Prepared by Wes McMahon.
Released in 1992, by Morgan Creek productions
Twentieth Century Fox
Running time: 107 min.
Written by: James Fenimore Cooper, Christopher Crowe, Philip Dunne,
Michael Mann
Directed by: Michael Mann
Produced by : Michael Mann, Hunt Lowry, James G. Robinson
Art Director: Robert Guerra
Costume Design: Elsa Zmparelli
Cinematography by: Dante Spinotti
Music Created by: Randy Edelman, Trevor Jones,(GGN)
| Nathaniel | Daniel Day-Lewis |
| Cora | Madeleine Stowe |
| Chingachgook | Russell Means* |
| Uncas | Eric Schweig |
| Alice | Jodhi May |
| Heyward | Steven Waddington |
| Magua | Wes Studi* |
| Colonel Munro | Maurice Roeves |
| General Montcalm | Patrice Chereau |
| Jack | Edward Blatchford |
| John Cameron | Terry Kinney |
| Alexandra Cameron | Tracey Ellis |
| Ongewasgone | Dennis Banks* |
Ansen, D. "Mann in the Wilderness." Newsweek 28 Sept.
1992.
Engel, J. "A fort, a War, and the last thousand or so Mohicans."
The New York Times 20 Sept. 1992
Edgerton, Gary. "A Breed Apart" Journal of American Culture
Summer 1994
The Last of The Mohicans: Press Kit. Beverly Hills, CA Twentieth
Century Fox, 1992.
Web Review: Last
of the Mohicans http://www.prairienet.org/%7Eejahiel/lastmohi.htm
Music, opinion and a
threaded web chat room on the movie
Also check out The Last of the Mohicans
Web site. From this web site you can go to an opinion piece by Russell
Means from Indian Country Today, "Acting
Against Racism in Mohicans".
Betrayals: Fort William Henry and the massacre. Ian K. Steele.
Oxford University Press, 1990.
The last of the Mohicans; civil savagery and savage civility. John
Mcwilliams. Twanye Publishers, 1995.
Documentary film: Last of the Mohicans-Archaeology series TLC 22
min.
Last
of Mohicans Web sites: http://ac.acusd.edu/history/filmnotes/mohicansbiblio.html
The story Last of the Mohicans fictionally tells the story of the battle at Fort William Henry and the massacre that followed. Mann's 1992 version still centers the story around the French and English, who form alliances with Indian tribes to gain control of North America. Modified to work with other plot lines, the history is recounted as close as any modern movie could ask for. Any one who worked on the film can tell you, director Michael Mann goes to great lengths to be accurate. As Newsweek printed: "..Mann and Day-Lewis spent a month in the forests of North Carolina, learning the tools and skills needed to survive in the 18th-century wilderness." He researched the history through all types of media and could tell you the color and meaning behind each tribe's war paint.
During the Battle at Fort William Henry, there was a messenger sent from the Fort, and Webb's response was intercepted by the French. Only slight variations with history occur. In real life, the British troops were massacred in their bunks after the surrender. While in this version they are ambushed by the Huron in a meadow, much more exciting for the viewing audience. This film does not fumble any visual effects, and is done in good taste.
Although this movie has some historical validity, Last of The Mohicans is an adventure film. Stunning scenery, action, romance, and adventure! From beginning to end, this film is meant to "stir the blood" of all its viewers. (Only those age 17 and over, of course.) How this movie creates all of its desires is the portrayal of the American Indian. Native America is contrasted brilliantly with the Europeans and their dull ordinariness, which seems to accompany most white folks in the film. Last of the Mohicans shows us the stereotype of the Good Indian vs. the Bad Indian, and how the white man influences all of their lives.
To be successful, any movie that wants to inspire the audience must do two things. It must show us that the side we most identify with is bad or undesirable, and that there is an awesome force of goodness and adventure we all desire to be. Throughout modern American culture, this sense of adventure is found in many ways, and the image of the Indian Noble Savage has become one of them. The initial sound of beating drums inspire the skill full hunt by our hero, Daniel Day-Lewis in finds Magua's hatred not-so bad, and the Huron victims of the white man's greater evil.
This battle of Indians vs. Indians, and Indians vs. British are great devices to set up the images of whom we identify with and who we desire to be. The only problem is that our hero is a mediator. He isn't really Mohican. So the question is: What does this movie really say about native Americans and their fate in this story? The movie projects an underlying fate of disappearance. In the beginning of the film, Nathaniel is a man's man, doing chummy things with Uncas and Chingachgook: hunting, tracking, and playing lacrosse. When Cora and Alice enter (European influence) the young men are seen as lovers. In one scene they are shown prancing away holding the girls' hands in the middle of a fight. Chingachgook fades into the woodwork. The Indians are also seen as innocent. Nathaniel is the only person allowed to think about what is going on, or have opinions of his own. At the fort, Chingachgook asks "What are they doing with my white son". Magua is more focused on personal vengeance than the fate of his people as the guide in the corner of Webb's office, when Heyward proclaims to " make the world English". These ideas of innocence and ignorance to the white man also help to reinforce classic images of the pristine woodsman. By the end of the story, Chingachgook becomes a metaphor for all Indians. The final scene lends proof to how the Indians play a secondary role to adventure: Chingachgook speaks in English. Why? Because Mann is not concerned with creating an environment of authenticity, he wants a powerful speech to give the audience a sense of dramatic closure at the end of this epic adventure.
The stories of the real Indians, beyond Nathaniel the mediator, are not explored. This movie was not made to recreate the true experiences of Indians during the battle of Fort William Henry, it was to create an adventure; like the one Alice found so exciting in the beginning. Mann may have researched all the aspects of his film, and he may have had a fun camp-out with Daniel Day-Lewis, but it is how he used this information that created a rather one-sided image of Indians. The goodness of the Mohicans in contrast with the blood of the Huron, and our hero's constant spats against the whites, Mann spends this film glorifying the Noble Savage. This historically valid American tale has been served justice in this 1992 version. More innocent than the Indians he brought to life, Mann had to satisfy the dominant society. To inspire viewers, he had to create an image that was desirable, whether it was true or not. It is this creation of what people want to see that troubles the image of American Indians in the film Last of the Mohicans.