Patton: 1970

I should have written this blog a couple weeks ago when I watched Patton, but I'm going to do my best to remember my thoughts at that time and reflect on the film. At least I have the advantage of Patton being a memorable film, one that made me think about its genre (biopic) and how a well done biopic may not necessarily be completely true but tells a compelling story.

Patton tells the story of General Patton and his role leading troops in battle during World War II. What I found interesting was how the story wasn't just from the American perspective. The writers included the German perspective. Throughout the film, there were scenes from the German war room where the German officers discussed Patton. One officer was assigned to research Patton and report his findings to his superiors. This made me think about war strategy in a different way. While I knew that enemies study each other to learn their strengths and weaknesses and to anticipate their movies, I hadn't seen this done in this way in a film before. The officer in charge of researching Patton becomes so completely involved and invested in his research and seems to read Patton's mind. His superiors, however, belittle his work, suggesting that the Germans might have fared better if they had listened to this one man. Of course, this seems extreme to me, done to enhance the plot and build suspense. Yet it was effective in presenting the idea that Patton was a well-respected man whose tactics were unusual and unique because when the German officer suggests what he thinks Patton will do (and later we see is what Patton does), the commanding officer simply can't believe him.

While I have seen several war movies (some for this blog and others), I had yet to see one that focused as much on battle strategy like Patton. The film portrays General Patton as a scholar of military history, knowledge that he uses to develop plans to fight the Nazis. His knowledge of German warfare benefits him in what becomes a slightly humorous scene when Patton wins his first battle against the Germans.

Moments like this one provided some levity in an otherwise intense film. Patton often seems like a jerk, calling soldiers cowards when they can't fight because of fear. While watching, I wondered how much of this was true about the real Patton and how much was fictionalized to tell a more compelling story.

Overall, Patton was a pleasant surprise. I wasn't sure how I would like the film (it's nearly three hours, so it's a commitment), but I found it moving faster than I expected and providing an interesting perspective on World War II.