The Last of the Mohicans

The Last of the Mohicans (1992)

Timing: 1:52 (112 min)

7.385/10
3331

7.53/10
31176

7.6/10
205000

All about film

Video 2

Photo 73

Actors and characters

Release date

1992-08-26

Country

United States

Production

20th Century Fox, Morgan Creek

Genre

Action, Adventure, Drama, History, Romance, War

Budget

$40 000 000

Revenue

$75 505 856

Website

Director

Michael Mann

Actors

Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stowe, Jodhi May, Russell Means, Wes Studi, Eric Schweig, Steven Waddington, Maurice Roëves, Patrice Chéreau, Edward Blatchford
All actors and roles (10)

Scenario

Producer

Michael Mann, Hunt Lowry, James G. Robinson

Operator

Dante Spinotti

Composer

Trevor Jones

Artist

Dennis Bradford, Patricia Woodbridge, Erik Olson

Audition

Bonnie Timmermann, Susie Figgis

Editing

Arthur Schmidt, Dov Hoenig
All team (266)

• A film adaptation of the novel of the same name by James Fenimore Cooper (1826).
• Approximately 900 Native American extras were recruited from across the country for the filming.
• Poor living conditions for the extras during location shooting in the forest led to a strike among the cast and crew. It was joined not only by the extras themselves but also by the leading actors, Daniel Day-Lewis and Russell Means.
• Russell Means, despite his clear sympathy for the director (and Michael Mann's mutual personal and political sympathy for him), noted instances of racist treatment of Native Americans by the film crew and the filmmakers' blatant ignorance of Native American history, culture, and customs.
• Eric Schweig, who played Uncas, expressed in an interview with the film's fan site that the film suffered from focusing primarily on the white stars – Stowe and Day-Lewis – to the detriment of the 'Native American' component of the plot.
• Day-Lewis, a follower of the Stanislavski system and known for his meticulous attention to character development, gained weight, significantly improved his physical fitness, learned to shoot a flintlock rifle, and operate a canoe for the film. This fact was repeatedly discussed in the English-language press, but few noticed that Russell Means, who was over fifty at the time of filming, performed in hunting and combat scenes without any concessions made for his age. According to Mann in an interview released after Means' death, he achieved the necessary physical condition in three weeks.
• Eric Schweig, reflecting on his work on the role, noted that he remembered the constant need to run a lot more than 'getting into character'.
• Actress Jody May, when asked about her role as Alice in one interview, replied that her role remained mostly on the cutting room floor. A particular excitement among the film's fans was caused by the love scene between Alice and Uncas, written in the script as quite explicit, but not included in the film.
• Eric Schweig, who played Uncas, expressed in an interview with the film's fan site that the film suffered from the focus being primarily on the white stars of the film—Stowe and Day-Lewis—to the detriment of the “Native American” component of the plot.
• Erik Schweig, reflecting on his work on the role, noted that he remembers more the constant need to run a lot than 'getting into character'.