The Patriot《爱国者》（精讲之三）

影片对白

BURWELL: Benjamin Martin. I'm in no mood for a lecture.

MARTIN: Where is your General Gates now?

BURWELL: The last anyone saw, riding hard in northeast, his staff a hundred yards behind, trying to catch up.

MARTIN: So who's in command?

BURWELL: I am, I think.

MARTIN: What are my orders?

BURWELL: We're a breath away from losing this war, Benjamin. In the North, Washington is reeling from Morristown. He's running and hiding from twelve thousand Redcoats. In the South, Cornwallis has broken our back, captured over five thousand of our troops when he took Charles town.

MARTIN: And he destroyed the only army between him and New York. So now there's nothing will stop him from heading north to finish off Washington.

BURWELL: Unless we can keep Cornwallis in the South until the French arrive. They've promised a fleet and ten thousand troops.

MARTIN: When?

BURWELL: Six months at the earliest.

MARTIN: You actually trust the French to keep their word?

DELANCEY: Absolutement.

BURWELL: Benjamin Martin, Major Jean DeLancey, French Seventh Light Foot. He will help to train the militia.

DELANCEY: The hero of Fort Wilderness. Your reputation precedes you.

MARTIN: You really expect to hold Cornwallis here using just militia?

BURWELL: Not me, you.

MARTIN: Harry, they're not soldiers, they're farmers. They'd be better off letting the British just march through.

BURWELL: They'd be better off, but the cause wouldn't.

MARTIN: How many men does Cornwallis have under his command?

BURWELL: Eight thousand infantry. Around six hundred cavalry. I'm giving you a field commission as a colonel.

MARTIN: Might I request, sir, that you transfer my son, here, under my command?

GABRIEL: Sir, no I...

BURWELL: That's done.

MARTIN: Thank you.

妙语佳句，活学活用

1. In no mood

"不想, 没有心情做……"，例如：I was in no mood to laugh and talk with strangers. 我才没有心情和陌生人谈笑呢。"I'm in no mood for a lecture."意为：我没心情听你的教训。

它的反义词in the mood 表示"有……的兴致，有意做……"，例如：I'm in the mood for a good long walk.

2. In command

In command 表示"领导，挂帅"，要表示"领导……"，常与of连用，后面加被领导的内容例如：In World War II, General Lee was in command of the air force. 二战期间，李将军统率空军部队。

Under one's command 则表示"被……领导"，例如：The admiral visits the ships under his command by helicopter. 舰队司令乘直升机视察他所指挥的军舰。

3. Finish off

意为"（彻底地）完成，吃完，用完，置……于死地"，例如：
She finished off the job yesterday. 她昨天把工作全部完成了。

We've finished off the cake. 我们把蛋糕吃的一点不剩。

His last illness nearly finished him off. 上次那场大病几乎要了他的命。

4. Better off

"最好……，比……富裕"的意思，例如：
They were better off flying than driving there. 他们最好坐飞机而不是驾车去那儿。
They were better off than most of their neighbors. 他们比大部分的邻居日子过得富裕。

当表示"比……富裕"时，better off 的意思就相当于 well off。

文化面面观

Red coat ：英国士兵的红制服

Red coat is a term often used to refer to a soldier of the historical British Army because of the color of the uniforms formerly worn by the majority of regiments. The uniform of most British soldiers during the late 17th century, 18th century and 19th century, (other than artillery, rifles and some cavalry), included a madder red coat or coatee. From 1872 onwards, the more vivid shade of scarlet was adopted for all ranks, having previously been worn only by officers, sergeants and cavalry troopers.

In the United States, "Redcoat" is particularly associated with those British soldiers who fought against the colonists during the American Revolution. It does not appear to have been a contemporary expression - accounts of the time usually refer to "regulars" or "the King's men". Abusive nicknames included "bloody backs" (in a reference to both the colour of their coats and the use of flogging as a means of punishment for military offences) and "lobsters" or "lobsterbacks" (most notably in Boston around the time of the Boston Massacre).

It was not until the 1880s that the term "redcoat" as a vernacular expression for the British soldier appears in literary sources such as Kipling's poem, "Tommy" - indicating some degree of popular usage in Britain itself. The term is still used in Ireland to refer to the British Army, and sometimes to all British people.

Red coat: History in British Army

On 19 February 1645, the English parliament passed the New Model Army Ordinance. The new army was formed of 22,000 men, divided into twelve foot regiments of 1,200 men each, eleven horse regiments of 600 men each, one dragoon regiment of 1,000 men, and the artillery with 50 guns.

The infantry regiments wore coats of Venetian red with white facings. The original intention was to use blue uniforms, but red was cheaper.

The adoption and continuing use of red by most English soldiers after the restoration of the Monarchy (1660) appears to have been a historical accident, aided by the relative cheapness of red dyes noted above. There is no basis for the historical myth that red coats were favored because they did not show blood stains, as the blood quickly stains the jacket black.

Eventually, facings of the red coat were varied, depending upon which regiment the uniform belonged to. Examples were scarlet for the 33rd Regiment of Foot, yellow for the 44th regiment of foot and buff for the 3rd Regiment of foot.

British soldiers fought in scarlet tunics for the last time at the Battle of Gennis on 30 December 1885.

Even after the adoption of khaki field dress in 1902, most British infantry and some cavalry regiments continued to wear scarlet tunics on parade and for off-duty occasions ("walking out dress"), until the outbreak of the First World War in 1914.

Scarlet tunics ceased to be general issue upon British mobilization in August 1914. The Brigade of Guards resumed wearing their scarlet full dress in 1920 but for the remainder of the Army red coats were only authorised for wear by regimental bands and officers in mess dress or on certain limited social or ceremonial occasions (notably attendance at Court functions or weddings). The reason for not generally reintroducing the distinctive full dress was primarily financial, as the scarlet cloth requires expensive cochineal dye.

In the modern British army, scarlet is still worn by the Foot Guards regiments for ceremonial, by the Life Guards and by some regimental bands or drummers. Officers and NCOs of those regiments which previously wore red retain scarlet as the color of their "mess" or formal evening jackets. Some regiments turn out small detachments, such as color guards, in scarlet full dress at their own expense e.g. the Yorkshire regiment.

Scarlet is also retained for some full dress, military band or mess uniforms in the modern armies of a number of the countries that made up the former British Empire. These include the Australian, Jamaican, New Zealand, Fijian, Canadian, Kenyan, Ghanaian, Indian, Singaporean and Pakistani armies. (wikipedia)

电影故事

The Patriot 爱国者：创作花絮

在电影的创作过程中有很多有趣的花絮，来和大家分享一下。

As originally written, Benjamin Martin had 6 children, but in the movie Martin has 7 children. This was changed based on the number of children Mel Gibson has.

The producers and director chose Heath Ledger to play the role of Gabriel Martin because, in their opinion, Ledger was a man who possessed "exuberant youth."

Mel Gibson's character was originally scripted to be the real historical figure Francis Marion, "The Swamp Fox", but after historians informed the filmmakers of some of the more sordid aspects of Marion's life (slaughtering Indians, raping his female slaves) they decided to create a fictional story and a more likeable hero.

Chris Cooper, who played Colonel Harry Burwell, was to be "Lighthorse Harry" Henry Lee, the father of Robert E. Lee; at the end of the film, when Cooper's character tells Benjamin Martin the name of the former's newborn son, Cooper was to say Robert. The chronology of the Lee family was off, however (Lee would have only been 20 in 1776 and just a captain) and the idea was dropped.

When teaching Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger how to shoot a muzzle-loading rifle, technical advisor Mark Baker gave them the advice to "aim small, miss small", meaning that if you aim at a man and miss, you miss the man, while if you aim at a button (for instance) and miss, you still hit the man. Gibson liked this bit of advice so much he incorporated it into the movie, just prior to the ambush scene.

One of the "redcoats" that is floating face down in the river after the trap is a dummy of John Travolta.

Harrison Ford declined the lead role, feeling the script had boiled the Revolutionary War down to a "one-man's-revenge" melodrama.

Heath Ledger performed his own stunts.

Screenwriter Robert Rodat wrote 17 drafts of the script before there was an acceptable one.

In an earlier version of the script, Anne is pregnant with Gabriel's child when she dies in the burning church.

While the villain William Tavington is killed in the final battle scene, his real-life inspiration, Banastre Tarleton, survived the war to return to serve in Parliament until his death at the age of 77.

Laurence Olivier Theatre Award winning British actor Ben Daniels received a role alongside Mel Gibson in this film, but refused the offer, citing that the "money was good, but it wasn't for me".

考考你

用今日所学将下面的句子译成英语。

1． 我没有心情和你去看电影。
2． 威廉将军把敌人彻底击溃了。
3． 你们最好把钱交给我们。

The Patriot《爱国者》（精讲之二）考考你 参考答案

1. 我努力工作希望能进入出版界。
I'm trying to work my way into the publishing world.

2. 像许多其他剧目一样，这出戏也只上演了一个星期就停演了。
The play, like so many others, died a natural death after only one week