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The Patriot
USA/Germany 2000
Reviewed by Philip Strick
Synopsis
Our synopses give away the plot in full, including surprise twists.
South Carolina, 1776. As the 13 colonies of North America prepare to fight for independence from the British, plantation-owner Benjamin Martin refuses to become involved. His eldest boy Gabriel, however, joins the Continental Army; Benjamin's friend, Colonel Harry Burwell, promises to keep Gabriel out of harm's way. But when the war reaches Charleston, Gabriel comes home wounded. His brother Thomas tries to protect him and is shot dead by Colonel Tavington, commander of the Green Dragoons.
Helped by his two youngest boys, Benjamin slaughters the British soldiers holding Gabriel prisoner, and releases his son. Leaving his children with his sister-in-law Charlotte, he joins Gabriel and witnesses the disastrous Battle of Camden before being appointed by Burwell to head a regiment of militia. Tavington captures a number of Benjamin's men; Benjamin tricks General Cornwallis, head of the British forces, into releasing them. Furious, Cornwallis authorises Tavington to use any means to crush the colonials. Tavington herds the villagers of Pembroke into their church and burns it down. Among the victims is Gabriel's young bride, Anne.
Gabriel pursues Tavington, who kills him. Benjamin considers abandoning the struggle but returns to the militia and leads them into battle at Cowpens where the British forces fall into his trap. In the thick of the fighting Benjamin and Tavington confront each other: Benjamin is narrowly the survivor. Cornwallis orders retreat and surrenders to the French at Yorktown in 1781, while Benjamin and the children plan a new life with Charlotte.
Review
With his goofy charm and collapsing home-made rocking-chairs, the hero of The Patriot is of much the same calibre as director Roland Emmerich's previous reluctant adventurers - the travel-sick computer virologist of Independence Day, say, or the worm specialist of Godzilla. Launched against a sea of troubles, these forlorn lateral thinkers, astonishingly resourceful in an emergency, suffer romantic deficiencies that can only be resolved after extreme crisis. The crisis itself, seldom involving anything less than planetary destruction, can be occasioned by swarms of dinosaurs or flying saucers. In the case of The Patriot, it's an infestation of British soldiers.
There has been much indignation over the way these invaders behave, but in fact their Britishness is largely irrelevant. A near-faceless mass, they do and die as instructed while their leaders conform to other Emmerich scapegoats - such as the Mayor of New York in Godzilla or the President's bureaucrats in Independence Day - driven by good old-fashioned causes like career-advancement, discipline and survival. In The Patriot General Cornwallis, who heads the British forces, is inclined towards leniency and is more concerned about protecting his memoirs than about the rustics who oppose him. The true villain of the piece, cavalry commander Tavington, reliably child-killing, church-burning, and repeatedly returning from the dead, is in reality Emmerich's latest Universal Soldier, a stateless militarist, unchangingly evil throughout. He is too ludicrous an opponent to personify anything but warfare in general, a global insanity.
His antecedents, as it happens, have helped to define almost the entire career of Mel Gibson, who has been taking arms against sneering wrongdoers since the days of Mad Max, a crusade incorporating the paranoia of Hamlet, Ransom, Conspiracy Theory, and particularly closely his own Braveheart. Cutting through the enemy ranks at full slow-motion stride, Gibson's colonialist has a familiar wildness bordering on parody, his dementia little different from that of the beyond-control cop of the Lethal Weapon series. And since Emmerich as far back as his 1989 science-fiction film Moon 44 has been a blatant plagiarist, The Patriot not only exploits the Gibson image but also packs itself with the habitual predicaments of Western classics, a good chunk of Shenandoah (1965) intermingled with Clint Eastwood's 1976 The Outlaw Josey Wales (both set during the Civil War), a headlong rush through the woods courtesy of The Last of the Mohicans, and a sunset graveyard and battling preacher courtesy of John Ford.
This said, Emmerich also makes a virtue of the unexpected, his films setting frequent ambush for his audience. Here, his virile hero turns anti-hero by refusing to fight, only to become in turn a killer so terrible that members of his own family are dumbfounded. There is the business of the bullet, specially prepared as if to destroy a vampire, that simply misses its mark, and of the tomahawk that vanishes ineffectually into the scrum of battle. And reversal plays a crucial role in the final conflict, both for the two duellists at its heart and for the armies that surround them, struggling to contend with a retreat that isn't, then is, then isn't...
The main irony, of course, lies in the film's title, which suggests that the absurdly flag-waving activist should be taken at face value despite the ample evidence that defending his country is the last thing on his mind. Robert Rodat's script, echoing his argument in Saving Private Ryan, proposes that patriotism entails a lethal interruption to more important matters. His script, appealingly written despite a glib approach to the slavery issue, also finds room for Emmerich's trademark Frenchman - Tchéky Karyo's militia member Villeneuve is both an action man and a figure of fun (see Jean Réno's Roaché in Godzilla) - and remind us that the War of Independence was actually won by the French fleet, for whom patriotism would have had a rather different significance. The film's main attraction, the spectacular battle scenes, finds Emmerich at both his best and his worst (the cannonball fired straight at the audience is a cheap trick), but the appallingly detailed carnage exhaustively follows the unwritten rule of epics that they should appear to last twice as long as the original events.
Credits
- Director
- Roland Emmerich
- Producers
- Dean Devlin
- Mark Gordon
- Gary Levinsohn
- Screenplay
- Robert Rodat
- Director of Photography
- Caleb Deschanel
- Editor
- David Brenner
- Production Designer
- Kirk M. Petruccelli
- Music
- John Williams
- ©Global Entertainment Productions GmbH & Co. Movie KG
- Production Companies
- Columbia Pictures presents a Mutual Film Company production/a Centropolis Entertainment production
- Executive Producers
- William Fay
- Ute Emmerich
- Roland Emmerich
- Co-producer
- Peter Winther
- Associate Producers
- Dionne McNeff
- Michael Dahan
- Production Supervisor
- Mary Weisgerber
- Production Co-ordinators
- Justine M. Hebron
- 2nd Unit:
- Taylor Ammons
- Logistics Co-ordinator
- Katrina Elder
- Reenactor Co-ordinator
- Riley Flynn
- Unit Production Manager
- James R. Dyer
- Key Location Manager
- Mary Morgan-Kerlagon
- Location Managers
- Cynthia Hobgood
- Linda Lee
- Patricia Fay
- Centropolis Post-production Supervisor
- James K. Jensen
- 2nd Unit Director
- Peter Winther
- Assistant Directors
- Kim Winther
- Lars P. Winther
- Michael Risoli
- Michael G. Jefferson
- Peter J. Dowd Jr
- 2nd Unit:
- Paul F. Bernard
- Robert C. Albertell
- Gregory G. Hale
- Script Supervisors
- Kim E. Berner
- 2nd Unit:
- Suzette Gaconnier
- Casting
- April Webster
- David Bloch
- Associate:
- Elizabeth Greenberg
- Location:
- Fincannon & Associates
- ADR Voice:
- L.A. MadDogs
- 2nd Unit Directors of Photography
- Ueli Steiger
- Mark Vargo
- Camera Operators
- P. Scott Sakamoto
- Dustin G. Blauvelt
- Additional:
- Gabor Kover
- Camera Operators/ Steadicam
- 2nd Unit:
- Dan R. Kneece
- Harry Garvin
- Visual Effects Supervisor
- Stuart Robertson
- Visual Effects Producer
- Fiona Stone
- Visual Effects Editor
- Brigitte Daloin
- Visual Effects Co-ordinator
- Glenn R. Karpf
- Visual Effects Data Wranglers
- Bobby Blue
- Erik Murphy
- Catharyn E. Sohm
- Motion Control Operator
- Chris Dawson
- Digital Matte Painter
- Michael Lloyd
- Visual Effects Services
- Centropolis Effects
- Mechanical Effects
- Supervisor:
- Yves de Bono
- Technicians:
- John Herzberger
- Ron Colucci
- Phil Fravel
- Ken Gorrell
- Mark Griffin
- Chuck Hessey
- David Hill
- Richard Jones
- Thomas Kittle
- Robert W. Rieker
- Russell Tyrrell
- Mark Williams
- Derek Fields
- Pyrotechnics
- Effective GmbH
- Miniature Effects Unit
- MagicMove/Magicon
- 3-D Tracking for Miniature Shoot
- Das Werk GmbH
- Co-editor
- Julie Monroe
- Art Director
- Barry Chusid
- Set Designers
- Randy Wilkins
- Chad S. Frey
- Greg Papalia
- Noelle King
- Sloane U'ren
- Clare Scarpulla
- Set Decorator
- Victor J. Zolfo
- Illustrators
- Warren Manser
- James Oxford
- Storyboard Artists
- Timothy Burgard
- Raymond W. Harvie
- Costume Designer
- Deborah L. Scott
- Costume Supervisors
- Men:
- Paul H. Lopez
- Military:
- Mitchell Kenney
- Women:
- Diane Crooke
- Make-up
- Department Head:
- Thomas Nellen
- Key Artist:
- Wendy Bell
- Artists:
- Anita E. Brabec
- Kristin Ryals
- Leigh Ann Yandle
- Crowd Supervisor:
- Shannon N. McCurley
- 2nd Unit, Artist:
- Darwin Hensley
- Special Effects Make-up Department Head
- Bill Johnson
- Key Make-up Effects
- Leo C. Castellano
- Hair
- Department Head:
- Kay Georgiou
- Key Stylist:
- Kelvin R. Trahan
- Stylists:
- Patricia McAlhany Glasser
- Gina Baran
- David Halsey
- Joan H. Shay
- Mary C. Young
- Portia Simpson
- Crowd Supervisor:
- Deborah R. Ball
- 2nd Unit, Key Stylist:
- Judith H. Bickerton
- Titles Design
- Melissa Elliott
- Opticals
- Cinema Research Corporation
- Violin Solos
- Mark O'Connor
- Orchestrations
- John Neufeld
- Executive in Charge of Music for Centropolis
- Peter Afterman
- Music Editor
- Ken Wannberg
- Music Recordist/Mixer
- Shawn Murphy
- Soundtrack
- "Boney", "Leanin' on de Lawd Side" - Marquetta L. Goodwine and the Gullah Cunneckshun
- Sound Mixers
- Lee Orloff
- 2nd Unit:
- Jonathan Gaynor
- Re-recording Mixers
- Kevin O'Connell
- Greg P. Russell
- Re-recordists
- Dan Sharp
- Hanson Hsu
- Supervising Sound Editor
- Per Hallberg
- Dialogue Editors
- Lauren Stephens
- David A. Cohen
- Sound Effects Editors
- Christopher Assells
- Dino R. DiMuro
- Dan Hegeman
- Randy Kelly
- Harry Cohen
- Scott Sanders
- David Baldwin
- Peter Staubli
- ADR
- Supervising Editor:
- Chris Jargo
- Editors:
- Michelle Perrone
- Laura Graham
- Michelle Pazer
- Foley
- Artists:
- Gary Hecker
- Matt Dettmann
- Mixer:
- Richard Duarte
- Supervising Editor:
- Craig Jaeger
- Editors:
- Lou Kleinman
- Paul Jyrälä
- Larry Kemp
- Gullah Consultant
- Marquetta L. Goodwine
- Historical Consultation
- Smithsonian Institution
- Stunt Co-ordinators
- R.A. Rondell
- 2nd Unit:
- Freddy Hice
- Armourer
- Harry Lu
- Firearms Instructor
- Frank House
- Boss Wrangler
- Rusty Hendrickson
- Ramrod
- Monty Stuart
- Wranglers
- Rex Peterson
- Benny J. Manning
- Kim Burke
- James Sherwood
- Wagon Boss
- Daniel E. Hydrick III
- Cast
- Mel Gibson
- Benjamin Martin
- Heath Ledger
- Gabriel Martin
- Joely Richardson
- Charlotte Selton
- Jason Isaacs
- Colonel William Tavington
- Chris Cooper
- Colonel Harry Burwell
- Tchéky Karyo
- Jean Villeneuve
- René Auberjonois
- Reverend Oliver
- Lisa Brenner
- Anne Howard
- Donal Logue
- Dan Scott
- Leon Rippy
- John Billings
- Adam Baldwin
- loyalist/Captain Wilkins
- Gregory Smith
- Thomas Martin
- Mika Boorem
- Margaret Martin
- Skye McCole Bartusiak
- Susan Martin
- Trevor Morgan
- Nathan Martin
- Joey D. Vieira
- Peter Howard
- Jay Arlen Jones
- Occam
- Tom Wilkinson
- General Cornwallis
- Bryan Chafin
- Samuel Martin
- Logan Lerman
- William Martin
- Mary Jo Deschanel
- Mrs Howard
- Jamieson K. Price
- Captain Bordon
- Peter Woodward
- Brigadier General O'Hara
- Grahame Wood
- Redcoat lieutenant
- Beatrice Bush
- Abigale
- Shan Omar Huey
- Joshua
- Hank Stone
- Rollins
- Kirk Fox
- Skunk
- Jack Moore
- Curly
- Mark Twogood
- Danvers
- Colt Romberger
- Colt
- Terry Layman
- General George Washington
- Shannon Eubanks
- Mrs Simms
- Bill Roberson
- loyalist Simms
- Charles Black
- Matthew
- Andy Stahl
- General Greene
- Kristian Truelsen
- Hardwick
- Kanin Howell
- postrider
- Mark Jeffrey Miller
- wounded continental
- Zach Hanner
- British field officer
- Dara Coleman
- Redcoat sergeant 2
- Randell Haynes
- patriot Middleton
- John Storey
- Greg Good
- cowpens militiamen
- John F. Dzencelowcz II
- continental soldier
- John Curran
- Redcoat sergeant 1
- Kyle Richard Engels
- Billings' son
- John Bennes
- speaker
- Roy McCrerey
- P. Dion Moore
- Redcoats
- Tyler Long
- page boy
- John H. Bush
- Abner
- Gil Johnson
- militiaman
- Scott Miles
- patriot private
- Derrick B. Young
- slave boy
- Le Roy Seabrook
- Gullah minister
- Samuel Brown Jr
- Samuel Brown Sr
- Lillie L. Harris
- Braima Moiwai
- Gullah musicians
- Patrick Tatopoulos
- French naval officer
- Certificate
- 15
- Distributor
- Columbia Tristar Films (UK)
- 14,808 feet
- 164 minutes 33 seconds
- Dolby Digital/DTS/SDDS-8
- In Colour
- Prints by
- DeLuxe
- 2.35:1 [Super 35]