The Patriot (2000 film)

The Patriot

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Roland Emmerich
Produced by Dean Devlin
Mark Gordon
Gary Levinsohn
Written by Robert Rodat
Starring Mel Gibson
Heath Ledger
Jason Isaacs
Joely Richardson
Chris Cooper
Tom Wilkinson
Tchéky Karyo
Music by John Williams
Cinematography Caleb Deschanel
Editing by David Brenner
Julie Monroe
Studio Centropolis Entertainment
Mutual Film Company
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s) June 28, 2000 (2000-06-28)
Running time 164 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $110 million
Gross revenue $215,300,000[1]

The Patriot is a 2000 epic[2] war film directed by Roland Emmerich, written by Robert Rodat, and starring Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger. It was produced by the Mutual Film Company and was distributed by Columbia Pictures. The film mainly takes place in South Carolina (and was entirely filmed there) and depicts the story of an American swept into the American Revolutionary War when his family is threatened. The protagonist, Benjamin Martin, is loosely based on real Continental Army officer Francis Marion and other Revolutionary War figures. The Patriot was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Sound, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Music Score.

Contents

Plot

At the beginning of the American Revolution, Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson) is a South Carolina veteran of the French and Indian War and a widower raising his seven children. In the year 1776, when the Declaration of Independence is about to be documented and signed, he and his family are called to an Assembly meeting in Charleston, where his wife's sister, Charlotte (Joely Richardson), is residing. A levy is being made for the Continental Army and Colonel Harry Burwell (Chris Cooper), having fought alongside Benjamin in the French and Indian War, asks that the South Carolina Assembly help give its support. The levy is unanimous, despite Benjamin's claims he could not fight or cast a vote while tending his children alone. His eldest son, Gabriel (Heath Ledger), is eager to join the Continental Army and fight the increasing oppressive British forces.

The years pass on to 1780 with travesties. Charleston falls to the British, Charlotte is forced to leave for her plantation near the Santee River, and Gabriel's friend Peter Cuppin is killed in the Battle of Elizabethtown.

During a battle, Gabriel returns home, stumbling, wounded into the family home and carrying military dispatches. The next day, a military skirmish has the Martins caring for the wounded from both sides. British soldiers - the ruthless Green Dragoons cavalry - arrive and kill the wounded Colonials; take the wounded British soldiers back to headquarters; burn down the Martin house; destroy the livestock, except for horses, which they take for the dragoons; and arrest Gabriel as a spy, intending to hang him after discovering the rebel dispatches. When Benjamin's next eldest son Thomas attempts to free Gabriel, he is shot and killed by the leader of the Green Dragoons, Colonel William Tavington (Jason Isaacs).

Making use of his knowledge of fighting in the wilds, Benjamin and his two younger sons, Nathan and Samuel set out and ambush the British column in the woods. They kill twenty of the soldiers in an ambush and free Gabriel. One private of the attacked British soldiers survives and some Cherokee scouts bring him to the main camp. Colonel Tavington hears from the wounded private that it was only one man — a "ghost" — who killed his fellow troops. Captain James Wilkins (Adam Baldwin), a member of the Loyalist Colonial Militia is recruited into the Green Dragoons.

Gabriel rejoins the cause against his father's will again, stating it is his duty as a soldier. Benjamin decides to join as well, leaving the rest of the children in the care of Charlotte. Benjamin arrives at the Colonial's camp, and speaks with Harry Burwell concerning the current state of the war. From Harry, Benjamin learns that the British victory at the Battle of Camden has left the Continental Army in shambles, and more ominously has left the path north open for British General Lord Cornwallis (Tom Wilkinson) to engage Washington's army. To prevent Cornwallis from marching north, Harry Burwell issues a field commission to Benjamin granting him the rank of Colonel, and instructs him to organize a militia designed to keep Cornwallis in the south until the French Navy arrives to assist. Major Jean Villeneuve (Tchéky Karyo), a French infantry officer, is assigned to Martin's South Carolina militia unit to help train the volunteers, who are drawn from less than reputable establishments but possess a keen skill for unorthodox tactics, which Ben knows will be important if he is to keep Cornwallis in the south for the estimated six months it will take for the French to arrive and reinforce the Continental Army.

Benjamin's militia uses guerrilla warfare, attacking the British supply lines and burning half the bridges and ferries connecting to Charleston. During one particular raid they intercept and steal the personal baggage of Lord Cornwallis, including his journal and two Great Danes, Jupiter and Mars. Later that night, Benjamin reads into Cornwallis' notes and finds out a possible major weakness inside the General: pride.

Six months after Benjamin's militia is activated the British army sistutation in the south has reached a stalemate, as the repeated ambushes on British supply convoys have prevent Cornwallis from moving his army north. At Middleton Place, where Lord Cornwallis and his staff are attending a ball, the General blames Tavington for creating this "Ghost" with his brutal tactics, thus preventing him from moving towards North Carolina or Virginia by now. As the ball continues on, Benjamin and his men disguise themselves as British soldiers to smuggle arms and ammunition from one of the supply ships before setting it to explode.

Eventually, Tavington sets a trap for Martin's militia that results in the capture eighteen of Martin's men. Benjamin rides to the British garrison to parlay the release of his men for Cornwallis' dogs and personal belongings, and eighteen captured British officers. As he is leaving, Tavington recognizes him and General Charles O'Hara (Peter Woodward) suggests that this man is the "Ghost." In an attempt to aggravate him into a fight, Tavington mocks him about the death of Thomas in hopes that he will retaliate, which will allow the British to use force to restrain him. Benjamin responds by saying, "Before this war is over, I'm going to kill you." As he leaves, Benjamin calls Cornwallis' dogs back, much to the General's surprise, and releases the "officers," which were actually a row of scarecrows in British uniforms.

To combat the militia, a reluctant Cornwallis lets Tavington track the Ghost using any means, free from the chain-of-command. Tavington eventually learns from Captain Wilkins the Ghost's actual name and the location of Charlotte's plantation, which the Dragoons burn down while searching for Benjamin's family. However, Charlotte and the family escape, and are led to a safe haven by Gabriel, where he marries his childhood friend Anne Howard (Lisa Brenner). Benjamin's militia, later on, return from a week's furlough, still believing in the cause.

Soon after, when the Howards return to their hometown of Pembroke, Tavington calls up a meeting in the church to demands that those who give him the whereabouts of Benjamin and his militia "may be forgiven their treason" for aiding the Continentals. When he finally acquires the information, he orders the church to be locked with all the people trapped inside, stating that the forgiveness is "between you and God." Captain Wilkins expects the town to be burned down on Tavington's command, but the Colonel takes the burning to the church. Not one citizen survives.

A grief-stricken Gabriel rides out with the rest of the town's militiamen to avenge the deaths of their families and friends. During the ensuing fight, most of Tavington's Dragoon unit, including his second-in-command Captain Bordon (Jamieson Price), and Gabriel's militia are killed, leaving the two men to resort to hand-to-hand combat. An injured Tavington mortally wounds Gabriel with his concealed sabre and escapes. Dying, Gabriel apologizes to his father for what happened to Thomas, but Benjamin states it was his fault. Benjamin is devastated and his zeal for combat extinguished, until he finds among his dead son's possessions a tattered, but mended, revolutionary flag. He rides after the Continental Army flying the flag and rejoins his militia.

The Continental-American Army faces off against the British in the Battle of Cowpens. During the skirmish, after learning from Cornwallis' journal that the General has "no respect for the militia whatsoever," Benjamin and the militia to lure the British into a trap, where Continentals are waiting to charge the British. Even though Benjamin spots Tavington several times on the battlefield, he sticks to his primary duty to the Continentals, who are slowly losing their morale and are retreating, by raising a revolutionary flag up high and rallying them. The American forces push forward, gradually overwhelming the British. Benjamin meets Tavington in a vicious duel. Tavington manages to bring Ben to his knees while mockingly noting that his foe is not the better man. However, Benjamin evades Tavington's killing blow, and with a bayonet, impales him fatally in the stomach, then stabs Tavington in the throat, killing him.

The tide of battle quickly turns and Cornwallis is forced to retreat and eventually surrender when the French Navy arrives and attacks the British during the Siege of Yorktown. Martin and his remaining family return to their home and find the militia helping rebuild it. Occam (Jay Arlen Jones), a black soldier in the militia who gained his freedom after servitude in the Continental Army, tells Ben, "Gabriel said that if we won the war, we could build a whole new world. Just figured we get started right here, with your home." Ben smiles and comments, "Sounds good."

Cast

Production

Script

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. Rodat wrote the script with Mel Gibson in mind for Benjamin Martin, and gave the Martin character six children to signal this preference to studio executives. After the birth of Gibson’s seventh child, the script was changed so that Martin had seven children.

Casting

Joshua Jackson, Elijah Wood, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Brad Renfro were considered to play Gabriel Martin. The producers and director narrowed their choices for this role to Ryan Phillippe and Heath Ledger, with the latter chosen because, in their opinion, he possessed "exuberant youth."

Filming

The film's director, Roland Emmerich, said " ... these were characters I could relate to, and they were engaged in a conflict that had a significant outcome – the creation of the first modern democratic government".[3]

The movie was filmed entirely on location in South Carolina, including Charleston, Rock Hill - for many of the battle scenes, and Lowrys - for the farm of Benjamin Martin, as well as nearby Fort Lawn.[4] Other scenes were filmed at Mansfield Plantation, an antebellum rice plantation in Georgetown, Middleton Place in Charleston, South Carolina, and Hightower Hall and Homestead House at Brattonsville, South Carolina, along with the grounds of the Brattonsville Plantation in McConnells, South Carolina.[5] Producer Mark Gordon said the production team "...tried their best to be as authentic as possible", because "the backdrop was serious history", giving attention to details in period dress.[3] Producer Dean Devlin and the film's costume designers examined actual Revolutionary War uniforms at the Smithsonian Institution prior to shooting.[3]

Reception

The Patriot received mixed to generally favorable reviews from critics. The film scored a "Certified Fresh" rating of 62% rating among all critics (and scored a rating of 57% among top critics) on Rotten Tomatoes, which notes that it "can be entertaining to watch, but it relies too much on formula and melodrama."[6][7] It was one of two Emmerich films to ever be given a "fresh" rating from that website (the other was Independence Day). On Metacritic, the film earned a rating of 63 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews". New York Times critic Elvis Mitchell gave the film a generally negative review, although he praised its casting and called Mel Gibson "an astonishing actor", particularly for his "on-screen comfort and expansiveness". He said the film is a "gruesome hybrid, a mix of sentimentality and brutality".[8] Jamie Malanowski, also writing in the New York Times, said The Patriot "will prove to many a satisfying way to spend a summer evening. It's got big battles and wrenching hand-to-hand combat, a courageous but conflicted hero and a dastardly and totally guilt-free villain, thrills, tenderness, sorrow, rage and a little bit of kissing".[9]

Historical authenticity

Depiction of protagonist

The Patriot's producer, Mark Gordon, said that in making the film, "While we were telling a fictional story, the backdrop was serious history".[3] The film's screenwriter, Robert Rodat, said of Mel Gibson's character: "Benjamin Martin is a composite character made up of Thomas Sumter, Daniel Morgan, Andrew Pickens, and Francis Marion, and a few bits and pieces from a number of other characters".[3] The film was harshly criticized in the British press in part because of its connection to Francis Marion, a militia leader in South Carolina known as the "Swamp Fox." After the release of The Patriot, the British newspaper The Guardian denounced Francis Marion as "a serial rapist who hunted Red Indians for fun."[10] Historian Christopher Hibbert said of Marion,

"The truth is that people like Marion committed atrocities as bad, if not worse, than those perpetrated by the British."[11]

However, The Patriot does not depict the American character Benjamin Martin as innocent of atrocities; in fact, Martin describes slowly mutilating and killing prisoners during the French and Indian War. In Hibbert's book Redcoats and Rebels: The American Revolution Through British Eyes, written before "The Patriot" was released, Hibbert included no criticism of Marion. Conservative radio host Michael Graham rejected Hibbert's criticism of Marion in a commentary published in the National Review:

"Was Francis Marion a slave owner? Was he a determined and dangerous warrior? Did he commit acts in an 18th century war that we would consider atrocious in the current world of peace and political correctness? As another great American film hero might say: 'You're damn right.' "That's what made him a hero, 200 years ago and today."[12]

Graham also refers to what he describes as "the unchallenged work of South Carolina's premier historian Dr. Walter Edgar, who pointed out in his 1998 South Carolina: A History that Marion's partisans were "a ragged band of both black and white volunteers".[12]

Amy Crawford, in Smithsonian Magazine, stated that modern historians such as William Gilmore Simms and Hugh Rankin have written accurate biographies of Marion, including Simms’ “The Life of Francis Marion.”[13] The introduction to the 2007 edition of Simms' book was written by Sean Busick, a professor of American history at Athens State University in Alabama, who wrote,

"Marion deserves to be remembered as one of the heroes of the War for Independence." “Francis Marion was a man of his times: he owned slaves, and he fought in a brutal campaign against the Cherokee Indians...Marion's experience in the French and Indian War prepared him for more admirable service."[13]

During pre-production, the producers debated on whether Benjamin Martin would own slaves, ultimately deciding not to make the protagonist a slave owner. This decision received criticism from Spike Lee, who in a letter to the Hollywood Reporter accused the film’s portrayal of slavery as being "a complete whitewashing of history".[14] Lee wrote that after he and his wife went to see the movie, "we both came out of the theatre fuming. For three hours The Patriot dodged around, skirted about or completely ignored slavery." Mel Gibson himself remarked that “I think I would have made him a slave holder. Not to seems kind of a cop-out.” [15]

Depiction of antagonist

The antagonist, the fictional Colonel William Tavington, is "loosely based on Colonel Banastre Tarleton, who was particularly known for his brutal acts", said the film's screenwriter Robert Rodat.[3] After the release of The Patriot, several British voices criticized the movie for its depiction of the fictional villain Tavington and defended the historical character of Banastre Tarleton. Ben Fenton, commenting in the British Daily Telegraph, wrote:

"there is no evidence that Tarleton, called 'Bloody Ban' or 'The Butcher' in rebel pamphlets, ever broke the rules of war and certainly not that he ever shot a child in cold blood."[16]

Although Tarleton gained the reputation among Americans as a butcher for his involvement in the Waxhaw massacre in South Carolina, he was a hero in Liverpool. Liverpool City Council, led by Mayor Edwin Clein, called for a public apology for what they viewed as the film’s "character assassination" of Tarleton.[17] What happened during the Battle of The Waxhaws, known to the Americans as the Buford Massacre or as the Waxhaw massacre, is the subject of debate. According to American field surgeon named Robert Brownfield who witnessed the events, the Continental Army Col. Buford raised a white flag of surrender, "expecting the usual treatment sanctioned by civilized warfare". While Buford was calling for quarter, Tarleton's horse was struck by a musket ball and fell. This gave the Loyalist cavalrymen the impression that the Continentals had shot at their commander while asking for mercy. Enraged, the Loyalist troops charged at the Virginians. According to Brownfield, the Loyalists attacked, carrying out "indiscriminate carnage never surpassed by the most ruthless atrocities of the most barbarous savages".

In Tarleton's own account, he stated that his horse had been shot from under him during the initial charge and his men, thinking him dead, engaged in "a vindictive asperity not easily restrained."

Whereas Tavington is depicted as aristocratic but penniless, Tarleton came from a wealthy Liverpool merchant family. Tarleton did not die in battle or from impalement, as Tavington did in the film. Tarleton died on January 16, 1833 in Leintwardine, Shropshire, England, at the age of 78. He outlived Col. Francis Marion who died in 1795, by 38 years. Before his death, Tarleton had achieved the military rank of full General, equal to that held by the overall British Commanders during the American Revolution, and became a baronet and a member of the British Parliament. There he was, unfortunately for his legacy, a fierce defender of the African slave trade upon which his family fortune was based.

Depiction of atrocities in the Revolutionary War

The Patriot was criticized for depicting atrocities during the Revolutionary War, including the killing of prisoners of war and wounded soldiers and the burning alive of group of townsfolk in a church, on grounds of historical inaccuracy and because the film's atrocities are similar to war crimes committed by Germans during World War II. For example, New York Post film critic Jonathan Foreman wrote the following in an article at Salon.com:

"The most disturbing thing about The Patriot is not just that German director Roland Emmerich (director of Independence Day) and his screenwriter Robert Rodat (who was criticized for excluding British and other Allied soldiers from his script for Saving Private Ryan) depict British troops as committing savage atrocities, but that those atrocities bear such a close resemblance to war crimes carried out by German troops - particularly the SS in World War II. It's hard not to wonder if the filmmakers have some kind of subconscious agenda ... They have made a film that will have the effect of inoculating audiences against the unique historical horror of Oradour - and implicitly rehabilitating the Nazis while making the British seem as evil as history's worst monsters ... So it's no wonder that the British press sees this film as a kind of blood libel against the British people."[18]

On the other hand, some reviewers defended the overall accuracy of the film's depiction of the war in the Carolinas as exceptionally brutal. For example, Kirkus Reviews quoted South Carolina historian Dr. Walter Edgar on the subject:

Though critics faulted ... The Patriot for attributing actions to the hated British Legion that were in fact those of the SS in WWII, Edgar (History/Univ. of South Carolina) writes that atrocities were many in the South Carolina backcountry: women and children slaughtered, prisoners executed without trial, whole towns put to the torch... "in the 1990s instead of the 1780s, [officers] such as Banastre Tarleton and James Wemyss would have been indicted by the International Tribunal at the Hague as war criminals."[19]

Score

The score was composed by John Williams, and was nominated for an Academy Award.

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ "The Patriot - Box Office Data, Movie News, Cast Information". The Numbers. http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/2000/PTROT.php. Retrieved 09-07-2008. 
  2. ↑ "Featured Filmmaker: Roland Emmerich". IGN Movies. http://movies.ign.com/articles/360/360026p1.html. Retrieved 2008-10-31. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 The Patriot. [DVD]. Columbia Pictures. 2000. ISBN 0-7678-5846-8. "Special features—True Patriots featurette" 
  4. ↑ "The Patriot on TNT". TNT (TV network). 2009. http://www.tnt.tv/movies/movietitle/?oid=5386. Retrieved 2009-03-28. 
  5. ↑ "Movies Filmed in South Carolina – The Patriot". South Carolina Information Highway. SCIway.net. 2009. http://www.sciway.net/movies/sc-movie-patriot.html. Retrieved 2009-03-28. 
  6. ↑ "The Patriot Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1098149-patriot/. Retrieved 2009-03-28. 
  7. ↑ "Reviews for The Patriot". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1098149-patriot/?critic=creamcrop#contentReviews. Retrieved 2009-03-28. 
  8. ↑ Mitchell, Elvis (June 28, 2000). "Film Review; A Gentle Farmer Who's Good at Violence". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/28/movies/film-review-a-gentle-farmer-who-s-good-at-violence.html?scp=5&sq. Retrieved 2009-05-31. 
  9. ↑ Malanowski, Jamie (July 2, 2000). "The Revolutionary War Is Lost on Hollywood". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/02/movies/film-the-revolutionary-war-is-lost-on-hollywood.html?scp=7&sq. Retrieved 2009-05-31. 
  10. ↑ "Spike Lee slams Patriot". The Guardian. July 6, 2000. http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2000/jul/06/news.spikelee. Retrieved 2010-01-02. 
  11. ↑ ‘Mel Gibson's latest hero: a rapist who hunted Indians for fun’, Guardian Unlimited, June 15, 2000. Retrieved October 31, 2007.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Graham, Michael (June 26, 2000). "The British Are Crying, the British Are Crying (guest column)". National Review. http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment062600b.html. Retrieved 2009-05-31. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Amy Crawford. The Swamp Fox, Smithsonian Magazine, July 1, 2007. Accessed December 6, 2008.
  14. ↑ "Spike Lee slams Patriot", Guardian Unlimited, July 6, 2000. Retrieved 31 October 2007.
  15. ↑ Dunkel, Tom (June 2000). "Mel Gibson Pops an American Myth". George. 
  16. ↑ Fenton, Ben (June 19, 2000). "Truth is first casualty in Hollywood's war". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2000/06/19/wfilm19.xml. Retrieved 2009-05-31. 
  17. ↑ "Patriotic Liverpool up in arms over Gibson's blockbuster". Guardian Unlimited. June 30, 2000. http://film.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/Exclusive/0,4029,338280,00.html. Retrieved 2007-10-31. 
  18. ↑ Jonathan Foreman, ‘The Nazis, er, the Redcoats are coming!’, Salon.com, 3 July 2000. Retrieved 31 October 2007.
  19. ↑ http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Partisans-and-Redcoats/Walter-B-Edgar/e/9780380806430

External links

Films directed by Roland Emmerich
1980s
Das Arche Noah Prinzip (1984) · Joey (1985) · Hollywood-Monster (1987)
1990s
Moon 44 (1990) · Universal Soldier (1992) · Stargate (1994) · Independence Day (1996) · Godzilla (1998)
2000s
The Patriot (2000) · The Day After Tomorrow (2004) · 10,000 BC (2008) · 2012 (2009)
2010s
Anonymous (2011)