The Patriot, directed by Roland Emmerich, starring Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger, came out in 2000. This film displayed a historically accurate colonial America during the American Revolution. I chose to watch this film because I have been always interested in war and since the American Revolution was the birth of our nation, I chose to learn more about colonial life by watching The Patriot. The American Revolution (1754- 1781) was the conflict between the colonists in the 13th colonies with their mother country England.
This conflict was started from parliament passing a series of taxations on the colonists to pay for the 7 Years War against the French and Native Americans. The war was brutal for the colonists since most of them are just farmers with no experience on military combat. However, some British generals and soldiers who fought in the 7 Years War, helped train the colonists and help them win the war. With the series of raids on the British and the help from the French, allowed them to defeat the British and ear their independence as a new nation.
The film, I believe, is a magnificent display of the type of life the colonists had since a farmer, Mel Gibson, dealt with his eldest son in the war and his other son being killed by a British officer. After the death of his son, his house was burned, since he was housing patriots who were wounded. Because of the acts from the soldiers, his rage killed several British troops using his skills from fighting in the 7 Years War.
He later leads the colonial militia into many victories against the British using military tactics the British considered cowardly since they hid and shot from the woods behind cover. With the type of cloths and lifestyles expressed in the film gave me the conclusion that productions for the movie did an excellent job making the movie historically accurate even though Hollywood altered the storyline to have a romance and humor to make the movie enjoyable, but didn’t alter the historical background of the film.
The death of many of the characters in the movie gave me a sense of how devastating the war was and the fact that even though it was in the past, people shall never forget the patriots and how they fought for their beliefs of freedom expressed in the movie. The way the movie showed a simple farmer become a general for the militia was a way to show that the patriots consisted of just mere farmers that were not trained or prepared for battle, but were still able to defeat the force of one of the greatest empires history has seen.
The movie may have had historical accuracy be the use of military tactics used by the Patriots or how ex-generals from the British helped the colonists, but Hollywood added a romantic storyline with Heath Ledger and a woman he met traveling from town to town to gain support against the British military. The humor in the movie was from the conversations of the patriots at camps even though they had little food and supplies much like the historical American Revolution since some of the Patriots sadly died from disease and starvation from the limited resources the colonies had for the soldiers.
I learned much about the culture not taught from a textbook be the way the colonists were divided from loyalists and patriots and how the British didn’t show mercy to those who were against them. I also learned many of the tactics that allowed the Americans to win many battles and eventually win the war. Over all, I believe The Patriot was an excellent film that was historically accurate and a joy to watch.
