FANDOM NAME: The Last of the Mohicans (1992 film) WHAT MAKES IT GREAT: Listen...
...I made an account here on DW specifically to nominate this fandom for Yuletide and get it some more love. So please, if nothing else, listen to this fan speak her truth.
First, the sound It won an award for Best Sound - yes, I'm aware that this award is for sound editing and not for its music, but this movie had both: the gorgeous, epic musical score and the counterpoint of the silences, the sounds of nature.
Here is the movie's intro. Try to resist the urge to see the rest afterwards. WARNING: the characters are hunting an animal and they successfully bring it down. It is, however, given a heartfelt send-off, because its hunters thank it for giving them its life.
Second, the history It does not fuck history over. It took a few historical liberties related to the plot, but overall it follows historic events in a way that isn't jarring. And, despite it being based on a XIX century book, it did not romanticize: The British are not heroic, the French are not evil, the Americans are not perfect, the Mahican/Iroquoi/Huron are not magical. What's more, Russel Means (may he rest in peace) and We Studi reportedly accepted to play parts in this movie to perform as non-stereotyped Native Americans for once.
To anyone interested in historical costuming, LOTM gives a pretty decent account of itself as far as British uniforms of the XIIIV Century go. No relation whatsover to whatever it is they threw on the British in Pirates of the Caribbean.
Third, and perhaps most important, THE STORY
It portrays the grim reality of war. There's nothing noble about it here: people who weren't ever involved suffer and die; there are no war heroes, just flawed humans trying to carry out the mission they were sent to accomplish. There is no big bad to defeat: all the characters want to do is live, and keep their loved ones alive.
It has not one, but two fraught emotional stories, one of which is the soft, tragically cut-short connection between Alice Munro, daughter of a British-Scottish officer and Uncas (portrayed by a young Eric Schweig), the son of Chingachgook. They don't have many scenes, but the ones they do will likely be enough to leave you heartbroken in the best way at the end.
Fourth, last and nevertheless not least, its tiny, dedicated fandom
This poor fandom doesn't even reach 300 works in FF.net and AO3 entire, even counting the incomplete works, the drabbles, the works with no real connection to the fandom in the first place, and so on. But the setting really inspires you: to research your history, a la The Eagle of the Ninth, to capture the breathtaking reality of the emotional bonds it portrays, and so the few we get can be quite beautiful.
I leave two rather short ones, WHICH SPOIL THE END, but are suitably heart-rending. - Drummer by tigers_bedtime - Precipice by La Reine Noir
WHERE CAN I FIND IT?(optional): It used to be on Netflix, but it was removed in June-July of this year. It is, however, a movie over 20 years old, so it has resided in the less-legal places of the internet for a long time now. There are also so many snippets of it on YouTube. It also seems to be available on Amazon Prime
Give this 1992 film a chance, though. It is worth it.
The Last of the Mohicans (1992 film)
WHAT MAKES IT GREAT: Listen...
...I made an account here on DW specifically to nominate this fandom for Yuletide and get it some more love. So please, if nothing else, listen to this fan speak her truth.
First, the sound
It won an award for Best Sound - yes, I'm aware that this award is for sound editing and not for its music, but this movie had both: the gorgeous, epic musical score and the counterpoint of the silences, the sounds of nature.
Here is the movie's intro. Try to resist the urge to see the rest afterwards. WARNING: the characters are hunting an animal and they successfully bring it down. It is, however, given a heartfelt send-off, because its hunters thank it for giving them its life.
Second, the history
It does not fuck history over. It took a few historical liberties related to the plot, but overall it follows historic events in a way that isn't jarring. And, despite it being based on a XIX century book, it did not romanticize: The British are not heroic, the French are not evil, the Americans are not perfect, the Mahican/Iroquoi/Huron are not magical. What's more, Russel Means (may he rest in peace) and We Studi reportedly accepted to play parts in this movie to perform as non-stereotyped Native Americans for once.
To anyone interested in historical costuming, LOTM gives a pretty decent account of itself as far as British uniforms of the XIIIV Century go. No relation whatsover to whatever it is they threw on the British in Pirates of the Caribbean.
Third, and perhaps most important, THE STORY
It portrays the grim reality of war. There's nothing noble about it here: people who weren't ever involved suffer and die; there are no war heroes, just flawed humans trying to carry out the mission they were sent to accomplish. There is no big bad to defeat: all the characters want to do is live, and keep their loved ones alive.
It has not one, but two fraught emotional stories, one of which is the soft, tragically cut-short connection between Alice Munro, daughter of a British-Scottish officer and Uncas (portrayed by a young Eric Schweig), the son of Chingachgook. They don't have many scenes, but the ones they do will likely be enough to leave you heartbroken in the best way at the end.
Fourth, last and nevertheless not least, its tiny, dedicated fandom
This poor fandom doesn't even reach 300 works in FF.net and AO3 entire, even counting the incomplete works, the drabbles, the works with no real connection to the fandom in the first place, and so on. But the setting really inspires you: to research your history, a la The Eagle of the Ninth, to capture the breathtaking reality of the emotional bonds it portrays, and so the few we get can be quite beautiful.
I leave two rather short ones, WHICH SPOIL THE END, but are suitably heart-rending.
- Drummer by tigers_bedtime
- Precipice by La Reine Noir
WHERE CAN I FIND IT?(optional): It used to be on Netflix, but it was removed in June-July of this year. It is, however, a movie over 20 years old, so it has resided in the less-legal places of the internet for a long time now. There are also so many snippets of it on YouTube. It also seems to be available on Amazon Prime
Give this 1992 film a chance, though. It is worth it.