The Last of the Mohicans: Historically Manipulated or Completely Fictionalized?

Michael Mann’s The Last of the Mohicans presents a widely known historical issue, from a different perspective, which seems it is intended to be neutral, but ended with the distortion of the image of Indians. The movie tries to lean on the romantic aspect of the book that it has been adapted from, but at the same time, it has historical inaccuracies.

During the Seven Years War, even though the sizes of the battles were smaller in the Americas, the dynamics of the continent made these battles more significant. A whole different culture, Native Americans participated in this war, under the command of both belligerents, France and England. The movie, The Last of the Mohicans, deals with the cultural ethic differences and gives an open ended justification for all views. The acts of some of the characters make this open-endedness even more apparent, as Magua’s tragic life story takes him outx of the stock villainous character.

However the simple historical truth cannot be denied; there had been a massacre at Fort William Henry. The different perspectives and cultural ethos are represented in the film, based on historical evidences and the book that the film was based on. The massacre of the surrendered folk of Fort William Henry is a matter of perceiving of the surrender terms. Indians did not have the tradition of letting go, or treating the surrendered well; for according to their point of view, the only surrender term was, ‘waiting death without any struggle.’

Although, the term “massacre” can have an exaggerated meaning here. The film does not correct a historical misunderstanding created by the early adaptations of J.F. Cooper’s book, and in the book itself. Indians were promised with the possessions and “scalps” by the French, but the surrender terms says that British can bear arms and have their possessions. The historical truth is that Indians were mad, but among the 2300 British soldiers, only 69 was killed, and most of them captured and sold to Canadian government, for money and brandy (Steele 1180). Another historical inaccuracy is the General Munro’s tragic death at the hands of Magua in the film. After General Munro killed in a brilliantly shot scene of the battle, Magua victoriously tears General’s heart out. However the historical evidences show that all British officers including General Munro survived the battle without harm (Steele 1180)

While the cultural ethic differences are apparent, Native Americans are represented as allies with really weak bonds. They do not want to blend in with the white society, even the ones like Hurons (in the film, Magua) who want to be like whites, but apart. Hawkeye’s quote from Chingachgook, the Last of the Mohicans, makes it clearer to understand how the Native Americans see the white people: “Do not try to understand them and do not try to make them understand you. That is because they are a breed apart and make no sense.”

But how it can lead to the unavoidable assimilation of Indians? In the film, we see Indians fighting alongside the French and British, but they stay strictly bonded with their traditions and language. On the other hand, British policy of that time was stated clear enough to Webb by Duncan: “I thought British Policy is ‘Make the World England’, sir.” This approach was the prominent tenet of British Imperialism; and the Puritan ideal most probably supported it in the continental America. Even though the race issue was less important than religion in those times, national identities played a part. In the film, Webb, who is depicted as a somewhat irritable and grudging character, shows this national prejudice clearly, first by saying that the French do not have the nature for war, but for eating and making love. Also he constantly mentions Colonel Munro as the “Scotsman” with the hint of contempt. Therefore, it is expected that the Indians were suffering from discrimination and as a nature of those times, assimilation.

The tone of the film, with the romantic moments and battle scenes, is rather serious, but as a comic relief, the Hawkeye character is depicted to have a sense of dark sarcasm, which lightens the tone of the film. As it can be interpreted from the seriousness of the tone, the genre of the film can be thought of as historical epic, but immense romantic elements can be seen throughout the film. The character Cora’s actions changes the plot significantly and the change shifts the genre towards colonial romance.

As Hawkeye, Daniel Day-Lewis’ performance seems appropriate in the film; however, like all of the actors in the film, it cannot be said that he is actually acting. All he does -apart from the romantic moments and the sarcastic touch- is to aim and shoot with a rifle and stand in picturesque, charismatic poses. The film, as some kind of epic journey tale, maintains the direction by having the characters run away from obstacles. This creates little opportunity for us to see extraordinary acting or expressions. What we see mostly is the fear, and that is the limitation of some really great actors.

Although the acting is limited, the scenery, the stunt performance and the music are spectacular. The place that the movie has filmed is North Carolina and it has a real beauty and resemblance to the actual setting, New York. Fort William Henry is constructed according to the actual one, and the lifelike canon fight, and the large stunt armies of French, British and Indians, adds more realistic sense to the film. Lastly, the music can be thought of as the most important element in this movie. Alongside the setting, the place and of course director and screenplayer’s interpretation of the story, the music makes the most effective contribution on creating the ambiance. The tracks like “The Kiss” (can be heard on mostly romantic scenes) and “The Courier”, as well as the Main Title creates the atmosphere from the beginning and maintains to the very end (Jones & Edelman 1993).

The movie The Last of the Mohicans is a really successful historical epic - colonial romance adaptation, regarding the ambiance and historical accuracy of the setting. However, director Michael Mann did not correct the long continued mistakes about the real history, but he perpetuated them in the minds of general viewer. The negative but controversial image of the Indians in this film can be discussed a lot more; and until a historically accurate film about this events, the misinformation will stay on public viewers mind.


Bibliography

Jones, Trevor, and Randy Edelman. The Last of the Mohicans Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. 1993. Germany: Morgan Creek Music Group, 1993. CD-ROM.

Mann, Michael, dir. The Last of the Mohicans. Perf. Daniel Day-Lewis. 1993. Morgan Creek Productions.

Steele, Ian K. "The Last of the Mohicans by Michael Mann." The Journal of American History 80.3 (1993): 1179-81. Web. 7 Dec. 2009.