I've had this conversation a few times with friends, but for me the sequence starting with Duncan's sacrifice and ending with Magua's death is the most brilliant thing I've ever seen on screen. The combination of stunning visuals, a perfect score, and about five very visceral emotional hits.. it just kills me every time.
Granted I haven't seen everything I should have in the world of film, but if you can point me to something else this great, please do :)
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You have had plenty of replies from your 2014 post but I will weigh in anyway.
Yes, I agree. Like you I had often viewed those scenes starting with the arrival in the Indian camp to Magua's death. The tension is build by the music fiddle played by Alistair Fraser, the Celt. I have a massed bagpipe performance of the piece played at the Edinburgh Tattoo, so emotional. To watch Alice weighing her options having seen her father slaughtered, her innocent love interest killed defending her, lost to her sister and with a horribly unimaginable future as Magua's slave, her decision to step off the cliff was inevitable.
Did you notice Mann taking every opportunity to photograph Wes Studie's profile. He looks like the head on the nickel.
A few years ago we visited Chimney Rock to see the waterfall in the background of the scent with the Indian chief.
There is a good YouTube that features the entire"The Gael" theme and a montage of the movie, with most attention to the spectacular ending. It was put up by a French speaker, but the montage is music and visuals only. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DTeKz39yng
There are no uninteresting things, only uninterested people. – G.K. Chesterton
Watched it again just recently and I still think it's the best 10min of film to date.
Such a powerful & emotional scene, driven only by cinematography and the beautiful score to match. No one even needs to talk to explain what's going on, and that's exactly what makes it such a masterpiece imo.
Yes, it's a pretty great scene, in which every element comes together like magic. Thrilling.
Another great action scene with great music and resonance (in the larger story) . . and almost no dialogue, is the gladiator match between Kirk Douglas and Woody Strode in Spartacus (dir. by Stanley Kubrick), to the great score by Alex North. I read somewhere that it took them 6 weeks to film the scene, which is about 6 or 7 minutes long.
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I couldn't agree more. I was flipping through channels yesterday and happened upon this just a few minutes before this sequence. Every time I watch that part of the movie I am completely mesmerized. I can never decide what makes it more epic, the visuals, the score, the emotion behind it all, etc. I think saying that this movie is one of the greatest films ever made is a gross understatement and the IMDB score it has is ridiculous.
shareQuite probably correct.
Absolute classic movie, Wes Studie Daniel Day Lewis Pete Postelthwaite and many more outstanding actors.
You may be right. ;-) Although I first saw this film in the theater in 1992, I hadn't seen it again for many years. I watched it on TV just now, and I was riveted to the screen in those last 10 minutes. Absolutely -- and literally! -- breathtaking!
shareWithout question one of the best endings in cinematic history.
shareI agree ... It's an extremely powerful 10 minutes. It's brutal and it's vicious and it's ugly but it's also beautiful, in its own way and it definitely sticks with the viewer. And the music is incredible.
share