Critical response to The Patriot (2000)

The Patriot was a film that was interesting to watch, but the history of the movie just doesn't add up. The protagonist of this film is a farmer in his 40's named Benjamin Martin. He had 2 sons, who were in the military. One of them died early up in the movie and the other was also killed, but almost at the end of the film. Benjamin was known as the “Ghost”, because of his attack on the British in the woods. In this movie, the Americans were visualized as the better and the British as the cruel, which if you don’t know the history, should add up. That was the case for Benjamin, as he lost his 2 sons in a war that he didn’t want to fight, but he had to since he wanted to be free from the British and as did the rest of the colonists. He was known as the hero or should I say as the ghost of the film. He fought for his nation and led his people to victory, but at a considerable cost. On the other side of the war, there were Brits. They didn’t play by the rules and that was made clear as possible. They burned down villages, killed Benjamin’s sons and also murdered innocent civilians, but the Americans did everything by the rules. Of course, this was all predictable looking at the fact that this is a Hollywood film, but this should definitely not be called a historical film. As Mick LaSalle from the San Francisco Chronicle has said that the battle scenes may look authentic, but the movie doesn't deal with the issues of the war, and it only touches on its history. The movie itself was interesting to watch, which was not a surprise since it was a Hollywood film. The actors like Mel Gibson were great at playing their role. Like Elvis Mitchell from the New York Times has said that Gibson was an astonishing actor for someone whose technique all seems to come from the outside. He was great at relating to the performers playing his children, but at one scene the camera had to fade out since Gibson’s acting was so terrible, it almost made us laugh while Gibson weeps over the body of a dead child. The other major downside was the length of the movie. There were moments that even if watching at 2 times the normal speed, it felt like it was still in slow motion. The film could’ve been cut to 2 hours, maybe even 1.5 hours without overexaggerating some of the scenes and definitely could’ve cramped in more of the actual history, not just Hollywood’s fantasies. Going back to the fact that it was interesting to watch, it definitely might be because of Hollywood’s fantasies and that’s why this film came out likewise. If the writer Robert Rodat had filled this movie with only historical facts, then I would be sure that this would have not been that interesting to watch. In conclusion, The Patriot was an amazing production, but the film should not be generalized as a historical movie. While it was set in the past and it did glimpse over the history of the Revolutionary war, that’s not enough to be called a historical film.

SOURCES

LaSalle, Mick. “He's Just Begun to Fight / Mel Gibson Blasts His Way through a Bloody, Bloated `Patriot'.” SFGate, San Francisco Chronicle, 6 Aug. 2012, www.sfgate.com/movies/article/He-s-Just-Begun-to-Fight-Mel-Gibson-blasts-his-2715482.php.

Mitchell, Elvis. “A Gentle Farmer Who's Good at Violence.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 28 June 2000, archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/film/062800patriot-film-review.html.

The Patriot

Before the Revolutionary war, there were multiple conflicts between the colonists and the British, as the political differences on taxing, taxation without representation and colonists demanded more rights. All of this led to the violent war between the British and the Americans. The war was brutal in many ways such as the killings of innocent people and unlawful burnings of civilian villages. At the start of the war, the Americans didn't know what they were fighting for, but since they wrote the Declaration of Independence and signed it on July 4, 1776, they were destined to get their own nation. The war didn't get easier for both and the Americans were starting to lose hope. The British had a larger army, but they didn't have one thing, which was hope. The Americans were fighting for their freedom, but the British were just ordered to fight by George III. The hope kept the Americans going until the French came to the rescue and helped the colonists defeat the British. The first president was elected and was, of course, George Washington. He was the first to sign the US copyright law and he made the 26th of November a national holiday of Thanksgiving. Without him, the war would not have been the same and we wouldn't have the USA as we have it today.

Pilgrims

Before the Pilgrims arrived the first inhabitants of the Americans were Paleo Indians. The civilization after the 9th century was already the most advanced in the Americas, as they built cities and pyramids. Sadly by year 900, their cities have collapsed. Besides the Paleo Indians, there were many other tribes, such as the Incas and the Aztecs. The Pilgrims have influenced American history in an exponentially large scale, but the voyage to the East coast of America was not easy for them. They had to go through rough storms and there was a food shortage. It didn't get easier on the land as well. They had found corn, but they didn't know how to grow it. While they were struggling to find food, the natives were watching them. The Pilgrims and the Native Americans didn't meet for a quite a while until one brave native came to greet them in English, which was surprising for everyone. The natives agreed to help the Pilgrims grow food and in return, they got modern tools to help cut down trees and better weapons to fight with. Until this day, people still remember what the Pilgrims did by celebrating Thanksgiving and there are lots of streets and bars named Bradford, the leader of the Pilgrims.