GERMANY: MEL GIBSON ATTENDS THE GERMAN PREMIERE OF MOVIE "THE PATRIOT"

Record ID: 389717

  • Title: GERMANY: MEL GIBSON ATTENDS THE GERMAN PREMIERE OF MOVIE "THE PATRIOT"
  • Date: 11th July 2000
  • Summary: BERLIN, GERMANY (JULY 11, 2000) (REUTERS ACCESS ALL) SCU SOUNDBITE (German) ROLAND EMMERICH, PRODUCER SAYING: This is the story about a father and his son, a father with a lot of children who opposes war but has no choice but to take part in it. Its kind of a relevant topic if you look at the Kosovo war. There were people there who had no choice and were just pulled into
  • Embargoed: 26th July 2000 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BERLIN, GERMANY
  • Country: Germany
  • Reuters ID: LVA7131PNS15UGKW2HO0APBNTH3R
  • Story Text: Mel Gibson was in attendance for the German premiere of his latest movie The Patriot - and was duly given a warm welcome from screaming fans outside Berlin's CineStar movie theatre.
    Gibson plays 18th Century American Benjamin Martin whose South Carolina mansion is burned to toast and family uprooted by Redcoats during the Revolutionary War, forcing him to reluctantly take up arms.
    As director Roland Emmerich, of 'Independence Day' and 'Godzilla' fame explains, this is the story about a father and his son who opposes war but has no choice but to take part in it.
    Not coincidentally, Patriot was written by Robert Rodat, whose 1998 summer army movie, Saving Private Ryan, has been dubbed an anti-war war film.
    Audiences may think of Martin, then, as the anti-patriot patriot more concerned about his children, his work, and his ability to craft a fine colonial rocking chair than a nasty war being fought over freedom and liberty.
    The film has already raised hackles in the UK - with its depiction of British redcoats burning down US villages - and US troops winning battles which in reality they lost.
    Gibson has dismissed this criticism, saying the movie was 'painted with broad strokes,' and was designed to entertain.
    'If it makes someone pick up a book to study the history, then that's good,' he's quoted as saying.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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