Drums Along the Mohawk," a film made by John Ford from 1939. It is adapted from an historical novel of the same name. The film recounts the actions, relationships social and political tensions of the Mohawk River Valley during the American Revolution. The subject of this paper is the critical response of acclaimed film critic Robin Wood, his opinions, an evaluative assessment of Wood's review and my personal opinions on review. The author, Robin Wood, is quick to praise the film. He begins his study of the movie by announcing his favor of this film. Beginning, he states that while this is the lesser known of John Ford's (the movie makers') films produced in1939, "Drums Along the Mohawk," is his best work.
[...] and proper woman who leaves her ‘civilized' life to venture to the uncharted territories of upstate New York, is the personification of the collective group of first British settlers who embarked on the new world, unaware of what they would encounter and certain that it was their responsibility to cultivate a proper civilization. In following, using Lana as a symbol, the author makes a point to note that she has difficulty adjusting to her new rugged life, just as the early settlers had difficulty surviving the first winter in their new land. [...]
[...] I believe the article attempts to tackle many difficult themes. Wood begins by acknowledging his favor of this film over John Ford's other projects from the same year. This bias is appreciated and in doing so, he allows the reader to understand his point of view without knowing his personal opinions. While he is capable of being objective, he is at his weakest when making loose links between nature and the community, both big players in the film. Similarly, I believe he neglects a great area which could be deeply analyzed, the case of the Indians and their interaction, role as, collectively, major characters in the film. [...]
[...] He spends a great deal of time recounting what happened in the film, replaying the plot. He looses his way through the mid section of his review with too many references to specific plot points. While the intent was, most probably, to validate his argument with proof, this tactic has the actual affect of losing his view as it gets lost within plot rehashes; which do little to advance his arguments. Imperialism is personalized. On a local level we are shown how the imperial nature of the early American nation is played out with the same values in the young couple. [...]
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