Patton

I will have to follow in Mr. O'Malley's footsteps and choose my favorite war movie, Patton. It is the story of General George S. Patton and his conquest through Africa and Sicily and his leadership of the Third Army in Europe. In many ways, Patton was a divisive character in American history, but Francis Ford Coppolla, who wrote the screen play, does an uncanny job at portraying a Patton that liberals and conservatives alike can relate to.

The movie starts with an incredibly famous image: Patton lecturing in front of an enormous American flag, but I chose a more subtle image to blog about. A side of Patton that Coppolla really exploits is his historic and romantic approach to warfare. This is exemplified in a few scenes that show Patton on an ancient battlefield, incredibly absorbed by the memories of past soldiers and warfare.

The film does more to glorify war than detract from it. Curiously, however, the movie presents some feelings of resentment toward the technological advancement of war. Toward the end of the film, Patton says that he is glad that he will never see the day when war is fought without troops, soldiers, advancements, and retreats. "When compared to war, all other forms of human endeavor shrink to insignificance," Patton proclaims. The movie certainly glorifies the pure, historical nature of war.

This is completely different from Vonnegut's goals in Slaughterhouse-Five. Vonnegut exposes the destructive nature of war where Patton celebrates the old battlefield. Because of this vital difference in authorial intention, Mary O'Hare would undoubtedly hate Patton.