REVOLUTION
Al Pacino stars in Revolution. The Movie fizzled at the box office in the wave of post-Vietnam malaise but this excellent piece of cinematography deserves reexamination.

Al Pacino in Revolution

Revolution

Staring: Nastassja Kinski, Annie Lennox, Al Pacino, Joan Plowright, Donald Sutherland, Dave King Cast in alphabetical order:
Steven Berkoff ......Sergeant Jones Jesse Birdsall ......unknown Robbie Coltrane ......unknown Dexter Fletcher ......Ned Dobb Graham Greene (II) ......unknown Dave King ......Mr. McConnahay Nastassja Kinski ......Daisy McConnahay	Annie Lennox ......Liberty Woman Sid Owen ......Young Ned Al Pacino ......Tom Dobb Joan Plowright ......Mrs. McConnahay Donald Sutherland ......Sergeant Major Peasy John Wells ......Corty
Cinematography by: Bernard Lutic Music by: John Corigliano Written by: Robert Dillon Distributor: Warner Home Video, Ltd. (Canada)

SYNOPSIS
An incomparable historical epic about the American Revolutionary War, Revolution brings Al Pacino to the fore as Dobbs the trapper swept up in the Continental Army and Kinski as Daisy the rebellious daughter of a cynically duplicit Tory merchant family.

Devil's Disciple Mel Gibson may be THE PATRIOT but George Bernard Shaw well understood what constituted the difference between an American and a Briton even if Devil's Disciple expresses the distinction in an offhanded and corny way that remains endearing.

Set against the backdrop of the American Revolution, Al Pacino plays Tom Dobbs a man swept up in Revolutionary upheaval fighting alongside his son. After the battle of Brooklyn, Dobbs like most of the patriotic army melts away, but enduring life in British occupied New York City proves too much. Dobbs and his son escape conscription into the enemy army by fleeing to American lines. They're out to teach a murderous redcoat (Donald Sutherland) a lesson.

Daisy plays the part the Red Coats complained of and dreaded: nurse at Brooklyn, spy in Philadelphia and occasionally an irregular soldier with a loaded pistol for an unsuspecting enemy.

"1776": Vocal Selections Mel Gibson may be THE PATRIOT but 1776 remains corny but endearing.

The historical choreography was outstanding. Attention to detail is remarkable particularly in the period music. The uniforms and costuming are magnificient. If Donald Sutherland plays an iron-willed, British Sergeant-Major, a realistically fiercesome antagonist, the movie catches the principal grievances between the opposing forces. The deposing of the last Royal Governor and battle of Brooklyn are imaginatively and accurately staged. This is no small feat. Only one block of the original Hanseatic city is left in New York City and the entire battlefield of Brooklyn and Long Island lay under the nation's fourth largest city. And perhaps `The World Didn't Turn Upside Down' when Lord Cornwallis wept in his tent and General O'Hara's Second Guards surrendered to the tune of Minstrel Boy.

A Classic That Warrants A Second Look

Johnny Tremain a Disney classic is probably the most loved movie in the genre. Johnny Tremaine now on DVD at B & N.

Revolution, the movie, was not well received in its time. Lost in the wilderness of the post-Vietnam malaise of anti-heroism, critics pinged Al Pacino's inescapable accent. How do you suppose men from the Hudson River Valley in 1775 spoke when English and Dutch were still interchangeable? Some reviewers did not like the battle scenes. The patriotic gore wasn't enough? Some didn't think the snow was deep enough at Valley Forge. Even in the North East's snowiest winters, it doesn't snow every day.

In consequence of the time in which the movie played to, the film was a box office disaster grossing less than $200,000. There maybe a time when motion pictures like books win a status long after release they did not enjoy immediately. Hopefully that time will come for Revolution a movie well worth revisiting.

The Peconic Street Literary Society
The Peconic Street Literary Society promotes American culture. While the Americans have never produced a true tragedy or epic in the classical sense. The main accomplishment in literature has been in the cinema, at which they have excelled above all others. The Peconic Street Literary Society welcomes your views, particularly about films which did not gross well but which present typical American themes.     
Comparable Films --- The Patriot
How does Revolution compare to the recently released Patriot?

The Patriot, set in the Southern Department, presents many similar themes to Revolution. There were Tories in the North, mostly concentrated in Long Island. In the South, the British had the dual advantage of a purer Saxon line and a truer Tory. One of the messages of the Patriot may have been that the Americans did not win the war either for hearts and minds or for land as much as the British lost it.

Regretfully the popularity of The Patriot did not revive interest in Revolution.