“The Last of the Mohicans” (1992)
The Best of Michael Mann — Vol 5.
Written a decade ago and a rather long love letter to a favourite film director, the only two films missing from the cinematic cannon of Michael Mann that bookend an entire film career otherwise catalogued at length in my blog article linked at the bottom of this opening salvo is his 1981 debut feature entitled Thief and his last feature length offering to date, 2015’s rather forgettable Blackhat. I still haven’t seen Thief, I’ve still forgotten about Blackhat and as The Last of the Mohicans is now 30 years old I thought I’d make you feel old by re-releasing my thoughts on a majestic film from a long ago 1992!
I’m in the process of re-releasing my top 5 favourite Michael Mann directed films and I’ve decided to release them in reverse order. All of Michael’s films are listed as a sub-title to the blog article below, so I’ll leave you to muse amongst yourselves as to which films receive the highly coveted other spots within my personal top 5 and if you’re wondering where Miami Vice fits within this top 5, we can’t be friends!
So to triple Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis, a quite astounding film and my ten year old ramblings of appreciation. It’s a little stilted and I believe my writing has improved significantly over the past decade. Feel free to take a peek at the articles linked at the denouement of the spoiler free review upcoming and judge for yourselves.
I hope you enjoy.
“1757: The American Colonies. It is the 3rd year of the war between England and France for the possession of the continent.
Three men, the last of a vanishing people, are on the frontier west of the Hudson River”
Cue “Hawkeye” (an astonishing Daniel Day-Lewis) running through a dense forest to the backdrop of the film’s brilliant main and iconic musical theme “The Gael” by Dougie MacLean. The film’s music is it’s heartbeat with the above main theme often used throughout, as well as Clannad’s “I will find you”, however the overall musical score from Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman is a treat and highly recommended. Based on the original novel by James Fenimore Cooper and inspired by previous film adaptations, this screenplay was also written by Michael Mann and Christopher Crowe. From a frenetic beginning to a sweet and jovial familial gathering, the back story is quickly established:
Hawkeye, together with Brother “Uncas” (Eric Schweig) and spiritual Father “Chingachgook” (Russell Means) they patrol the surrounding hills where they live in relative harmony despite being situated at the very tip of the frontier and the ongoing war. With the war growing closer to home, they rescue an English army despatch on their way to Fort William Henry. Within this despatch is “Major Duncan Heyward” (Steve Waddington) and two of the Colonel’s daughters, one of which is “Cora Munro” (Madeleine Stowe).
Madeleine Stowe is simply excellent as Cora, and the shared scenes with Day-Lewis’ Hawkeye are superbly played by both, culminating in the waterfall scene above. The Uncas character is a little under used, however the same can’t be said for Russell Means’ character Chingachgook. Means is superb throughout and the film’s moral centre, but an acting performance of great class too. Wes Studi is excellent as “Magua”, the villian of the piece and small cameo’s are well played by Pete Postlethwaite as “Captain Beams”, Jodhi May as “Alice Munro” and Maurice Roeves as “Edward Munro”.
Acting credits of course belong to Daniel Day-Lewis. With the camera seemingly never off him, Day-Lewis is utterly captivating and he also brings out the very best in the actors that surround him. Yet another power house performance and another to add to his CV of film stealing brilliance.
Throughout this joy of a film it’s clear that Mann and regular Director of Photography Dante Spinotti have again meticulously planned every scene down to the last detail. It really is a triumph for both, as with the aforementioned brilliant musical score, every scene is perfectly blended together, moving the two hour epic along at a good pace, despite Mann’s trademark of wringing every last ounce out of a scene before moving on. Again, the scenes are unrushed and backed by Spinotti’s lighting and beautiful wide shots, it’s still a joy to watch 30 years since release. The film hasn’t aged, is still as affecting as ever and has so many iconic scenes created by the Mann/Spinotti partnership. From an opening short scene of the English army advancing on the village, across a bridge and amidst simple yet effective reflections, to a brutal and violent ambush brilliantly choreographed and with a constantly moving camera/Steadicam and quick flash editing, to another ambush and similar praise throughout.
The final credits fall (pun intended) to two waterfall sequences, one short scene during a climb alongside a waterfall, to the iconic scene inside a waterfall. Mann, Spinotti, Day-Lewis and Stowe all triumph here, as does the accompanying musical score and Costume Design from Elsa Zamparelli. Yet another Michael Mann masterpiece was guaranteed.
“Chingachgook” (Russell Means) Also deserves great credit for his portrayal here and for his other wonderful acting credits throughout his career. I consider myself very fortunate to have listened to many interviews with Russell as he was forthright and not backward in coming forward as a Libertarian political activist and strong activist for the rights of the Native American People.
Born: 10th November 1939
Died: 22nd October 2012
Thanks for reading. Just for larks as always, and always a human reaction rather than spoilers galore. My three most recently published film articles are linked below or there’s well over 180 blog articles (with 350+ individual film reviews) within my archives from which to choose:
