicans by the end.
Which brings me onto the director, Michael Mann who does a terrific job here with Last of the Mohicans, as the pacing is kept tight and the action scenes are quite spectacular to watch. Visually the film is also stunning and has many beatifully photographed scenes such as the scene where Duncan's carriage travels over a bridge as he goes to meet Webb and we see the perfect reflection of the bridge in the water. Also the scene where the two opposing armies meet one another, the British and the French are lined up either side of the screen it is quite impressive. Not to mention the stunning scenery in North Carolina where the majority of the film was shot, and the scene where Hawkeye chases after Cora after she is captured by the Huron. The film's score is also very worthy of note, written by Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman, which is terrific and its main theme is very memorable to this day and it also features several wonderfully ambient and dramatic passages which suit the film perfectly.
As for flaws does Mohicans have that many???? It does have one or two, to start with I have to say while it is an engrossing and highly entertaining film, the script leaves a bit to be desired at times, and it has some pretty corny dialogue in it. Such examples include the scene where Hawkeye explains to Cora why he didn't bury the Cameron family's bodies and he tells her about them, and she says was moved by his story and "Its deeply stirring to my blood". Jeeeez! Also there is the scene where they make it pretty blatant that Hawkeye and Cora are into one another while they are at the fort, and Hawkeye eyes Cora (so to speak!) and she says "What are you looking at, sir?" and he replies "I'm looking at you, miss". In fact it has to be said that the whole romance between Hawkeye and Cora is somewhat stilted and it feels a bit flat and almost tagged on and it feels irrelevant next to all the action. Another problem is that some of the characterisation is a bit minimalised in certain parts, particularly with the non existant love story between Uncas and Munro's other daughter, Alice, as there is probably about only three scenes in the film where it even suggests they were into one another, the last being after Uncas is killed by Magua, Alice kills herself by falling off the mountain edge. Chingachgook's character is also largely minimalised in the film as well and while I haven't read the book, you'd imagine that the character who IS the last of the mohicans, should receive a more prominent role in the story. And now I come to think of it, I actually think Hawkeye's character is a bit of a dick as he does come across as being quite arrogant at times in the film, with a cocky surefire quality in Day Lewis's performance which can occassionally leave you a bit irritated. But again these are just my observations.
Sooooo that's it for my look at Last of the Mohicans which remains a gripping, and at times thrilling and entertaining historical war film, which is well worth another watch.
And with that I shall bid yee farewellie.
拜拜 (that's Goodbye in Cantonese. Just for a change!).
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