The Last of the MohicansThe 18th century in North America was a dynamic time for nations and peoples, indigenous and foreign. The colonization of the eastern coastline of North America--what would become the United States of America--brought Europeans seeking a new way of life away from the tyranny of Europe, despite the colonists being beholden to English law. For the Native Americans who lived here before the colonization, it meant adapting to the foreign lifestyles of their new neighbors, sometimes benevolent, sometimes hostile. But what forged our new nation can be summed up most succinctly in a word: war.
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The Last of the Mohicans was directed by Michael Mann and is an epic historical romance, drama, and action movie adapted from the novel titled "The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757" by James Fenimore Cooper, which itself was adapted for film first in 1936. As the name of the source material suggests, it is set in 1757, in the midst of the "French and Indian War" (or the "War of the Conquest" as it is known by French Canadians). For background, this war (which coincided with the global "Seven Years' War") was a conflict between then superpowers England and France between their respective colonies in North America, which--again as the name suggests--also included extensive use of Native Americans in the conflict. The reason this background is important to The Last of the Mohicans is because it emphasizes how the colonists and Native Americans are looked upon as nothing but pawns to the French and English. The film opens with Nathaniel "Hawkeye" Poe (Daniel Day-Lewis) hunting alongside his Native American brethren. Hawkeye is a white man who was taken in by the Mohican tribe as an infant and raised as one of their own. He and his fellows share their hunt with a family of colonists, who are growing increasingly concerned about the war on their doorstep, and whether their homestead will be safe. Upon the arrival of British Major Duncan Heyward (Steven Waddington), who is to lead the daughters of Colonel Edmund Munro (Maurice Roëves) to Fort William Henry (currently under siege by the French), the colonists are promised that should their homes be attacked, they will have leave to return to defend it--a promise which Munro breaks at the first opportunity. Heyward and Munro expect that the colonists will just do as their told because they are British subjects, regardless of their welfare and safety, making it clear in the film how the seeds of revolution were sown.
Even though The Last of the Mohicans is a historical drama, it feels a lot like a romance, owing to the one that blossoms between Hawkeye and Edmund's older daughter, Cora (Madeleine Stowe). Hawkeye exemplifies many heroic qualities, and his physique and masculine charm recalls the depictions of men from the covers of romance novels. Cora is a smart and independent woman (given the time period and culture), and isn't afraid to tell her father that he is wrong when he condemns Hawkeye for giving the colonists serving under his command the opportunity to escape to defend their homes. Also, after Duncan arrives, he proposes to Cora, and her uncomfortable delay to answer him makes it clear that this is probably not his first attempt. Duncan is largely an arrogant jerk who lies about a massacre they come across en route, so it's easy to see why Cora would be drawn to Hawkeye instead. After all, he saved her and her sister, Alice (Jodhi May), from an ambush by the vengeful Magua (Wes Studi), a Huron native who seeks to kill Colonel Edmond and his daughters for the pain he endured in his childhood at the hands of the British commander. Cora and Hawkeye flirt innocently enough after arriving at the fort while she tends wounds, but the attraction between them is clear. And on a night of merriment in-between attacks by the French, the two share a passionate embrace to emphasize that their hearts are now linked as one. As The Last of the Mohicans progresses, Hawkeye has ample opportunities to save Cora from Magua's tribe, and displays nigh superhuman heroism in the effort. Even Cora brandishes a pistol at one point to defend Alice while Magua pursues her father, revealing how she is transforming into something stronger in this brave new world. There are several action set pieces that feel as though despite the absolute chaos surrounding Hawkeye and Cora, that these lovers are destined to be together, even against insurmountable odds. Hawkeye's nickname is well-earned; at one point, he manages to fire a decisive shot from his musket mere nanoseconds before Cora would fall "under the knife" of one of the Huron.
I first saw The Last of the Mohicans when I was about thirteen, and while staying briefly with a family in the suburbs of London. One of the daughters showed it to me; we later joked about the accents we claimed that we didn't have, but the other insisted that we did. I didn't think much of it then, but I wonder now about movies like The Last of the Mohicans--how its depictions of figures in history are received by one nation or another. Of course this is the eternal question about historical dramas and their like. I've also been a fan of the "Assassin's Creed" series of video games--which are fundamentally historical drama simulators--and even Edmund Munro appears in one such entry titled "Assassin's Creed Rogue", although he is depicted differently than in this movie. Historical dramas always run the risk of romanticizing the periods in time which they depict, especially through their characterizations of real people. It's easy to see how the American colonists were inspired to throw off the yoke of British imperialism through the lens of The Last of the Mohicans and many more Revolutionary War dramas--from TV shows like "Turn: Washington's Spies" (about the Culper Ring) to hip-hop musical, "Hamilton". The danger in envisioning our history as being exactly like it was in these historical dramas is that we're having the past filtered through contemporary interpretations and often for the sake of story rather than authenticity. It's important to keep in mind that what is true and what is embellished has everything to do with whose telling the tale.
Recommended for: Fans of a dramatic romance set amid the heady colonial days before the birth of the United States. The Last of the Mohicans is a largely inoffensive historical drama made palatable for most audiences, and checks a lot of familiar narrative boxes often included in a patriotic epic that moviegoers have come to expect.
Even though The Last of the Mohicans is a historical drama, it feels a lot like a romance, owing to the one that blossoms between Hawkeye and Edmund's older daughter, Cora (Madeleine Stowe). Hawkeye exemplifies many heroic qualities, and his physique and masculine charm recalls the depictions of men from the covers of romance novels. Cora is a smart and independent woman (given the time period and culture), and isn't afraid to tell her father that he is wrong when he condemns Hawkeye for giving the colonists serving under his command the opportunity to escape to defend their homes. Also, after Duncan arrives, he proposes to Cora, and her uncomfortable delay to answer him makes it clear that this is probably not his first attempt. Duncan is largely an arrogant jerk who lies about a massacre they come across en route, so it's easy to see why Cora would be drawn to Hawkeye instead. After all, he saved her and her sister, Alice (Jodhi May), from an ambush by the vengeful Magua (Wes Studi), a Huron native who seeks to kill Colonel Edmond and his daughters for the pain he endured in his childhood at the hands of the British commander. Cora and Hawkeye flirt innocently enough after arriving at the fort while she tends wounds, but the attraction between them is clear. And on a night of merriment in-between attacks by the French, the two share a passionate embrace to emphasize that their hearts are now linked as one. As The Last of the Mohicans progresses, Hawkeye has ample opportunities to save Cora from Magua's tribe, and displays nigh superhuman heroism in the effort. Even Cora brandishes a pistol at one point to defend Alice while Magua pursues her father, revealing how she is transforming into something stronger in this brave new world. There are several action set pieces that feel as though despite the absolute chaos surrounding Hawkeye and Cora, that these lovers are destined to be together, even against insurmountable odds. Hawkeye's nickname is well-earned; at one point, he manages to fire a decisive shot from his musket mere nanoseconds before Cora would fall "under the knife" of one of the Huron.
I first saw The Last of the Mohicans when I was about thirteen, and while staying briefly with a family in the suburbs of London. One of the daughters showed it to me; we later joked about the accents we claimed that we didn't have, but the other insisted that we did. I didn't think much of it then, but I wonder now about movies like The Last of the Mohicans--how its depictions of figures in history are received by one nation or another. Of course this is the eternal question about historical dramas and their like. I've also been a fan of the "Assassin's Creed" series of video games--which are fundamentally historical drama simulators--and even Edmund Munro appears in one such entry titled "Assassin's Creed Rogue", although he is depicted differently than in this movie. Historical dramas always run the risk of romanticizing the periods in time which they depict, especially through their characterizations of real people. It's easy to see how the American colonists were inspired to throw off the yoke of British imperialism through the lens of The Last of the Mohicans and many more Revolutionary War dramas--from TV shows like "Turn: Washington's Spies" (about the Culper Ring) to hip-hop musical, "Hamilton". The danger in envisioning our history as being exactly like it was in these historical dramas is that we're having the past filtered through contemporary interpretations and often for the sake of story rather than authenticity. It's important to keep in mind that what is true and what is embellished has everything to do with whose telling the tale.
Recommended for: Fans of a dramatic romance set amid the heady colonial days before the birth of the United States. The Last of the Mohicans is a largely inoffensive historical drama made palatable for most audiences, and checks a lot of familiar narrative boxes often included in a patriotic epic that moviegoers have come to expect.