The Strategic Studies Club screened Patton for the obvious reasons, but it is such a sprawling epic that there were only four of us left in the end. Patton is a film about a complicated man. I kind of drew some parallels with Lawrence of Arabia, another film about a crazy (I think Patton was further along the crazy scale--he thinks he was reborn as all the great generals) historical war figure who dies in an automobile accident. George C. Scott really embodies the character in all his eccentricities. We go inside him and try to understand how he craves war. And by the end, we kind of get it. That iconic opening monologue in front of the American flag is really telling. It is an introduction to the man and the myth that is fully developed over the next three hours with unflinching reality.
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