The Patriot (2000 film)

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The Patriot is a film released in 2000 that was written by Robert Rodat and directed by Roland Emmerich. It is set near Charleston, South Carolina during the American Revolutionary War.


The Patriot

A promotional film poster for The Patriot.
Directed by Roland Emmerich
Written by Robert Rodat
Starring Mel Gibson
Heath Ledger
Joely Richardson
Jason Isaacs
Chris Cooper
Tom Wilkinson
Music by John Williams
Distributed by Columbia
Tristar Studios
Release date(s) June 30, 2000
Running time 158 min .
Language English
Budget $110,000,000 USD (estimated)

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

It is late 18th century South Carolina. Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) is a veteran of the French and Indian Wars and a widower raising seven children on his farm. Gabriel, the eldest, played by Heath Ledger, is anxious to join the American forces fighting the British in the Revolutionary War, without his father's permission. Martin, who knows from first-hand experience the horrifying carnage that war presents, is anxious to discourage his son from participating. Against his father's wishes, Gabriel does join up only to return home wounded as he is carrying dispatches between commanders. Martin's second son is killed trying to free Gabriel as he is taken prisoner which forces Martin to first free his son with the help of his two younger sons and then join up. Martin takes the battle to the British, leading his ragtag band of farmers and ex-Indian fighters as the Americans defeat the British and he gets his revenge on the one who killed his sons.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Public reception

The movie was a box office success, earning its production cost back in American theaters. However, many viewers and critics strongly disapproved of the film because of its historical inaccuracies, predictability of the plot, and what was felt to be gratuitous bloodshed.

The Patriot was one of several films produced by Sony Pictures Entertainment that were promoted using fictitious positive reviews attributed to David Manning.

[edit] Historical inaccuracies & controversies

The film has been heavily criticized for its historical inaccuracies, including the invention or exaggeration of British atrocities. Most criticized was a scene depicting the torching of a church containing a town's inhabitants. Braveheart, another film featuring Gibson against English troops, has also been criticized on historical terms.

Although it went generally unnoticed by casual audiences, historians also criticized the depiction of American-owned slaves being freed to serve in the Continental Army. It was actually the Dunmore Proclamation made by the British Army which first announced conditional freedom to slaves who joined them, a fact which is acknowledged by the film when Colonel Tavington tells blacks working for Martin that slaves who fight for "The Crown" will be granted their freedom upon an English victory. The new American government would maintain legalized chattel slavery until the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified in 1865. Although it is true that Blacks fought on both sides in the Revolution, the South Carolina assembly resolutely refused to allow blacks — either slave or free — into the state militia, contrary to what one sees in this film. Here Martin is no slaveholder, but a farmer who employs black workers for a salary, a labor relationship that was very rare in colonial South Carolina.

The actual battles that take place throughout the film are also inaccurate. The Final battle of the film being the greatest example. In the film both sides march towards each other and halt less than 100 yards away from each other, the British stand and wait for the Continental troops to fire before returning fire themselves. In reality the two sides would have halted around 100 to 200 yards from each other and proceed to open fire immediately as opposed to simply stand and wait for the opposing side to fire first.

There are also characters that are historically misplaced, such as the inclusion of British General Cornwallis at the final battle, which is allegedly based on the Battle of Cowpens. Benjamin Martin is a combination of Thomas Sumter, Andrew Pickens, Brig. Gen. Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion and Col. Daniel Morgan, whose strategy for the Battle of Cowpens Emmerich imitates in the climax. Col. William Tavington is based on General Sir Banastre "Bloody Banny" Tarleton.[1]

[edit] Historical accuracy

The ending incorporates the Siege of Yorktown, where Cornwallis surrendered to the colonists and their French allies; it incorporates key factual elements from that campaign, especially the French naval victory in the Battle of the Chesapeake which directly led to the colonists' victory at Yorktown.

It also accurately depicts Generals George Washington and Rochambeau, in addition to Cornwallis, as being present at the siege; though none of them participated in the surrender ceremony itself, that is a common mistake found in many portrayals of Yorktown, including paintings of the day.

The fictional French general in the film, Jean Villeneuve, was loosely based on Lafayette; though the real Lafayette fought with Washington in the North (unlike Villeneuve), Villeneuve's penchant for self-promotion is consistent with historical accounts of Lafayette. The change of Martin's group from disdain to respect for Villeneuve, after Admiral de Grasse finally delivered on Villeneuve's constant promises of French help, is probably more of a commentary on the history of U.S.-French relations than historical fact; but that is appropriate considering that most of the leading characters (except for Cornwallis) are fictional.

[edit] Cast and characters

The Patriot DVD cover
Enlarge
The Patriot DVD cover

[edit] Trivia

  • Originally in the script, Benjamin Martin has 6 children, but in the movie Martin has 7 children, based on the number of children Mel Gibson has.
  • The producers and director chose Heath Ledger to play the role of Gabriel Martin because, in their opinion, Ledger was a man who possessed "exuberant youth."
  • Mel Gibson's character was originally scripted to be the real historical figure Francis Marion, "The Swamp Fox", but after historians informed the filmmakers of some of the more sordid aspects of Marion's life (slaughtering Indians, raping his female slaves) they decided to create a fictional story and a more likeable hero.
  • Chris Cooper who played Colonel Harry Burwell was to be "Lighthorse Harry" Henry Lee, the father of Robert E. Lee; and at the end film, when Cooper's character tells Benjamin Martin the name of the former's newborn son, Cooper was to say Robert. The chronology of the Lee family was off, however (Lee would have only been 20 in 1776 and just a captain) and the idea was dropped.
  • When teaching Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger how to shoot a muzzle-loading rifle, technical advisor Mark Baker gave them the advice to "aim small, miss small", meaning that if you aim at a man and miss, you miss the man, while if you aim at a button (for instance) and miss, you still hit the man. Gibson liked this bit of advice so much he incorporated it into the movie, just prior to the ambush scene.
  • One of the "redcoats" that is floating face down in the river after the trap is a dummy of John Travolta.
  • Harrison Ford declined the lead role, feeling the script had boiled the Revolutionary War down to a "one-man's-revenge" melodrama.
  • Heath Ledger performed his own stunts.
  • Screenwriter Robert Rodat wrote 17 drafts of the script before there was an acceptable one.
  • In an earlier version of the script, Anne is pregnant with Gabriel's child when she dies in the burning church.
  • While the villain William Tavington is killed in the final battle scene, his real-life inspiration Banastre Tarleton survived the war to return to serve in Parliament until his death at the age of 77.
  • Laurence Olivier Theatre Award winning British actor Ben Daniels received a role alongside Mel Gibson in this film, but refused the offer, citing that the "money was good, but it wasn’t for me". [2]

[edit] Awards

  • The Patriot was an Oscar nominee in 2001 for the following cateogories: Best Cinematography, Best Music, Original Score
  • Nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Action/ Adventure/Thriller Film in 2001
  • Won the ASC Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Theatrical Releases
  • Nominated for the Excellence in Production Design Award for the following category: Feature Film- Period of Fantasy Films
  • Won the BMI Film Music Award.
  • Won the Blockbuster Entertainment Award for the following category: Favorite Actor- Drama (Mel Gibson), and Favorite Male Newcomer (Heath Ledger)
  • Nominated for Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Villain by Internet voting (Jason Isaacs)
  • Won the Bogey Award in Germany

[edit] References

  1. ^ Robert Rodat (screenwriter). (2000). True Patriots (featurette, The Patriot) [DVD]. Culver City, California: Sony Pictures Studio.
  2. ^ http://rainbownetwork.com/Fun/detail.asp?iData=14512&iCat=71&iChannel=20&nChannel=Fun

[edit] Resources

  1. "The Patriot: The Official Companion" by Suzanne Fritz Rachel Aberly
  2. "The Patriot: A Novel" by Stephen Molstad

[edit] External links

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