Romance Stories Under Scrutiny: The Fast Forward Relationship – From "The Last of The Mohicans" to "Thor"

Cora (Madeleine Stowe) and Hawkeye (Daniel Day-Lewis) on 'romantic' nightwatch

I recently re-watched an old '90s ballad. Or should we say a much repeated drama on TV during my childhood years, along with Dances with Wolves (Kevin Costner, 1990), namely The Last of the Mohicans (Michael Mann, 1992). 

Ah yes, it was the white man's stoic face among all the Native Americans' masks of 'failed communication'. These epic, romantic historical dramas were more or less apologetic in their attempts of retelling the historically painful relationship with the original American people. God knows, it has never been truly rightfully told in big CinemaScope, at least not from the POV of the Natives themselves, and I've seen more than a few cringe-worthy movies - especially those from the Golden Age of Hollywood - to second that. Either they had few to no lines or Hispanics were cast in the main roles. Or Hollywood simply went for the 'easy' way out: Redface. *sigh*

Given the Westerns' set-up back then, the white man was always the center of the narrative - whether he was good or bad or anti-heroic. The Native Americans were always second-rate in that aspect, serving as a kind of background tapestry or the voice of spiritual guidance. But even if the dynamics worked like a Crusoe/Friday or Lone Ranger/Tonto relationship between the white hero and the Noble Savage, this was no less problematic. 

The dominant representation of on-screen interracial, romantic relationships between the whites and the Native Americans seemed to mainly consist of Native Americans kidnapping white women. It painted out the 'savage' against the 'civil' to the point of xenophobic silliness, notwithstanding any roots in historical legitimacy of these kinds of highly non-romantic acts of abduction.
However, in The Last of the Mohicans, as well as Dances with Wolves, it's rather telling how the two romantic leads are a white man and a white woman, and where at least one part for some reason needs to be raised among the Natives... presumably in order to seem 'less white'?

But I digress.

Good things to say about The Last of the Mohicans: Apart from great performances, especially from the actual Native American actors, and a haunting, prophetic score (Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman) as well as cinematography (Dante Spinotti), it has some pretty nicely construed action sequences as well (if you tend to notice how unwillingly extras try to fight each other in battles scenes, even in recent productions, this one at least succeeds).

But when it comes to the love story that centers around the two main protagonists Nathaniel 'Hawkeye' Poe (Daniel Day-Lewis) and Cora Munro (Madeleine Stowe), it falls short. I like Madeleine (girl's got spunk) and Daniel (though not one of his most memorable performances) as actors. But, excuse me, that relationship went from 'I barely know you or trust you' to 'Let's randomly watch stars together, share childhood memories and talk awkward innuendos and in-between-lines' to 'We're now deeply and forever in love' in no time. At all.

I know, I know, you can only do so much with a story in 117 minutes and there's a whole lot more going on than this little affaire de coeur. Still, it somewhat insults me that it seems not much more is needed than a couple of damsel-in-distress rescues, some common gratitude, a shallow moonlight talk and awkwardly bland, long stares in order for these two to be deeply in love before we know it.
It's war, I get it, and people get pushed together or seek each other out in the strangest of circumstances (I mean, wouldn't you seek comfort in the nearest nice, safe arms if you found yourself in a war-zone and didn't know whether you were going to live or die?). Or perhaps people just moved faster in the 1750s where the movie takes place... and all this could be valid enough arguments for these two to be so head-over-heels in love and set on each other - if only the movie wasn't in such a damn hurry to force this process along!

Alright, what about love at first sight and all that, you might argue?

The whole 'It worked for Romeo and Juliet'-argument also falls short here (doesn't it always?), since Hawkeye barely looks at Cora when they first meet - at least not for more than a couple of seconds and with no sparks sent flying between them. The camera certainly doesn't dwell on anything significantly; that this is as 'fateful' a meeting as it is suddenly made out to be in the second half of the movie. Actually, he seems rather indifferent towards her for most of their time together in the beginning. Sure, she confronts him with a prejudiced attitude and he isn't exactly warming up himself, but they are not at each other's throats - they're not even that interested in each other, other than 'a damsel wanna thank her rescuer'-kinda mode. Then comes all the star-gazing and 'blood-stirring'-thing which is okay though kinda awkward put together (she's wide-eyed, thankful and curious and he's cool and detached but kinda baffled and turned on??). I'm not saying it should be all logically put together - after all, love isn't logical - but the way it is paced and built up bothers me.

Well, at least, there is chemistry, isn't there?

Hmm, maybe, in some brief seconds, and some might feel it more, going as far as calling it intoxicating; I just don't. And I guess that's where we differ in opinion to those readers who might disagree with me. I'm sorry, but it's simply a boring romance, in my opinion. Boring as hell, and I'd much rather talk about what's going on between Uncas (Eric Schweig) and Alice Munro (Jodhi May - who, by the way, is perfectly cast as Stowe's sister since they bear a striking resemblance to each other). Talk about a wordless relationship! Though, apparently, much of their unspoken romance was cut out from the movie but included in the script - which might help explain what led to the devoted, yet tragic ending for these two lovers.

Alright, one could definitely make some of the same arguments about these two as I just did above regarding Hawkeye and Cora, but my point is that at least the connection between Uncas and Alice seems more believable and less forced - it's even established way before Hawkeye and Cora's. Perhaps because it is less expected and thus all the more fascinating with hardly no words spoken at all? And given the conversation at the beginning of the movie between Hawkeye, Uncas and Jack Winthrop in the Cameron household where they 'joke' about Uncas in need of a good wife (also in order to continue the Mohican bloodline), not Hawkeye, there's all the more reason for Uncas to be given the possibility of love in this story.

Also, considering Alice's somewhat frightful (and fatalistic?) nature and strong bond with her father which she then brutally looses, gives her as much reason for the chance of finding such a strong bond again. That is perhaps why the ending and fate between these two lovers is all the more tragic (and enigmatic and fascinating), because they deserved a happy ending the most, whereas you're less concerned about the fate of Hawkeye and Cora. They seem to be handling themselves quite alright throughout the movie and will likely continue to do so, even if they hadn't found each other. Clannad's beautiful song, "I Will Find You", seems, in fact, all the more fitting for Uncas and Alice, after she's taken away by Magua (Wes Studi), even though the words are spoken between Hawkeye and Cora and clearly meant for them.

And as one person so precisely commented on the article "Michael Mann looks back on The Last of the Mohicans 20 years later":

[...] Everyone I spoke to was upset like me for not showing the love develop between Alice and Uncas. It left people confused why a man traces up a steep mountain on a suicide mission for a girl he never even spoke a word to. It wasn't until I read the actual script online and seen he [Michael Mann] had an awesome love scene in the cave between Alice and Uncas. People were upset he didn't use it because it would have taken away the boring love story between Cora and Hawkeye. Little did he know we wanted to see more Alice and Uncas. You can't put a gorgeous Indian like Eric Schweig in a movie and not have at least one love scene to make us drool. Your story made no sense why Uncas died without that scene. You should have included it in the extended version or deleted scenes.

Now that we are at this whole stargazing-fast-forward-type of romance, another more recent - albeit different - film, Thor (Kenneth Branagh, 2011), comes to mind. Once again the protagonists and lovers-in-question, Thor (Chris Hemsworth - in a silly comics-version of the real deal) and Dr. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), get right down to business after having been accidentally and literally thrown together.

After some superficial differences in cultural behavior and communication - very striking to a 'me-Tarzan-you-Jane'-sorta relationship - Hemsworth strips for a (very important) second-or so and shows off a boring set of skills, including a ridiculously sized torso - especially compared to Portman's already petite figure - as well as some gentlemanly manliness all rapt up in one 'Norse' package. Meanwhile, Portman plays along from beneath (literally from beneath) with a wide-eyed curiosity, partly that of a scientist's and partly that of a female's 'natural' reaction to Hemsworth's bulging muscles and Australian accent. Ugh. So predictable.

Then, of course, we have the quiet bonding moment which includes - guess once - star-gazing and childhood anecdotes. Geez. After that, they're all truly, madly, deeply in love and ready to take a bullet for one another, apparently. Other reviewers have pointed out this confusing jump of pace regarding the quality time spent between the so-called lovers, as well.

Dr. Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) share info
(no, really, they're falling deeply and irrevocably in love, can't you tell?!)

Regarding the aspect of setting the 'right romantic mood' in both films, I guess there's just something fundamentally romantic in having the two lovers go star-gazing; whether it's sharing the contemplative quietness of the night, philosophizing over the vastness of space and man's small existence or showing off an impressive but basically useless (unless it's job-related) knowledge of stars - learnt by heart, of course.

Just look at films such as Can't Buy Me Love (1987), Roxanne (1987), Heartbreakers (2001), A Walk to Remember (2002) or Down with Love (2003) and countless of other romantic movies which make use of this particular trope.

And there surely is nothing wrong with such a trope in order to give the potential lovers some (often much needed) quiet time, to 'sweeten' the air, so to speak, and spark some deeper, more intellectual attraction between the two of them. As long as it is done with patience. Even if it's completely sappy and cheesy. As long as the movie lets it play out between the characters in a more or less naturally constructed pace, and perhaps also subtly indicates what we don't necessarily see or hear in-between scenes but have to interpret ourselves. There's a natural flow in the narrative that just needs to flow in that regard and I'm including plot-twists and surprises and all - even in or perhaps even more so in historical and/or epic films.

After all, we're not talking genres such as Transformers or soap-operas like Days of Our Lives where nothing flows naturally, and where talking about a realistic romantic development or scenario between two people is like speaking to deaf ears (no offense). However, such matters are hardly relevant for these types of entertainment where focus and form lie elsewhere - and that's perfectly fine. Every man to his taste. But the best romantic story lines in - historical, epic, etc. - films are, after all, those who manage to let the relationship play out patiently - no matter how tense or naive or ridiculous the situation is.

Furthermore, when I watch a movie I care as much (or even more) about the character stories as the overall story-line, so naturally I get offended when these stories are disrupted, manipulated or pushed forward for no other reason than presumably that of ignorance, forgetfulness, impatience, further the plot or the most common one: a lack of time and space. Such 'trifle matters' other directors have certainly overcome throughout time and still managed to produce films that balanced 'the big picture' as well as 'the small one'. Okay, period pieces do tend to be more than 2½ hours long or even cut up into a miniseries because these multi-faceted factors need to be included in order to do the story and the characters justice, but others have managed just as well without such framework. Just saying.

It may just be my logical/rational mind that naturally demands causality and reason to every action and reaction, and I know that - in the matters of the heart - there's rarely a reasonable or logical explanation for anything, but I love it when films stir up these ways of thinking and surprise us while not distorting the natural flow. And it has been done so many times - more or less successfully - in so many genres; subtly, inexplicably, honestly or elusively and so on - among all the (melo)drama. I just wish The Last of The Mohicans and Thor had managed to do so as well with their main protagonists.

You can rightfully disagree.

*revised 28-04-19*