THE PATRIOT
The plot
It’s 1776 and Benjamin Martin (MEL GIBSON) is an American colonist and recent widower trying to raise his seven children on his South Carolina estate. A veteran of the French and Indian War with a troubled past that still haunts him, Martin believes that King George’s taxation without representation policy is wrong, but believes a revolutionary war with the British would be the greater evil.
However, the South Carolina assembly votes to have their state join the rebellion and Martin is unable to stop his oldest son, Gabriel (HEATH LEDGER) from enlisting. Hoping that his good friend and fellow war veteran Col. Harry Burwell (CHRIS COOPER) will watch over his son, Martin returns to his plantation and tries to get on with raising his family.
Yet, the forces under Gen. Cornwallis (TOM WILKINSON) soon take Charleston and the war looms closer. When a battle literally breaks right outside Martin’s house, he realizes he won’t be able to escape the war. A wounded Gabriel stumbles home injured, but the British redcoats, led by Colonel William Tavington (JASON ISAACS), arrive and captures him. Tavington orders Gabriel to be hanged, and then shoots one of Martin’s other sons as he tries to intervene.
Shocked and grieving over the sudden turn of events, Martin goes into warrior mode, and with the help of his two younger sons, ambushes a British unit and rescues Gabriel. Sending the rest of his kids to a plantation run by his sister-in-law, Charlotte Selton (JOELY RICHARDSON), Martin takes up arms against the British and is given command of the local militia.
With the aid of French officer Jean Villeneuve (TCHEKY KARYO) who’s been sent to teach the units about guerilla style warfare, Martin begins recruiting his old war buddies – a group of drunken, violent low-lifes.Meanwhile, Gabriel visits the hometown of his sweetheart, Anne Howard (LISA BRENNER), and recruits some more wholesome citizens to the militia, including the town’s priest. Rejoining forces, the father & son-led militia begin ambushing the British troops, singling out the officers to be the first targets – a flagrant violation of the traditional ‘gentlemanly rules of war’.
When Martin briefly meets and then fools Cornwallis into releasing a group of rebel prisoners, the enraged general gives Tavington permission to do whatever it takes - no matter the moral implications - to find and stop Martin and his activities.
Tavington then sets out to do just that, hoping to preempt the colonist militia’s attempts at preventing Cornwallis and the British troops from moving north through the young country. A series of brutal atrocities are carried out against the local people, but the strategy backfires, with the colonists more determined than ever to defeat the British..
The conflict comes to a head at the Battle of Cowpens, where an outnumbered colonial army routs the British. It is a decisive victory and it turns the tide of the war. By 1781, General Cornwallis has surrendered and a new era of American independence begins. |
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