Essay About Primary Focus And Cora Munro

The Last of the Mohicans Film Review
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The Last of the Mohicans Film Review
Primary Focus: Directed by Michael Mann, The Last of the Mohicans is centered
around a primary plot with much action and drama. To begin, the movie starts with two
sisters that have recently arrived at the colonies: Cora Munro and her sister Alice Munro.
They are both being escorted to their father, Colonel Munro by a troop of his British
soldiers. . Along the way they are ambushed by a Huron war party led by Magua the
villain and an evil warrior who wants revenge against General Munro. Munros soldiers
are wiped out and Cora is almost killed by Magua but is saved at the last moment by
Hawkeye, a white man raised by the Mohican tribe. Hawkeye, Uncas and Chingachgook
volunteer to escort the sisters and Major Heyward to Fort William Henry. On their way,
they come across the outcome of brutal murders against their colonial friends. Once
again it was a Huron war party so Hawkeye warns the colonial militia men stationed at
Fort William Henry of the future threat on their colonial homes and helps a few of them
escape. Along the way, Hawkeye and Cora fall in love with one another and so do Uncas
and Alice. But Hawkeye is imprisoned for going against General Munros direct order
and trying to inspire a rebellion. Meanwhile, the French continues their relentless effort
to overtake Fort William Henry. Eventually, realizing that it is hopeless, Colonel Munro
surrenders his troops under the giving conditions of the French. But its not that simple
since the leader of the Huron warriors, Magua, vows vengeance on “the gray hair,”
General Munro and his daughters. While surrendering, a battle takes place between “the
red coats” and Maguas people. Eventually, Cora and her sister get caught by Magua and
there are further consequences; Cora and Alice are going to be killed. Hawkeye tries to
sacrifice himself for Cora, but Major Duncan Heyward tells the chief to take him instead.
So Duncan burns at the alive, and is shot by Hawkeye to ease his suffering. Uncas is
killed by Magua while trying to save Alice; Alice, upset over Uncass death, takes her life
by falling off the cliff. Chingachgook then kills Magua in a decisive battle for killing
Uncas. Chingachgook, Hawkeye, and Cora make it out alive; Chingachgook cries,
because he is the last of the Mohicans.
Directors Primary Aim: Michael Mann, the director of this epic film, does a great job
with providing the spectator with some insight to human nature. Mann demonstrates to
the spectator the cultural destruction most previous societies had to deal with. In my
opinion, Mann tried to persuade the audience that cultural destruction is not a man-made
problem; rather it is something that comes and goes with cultural destruction. For
instance, the most evident example would be the death of the Mohican tribe, sparked by
the murder of Uncas. This event acts as a smaller event that eventually ignites the
destruction of the Native-American culture. In addition to affecting the people of the
culture, cultural destruction also greatly affects people outside of the culture. For
example, Michael Mann puts great emphasis on how the extinction of the Mohican tribe
cost Alice Munro her life; she jumped off a cliff because her love, Uncas, one of the last
members of the Mohican tribe, was killed in a fight with Magua. As one can see, cultural
destruction is not only one of the directors primary aims in the film, but it is undoubtedly
also something that occurs within human nature.
Significant Statement: Throughout the movie, a recurring significant statement is that
race does not have any role in true love and devotion. For example, towards the end of
the story, Hawkeye loves Cora so much that he wants to be killed by Magua instead of
Cora. Although, Hawkeye is technically a “white man,” he feels more comfortable with
his adopted family, therefore signifying interracial love. In addition, the plot also features
Uncas falling in love with Coras sister, Alice. Uncas falling in love with Alice is
extremely important when talking about interracial love because they both eventually die
for one another; Uncas gets killed by Magua and Alice jumps off a cliff because she has
lost her loved one, Uncas. Lastly, the significant statement is well represented throughout