 After just one week in cinemas, Steven Spielberg's Lincoln is already generating serious Oscar buzz, with critics hailing Daniel Day-Lewis for his portrayal of the beloved president. Although Day-Lewis definitely had some big shoes to fill in this latest role, it's certainly not the first time the Anglo-Irish actor has played an American legend. Twenty years ago, Day-Lewis took on one of the first great heroes of American literature with the epic role of Hawkeye in the Last of the Mohicans.
Loosely based on James Fenimore Cooper's 1826 novel about the French and Indian War, the 1992 film stars Day-Lewis as Nathaniel 'Hawkeye' Poe, a white frontiersman raised by Native Americans. The heroic protagonist of Cooper's Leatherstocking series, Hawkeye (known as Natty Bumpo in the book) is thought to have been inspired by Daniel Boone and is considered to be the first American Romantic hero. Although Michael Mann's 1992 adaptation deviates from the novel, the film has proven to be as much of a classic as the original novel - if not more so. If you haven't seen Last of the Mohicans recently, it's definitely worth a revisit. Luckily, it always seems to be on TV this time of year - perhaps the colonial settlers/ Native American element makes it seem relevant to the history of Thanksgiving. But whatever the reason, I'm always happy to watch it. I think it's one of those rare cases when the film is infinitely better than the novel. I also believe that Daniel Day-Lewis is the greatest living actor (and let's be honest, the man looked downright fetching in buckskins).
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