"A Perfect Anachronism"

Rating: 7/10 (1 September 2002)

These were the words that came (in the movie at least) from German Captain Oskar Steiger (Siegfried Rauch) as he contemplates their arch-enemy, General George Patton (played superbly by George C. Scott). Patton was a figure from a by-gone age, obsessed with military history and battle tactics, not understanding that being a brilliant general was no longer enough in modern warfare - one had to be a diplomat and politician as well, and Patton simply couldn't adjust to those demands even while he remained perhaps the most brilliant combat general of the US Army in World War II.
I was a little bit surprised at the portrayal of Patton in this movie. I was under the impression that it portrayed him as almost a mythical figure above reproach; the quintessential American hero at a time (1970, with defeat in Vietnam staring the US in the face) when Americans needed military heroes. While there's no doubt that Patton is portrayed as a brilliant general, his character flaws are shown as well: arrogance and envy over whether he or British Field Marshal Montgomery (Richard Bates) is the more important, hot-headedness: slapping a shell-shocked soldier silly and being forced to publicly apologize under direct orders from Eisenhower, a warmonger-type figure in his attitude to the Russians, and generally chafing under orders that he didn't like (and sometimes not obeying them.) He is certainly a well-developed personality in this movie. Early shots of Scott in the role made me think of a striking resemblance to the swaggering Mussolini (and the displays of arrogance and egotism did the same.)
It's a good movie. It has a few weaknesses. It really should be called "Patton in World War II" because there's really nothing about the man outside the period 1943-1945, the first half of the movie overdoes a few battle scenes at the expense (I thought) of really focusing on Patton, and the whole thing is a little too long for my liking. Basically though it's very good, and features solid supporting performances from Karl Malden as General Omar Bradley (Patton's subordinate who becomes his commander) and Ed Binns as General Bedell Smith. I also appreciated the emphasis on giving us the perspective of the German officers who opposed Patton (in particular Karl Michael Vogler as Field Marshall Erwin Rommel and Richard Munch as General Alfred Jodl) and I thought it added a touch of realism in these scenes to have them spoken in German with subtitles.
7/10