Elaborate action, breathtaking landscape shots and Romance that takes your breath away – these are just a few reasons to watch Michael Mann’s adventure classic The Last of the Mohicans. The film, released in 1992 and starring Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis and Madeleine Stowe, has lost none of its drama since then.
In The Last of the Mohicans, Michael Mann adapts a famous adventure novel
Michael Mann (Heat) and co-author Christopher Crowe adapted James Fenimore Cooper’s classic novel of the same name for the film. However, Mann sought to create a nuanced narrative, particularly when it came to the depiction of North American natives.
Warner
The last of the Mohicans
The film plays 1757 during the Seven Years’ War on the East Coast. The land of the indigenous people has degenerated into a battlefield for colonial interests. The British and French are fighting each other, side by side with enemy tribes. In the middle of it all is Hawkeye (Daniel Day-Lewis), a white man who was raised by the Mohicans. Together with the Mohicans Chingachgook (Russell Means) and Uncas (Eric Schweig), he wants to save the kidnapped daughters of a colonel. Hawkeye crosses the path of the Huron chief Magua (Wes Studi), who wants to take bloody revenge on the British.
Magua is one of the fascinating characters in The Last of the Mohicans because, despite all the brutality, his personal and political motivations are understandable. The Last of the Mohicans also throws off the simple friend-enemy images of previous film adaptations, finds sympathy where it seemed unthinkable and compassion in unexpected places. At the same time, the film is anything but a brittle historical drama. The last of the Mohicans overwhelmed with his romantic-tragic story and his examination of the question of what makes an American hero.
In preparation, Daniel Day-Lewis learned how to skin animals
The focus is on three-time Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis in an unusually straightforward hero role. That didn’t stop him from extensive preparation. The Englishman underwent tough fitness training and moved to a forest for a month to sharpen his survival skills.
He even learned how to skin animals and fight with tomahawks, which you can read about in the British Telegraph. He always appeared on filming with his character’s 6 kilogram rifle and stayed away from the cameras “in character”. The four-month shoot was probably so strenuous for him that at the end he barely got any sleep and even hallucinated.
This is how you can watch The Last of the Mohicans on TV or catch up
Tonight you can see for yourself whether Daniel Day-Lewis authentically embodies life in the borderland. The last of the Mohicans will be this Sunday, November 12th from 10 p.m. on 3Sat shown. So you can watch the film without any commercial breaks. The repeat runs on Monday night from 2:40 a.m.
If you want to catch up on the film, you currently have to buy or rent the version, as the classic adventure is not available in a streaming flat rate.