Patriot

5 Pages 1311 Words

Though historically controversial, "The Patriot" tells the story of the American Revolutionary War and the struggle to form the first true democracy since the ancient Greeks. The movie wisely focuses upon common folk rather than prominent figures and makes a sincere effort to address some of the complex issues that faced the men who decided to take up arms against the British. This is no more evident than it is in the films main character, Benjamin Martin (Mel Gibson). The first opening sequence highlights two parts of personality, leadership and vulnerability, themes that are echoed threw ought the rest of this three-hour epic.
As the film opens Benjamin is poetically seen unsuccessfully trying to fashion a rocking chair from which he can watch his kids grow on his South Carolina plantation. Hidden from sight, his daughter laughs as he tosses the disfigured chair into a pile of other attempts. This illustrates Benjamin’s vulnerability and the fact that he now leads a more passive life than what the viewer may have been expecting. In the same opening sequence mail arrives at the Martin house, and the boys couldn’t be more anxious to see what the letter carrier has brought. Thomas begins filing through the letters but is warned away by his oldest brother Gabriel to wait for father. Both boys wait patiently well into darkness for Benjamin. This fortitude and patients demonstrates Benjamin’s qualities as a leader.
Benjamin is a former warrior and hero of French and Indian War who has seen too much blood and is now a dedicated pacifist. But the times don't easily accommodate such a position. It's 1776, eight of the 13 American colonies have decided to back the rebellion provoked by King George's "taxation without representation" policy, and a Declaration of Independence is expected to be issued shortly from Philadelphia. Now the assembly at Charleston must decide what it will do, and Benjamin speaks out against it. He foreshadows ...