THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS (1992, Michael Mann)

 

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In 1757, a white man brought up by the Mohican Native American tribe tracks down a British colonel’s kidnapped daughters.

Starring  Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stowe, Wes Studi, Pete Postlethwaite, Jared Harris

Written by  Michael Mann, Christopher Crowe

Produced by  Michael Mann, Hunt Lowry

Duration  112 minutes

Authenticity. That’s the most important thing in art, right?

Some people seem to think so. "Hey, did you know, it’s based on a true story?" "It is? Oh wow, drop everything and fire that baby up!"

The idea that something you are about to watch or read really happened is definitely fetishised in some quarters. The audience's desire for 'truth' was memorably played upon by the Coen brothers in FARGO, where they claimed that the events in the movie had really happened, when in fact they had not. Although the subsequent TV version did flog the joke to death somewhat by reiterating it at the start of every episode.

It’s like those people who won’t read novels. You know the type: they smugly inform you that they only read ‘for information’. This is because their time is much too precious to be wasted on childish made-up stories that interrupt their noble quest for knowledge.

I’m reminded of this exchange early on in SIDEWAYS between Paul Giamatti's wannabe novelist and his friend's future father-in-law.

 

Father-in-law: "What is the subject of your book? Non-fiction?"

Giamatti: "Uh, no. It's a novel, fiction. Although there is quite a bit from my own life ... so I suppose that technically some of it is non-fiction."

Father-in-law: "Good, I like non-fiction. There is so much to know about this world. I think you read something somebody just invented: waste of time."

Giamatti: "That's an … interesting perspective."

 

What has all this got to do what THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS? Its director Michael Mann, that’s what. Now, there’s a man(n) who loves him some authenticity and is not afraid to put in the necessary preparation.

"Gosh, Mike, how ya gonna make sure people get that sweet, sweet authenticity from your next flick?"

"I’ll tell ya how, buddy. I’m gonna stay overnight at Folsom Prison for THE JERICHO MILE. I’m gonna bring in the SAS fellah who wrote Bravo Two Zero to give Bob De Niro and Val Kilmer urban combat training so they look shit-hot in HEAT. For my MIAMI VICE movie, I’m gonna take A-lister Colin Farrell along on mocked-up FBI drug busts deep inside out-of-bounds Dominican gang slums.

"And for MOHICANS, the granddaddy of them all? Well sir, this time I’ve got your man DD-L on board and let me tell ya, that cat’s as bonkers about prep as yours truly. So I’m gonna have him live out in the actual woods: tracking and skinning animals, building canoes, fighting people with tomahawks, and running about while firing and reloading one of those old flintlock guns. And he’s gonna stay in character day and night, with that gun never leaving his Goddamn side."

Yes, finally the ultimate meticulous director met the quintessential method actor. So here’s the crucial question: did all that preparation and authenticity help towards making a great movie?

Well … I guess. It’s all kind of wasted on me, to be honest. Because MOHICANS just isn’t really my kind of thing.

Historical battle-type stuff doesn't do it for me. BRAVEHEART, GLADIATOR, 300, GLORY... I'm OK from about World War One onwards, but if you turn the clock back too far, all the elaborate costumes and wigs and ‘Yes my Lord, privy permit me to allow thy liege’ stuff starts to grate on me. Blokes swinging swords about on horseback doesn't raise my pulse; I sat through the LORD OF THE RINGS films one time only and have never seen an episode of Game of Thrones.

MOHICANS is clearly a four-star film. It's tense, dramatic and competently acted by a talented and good-looking cast. Mann's trusty cinematographer Dante Spinotti makes you feel the glow of the candles and smell the leaves on the trees. Trevor Jones's score is one for the ages, although he clearly recycled it a year later for CLIFFHANGER (now that's my kind of movie). The battles are well-staged and make you feel like you're really there.

But because I can't shake my two-star attitude, I'm going to have to meet this film in the middle. Sorry, Michael and Daniel – all the preparation in the world can't move someone who would rather be watching Stallone inauthentically climb up a mountain in a T-shirt.

Three stars out of five.

 

Valid use of the word ‘last’? Since there was no sequel, nor one on the horizon, let’s just go for ‘yes’. 

What would a movie called THE FIRST OF THE MOHICANS be about?  According to Britannica, "When first contacted by the Dutch, the Mohican were at war with the Mohawk, and in 1664 they were forced to move from Schodack, near Albany, to what is now Stockbridge, Mass." There ya go – there’s your plot. You’re welcome.

Previously:  THE LAST STAND

Next time:  THE LAST HURRAH

Check out my books:  Jonathanlastauthor.com