Conference bookie::movies

    In an effort to keep the digression from growing too much, I've moved
    my notes...
    
>Note 83.9
>8269::BARRIANO "choke me in the shallow water..."    16 lines  23-MAR-1993 16:32
>                             -< Senior or Junior? >-
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>re       <<< Note 83.8 by KOLFAX::WIEGLEB "Who is 'The Loneliest Monk'?" >>>
>               -< An earlier version of "Last of the Mohicans" >-
>
>  
>>    Actually, the 1936 version was not the first film of the book.  There
>>    was actually a 1920 (silent) version, shot on location at Big Bear Lake
>>    and Yosemite Valley, directed by Maurice Tourneur and Clarence Brown,
>>    with Wallace Beery.
>    
>    Dave,
>
>   Very interesting, was that Wallace Beery Sr. or Jr.?
>   Did he play Hawkeye or Chingkagacook (sp)
> 
>   Regards
>Barry
    
    Since I haven't actually seen it, I couldn't tell you.  (I assume "Sr.")
    It recently played the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley.
    
    Their program notes say...
    
    "The Last of the Mohicans" - Maurice Tourneur, Clarence Brown (USA, 1920)
    
    "Tourneur's adaptations of Conrad and Stevenson established him as a
    master of rugged adventure and outdoor spectacle.  Perhaps most
    impressive is this version of Fenimore Cooper's 'The Last of the
    Mohicans', shot on location at Big Bear Lake and Yosemite Valley. 
    While on location Tourneur suffered illness and accidents so his
    assistan, Clarence Brown, took over the bulk of the location shooting. 
    Seen today, 'The Last of the Mohicans' still registers the excitement
    of its story - and the ingenuity of its making, so typical of the early
    years of filmmaking.  Brown described to Kevin Brownlow in 'The
    Parade's Gone By' the expressive use of natural lighting: 'We made much
    use of lighting effects and weather atmosphere.  We used smokepots to
    create the suggestion of sunrays striking through woodland mist.  The
    rainstorm in the forest was simply a fire negine and hose.  We got
    clouds because we waited for them, and used filters...'"
    
    "* Written by Robert A. Dillon, based on the novel by James Fenimore
    Cooper.  Photographed by Philip R. Dubois, Charles E. Van Enger.  With
    Wallace Beery, Brabara Bedford, Albert Roscoe, Lillian Hall. (90 min,
    silent, b&w, 16mm, from Museum of Modern Art)"
    
    - Dave
    

    1992 version on this film was visually stunning, but the pacing could
    have used some work.  I felt as if i was watching a television cut and
    some of the meat of the story had been left on the cutting room floor. 
    I was watching this film with keen interest and was instantly swept
    into the storyline and found myself wanting to see more of what I knew
    must be going on, I wanted more background, more insight into what was
    being thought and done.  It is not that I was unable to follow along,
    but that I felt as if there was so much material to communicate that
    they chose to gloss over too much of it in order to cram the film into
    a nice, clean commercial package.
    
    That's it for the pans, now for the praise.  I loved this film from the
    first moment, there is something visceral and wild about that opening
    scene, running through the forest trails, turning and climbing and
    racing along ground that they obviously knew like the backs of their
    hands, culminating with that final shot and then a ceremony in
    thanksgiving to the spirit of the deer for providing sustenance for
    them; truely a beautiful scene.  Daniel Day Lewis seemed very
    comfortable and competent in his role as Nathaniel/Hawkeye and he
    looked like he was enjoying himself in the role.  I was impressed by
    the camera work, and the direction of the actual scenes, the chaos of
    close battle, and movement, truely beautiful work.  All the actors
    seemed to fit their roles well, I especially liked Cora, and the Major,
    there was an interesting dynamic there.  There was too much there for
    just one viewing, even though it still felt as if I was missing
    something.   I will make this part of my personal collection.
    
    Andrew, who saw this film almost a week ago and still have it racing
    through my mind like the wild wind.
    
    

Yeah, I agree, even though it has flaws and is open to criticism, it effected
me very postively on a viseral level as well.   

The whole French and Indian war seems much more primitive and isolated than later
wars like the American Revolution.    Certainly the battles seemed smaller and more
personal.  (Although battles in the Revolution were not big organized affairs by 
any means.)

The fact the story occurred in the"wilds" of upstate New York really appealed to me,
as I grew up in the Northeast and could easily imagine/remember being in woods of 
these sorts.  

The fact that horses were a rare commodity and that "running" was the "preferred" 
means of travel was also appealing. 

		Bob Cohen

    I rented the video and found this to be one of the most boring
    experiences in my life. Also, the video had black borders on the top
    and bottom that also made watching the video difficult.
    
    I would rate it 0 out of 5.
    
    

    RE: .5
    
    Those 'black borders' is called Letterbox.  Its so that you can see all
    of the action/view on the sides of the movie - otherwise the video
    makers would have had to do apan and scan (someone more literate on the
    subject could give you more info than I)
    
    Frankly I wish 90% of the movies I rented were Letterbox.  If you stop
    concentrating on it you won't notice it as much
    
    Joyce
    
    

    The 1920 silent film will be on American Movie Classics cable channel
    at various points in July.  I plan to check it out.
    
    - Dave

    just saw this for the first time this past weekend.... thought it was
    great! I liked the scenery, and the "primitive" feeling of the
    surroundings. It seemed more realistic then many of the other
    "colonial" movies.  I also liked the way they handled the violence, you
    knew what was happening, but didn't have to watch it.
    
    A quick question though... the credits list Colm Meaney as playing
    Major Ambrose. After seeing that, we went back through the movie, but
    couldn't find him... anyone know when he shows up?
    
    janetb.

    Letterbox is the way to go with movies like "Last..." and "Glory",
    gives you so much more scene.
    
    I loved this movie, BTW...

    This movie was ruined for me by the in-your-face violence.  It made me
    want to puke my guts out.
    
    I found myself thinking..."I'm supposed to be happy and moved that the
    two prettiest people on the frontier found each other?  What about all
    the other poor people who died such horrible deaths?"  
    
    Extremely depressing.  Yuck.
    
    Lorna
    

    Part of the appeal of this movie for me, is a strong association with
    the character of Hawkeye and his adoptive family.  For my own self,
    their independent, self-sufficient, and profoundly simple lifestyle
    appeals deeply to me at this point in my life, when our world has
    become so complicated that nothing is cut and dried any longer,
    everything is tainted by politics, materialism and the perpetual search
    for greater "comfort".  In Hawkeye and his Mohican family, is an
    example of human life at its most basic, a group of people who take
    care of themselves and their own with an honest, straightforward
    intensity.  They ask for no special treatment and give none, those who
    they call friends receive friendship without any escape clauses and
    without any strings attached, those who they call enemies, they treat
    as enemies. 
    
    As far as violence is concerned, it really wasn't that bad compared to
    some of what we are subjected to in film and on television today.
    considering the body counts of most action films as compared to this, I
    would be willing to guess that what makes the violence here so
    unappealing to some is the fact that it is very personalized.  In
    todays world we have weapons that allow us to kill large numbers of
    people from incredible distances, we never have to look at our enemies
    anymore so we never realize that they are also human beings, they are
    only the enemy and the reality of their death is measured only in
    statistics.  Frankly, if we had to fight war in the same way they did
    during the French indian war, I guarantee you that we would fight a lot
    fewer wars.  I just found it realistic, kind of like "Glory"
     
    The line from that movie that hooked me firmly and made me
    say "I like this character", 
    
    Spoiler warning  (for those who like good lines kept secret)
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    Spoiler
    
    
    
    When the colonists are being recruited for the militia.  Someone makes
    a comment that the colonists, with a sweeping gesture that includes
    Hawkeye, are still the king's subjects, to which Hawkeye replies simply
    "I have never considered myself subject to much of anything."  
    This is an attitude that rings true to me, it appeals to that within my
    soul that is wild and free as the wolf, and like the wolf, meets life
    on its own terms without forcing too much of the artificial human world
    upon it.
    
    Andrew  ( who loves the trees and the mountains and the wild things and
    places more than any city built )
    

>              <<< Note 94.11 by SUBWAY::BACH "A New York node?" >>>

You really should delete your reply and reenter with a form feed to hide
the spoilers you included.  You sorta gave away the ending.  MOVIE notes 
etiquette, you know.


Bob

I thought the violence was handled well, considering the subject matter.
I mean, how else would you portray the battles?  Maybe the scenes of 
individual violence could have been toned down a bit, but they seemed necessary
for the character development.

I think North Carolina should have gotten co-star billing.

Bob

    I think that was what it was all about.  How violent everything was
    around these two humans.  I never found myself happy for either of
    those characters.  

    (Actually, I never entered the movie with a preconceived notion I was 
    supposed to feel good about some character in the flick)
    
    (Spoilers)

    It was almost a classic tragedy.  The father was part of the problem, 
    the sister was not strong until the end, when she choose to take her
    life.  The indian_guy lost his brother (one of three people he cared
    about) the old guy lost a son.

    The politics of the time kept all the little people killing each other.

    Nope.  I never felt I needed to feel happy about the couple to enjoy
    the movie.

    Well, personally, I think any woman, at any time, would be damn lucky
    to wind-up with Daniel Day-Lewis, or a man who looks/talks and acts
    like he does.  IMO, the man is almost perfect, so I would *try* to feel
    happy for anyone who wound up with him.  (In "My Beautiful Laundrette"
    it was a lucky guy who got him.)
    
    I love Daniel Day-Lewis and went to see the movie because I think he is
    one of the best actors around, as well as good looking and intelligent. 
    But, the violence spoiled it for me.  I thought it could have been
    handled a *lot* better!  It was very bloody.  They could have shown
    that people were getting killed without having so many gruesome,
    close-ups of blood and guts.  Yuck.  I guess I'm just not as
    desensitized to violence as some people are (she smugly said).
    
    I read the darn book when I was in high school and I never *pictured*
    the horrible violence because I didn't want to upset myself.  I realize
    that those times were very violent, but that doesn't mean I want to see
    it.  I don't want to watch operations or go to the site of plane
    crashes or car accidents either.  Why must I be forced to watch every
    horrible, gruesome thing that goes on in the world??  Personally, I
    think the intelligent, emotional thrust of a story can be portrayed
    without the showing of blood and guts violence.
    
    Lorna
    

re           <<< Note 94.16 by VAXWRK::STHILAIRE "wandering spirit" >>>
                          -< i still didn't like it >-

>    Well, personally, I think any woman, at any time, would be damn lucky
>    to wind-up with Daniel Day-Lewis, or a man who looks/talks and acts
>    like he does.  IMO, the man is almost perfect, so I would *try* to feel
>    happy for anyone who wound up with him.  (In "My Beautiful Laundrette"
>    it was a lucky guy who got him.)
  
    Lorna,

   You and Julia Roberts obviously differ on Daniels charm :-)
I think he's a great actor. He was excellent in My Left Foot, I thought he
really was a challenged actor.

Regards
Barry
    

    re .17, well, in this case, I wouldn't be too proud to take Julia's
    leftovers.  :-)   
    
    (Of course, who knows what any of these stars are really like, when you
    get to know them personally.  They may all have such big egos that
    they're impossible to live with.  At any rate, I enjoy watching Daniel
    Day-Lewis on the screen.)
    
    Lorna
    

    "letterbox" stinks! I'm glad the majority of videos I rent only do that
    to the credits at the beginning 'cause I usually fast-forward through
    that anyway.
    
    Ken