The Last of the Mohicans (1992, R)

Directed by: Michael Mann

Grade: A—

The Last of the Mohicans is so strikingly beautiful as to that it ventures incredibly close to becoming a completely unforgettable cinematic experience.  It may be less of a historical epic than we might have hoped it to be, as it evolves into more of a romantic adventure, set against a backdrop of mortal conflict.  And so, much of the film centers around the passion of love engulfed in a world of warfare.  Nevertheless, the film is both harsh and tender in its presentation of 1700s frontier life.  This way, we can attain an understanding of life in the wilderness in Colonial America.  That’s the origins of America, my friends.   

Director Michael Mann’s directing style in the Last of the Mohicans is uniquely different from his later pictures.  Whereas those later pictures (ex. Heat, Collateral, Public Enemies) were action-thrillers put together with quick cuts and long shootouts, the Last of the Mohicans is a frontier movie, one that is crafted neatly with close-ups on the characters facial expressions, situated along beautiful photography and set to beautiful music.  The entire film is so handsomely gorgeous from beginning to end, from a visual and resonating standpoint. 

Many essentials of the Last of the Mohicans are purely traditional: Hawkeye is the hero who is willing to put his friends ahead of himself and to do anything to save his beloved; about half of the following supporting characters: Chingachgook, Uncas, Cora, Alice and Colonel Munro, can be used as cannon fodder for slightly schmaltzy reasons, but all are fortunately well developed nonetheless; and Magua, the antagonist, is a shady, imposing figure who delivers a cold, rigid, wide-eyed stare to anyone who seems to step in the path of his strategy.  I wouldn’t exactly consider these fundamentals to necessarily be flaws, as we can relate to all of these even if they have been used in other stories we have read or films we have watched.  As a result, the disposition of the characters is prosperous, yet familiar.    

The warfare sequences are supremely fashioned, offering some of the finest in cinema, whether it is Hawkeye and his posse riding into save the Munro sisters from an attacking band of Huron Indians; a full scale battle between opposing forces of British Redcoats and Hurons; or a one-on-one duel between Uncas and Magua. In any of these cases, this is severe, mortal combat.  There are no faceless soldiers that are present in today’s computer generated armies.  Relatively, in, the Last of the Mohicans, Mann moves the camera to encompass the whole of the battle plain as the two forces hack at each other with bayonets, knives and tomahawks, and then a split second later, the camera will be right in the middle of the action, and the bloodied faces of the dying men prevalent on the screen.

Largely, the Last of the Mohicans is an underestimated movie today, one that deserves far more consideration than it received.  The film received only one Oscar nomination and won it as well: the Oscar for Best Sound.  It should be no secret that I thought the Last of the Mohicans deserved far more nominations, particularly for the costume designs, cinematography and music.  Mann is careful to keep the entire piece authentic, from the sweeping music, to the weapons, to the costumes, to the locations; all to that the entire movie is valid in its technical depiction of the 1700s.   Ah well, receiving nominations for a bunch of Oscars isn’t the only way to tell a film is a good film anyway, now is it?   

There really is more to be said about the Last of the Mohicans then has been said.  It’s a film that definitely was worthy of more intense acknowledgement then was received.   There are too few films that can match the Last of the Mohicans for its extensive beauty in romanticizing early American Frontier life while depicting how fierce it could be at the same time.  Now there’s something to really talk about. 

A—