Movies - The Patriot

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	Movies - The Patriot

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

Late 18th Century Mel Gibson is a widower raising seven kids, Gabriel the oldest is anxious to join the American forces fighting the British in the war for independence. Against his father's wishes Gabriel does join up only to return home wounded as he is carrying dispatches between commanders. The war has enetered their world and the entire family gets caught up in it. Mel's second son is killed trying to free Gabriel as he is taken prisoner which forces Mel to first free his son and then join up. Mel takes the battle to the Brits leading his rag tag band of farmers and ex-Indian fighters as the Americans defeat the British and he gets his revenge on the one who killed his son.

Public reception

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

The Patriot was one of several films produced by Sony Pictures Entertainment that were positively reviewed by fictitious film critic 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 Nazi war crime. Although not noticed by audiences and critics, historians also criticized the depiction of American-owned slaves being freed to serve in the Continental Army, when it was the British Army who first emancipated slaves that signed up for them. In fact, 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. And though some of the writers of the constitution favored abolition of slavery, most did not. The original compromise for determining population was the notorious policy of the three fifths clause which proclaimed that each slave counted as 3/5 of a person under the law, for the purposes of proportioning representation at the federal level.

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. Colonel Benjamin Martin is likely 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, who was infamous for his legion's cruel treatment of surrendering Americans at Waxhaws (mentioned by Gabriel when he returns to his father's house), and Patrick Ferguson, who was killed at the Battle of Kings Mountain.

Cast and characters

Mel Gibson
- Benjamin Martin
Heath Ledger
- Gabriel Martin
Joely Richardson
- Charlotte Selton
Jason Isaacs
- Col. William Tavington
Chris Cooper
- Col. Harry Burwell
Tchéky Karyo
- Jean Villeneuve
Rene Auberjonois
- Reverend Oliver
Lisa Brenner - Anne Howard
Tom Wilkinson
- Gen. Lord Charles Cornwallis
Adam Baldwin
- Capt. Wilkins
Gregory Smith
- Thomas Martin
Trevor Morgan- Nathan Martin
Mika Boorem
- Margaret Martin
Bryan Chafin- Samuel Martin
Logan Lerman
- William Martin
Skye McCole Bartusiak
- Susan Martin

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