A friend of mine came over to hang out with me tonite, something that we rarely get to do. She's a filmmaker and documentary producer and has done some really cool stuff in her life. We get along great but just are both busy and have a hard time coordinating time to do stuff. So taking the evening to relax, catch up, watch some Olympics, eat some great food and then introduce her to the all-time classic film "The Last of the Mohicans"...was just too fun.
As we were watching LOTM, I couldn't help but think back to my first viewing. I was 12 years old just about to turn 13. It was the summer before I would make the big switch from our grade school to high school (both were boarding schools) which was on a completely different island. I was so excited to be going away to the BIG school but also nervous about becoming a teenager and starting that phase of my life. I remember seeing this movie and just being so caught up in the drama and passion of it. I was utterly enthralled. I think I cried. The movie was, to me, a Very Big Deal. I remember hunting through magazines by candlelight later on that night to find a one-page ad of the movie poster, ripping it out and posting it on my wall. That page was to follow me to school to be posted on my dorm room wall and back home each break. Eventually it came back to the States with me and was posted on my bedroom wall there. I think I finally retired it from my wall decor sometime in college, but it still lies in a storage box somewhere. Witness to my childhood obsession with romance, passion and adventure. I got ahold of a tape copy of the soundtrack and played it incessantly. I taught myself how to play the main theme songs on the piano and would lose myself in the music. Whenever I had a chance to rewatch the film, I did so. I recall sitting in Biology class with a girlfriend and writing notes back and forth about how hot Daniel Day-Lewis was in the kissing scene. (come to think of it, this note-writing thing...was kinda like blogging and texting...back in the old days).
All of these funny little memories came back to me tonight as I watched the film yet again with my friend and witnessed her reactions to it. And you know what? It really is a great movie! It's not just my 12-year-old nostalgia apparently. She loved it and was totally drawn in. And she does this stuff (make films) for a living. heh. We had a good time.
I can't talk about LOTM without leaving you with the ultimate kiss. In retrospect, I still think it's an awfully HOT scene despite the fact that both characters are fully closed and nowhere near a bed. The total focus and absolute connection between the h/h is far more passionate than any bow-chicka-bow that I've ever seen. This is romance, folks! Enjoy!
14 comments:
"I'm looking at you, miss."
*swoon*
Best.Line.Ever.
I saw this film at around age 16. My parents were with me--my dad because he's a history war kinda guy, and my mom...don't know. The fight scenes made her nauseous, and she didn't dig the love story. Fool woman! I'd fallen in love with Dances with Wolves before, along with "The Young Riders" and my obsession with all things Old West, so this was a little outside of my history zone, but seriously--who cares?? I brought it with me to college on VHS and shared it with my roommate. We'd watch that scene you posted over and over.
Dude, I haven't seen that in ages. Must rewatch. Michael Mann's done some naff stuff since, but this is still topnotch quality. Glad you had a good time with your friend.
Oh, and there's a line in Scoundrel that mirrors a line from Hawkeye. Will Scarlet to Hugo: "You and I are always at a disagreement, thief." :)
this is without a doubt my favorite movie of all time. Whenever I hear music from the movie the emotions from the movie kinda well up in my chest... EVERY TIME. You know that's a good movie.
Have you read Ride the Fire by Pamela Clare? It evokes the same kind of feelings as LOTM. And is fab when read to the soundtrack of LOTM. ;)
Never saw it, can you believe it??? It's been talked about a bit lately, so I'm adding it to my tbw list....
Carrie, I loved "The Young Riders"!
Stacy, TYR sparked an interest in the Old West that didn't diminish until after I'd finished my master's thesis--on Jesse James, Wild Bill Hickok, and the impact of legend on society :)
Here's a review I did of series one when I got the DVDs for my birthday back in 2006.
Sorry about momentarily hijacking your thread, Sula. I love meeting up with fellow TYR fans!
see carrie, you just keep on reconfirming my suspicion that we are twins separated at birth. lol! j'adore this film. And that line about having a disagreement...STILL makes me crack up even after seeing the movie a billion times. Oh and another favorite:
"There is a war going on, how is it you are going west?"
"Well, we kinda face to the north and then, real sudden like, turn left."
*snort*
btw, I have not seen this TYR of which you speak, but since I trust your judgement, it's now on the netflix queue. Feel free to hijack my threads anytime.
mollie, I know what you mean about the music. Just a few bars of it can totally transport me. What a movie. And yes, I have read Ride the Fire. KristieJ told me that I had to. heh. Have you read Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati? It's set in the same geographical region, and the hero is Hawkeye and Cora's son. He has much of the same qualities that make the DDL character so compelling in the movie, imo. note to self...I should reread that book.
stacy, you need to see this movie! S'rsly. Very action packed. Adventure. Violence. Passion. N'stuff. Don't let the first half hour scare you off (it's a bit dry). It's like a snowball. The plot continues to gather speed until the last quarter which just hits you with one thing after the next. *whew*
I never saw this in the complete form. Only snips and clips and I've always loved what I saw. The music though. To die for.
I just remember the end made me cry for like...every time I rememer it. >_<
And it's a bit different from the book.
Ah, the classics!
Sula, I have a copy of Into the Wilderness if you'd like it. Email me.
And yes, the book and movie differ greatly. I did a socio-history paper in college about the differences and how they reflected the times. In the book, Heyward and Alice survive and marry, thus reaffirming the hegemony and heroism of the white race in the West, and Hawkeye goes off alone in the wilderness--the untamed white savage who can never marry or settle down, because if he does, the Frontier closes. Cora is revealed to have been the daughter of a mulatto woman that Munro slept with while he was stationed in the Caribbean, hence her dark hair and racial hot-bloodedness. Thus, as a half black woman who is very mouthy and independent, she is doomed and goes on to die nobly.
In the movie, Cora's half-mulatto background is never discussed, so her independence and mouthiness are changed into the qualities of a proto-feminist heroine. She deserves Hawkeye, the hawt hero--no fears on the part of the film makers about the death of the Frontier; they just want a happy ending between the two most worthy screen characters. Alice, who is the same character in the book as she is in the film, dies by our standards because she does not retain enough of that feminist resiliency to survive. As a society, we're not quite to the point, racially, of letting a white woman and a full blooded American Indian male have their happy ending, so Uncas has to die too. Heyward meets a similar fate because, to an American audience, he stands in place of all things Colonial. We're not ready for full racial equality, but we know enough to get rid of the most intolerant, pro-"British order" character on the screen.
Heh. End term paper :)
carrie, that's fascinating! I read the book eons ago in high school and was so surprised to find it to be dry and all the endings to be different. IIRC, for a solitary noble frontiersman, Hawkeye sure was long-winded and pompous.
My friend and I were both in agreement the other night as to the strong 'feminist' woman being the one capable of surviving such a tough life. I think it's interesting how Alice is such a placid cypher but how she does have her one moment of courage. at the end. *sniff* And omg, ever single time I watch the film I hope that Uncas will survive because dayum, that man was HOT! (unfortunately since the time of the film the actor has gained a lot of weight)
Anyways, good stuff. Do you still have that paper?
Oh I have always loooooved that movie! Such a great film. just incredible! Great post Sula!
This is such a great movie, much crying for me though.
*swoon*
I never loved him before or since, but DDL made me absolutely swoon in this movie.
GG and I just watched this the other night. If we see it on TV (we have the DVD) we stop and watch wherever it is in the story. A win/win a movie we both like.
We were commenting on how well it holds up even as a period piece. Really well done.
I love LOTM! I think that first kiss scenes are as sexy or sexier than love making scenes.
Rats! I was away when this discussion started but like you, this is one of my all time favourite movies and soundtracks. There is such chemistry between Hawkeye and Cora. I knew the book ended differently then the movie but I didn't realize how different. I love that go west line too and of course who can we not mention the most favourite line of all - "Stay Alive!" I did take this one with me when we went to the cottage but alas, we didn't watch it.
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