History and Fiction: Aim Small in Detail Miss Small in Detail

Rating: 9/10 (2 May 2010)

The movie is clearly fiction in the greater sense, but the themes it aims to explore in fine detail are the themes of the American Revolution. It paints the war with a brush of strong contrast and the moral differences and struggles of the people involved. The sense of moral strength and weakness is not academic. The participants are shown applying their moral theory and the consequences thereof. The war began after an extended period of increasing tension and the feeling by the American Colonists that their rights as Englishmen were being denied. This movie begins with Benjamin Martin, the protagonist, expressing his views regarding joining in conflict, having seen it first hand. The movie introduces the viewer to hostilities and the frustration of the characters. These frustrations have real historical roots; for example a British officer in 1778, Col. Charles Stuart wrote: "Wherever our armies have marched, wherever they have encamped, every species of barbarity has been executed. We planted an irrevocable hatred wherever we went, which neither time nor measure will be able to eradicate." The movie explores the conflicts between armies, citizens, neighbors, and family members as a consequence of the times. The movie is accurate in the small details of history and it hits its mark. It also works at good continuity; one small example: at the end of an ambush of the British by Martin and his sons, we see the scene fade but it looks like one of the dead sits up. Later, we find there is indeed a seriously wounded survivor of the ambush. The chief bad guy in the movie, the thoroughly ambitious and ruthless Colonel Tavington, is portrayed splendidly by Jason Isaacs. The Tavington character is loosely based on the history of British officer Col Banastre Tarleton. The very real Tarleton was boyhood best friend with Henry Mouzon. On August 7, 1780, Tarleton burned Mouzon's home to the ground. Tarleton apparently liked to burn things. This site shows the historical marker for the church burned by the British under Tarleton's orders: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=27903. So yes, the war in history brought out the worst in Tarleton's heart. The participation by black volunteers and the slaves who served on behalf of their owners in the American militia depicted in the movie likewise traces to real events. After his surrender, in history Cornwallis was surprised to find in the American camp what he thought was one of his own men, James Armistead. Armistead was the key intelligence agent the Americans had for spying on Cornwallis. They say history is a fiction written by the winners. The Patriot is a fiction written by the winners and a good one at that. Those who fought for freedom did feel the plight of those enslaved. The very few who found their way to new freedom did so by serving their new nation with the highest honor.