The Patriot
Director: Roland Emmerich
Authenticity Vs. Dramatization
Ranking: 3 stars
Films that are based around historical events often receive heavy criticism for sacrificing historical authenticity for the sake of dramatization. This is particularly evident with Roland Emmerich’s 2000 historical fiction film The Patriot starring Mel Gibson. Set during the American Revolution, the story centers around Gibson’s fictional character of Benjamin Martin and his son Gabriel, played by Heath Ledger, joining the American Militia during the southern theater of the war. The film has been condemned by several critics for over-dramatizing various historical figures and events which they feel prevents it from effectively capturing the essence of the war. While The Patriot’s portrayal of the essence of the American Revolution is largely varied, it does portray the military conflicts of the war fairly accurately as it over-dramatizes the war’s social conflicts and semi-effectively conveys its political atmosphere.
The Patriot largely succeeds in portraying the military conflicts of the Revolution with historical accuracy through its depiction of the American Militia and its contributions to the war. Throughout the film, great emphasis is on the significance of the militia. They are portrayed as a capable and effective fighting force despite British perceptions of them as “farmers with pitchforks” (Emmerich). This portrayal is particularly evident with the film’s final battle, where Martin decides to use Britain’s overconfidence to their advantage by having them be the first to engage Cornwallis’ troops, resulting in the American’s victory. The filmmaker’s portrayal of the militia is largely reflective of Joseph Plumb Martin’s opinion that “the Militia were competent for all that the crisis required” (Martin, 249). The filmmakers also accurately portray the tactics and strategies employed by the militia. In the film, Martin and the members of his militia conduct several hit-and-run attacks on British supply runs, catching them off-guard and attacking them from the shadows before quickly disappearing. This is an accurate depiction of how the militia conducted battles against British forces in the southern theater, as similar tactics were employed during the Battle of Kings Mountain in South Carolina. Cornwallis’ loyalist units were caught off-guard by an ambush from militia men which resulted in all one thousand loyalists being captured or executed. Another militia strategy that the filmmakers accurately portray is the stationing of militia men in front of the Continental Army during large battles. The film’s final battle has Martin and his men directly facing British troops before retreating over a hill in order to catch the British off-guard by the Continental regulars stationed behind the hill. This maneuver is reflective of the Battle of Cowpens in which U.S. General Morgan stationed the militia on the first hill of the battlefield while the Continental Army was stationed on the second. Morgan’s strategy was for the militia to retreat after engaging Colonel Tarleton’s forces and then regroup behind the hill and catch Tarleton’s forces off-guard by attacking them from the sides while he was engaged with the Continental Army on the second hill. Overall, The Patriot’s militia is a good representation of the real militia that fought in the Revolutionary War.
Conversely, The Patriot heavily dramatizes the social conflicts of the war rather than convey them with historical authenticity. The area in which this is most prominent in is in the film’s antagonist, the British Colonel Tavington, who is portrayed as a ruthless officer who frequently employs brutal and unethical tactics towards civilians in order to defeat Martin’s militia. Tavington’s cruelty is an over-dramatization of the real-life Colonel Banastre Tarleton, who was infamous among the British for his brutal tactics. This over-dramatization is especially evident in the infamous scene where Tavington orders his men to burn down a church filled with civilians inside as punishment for their supporting the militia. The scene is historically inaccurate because the British never targeted or inhumanely killed civilians during the war. In actuality, Tarleton solely directed his cruel behavior towards the Continental Army, which was evident during the Buford Massacre of 1780, where Tarleton had about 350 American soldiers executed despite their surrendering. Another inaccuracy connected to Tavington’s cruelty is that attacks targeted towards civilians during the war were conducted by the loyalists rather than British soldiers. For instance, the Cherry Valley Massacre of 1778 saw British loyalists in New York gathering thirty civilians, including women and children, and executing them in front of a patriot fortification. The inaccuracies of Tavington’s character and the British Army’s treatment of civilians show how unsuccessful The Patriot is in capturing the social conflicts of the war.
The Patriot’s depiction of the political atmosphere of revolution is ultimately varied. While some of the political conflicts are inaccurately portrayed, others are historically accurate. One of the political conflicts that the filmmakers inaccurately portray is South Carolina’s willingness to approve the Declaration of Independence and financially support the war. At the start of the film, Martin and his family attend a town meeting in Charleston, where the majority of citizens vote in favor of joining and supporting the revolution. This scene is historically inaccurate as South Carolina was one of the states that initially rejected the Declaration of Independence due to a passage that opposed slavery and were unwilling to sign the declaration until the passage was removed. Another inaccuracy concerning this scene is South Carolina’s willingness to financially support the war. During the entirety of the war, only a few states paid little, if any, money to the Continental Congress. In fact, New Jersey was the only state to send money in the first year after independence was declared. While South Carolina’s willingness to support the war is largely inaccurate, the filmmakers do correctly portray the relationship between slaves and the Continental Army. In the film, an African slave named Occam is forced to serve in the place of his master in Martin’s militia unit and is later able to gain his freedom after serving for twelve months. This arrangement is a fairly accurate portrayal of how slaves were treated by the patriots during the war. While most slaves sided with the British, some slaves who served in the militia or Continental Army were offered their freedom in exchange for service. The manner in which Occam is recruited is also accurate. It takes place in a tavern which was where the majority of patriots conducted their activities, and soldiers were allowed to have others serve in their place. Where The Patriot seems to accurately portray the treatment of slaves within the militia, the accuracy of political conflicts at that time are vary.
The Patriot’s portrayal of the essence of the American Revolution is ultimately semi-effective. While the film effectively conveys the significance and contribution of the militia with great accuracy, it largely over-dramatizes the social conflicts of the war through its inaccurate depiction of Britain’s cruelty towards civilians. It also portrays some political conflicts like the state’s financial support of the war inaccurately while portraying others like slaves in the militia accurately. Although Hollywood films such as The Patriot cannot be credited with educating the general public about the factual details of what actually occurred during the Revolutionary War, this movie is successful in depicting a general idea of the time period and connecting viewers to its historical importance.
"Accuracy is the twin brother of honesty; inaccuracy, of dishonesty."
-Nathaniel Hawthorne
