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The Patriot is an American 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.

Plot summary

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. Gabriel, the eldest, played by Heath Ledger, is anxious to join the American forces fighting the British in the war for independence. Martin 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 2 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.

Public reception

The movie was a box office success, earning its production cost back in American theaters. However, some 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.

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, which was inspired by a WWII Nazi war crime committed at Oradour-sur-Glane. 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 Col. Tavington tells blacks working for Martin that all slaves who fight for "The Crown" will be granted their freedom upon an English victory. The new American government would maintain legalized chattel slavery (primarily of blacks) until the *Emancipation Proclamation during the American Civil War. The movie however, implied at several points that the Revolution also aimed to free blacks. Other Revolutionary War historians, including Timothy Shannon of Gettysburg College, criticized the film's portrayal of the overall relationship between slaves and American slaveowners as being too friendly.

There are also characters that are historically misplaced, such as the inclusion of British General Cornwallis at the final battle, which is based on the Battle of Cowpens. Benjamin Martin is a combination of 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.

Cast and characters

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."
  • Jake Gyllenhaal tried out for the role of Gabriel Martin.
  • The director also claimed that The Patriot is the only movie to use technology to cut down production cost.
  • The score was composed and conducted by John Williams.
  • 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 Col. 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, 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.

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

Movie bloopers

  • In the final fight scene between Benjamin and Tavington, when Tavington flies off his horse and lands on the ground, his pants are visibly untucked from his boots. A few seconds later, when he stands up, his pants are tucked back into his boots.
  • When Benjamin rides over the hill holding the fluttering flag, the flag is in his left hand. In the next shot, the flag is in his right hand, and the flagpole base is in a scabbard attached to the saddle.
  • Gabriel is noticeably breathing when he is supposed to be dead.
  • When Benjamin and Harry are talking on the steps of the legislature of Charlestown after deciding to go on war with the British, you can see a man behind them with something in his ear, a hearing aid or earpiece.
  • When Benjamin is talking to General Cornwallis, the straps on Benjamin's shoulder move.
  • When Tavington is searching for the child hiding under the table his boots are clearly visible and certainly of the "Left-Right" variety. Boots were made on straight lasts until the 1800s.
  • Many times in the movie when the flutes and drums are playing, the flute player's fingers and the drummer's sticks do not match with the music.
  • Benjamin Martin shoots a British soldier who is on a moving horse using a flintlock pistol at a range of approximately 100 yards. A ball from a black powder pistol would not even reach that sort of distance and hitting a moving target at that distance would be difficult even with a modern pistol. The effective range of a blackpowder pistol is about 20 feet as the barrel is too short to allow all the powder to burn before the ball leaves the barrel.
  • In the first shot of the film, two of the children are seen playing with alphabet cards. These famous "Hotch Potch, posture master" cards weren't printed until 1782. However, the scene takes place in 1776.
  • In his monologue Gabriel says that his friend fell at the Battle of Elizabethtown. However, when you see him writing the letter it says that his friend was killed at the Battle of Monmouth.

Resources

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

External links

2000 films | American films | War films | Films directed by Roland Emmerich | American Revolutionary War | Films shot in Super 35

Патриотът | Der Patriot | The Patriot (2000 film) | The Patriot | Patrioten

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "The Patriot (2000 film)".

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