THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS Patreon Watch Along Alex V

Hey, Deasha! This is my second favorite film of all time! Michael Mann's direction is kinetic and immersive. His compositions are painterly. Dante Spinotti's cinematography is atmospheric and lush using mostly natural light sources. The score by Trevor Jones is rousing and sweeping. The screenplay by Mann himself and Christopher Crowe bristles with authenticity, intelligence and ferocity! The action is phenomenal and inventive including a canoe chase! The period detail is assiduous. Colonial America feels rough-hewn and primeval. The chemistry between Madeleine Stowe and Daniel Day-Lewis is electric! The cast is uniformly excellent. Chingachgook, played by Native American activist Russell Means, has a terrific speech at the end of the Director's Cut where he laments being the last of his tribe. He goes on to say that one day his white son, Nathaniel, will also be the last of his kind, a frontiersman, as civilization pushes westward bending the natural world to its will. This is based on James Fenimore Cooper's frontier classic "The Last of the Mohicans" written in 1826 but bears little resemblance to the details of the novel. Cooper wrote a pentalogy of stories about Day-Lewis' character, Nathaniel Bumppo, who went by several names including Deerslayer, Hawkeye, La Longue Carabine, Pathfinder, Leatherstocking and The Trapper. The stories chronicle his life from 1740-1806. "Mohicans" is the second tale chronologically. The French and Indian War was the North American theater of the first global war, The Seven Years' War, from 1756-1763. Battles raged in Eastern colonial North America, the Caribbean, Europe, the Trans-Atlantic and the Far East between England, France, Spain and Prussia. George Washington's military exploits occurred in this war which is one of the reasons he was chosen to lead the Continental Army during the American Revolution. The attack on Fort William Henry and the ensuing massacre are real events. The callous and condescending treatment of the colonials by the British officers show the first stirrings of colonial resentment to the British crown which would ultimately erupt in The Revolutionary War. Native American tribes in North America allied with different colonial powers. Magua is able to infiltrate the British ranks as a guide because the Brits can't tell the indigenous tribes apart. French General Montcalm, a real historical figure, made it a point to acculturate himself with his indigenous allies and show respect to their people in order to secure a loyal bond. Montcalm was killed at the Plains of Abraham in Quebec in 1759. He is lionized today with street names, buildings and statues all over Quebec. Nathaniel advised Cora to remain close to her father and the British officers because the French officers would afford them protection as fellow aristocrats. The enlisted man was considered an unwashed peasant only good for cannon fodder. Lol. Alice leapt to her death because she faced the hideous prospect of degradation and sexual enslavement to Magua and his men who were savages in her eyes. She had no way of knowing if she would ever be found in the wilderness or if another rescue attempt were imminent. She was also young, grief-stricken by her father's death and less hardy than Cora who had been explicitly told by Nathaniel to stay alive no matter what. No one had given her that pep talk. Madeleine Stowe is indeed an ageless beauty best known for this movie, Terry Gilliam's "12 Monkeys" with Bruce Willis and the TV show "Revenge". She runs a cattle ranch in Texas in her downtime and keeps in shape with Latin dancing and belly-dancing! I will definitely check out that "It" prequel, "Welcome to Derry". Daniel Day-Lewis is one of the finest actors who ever lived and a total chameleon! Known as an actor's actor, he disappears into every role masterfully. He is married to playwright Arthur Miller's daughter, Rebecca, and has just recently retired from acting.

Alex Vazquez