DIRECTOR: Michael Mann
CAST:
Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stowe, Russell Means,
Wes Studi, Eric Schweig, Jodhi May, Steven Waddington,
Maurice Roëves, Patrice Chéreau
REVIEW:
Based loosely on James Fenimore Cooper's novel, Michael Mann's (Manhunter, Heat) The Last of the Mohicans is one of the most sumptuous, stirring, and virtually flawless adventures ever brought to the screen. Like the most enthralling films brought to audiences (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, to name another), it is not simply a film, it is a red-blooded experience, a breathtakingly sweeping epic that should appeal to anyone who enjoys Braveheart or Rob Roy. By every conceivable standard, The Last of the Mohicans is in the same league, and it could be argued that not even those films, as magnificent as they may be, achieved the artistry and grandeur of this one. The Last of the Mohicans is poetry in motion.
Orphaned as a child, Hawkeye (Daniel Day-Lewis), the son of white settlers, was taken in by the Mohican Chingachgook (Russell Means), and raised as his son and the brother of Uncas (Eric Schweig). Sometime after the outbreak of the French and Indian War, with the British battling the French for possession of the American continent, the three come to the rescue of two British women, Cora (Madeleine Stowe) and her sister Alice (Jodhi May), who have come to America to join their father, Colonel Munro (Maurice Roëves), who is pitted against French General Montcalm (Patrice Chéreau). Making their way to Munro’s besieged fort, the group is pursued by Magua (Wes Studi), a brutal Huron warrior who is zealously vengeful against Munro and his entire family for earlier anti-Indian campaigns. Cora meanwhile has been wooed for some time by a British officer, Major Duncan Heyward (Steven Waddington), but she does not return his affection-- especially when she falls in love with Hawkeye.
At the time best-known for playing reserved gentlemen in period dramas, Daniel Day-Lewis was considered a dubious choice for the rugged hero, but he overcomes any skepticism with a brawny, charismatic performance. He radiates magnetism, and is entirely credible as a romantic action hero. And despite a variable British accent, Madeleine Stowe is more than capable in the role of Cora. And Mohicans proves that a smoldering glance can do more than a torrid sex scene. Day-Lewis and Stowe keep their clothes on throughout, but the scenes between them sizzle like few romantic pairings onscreen. Among the supporting cast, there's not a misstep to be found. Eric Schweig and Jodi May have less to do than their screen siblings, but make us wish their subplot had been more-developed. Native American activist Russell Means is suitably strong and authoritative as Chingachgook. Steven Waddington and Maurice Roëves make Major Heyward and Colonel Munro flawed, but not evil characters. And Wes Studi supplies a villain who is as fearsome as they come, yet has more dimension than a generic Hollywood “bad guy”. Magua is a ferocious man (when he vows to cut out an enemy’s heart, he’s speaking literally), but Studi and the filmmakers work to give a measure of depth to his character. We never warm to him, but we come to some level of understanding, and with penetrating eyes that radiate a seething hatred and intensity just behind his stony face, Studi commands attention whenever he appears.
The film's story has only a passing resemblance to Cooper's (which Mann dismissed as plodding, shallow, and condescending in its portrayal of Native Americans). Mann has used the original story as the launching pad for a grand, passionate, beautiful, gloriously fierce adventure tale with a heavy helping of romance thrown into the mix. And in case all the intense stares and heaving bosoms threaten to make the male viewers roll their eyes, the battle scenes are as fierce and bloody as any this side of Braveheart. The “good side” and “bad side” in the French-Indian War, if there was such a thing, is murky at best. In war, as in so many other aspects of real life, little is either completely good or evil. What’s clear is that neither the British nor the French give much consideration to the native population- either the Indians or the white settlers. Magua is clearly the villain, but he has his reasons for behaving the way that he does. And as Major Heyward and Colonel Munro have their failings, so do they also have their virtues. No character here is a one-dimensional cutout. And then there's the gorgeous scenery filmed by Dante Spinotti (who also worked with Mann on Heat), and the soaring score by Randy Edelman and Trevor Jones. From the opening chase through the forest that gets the heart pumping perfectly, to a poignant final look at the smoky mountains spread out before our characters, Mohicans whisks us along on a blood-pumping, stirring, enthralling ride that never takes a misstep worth mentioning.
****
Back to Jester's Movie Reviews