| Show ij - I-4r- ENTERTAINMENT Friday September The Salt Lake Tribune 'Last of Mohiemis' seduces t I viewer with hard realism - The Last of the Mohicans A violent realistic edge is added to James rnmnv Cooper's romantic frontier tale Michael Mann's "The Last of the Mohicans" indelibly captures : the violence of the frontier the combat : horror of - with tomahawks and the butts of :rifles the sickening sound of a blade running along a scalp The director known for tele vision's "Miami Vice- - and the stylish intelligent thriller "Manhunter — brings bloody realism to the New World view of James Fenimore Cooper He also shows the logistical nightmare of 18thcentury warfare of warring with the flintlock rifle of the English army's futile habit of fighting in columns while Hurons and other tribes have a field day with guerrilla tactics Based as much on the 1936 Randolph Scot film as on Coo- per's "Leatherstocking TaIesthis new incarnation is another product of the revisionist 1990s But it is not in the "Dances With Wolves- - mold This "Mohicans'' eschews romanticizing the past The movie doesn't seduce the viewer with passion but with its clear-eye- d vision of the way people either lived or died It is a and riveting advenhard-edge- nous people's outrage er "r 1 -- : rtC e-- 0 1 "1 77 - '''' If ) i i of-f- -- : li - 1- 2 Day-Lew- -- 4 Goldberg at left in center is Mary a passionate schoolteacher in South Africa who inspires her students to take pride in themsehes and their heritage in "Sarafina" Below Ilawkeye the frontiersman played by Daniel in "The Last of the Mohicans'" does wkat it takes to survive Whoopi 11171J1 17 ': : fr I ' 11 4141 ' 40 '' 't A- (17 ( ) I 71 ' '' 4 - ' t0 "f l -- 1 t — 4 ) t771e1- 1 42i ) a so in ' trot t Rv (where "Sarafinal" was filmed) and shows how people can find hope even in the worst of times Then director Darren James Roodt turns the screws Soldiers occupy Sarafina's school with an aim to quell dissent and arrest the teachers influencing the youths to violence Miss Masembulco is among the first to go triggering a gruesome series of events: Children shot dead in the schoolyard: a young mob beating a constable and burning him alive and the brutal arrest and torture of Sarafina and many of her schoolmates The film pounds the audience with its politics though the recent Ciskei massacre — in which troops killed 23 bIarIts at an African National Congress rally — indicates the films depiction of the South African government as dimwitted bullies may be justified (The movie is rated PG-- 1 for profanity and for distressingly of torture shocking and other prison atrocities) "Sarafina7 has the problem shared by "The Hunt for Red Ocevents have imtober": Real-lif- e on posed Hollywood's plans Sar- : : )-- 1 :4E‘t(1 i 411t !a ( :1' osiosti There were stories of goon : squads vigilantes out to destroy the members of AIM and their families Children and elderly people often were caught in the crossfire Because the marauders controlled the federal funds coming into the reservation it was assumed that their actions were tacitly approved by the US government Using dramatic recreations of the events that day Mr Apted tells the story from the point of view of the FBI and the American Indians who were there that day He interviews 24 people involved with the case from AIM founder Dennis Banks to attorney William Kunst ler to the Assistant US Attorneys who prosecuted the cases Leonard Peltier appears to give his side of the story "Incident at Oglala" frated PG is strong advocacy filmmaking a documentary intended to engender outrage and action It accomplishes its mission It is hard to imagine anyone walking from the theater still believing Leonard Peltier belongs in prison 0 e" I A 41: k 44viplip 7 '1N'Al"4144"'''4 i')': ''' -- - i4 - ' I 5o '4 '? 4 4 ' ' V 4 '7 4 " I ': '' 1 41' A t i" ' V Qq oc114111411 - -- -- 11('S Of '' o '' ) 1 i t ' 4 1 afina thinks her life would become a fairy tale when Nelson Mandela is freed He's been free for more than two years but the fighting and the dying goes on What raises "Sarafina- l- is the music by Mbongeni Ngema (who wrote the Broadway play and the screenplay) with additional songs by Hugh Masekela The songs are filled with the Zulu and "township jive- - styles popularized by Paul Simons "Grace-land- " and other performers The songs are like beacons shining beams of hope in a land of despair The makers of "Sarafinar" d could have used more of what its characters have: The courage to be hopeful instead of just wallowing in their pain Sean Means te world-musi- e °dab' Incident at puts viewer on jury It c -Incident at Ogla la— is a film with a mission: Get Leonard Pel- tier who is serving two consecutive life sentences at Leavenworth Penitentiary a new trial Peltier a Chippewa and member of the American Indian Movement was convicted of killing two FBI agents on the Pine Ridge Res Incident at Oglala sclf-defens- e The fourth man was Peltier He was convicted by a jury in Fargo ND in 1976 Accusations of perjury and claims that the evidence used against him was contradictory have swirled around the case eve: since Author Peter Matthiessen wrote a book about the event and now Robert Redford the films executive producer and narrator has joined in the fray Directed by Michael Apted whose most recent narrative film -Thunderheart- tells a similar story "Incident- paints a chilling of judicial double stan portrait coundards and of a third-worl- d try existing within US borders The shootout at Oglala came just two years after the AIM occupation at Wounded Knee in February 1971 During the early '70s Pine Ridge was a powder keg of violence waiting to explode It had a murder rate several times that of the rest of South Dakota is - 0 big- living in Soweto y day-to-da- fully sunny actress who played the role on Broadway)' Sarafina dreams of a better life but even those dreams musical numbers choreographed to took like children at play but with better dance moves — are touched by poverty and the threat of the South African government Sarafina knows that freedom for blacks is just around the corner She talks every morning to a picture of Nelson Mandela (the film is set during the 1986 "state of emergency" four years before Mr Dolandela's release from prison) She listens to her teacher Mary Masembuko (well played by Whoop' Goldberg) an iconoclast Haw-key- i ii ' 11' t k '1 '''''::: Of 144! ' rich Johannesburg family This is when the film is at its best as it paints a rich portrait of Life in Soweto is shown through the eyes of a black schoolgirl Sarafina (Leteti Khumaio a wonder- better-equippe- d rI And she finds strength from Angelina (Miriam Makeba) a maid who cares for a apartheid's evils white-controlle- 44 4 4 4- in South Dakota in 1973 He was one of four men indicted for the killings One was released for lack of evidence: two other-were acquitted when a jury concluded that although they had fired at the agent they had done her mother way musical about South African youngsters has been turned int() a harsh and simplistic depiction of small-minde- d ""!"' ervation —ds " 4 : ger- d "Sarafina!"" is an example of how good intentions can derail a movie What was a joyous Broad- broad-minde- d : who tells Sarafina "freedom is Good music and good performances are um kr heavy-handepolitics in this musical' u pi in South Africa absplit grrf wiched in is a love story between Hawkeye and Cora Munro (Madeleine Stowe) the Engdaughter of a lish coloneL The English are recruiting colonialists to man Fort William under siege by the French After rescuing Cora her younger sister (Jodhl May) and a haughty officer (Steven Waddington) from a Huron war party finds himself inside the fort as it is about to fall After surrendering the English are giv -- 1 just the beginning — think Sarafma! Sand- - m ow Qiiiti Irk is Day-Lew- i' 4 'Saralma happy ending Hawkeye the frontiersman played by a lithe and athletic Daniel is undoubtedly a hero but his practical ways sometimes make him less than humane He does what it takes to survive and owes allegiance only to the Mohican Chingachgook (Russell Means) who has raised him since he was 2 Set along the Canadian border during the French and Indian Wars "The Last of the Mohicans' tells a story of English arrogance settler bravery and of an indige- v ii A: ' - 4 r f S African reality denies ture t 0 A ' ' — Terry Orme & I ' 7 - i AO" Day-Lew- is roller-coast- '' t 1 n high-powere- i ( t'"'- -'I If 4o! oo0 lt‘ -- ---- I bk th hand-to-han- d - 1 en mercy and allowed to leave Waiting in the quiet beautiful forest are the Hurons With a whoop and a holler they fail upon the Redcoats Ifs a slaughter tfawkeye and Cora steal into the wilderness only to realize that Magua (Wes Studi) a vengeful Huron is obsessed with killing advenCora Their ture forges ahead nonstop The Last of the Mohicans'' (rated R for violence ) is not a character-drivefilm even with actors as Mr such and M Stowe Instead it feels like a adventure barreling through early American history It is exciting and beautiful to watch but the characters of Haviikeye and Cora get short shrift Mr Mann's biggest achievement is that while Magua remains a hateful villain we come to understand his evil The European invasion is killing his people and he knows only one way: fight fire with fire "Cr I E3 25 1992 — Terry Ormt? Movie Reviews! Every Friday in It znyt fakt Ztitrant Weekend Section f ar!b:iiilialwilsrissiff The case of Leonard Peltier is argued persuasively The audience is the jury in this documentary I ! 1 11111‘7 “ EX I ILARA IL On a Scale of 1 to 10 This One Gets a Rare Gary Franklin ij D4 111 ' Motivated Epic" 44:01546 ‘ A irisfoT 1 41'41 - t'N N41 'A4'A' 0 3" ' V i A Vibrant and s'vologctito4400M041::93§4: Memorable Film" - Miami Wilmington ' LOS ANGELES TIMES ' ::'' r:: 441144017 s' '"tit 4: r t )4 fs' ::: "r 10" (444 - Susan Granger WICCIAMEIHCAN MOVIE CLASSICS A 4 - k)4: '4111Ar " - i Si '"sk '24 I I 0 1- ft' 0 t 0 i 3 I 0 1 e re 1 4 "" L t1- '''''' A ' - 0 '(t'" N11L k 74AN 1 ie SARAFINA! ( ) 4 tt 414010 ( t el I '' '' The Sound of Freedom s4 fl'"'4714"gr4I :t IIMIIIIMEM i :4 A 4 I: - : Whoopi Goldberg Leleti Khumalo 1 A tet441:?tit- ' 1 1 - 1 '-- 441W i 1 000 : i 4 9 --71 irl i -- 6-72- 't ''— - ' — ! t r Z' 5ARAFINA1' is a Stirring Emotional Powerful II " m'o' 4 "UPLIFTING' 3' ' o' i Wo ' r' A 14-- À '' Am 0 ::' t 81t1 '414N 1 to 4 1 N Nk9VIN''41( 1 pi '''':: 't st tti I PLAYBOY f Pt A Stirring Highly MK( Williamson teal ea: : t ttr' "EXUBERANT! G 13" LOS ANGELES KCOP-T- (e:1 4 1 144':: ' ttt e 4 7 t ' vy'ze 4 ! 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