From: 185422285%VUVAXCOM.BITNET@uga.cc.uga.edu (Alec D. Plotkin)
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.words-l
Subject: Last of the Moch.
Date: 29 Sep 92 16:44:00 GMT
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
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                         THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS
                       A film review by Ellen Eades
                        Copyright 1992 Ellen Eades

     THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS was originally a novel by the execrable
James Fenimore Cooper (and was pilloried by Mark Twain in an
unforgettable essay titled "The Further Literary Offenses of James
Fenimore Cooper," in which he sharpens his sword of wit and his pen of
editing to razor's edges and has a great deal of fun).  This new
screenplay, based on the original 1936 screen-play, has been updated
for modern audiences considerably.  In my opinion, it's a huge
improvement.

     I was never able to plow through Cooper's novels as a child.  I was
riveted by the movie.  The cinematography alone is worth the full price
of admission; sweeping views of mist-covered rolling mountains, roaring
rapids, rocky pinnacles and virgin forest are the backdrop for an
impressively romantic storyline.  Far less grim and sophisticated than
BLACK ROBE, THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS manages to cloak its absurdities
in a reasonably historic style, where even villains have reasons and
heroes are capable of demi-godlike achievements of strength, endurance
and spirit.

     Daniel Day-Lewis stars as Nathaniel (Hawkeye in the novel), a white
orphan raised by the Mohawk, Chingachgook, alongside his own son.  This
trio seems as much a part of the Atlantic forests as the deer and the
cougar.  Also starring is Madeleine Stowe as Cora Munro, the daughter of
the British general commanding Fort William Henry.  Several other
supporting roles are very well done, among them Alice Munro, Cora's
sister; Major Duncan, Cora's suitor; and Chingachgook's Indian son.  A
special mention goes to the villain of the piece, Magua, a Huron Indian
who allies his war-party with the French general besieging Fort William
Henry to revenge himself on General Munro and his colonial and Mohawk
allies.  Far from being wholly evil, as in the novel, Magua by the end
of the movie is still brutal, vicious, and vengeful, but managed to
evoke not a little sympathy from me.

     Daniel Day-Lewis never fails to impress me, whether in MY BEAUTIFUL
LAUNDRETTE, MY LEFT FOOT, or THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS.  The man is
simply splendid, bringing a nobility to the character of Nathaniel which
even a jaded modern cannot fail to find humbling.  As Cora, Madeleine
Stowe manages to find a balance between strength, spirit, and the need
to make her character a believable woman of the 1700s.  But the true
strength of the movie is in the camera's eye and the magnificent
backdrop (filmed mainly in North Carolina's Chimney Rock State Park, but
beautifully evoking the Green Mountains of Vermont), against which the
heroic characters almost pale.

     Anyone with an interest in period films must see this movie; anyone
who admires native American history, early colonial history, or simply
loves the forests of the Atlantic seaboard, should go see this on the
big screen.  Pay what you need to.
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU