First of all, for those who may not be aware of this, I'll reveal my bias in this issue:
I'm under no misconception that the British government has always acted nobly in war. I can think of two films I admire off the top of my head--Breaker Morant and Gallipoli--which justifiably criticize British conduct in the Boer War and World War I respectively.
I'm also not naive enough to believe that Hollywood will ever produce a film that is 100% historically accurate. And it also doesn't bother me that much if filmmakers exaggerate the evil of Redcoats for dramatic effect; cartoon villains are the norm in blockbuster films.
What bothers me is that the film portrays the British army rounding up the women and children of a town, locking them up in the town church and setting the church on fire.
Here is why this bothers me: this isn't some scriptwriter's invention to heighten the villainy of the Redcoats in a historical drama. This actually happened. On July 10, 1944 the Nazis shot the men and boys in the village of Oradour in France, rounded up the women and children of the town, herded them into the town chapel and set it on fire. Real human beings actually suffered this horrible death in the very building that represented hope, love and mercy for them. It was a unique and horrible crime against humanity. But now when some casual movie-goer, flipping through TV channels, finds an account of the actual event on the History Channel, he will think to himself, "Gee, this is horrible, but this stuff happens all the time in war. The British did the same thing during the Revolution."
And thus the evil of the Nazis is diminished so that Hollywood can generate "buzz." And that's a ****ing disgrace as far as I'm concerned.
the movie was also produced and directed by a german(says it all dont it)
america are the best in the world so lets get people to believe this by making films that are 80% inaccurate...gimme a break for ****s sake..i know its only a film but if u are going to write about a historic event then do it right...
__________________
"How about this? Shut your mouth...Or I'll kick your teeth down your throat and shut it for you."
Gender: Male Location: Welfare Kingdom of California
I like the Patriot but I didn't see it as Historic accurate. Good movie but not great. I know ppl overseas might feel it is portraying the British as villains. I don't think so. Then again the British were portrayed as heroes in "The Four Feathers". So who really knows.
Most of all wars are not fought noblely. The british, american, german, russians and so far, created horrible acts of cruelity during wars they fought. Its part of armed conflict.
KMC Community Forums
Jul 16th, 2003 01:16 PM
