Wednesday, July 21, 2010

The Best Screen Villain: Wes Studi's MAGUA in THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS

Watch him: he's like a monstrous dark image of hate, from his raptor's beak of a nose to the Huron war plumes bristling on his shaven naked head. Everything counts: that pulse throbbing in his temple precedes his devoutly-schemed-for homicides by seconds. His very acne scars have a vile eloquence.

He's subtle. See the fascinating night scene of his parlay with the French general Montcalm. These two brilliant insincere minds understand each other so well, and with so few words. Montcalm smoothly explains that the English prisoners are allowed by law to leave safely. LEAVE safely--he doesn't say, REACH THEIR DESTINATION safely. Magua knows he has been given permission to kill them down to the last man and woman.

Which is exactly what he almost does. As a scout, he leads the relieved and complacent party of English prisoners frolicking along to their doom as though to a picnic. Then suddenly he's the god pulling the strings, delivering the first blow in an ecstatic seizure of revenge as the English are ambushed by his warriors, and bloodily hacked apart with gore flooding their red coats.

Even in this scene of carnage, Magua's focus is unearthly: what he wants is the scalp and beating heart of the Englishman Munro, his great enemy. Driving straight through the chaos like a spear to its target, he finds Munro and cripples him--you will never see eyes more remote and murderous than Magua's in this scene--then, not content with simply killing the man, tells Munro with a terrifying icy triumph that he will leave behind him no issue on the earth: his children will be murdered. Thus Magua breaks Munro's heart before he cuts it out and holds it high.

Wes Studi underplays throughout, except for brief moments in the magnificent action scenes when his intensity explodes. He's capable of great nuance just by slight movements of his eyes. Even in the climactic fight with Uncas (Eric Schweig)--the noble and (it has to be said) staggeringly beautiful Mohican warrior who's attempting to rescue Munro's daughter Alice--Magua has a totemic focus. He leaps, parries, stabs, slashes, and throws Uncas down the cliff face--with the efficiency of a violent dance. Even when he cuts Uncas's throat, and the boy is dead, Magua's expression reveals a powerful distaste, as though he feels disgust for the carrion corpse beneath his hand. That look of Studi's seems like an odd choice--until we think about it and realize that it's exactly what Magua would have felt.

Studi's performance keeps hitting us on the back of the head with a shovel. We can't rest for a moment, because he never can while he lives. And as though everything he's done weren't enough, it turns out he had his reasons. His wife and children were murdered by whites. That is what set him on this frenzy.

In a final turn of the blade, Magua's most perfect revenge, we don't get to just hate him. We have to understand him.

13 comments:

  1. You are so right! he was so good. What hatred he showed. He was the total opposite of the Daniel Day Lewis (and his friends) roles. I loved that movie...
    great post!

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  2. Wow. I need to watch it again.

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  3. Pat, I'd agree, the acting is incredible. There are so many different elements to enjoy in the movie.

    Jen, good idea, I think I might watch it again too! :^)

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  4. It's funny, I watched this movie a couple of weeks ago just to hear my favorite line - "Stay Alive! I will find you!" - but I had forgot how menacing Wes Studi was. Such a great villain who knew the lay of the land and how to track down his prey like he was hunting an animal. I kept thinking how I had to add him to my top five post apocalypic strike team (Along with Alice from 'Resident Evil', Doc Holiday from 'Tombstone', the Velociraptor from 'Jurassic Park' and the Viking Chieftan from '13th Warrior. Magua would fit in perfect with that bad ass group. Cool post.

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  5. Yes, Doc Holiday in Tombstone! That was such a great performance. I love the gambling scene where he taunts the bad guy, in his lispy Southern accent--"Wah, Ed Bailey, are we cwoss?" And the 13th Warrior Viking Chieftain--STILL scares me. Very cool Top 5.

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  6. I totally agree with your assessment of Magua. How I love this film. I've seen it many times. "I will find you!" This makes me want to watch it again.

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  7. What a powerfully compelling review! By coincidence, I read the book only last year. Now I really must see the film.

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  8. Hi Karen. Yes, I agree that Hawkeye's "I will find you!" words to Cora are so compelling. "Stay alive no matter what occurs!" And we just know that he will, and she will.

    Shrinky, thank you for your generous comment about my post. I'm jealous that you'll have the experience of seeing this film for the first time! It's genuinely remarkable--with new things to enjoy every time.

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  9. Before i get hit in the head with the shovel again i have to rent LOTM.

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  10. I'm not a movie viewer. I just love the way you write.
    xoRobyn

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  11. Oh, Copyboy, your adoring fanbase only hits you in the head with feathers. No Maguas there...well, maybe just a couple!

    Robyn, among the blogs I enjoy the most, yours is way up there. xoMargaret

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  12. Great! Now how am I supposed to get to sleep tonight with him in my head?

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  13. I know exactly what you mean, Professor Chaos. But Magua got thrown down the cliff face too at the end--he's definitely dead, and there's no way he can get at us!!!

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