* * *
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 what’s most important in art, right?
Some people seem to think so. ‘Based on a true story’ – Ooh, did you know, it’s actually based on a true story? It is? Oh wow, drop everything and let’s fire it up!
The idea that something you are about to watch or read really happened is definitely fetishised in some quarters, and was memorably parodied by the Coen brothers in their movie FARGO (and then to lesser effect in the spin-off TV series, which had to flog the joke to death by reiterating it at the start of every single episode.)
It’s a phenomenon that reminds me of those people who won’t read novels. You know the type: they smugly inform you that they only read ‘for information’. Their time is much too precious to be wasted on childish made-up stories that interrupt their ceaseless and noble quest for knowledge.
I’m also reminded of this exchange early on in Alexander Payne’s SIDEWAYS between Paul Giamatti's wannabe novelist and Shaun Duke, playing the future father-in-law of Thomas Hayden Church’s character:
Duke: "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."
Duke: "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? 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
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