Patton (1970)

I have never been the largest fan of war movies. They are usually long and feel more like a chore than entertainment to me. Also, they are generally not very funny, I like movies to make me laugh regardless of the genre. The one thing they are great for is getting me to learn about the actual story. So, I buckled down for part two of Ron Swanson’s favorite movies, coming in at 171 minutes, Patton is a long one. It follows the life of George S. Patton through his time in World War Two. Patton is an extremely good movie. The opening scene is Iconic. “Now, I want you to remember, that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.”

For a nearly three-hour movie I am surprised ad how well it had me hooked throughout the entire runtime. The movie shows Patton to be an arrogant glory hound but as the film rolls on we can see the toll the war has taken on him. I don’t want to say he seems more human or becomes more sympathetic, but he has his moments where he turns out to not be a complete jerk. There are certain qualities he feels a person should have, he expects complete loyalty, he demands that you be the best, but if you fail to meet his high standards you might as well be dead meat. As much of a jerk as he could be, there was no greater honor to him, and he respected no one more than a soldier wounded or killed in battle. I found George S. Patton to be an extremely interesting person. More than anything I was left wanting to learn more about the General and the rest of his life.

The opening speech in front of the American flag has become one of the most iconic images in film history and is a very strong speech. My favorite scenes were when Patton was paying his respects to the wounded or dead. Without them Patton is just a prick. I enjoyed the scenes with the Germans as well, it was a good way to dump a load of information on you to keep the story moving. I wish the movie had either more or less of Patton talking about his past lives, it seemed to be just enough to be intriguing but never satisfying. A lot of the scenes in Sicily reminded me of the hills in Kamloops. I thought the fact there was an intermission scene was hilarious, but this was released in 1970 and an intermission was quite normal for a movie this long up until the early 80’s and I’m told they are still a thing in India. I wish we could have intermissions here too at the cinema. This movie probably has the greatest open and the greatest close to any movie ever made. My favorite part of the movie was the end. As Patton walks his dog Willy through a field past an old windmill, Patton’s final words in the movie. “For over a thousand years, Roman conquerors returning from the wars enjoyed the honor of a triumph - a tumultuous parade. In the procession came trumpeters and musicians and strange animals from the conquered territories, together with carts laden with treasure and captured armaments. The conqueror rode in a triumphal chariot, the dazed prisoners walking in chains before him. Sometimes his children, robed in white, stood with him in the chariot, or rode the trace horses. A slave stood behind the conqueror, holding a golden crown, and whispering in his ear a warning: that all glory is fleeting.”