Craig Matteson 2008-10-18
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
I think this eight part mini-series is the best adaptation of Cooper's novel to the screen. The plot is pretty close to what was actually written (unlike the Daniel Day Lewis movie, which is really only "suggested by" the novel). While you do have to get used to the 1970s style British TV interiors that seem more like filmed stage productions, the exterior shots run from very good to fairly spectacular. The movie was shot in Scotland, so while they manage to capture the flavor of forests, forts, and wilderness, they do not have the underbrush and true wildness of American forests. But these are tiny quibbles. Let's talk instead about the strengths of this wonderful series.
The actors were wonderfully cast and bring a wonderful presence to the roles they play. They are wonderfully evocative not only of the period in which the characters were supposed to live, but also of the way they are characterized in the novel. Kenneth Ives is quite good as Hawkeye and captures the man of the forest who understands the ways of both the whites and the Indians, but is joined completely to neither side. John Abineri is terrific as the last Mohican, Chingachgook. He has wonderful dignity and the mystery required for the role. Richard Warwick does a great job as Chingachgook's son, Uncas. Philip Madoc does a more than fine job as the angry, vengeful, conniving, and weaker than he imagines himself Huron chief, Magua.
The other main British characters are Andrew Crawford as Colonel Munro who wants nothing more than a post back in Scotland rather than on the dark side of the moon Fort McAllister. He finally asks his adult daughters to come to New York where he will come to meet them. The daughters, Cora (Patricia Maynard) and Alice (Joanna David) decide to travel to the fort. The events of this travel and what is happening with the French forces coming down from Canada (this is set in the Seven Years War / French and Indian War - depending which name you want to call it) supply the engine for all the events in the film. The actors playing the Munros are terrific. I love the way the father holds his reserve and dignity while doing his duty yet we never lose sight of his weariness and hurt. The daughters are very different people, but they show us their toughness, bravery, and willingness to go beyond the decorum of their time, but still retain a sense of proper early 19th Century British manners.
I can't go through the whole cast, but I didn't see anyone on the screen that I didn't enjoy. Some comment on the way the Indians at one moment stumble over their English and yet at other times speak eloquently. In my view, it is simply because when Indians are speaking English to the white people they stumble over speaking a foreign tongue. However, when they speak to other Indians, they are speaking their own language beautifully, but represented as English for us so we can understand it.
This series is a treasure and wonderful experience if you don't allow yourself to get hung up on the way the British filmed (or taped) the interiors of these kinds of things in the 1970s. I got used to it quickly and found this a wonderful viewing experience.
Reviewed by Craig Matteson, Ann Arbor, MI
