Based on the biography Patton: Ordeal and Triumph by Ladislas Farago and the memoir A Soldier’s Story by Omar Bradley, Patton is the story of the World War II general and his exploits in the war along with his own unconventional methods in battle. Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North, the film is an exploration into the life of General George S. Patton his time during World War II as he’s played by George C. Scott. Also starring Karl Malden, Michael Bates, and Karl Michael Volger. Patton is a riveting and rapturous film from Franklin J. Schaffner.
The film explores the life of George S. Patton during his campaign in North Africa in 1943 as well as his eventual battles in Sicily and other European campaigns till the end of World War II in Europe. It’s a film that plays into a man who isn’t afraid to speak his mind while being a general who plays his own rules with old-school methods inspired by moments of the past. Yet, his tactics and uncompromising views on the way things are either has him be praised by some while others are bewildered by his behavior as well as his old-school methods. In some ways, Patton is essentially a stubborn motherfucker yet he is someone that seems to be fine with that as he knows he’s a egotistical son-of-a-bitch that wants some glory in the battlefield. The difference between himself and those he’s fighting with is that he has the balls to admit it.
The film’s screenplay by Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North play into these different period of battle in Patton’s time as he is a man that embodies the idea of what it is to be a soldier and a general as he isn’t afraid to get his boots dirty nor is afraid of being shot at. It’s the kind of man that seems to love war as he lives to fight where the Germans want to know how he’s able to beat them in North Africa during its first act. When German military leaders ask one of their insubordinates in Captain Steiger (Siegfried Rauch) to study about him, it is Steiger who is fascinated by him as he sees him as a man out of step with the times as he uses methods from past wars to win battles instead of going for modern-day tactics.
It’s tactics that often confuse the Germans as well as Americans and their British allies where Patton often contends with his leaders and other officers including his longtime friend General Omar Bradley (Karl Malden). At the same time, Patton is also his own worst enemy as his willingness to say things or do things often get him in trouble. Especially at the risk of his superiors who want him to stay put and not cause any trouble yet they need him because he’s someone that can get the job done. It’s a dichotomy that is very interesting as well as the fact that he is a man that is someone that plays into a sense of something that was lost in war which adds to Captain Steiger’s admiration towards him.
Franklin J. Schaffner’s direction is truly mesmerizing from the opening sequence where Patton does this amazing monologue behind the American flag about the ideas of war and what men should do when fighting a war. It’s not about dying for the man’s country but making the other person die for his country. It sets the tone for the rest of the film of who Patton is as much of the film is shot in Spain for the scenes set in North Africa and Sicily along with a few locations in England, Belgium, Greece, and Morocco to play into his battles and moments of notoriety. Schaffner definitely aims for a lot of broad wide and medium shots to play into a man who is definitely considered larger than life. The use of those wide shots add a lot to the film’s battle scenes as well as everything that Patton is doing in terms of strategy and the need to beat the Nazis in such a brutal way. While the violence isn’t quite graphic, its sense of impact in its aftermath as well as the sense of death is still evident such as the first sequence set in North Africa.
The direction also has moments that are very intimate where Schaffner knows where to place the camera such as a key scene where Patton learns he is expected to do nothing during the upcoming Normandy campaign as he talks to his longtime aide Sgt. Meeks (James Edwards) in the hallway about how he’s feeling. It’s presented in a very detached wide shot and then cuts to medium shot of the two with Sgt. Meeks in the foreground and Patton in the background as he is talking. It plays into that sense that Patton is a man who isn’t just detached from the current state of the world but also someone who might be too extreme for the 20th Century. Most notably in a scene where he visit a hospital tent to meet with the wounded while he sees a young soldier crying over fatigue as he slaps the shit out of the guy and threatens to kill for acting like a fucking pussy. It plays into the idea of what war is where it is about fighting to go home. If that person doesn’t want to fight and go home, what happens when there is no home to go to?
It is among these elements in a film that like this that plays into the idea of who Patton is. He is a flawed individual but Schaffner knows how to play into that as there’s scenes where Patton is giving speeches in places near France and in Britain where he does take a few pot-shots at certain individuals and countries. The presentation of these moments play into Patton’s own discomfort when he’s not in the battlefield as Schaffner uses some key close-ups to play into that sense of discomfort. Once Patton is in battle, he is absolutely in his element where Schaffner showcases someone who lives to fight through its many different approach to compositions as the direction feels loose and sprawling. Overall, Schaffner creates a very towering yet exhilarating film about one of the 20th Century’s most controversial yet uncompromising warriors.
Cinematographer Fred J. Koenekamp does amazing work with the film‘s cinematography that is very vibrant with its approach to colors for many of its daytime interior/exterior scenes as well as create some unique lighting schemes for the scenes at night including an impromptu battle at night between U.S. army tankers and a German battalion. Editor Hugh S. Fowler does brilliant work with the editing as it‘s very straightforward in terms of creating tension in the drama as well as using some offbeat rhythms for the comical scenes as well as the battle scenes that occur in the film. Art directors Urie McCleary and Gil Parrondo, with set decorators Antonio Mateos and Pierre-Louis Thevenet, do fantastic work with the set pieces from the look of the mansions where Patton stays in during his down time as well as the tents and bases where he deals with military matters.
The sound work of Douglas Williams and Don Bassman do excellent work with the sound to capture the way planes fly near the bases as well as the sounds of gunfire and cannons as it adds to the sense of chaos that is war. The film’s music by Jerry Goldsmith is superb for its very bombastic, brass-based score to play into a sense of triumph and pride as well as some low-key orchestral moments for some its dramatic moments.
The casting by Michael McLean is great as it features notable small roles from Tim Considine as the crying soldier that Patton slaps, Morgan Paull as Patton’s North African aide Captain Jenson, John Doucette as Major General Lucian Truscott, Edward Binns as General Walter Bedell Smith, and Richard Munch as the top German military leader Colonel General Alfred Jodl who tries to figure out everything that Patton is doing. James Edwards is terrific as Sgt. Meeks who often helps Patton with smaller duties out of the battlefield while Paul Stevens is superb as Colonel Charles R. Codman who is Patton’s new aide during the European campaigns as he would observe Patton’s methods. Karl Michael Vogler is fantastic as Field Marshal Erwin Rommel whom Patton admires for his tactics though Rommel is a Nazi. Siegfried Rauch is excellent as Captain Steiger who is asked by Rommel and Jodl to study Patton as he would become an admirer of his ideas and methods.
Michael Bates is brilliant as Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery as a man who is eager to win battles so he can be in history books as he has a hard time dealing with Patton’s own methods and one-upmanship during the war. Karl Malden is amazing as General Omar Bradley who starts off as an insubordinate of Patton as he tries to cope with Patton’s methods as he later becomes his superior where he tries to keep Patton in check so that Patton could fight. Finally, there’s George C. Scott in a performance for the ages in the titular role as he exudes that sense of grandeur and craziness into a man that feels like he is from another place in time as he uses old-school methods to win battles while becoming unhinged when he’s not fighting battles as he has to deal with diplomacy as it’s a performance filled with charm and ferocity as it is truly an iconic performance from Scott.
Patton is an outstanding film from Franklin J. Schaffner that features a truly towering and astounding performance from George C. Scott in the titular role. It’s a film that doesn’t just embody the idea of what it means to be in a war but also in how to lead an army into fighting for what is right. Especially as it showcases George S. Patton in a very complex way through all of his flaws and attributes while revealing that there will never be another warrior like him. In the end, Patton is a phenomenal film from Franklin J. Schaffner.
© thevoid99 2015
Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 5/9/05 w/ Additional Edits & Revisions.
Based on the novel by Anthony Burgess, A Clockwork Orange is the story of young man whose love of ultra-violence, sex, and Beethoven leads to a dangerous lifestyle where he is suddenly caught by authorities who put him into an experiment that has everything he loves turned against him. Written for the screen and directed by Stanley Kubrick, the film is a part-satire that fuses dark comedy with brazen sexual and violent content that reveals a young man becoming a victim of his own crimes. Starring Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Adrienne Corri, Anthony Sharp, and Michael Bates.
On a typical night of decadence at the Korova Milkbar, Alex (Malcolm McDowell) leads his gang of Droogs that consists of Pete (Michael Tarn), Georgie (James Marcus), and Dim (Warren Clarke) to a night where they beat a homeless man (Paul Farrell), fight a gang, and break-in to a house owned by Frank Alexander (Patrick Magee) and his wife (Adrienne Corri) where Alex rapes her while wearing a mask and singing Singing in the Rain. The night ends at the Milkbar where Alex hears a woman sing Beethoven as he later plays Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at his home. At home where he lives with his parents (Philip Stone and Sheila Raynor), Alex gets a visit from his headmaster Mr. P.R. Deltoid (Aubrey Morris) who is aware of Alex's misadventures and wants him to stay away from trouble. After a visit to the record store where he flirts with a couple of women and has sex with them, he meets up with his Droogs about what to do for tonight. Georgie and Dim had an idea as Alex takes their suggestion to break into the home of a caretaker (Miriam Karlin) after assaulting the two.
At the house of the caretaker, Alex gets in as he tries to charm his way only for something to go wrong as he leaves the house assaulted by Dim and Georgie. Caught by the police, Deltoid tells Alex that he's being sent to prison for the next 14 years for his actions. Two years into his sentenace as he's looked on by a guard (Michael Bates), Alex decides to volunteer in an experimental treatment as a way to get out of prison as he turns to the prison chaplain (Godfrey Quigley) and its minister (Anthony Sharp) to have him take part. Alex is transferred to a facility where he meets its head Dr Brodsky (Carl Duering) and his assistant Dr. Branom (Madge Ryan) where he's given various experimental sessions to forcefully watch images of sex and violence for several hours. The experiment has made him ill as it reaches its breaking point where he hears Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in one of those films as the experiment proves to be successful as Alex is sent back home. Realizing that he's forced out of his home and a lodger (Clive Francis) lives in his room, Alex is despondent over these changes as he couldn't assault anyone or do anything.
Lost in a world where he becomes a victim, Alex is later assaulted by the homeless tramp he beat up a few years ago and later assaulted by Georgie and Dim who had become police officers. Seeking shelter, Alex walks to the home of Mr. Alexander as Alex is unaware of the house he had entered. Mr. Alexander realizes who Alex is as he decides to do something that will ensue into near-tragedy and political scandal.
While the film is mainly a satire, it's also a study on morality, violence, and human nature. While the protagonist of Alex maybe a sadistic, violent, anti-authority, rebellious anti-hero, he is a very complex character that isn't stupid but one who knows his limits. While many won't agree with his unique views on sex and violence, his ideas seems to be more cartoonish since he enjoys fighting gangs and rebel against the ills of society. He loves sex and everything about it, even if it meant raping a woman despite his cruel intentions. Plus, his love for Beethoven's Ninth Symphony seems to calm him down as he tries to escape from the real world that he lives in. Then when he becomes part of the Ludovico treatment, the intention of sex, violence, and Beethoven is taken to new extremes. In fact, their treatment is far more violent than what Alex does since its done for political means and science.
Part of the genius goes to Stanley Kubrick for taking Burgess' bleak view of the future to new extremes, as he tests the boundaries of what is obscene. In his writing, Kubrick goes for playfulness and humor while most of it is a study of a young man's love for life as it turns against him to the point that he's powerless. He knows that Alex never wanted to kill anyone but as the film progress, there is sympathy since he is being used against his will for all means. It's a very powerful statement of how government works to try to clean up morality and it is pretty relevant since America is in a state of paranoia and we might end up turning on ourselves. It also shows how violence has worsened since it's now more politically-motivated and is all done for all the wrong reasons.
If Kubrick's ability as storyteller is more provocative, his directing is more entrancing in the way he presents the life of this young man. He brings not just an eerie tone to the film but also brings humor in a few sequences, notably a fast sex scene that is shot on speed with the William Tell Overture played in fast time. Kubrick's uses of steady camera pans, zoom lenses, and slow-motion show his ability to shoot scenes that are given real power in its frame and intention, even in scenes where he uses hand-held cameras to give the first-point view of our protagonist. His take on violence isn't that extreme compared to today's cinema since he takes one part of it in a comical sense and another in a cruel approach. This along with Kubrick's approach to light with cinematographer John Alcott shows his brilliance in terms of lighting where he gives the film a unique look and movement along with a tone that is very futuristic.
If Kubrick and Alcott's cinematography is brilliant in its tone, so does the production design of John Barry along with art directors Russell Hagg and Peter Shields. The film&'s look is very futuristic with model-like statues, futuristic cars, and appliances that are all filled with strange designs and colors. The film's design is very distinct and memorable along with Milena Canonero's amazing costume design from the bowler-hat and white clothing the Droogs wear to the strange, colored clothing that Alex wears outside of his Droog world and the clothing of his parents that is very whimsical from the hair-coloring of Alex's mother and the makeup that people wear. Kubrick's genius in terms of look is also done in presentation thanks to editor Bill Butler for his nicely-paced feel of the film along with that infamous, fast-edited sequence of Alex having sex with two women with John Jordan doing great sound manipulation in the sound design.
With many of Kubrick's film, the music is very important as the film features many great musical elements of work ranging from classical composers like Beethoven, Henry Purcell, and Gioachino Antonio Rossi that gives the film a feeling of idiosyncratic tones. Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is played dominantly whether in its original orchestral composition to the eerie electronic score of Wendy Carlos who gives some wonderful original music that plays to the film's dark, sci-fi feel as her synthesizers sucks in the audience with each, eerie melody.
While the film has a large cast of small characters, many of them standout including Adrienne Corri, Miriam Karlin, Clive Francis, Godfrey Quigley, Sheila Raynor, Phillip Stone, and Madge Ryan along with Steven Berkoff as an investigator and the future Darth Vader, David Prowse as Mr. Alexander's bodyguard. Of the Droogs with the exception of Michael Tarn as the quiet Pete, James Marcus and Warren Clarke stand out the most with Clarke's comical, brash performance and Marcus as the serious of the Droogs. Aubrey Morris is excellent in his role as Alex's school superior along with Michael Bates as the prison guard and Carl Duering as the torturous Dr. Brodsky. Of the supporting cast, Anthony Sharp and Kubrick regular Patrick Magee stand out the most in their respective roles as the minister and the revenge-crazed Mr. Alexander.
While the film has a great cast, the film really belongs to Malcolm McDowell in the most memorable role of his career as Alex. McDowell brings a charming yet sadistic performance as a young man who loves sex, violence, and Beethoven but seems to try and test his limits. With McDowell serving as a narrator, he is the heart of the movie as he tries to understand the world only to see that if he did take his love of sex and violence to extremes, it would make him sick. McDowell brought an innocence as his character develops from a funny little devil to a helpless youth alienated by the world as everything he loved turns against him.
A Clockwork Orange is a magnificent film from Stanley Kubrick that features an outstanding performance from Malcolm McDowell. The film is truly a stylish yet entrancing film into the world of dark fantasy and reality with a mix of satire and humor. It's also a film that is very uncompromising as well as confrontational in the way it explores violence at its most visceral. In the end, A Clockwork Orange is a triumphant film from Stanley Kubrick.
Stanley Kubrick Films: Fear and Desire - Killer's Kiss - The Killing - Paths of Glory - Spartacus - Lolita - Dr Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb - 2001: A Space Odyssey - Barry Lyndon - The Shining - Full Metal Jacket - Eyes Wide Shut
Related: Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures - The Auteurs #18: Stanley Kubrick
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