Patty Hearst had a privileged life. The granddaughter of publishing magnate William Randolph Hearst, she thought of herself as confident, sheltered, and ready to face any task put before her. Then, in February 1974, after taking a shower and settling down to study in the apartment she shared with her fiancé, that self assurance came under sudden attack.
Based on Hearst’s 1982 autobiography Every Secret Thing (co-written with Alvin Moscow), the 1998 film Patty Hearst, starring Natasha Richardson in the title role, tells the story of her abduction by members of the Symbionese Liberation Army. At various times over the following 19 months, she is jammed into a car trunk, threatened at gunpoint, sexually molested, stuffed in a closet and kept blindfolded for 57 days. Under the spell of the SLA’s charismatic leader, Cinque (Ving Rhames), he orders his minions including Teko (William Forsythe) and Yolanda (Frances Fisher) to psychologically torture Patty, she eventually breaks down and agrees to join the SLA, transforming into Tania, the revolutionary.
Director Paul Schrader has always been a fiery filmmaker, responsible, either as screenwriter or director, for such films as Taxi Driver, Blue Collar, and Raging Bull. Therefore, it would be reasonable to assume Patty Hearst would be a primitive assault of the senses, meant to evoke the violence and frenzy of the time. You would be wrong.
Instead, Schrader has delivered an indictment of sorts, of Hearst herself. Early on, he does a great job of creating a sense of displacement. There are montages shot from Patty’s point of view as she sits in her closet as her captor’s growl threats and revolutionary slogans in her face. We see the captor’s as Patty did. While those shots are undeniably effective, Patty never seems to be at war with herself. She seems controlled, victimized but unsympathetic.
As Patty, Richardson’s performance is as good as the material allows. But because we see little of Hearst before her abduction it’s difficult to gauge how the ordeal changes her. Early on in Patty’s reorientation, we sense Schrader’s distaste for her. Because he was apparently unable to find any sympathy for her or her dilemma, the film loses a lot of the dramatic punch that could’ve been.
Those expecting Patty Hearst to be thriller or a dark sociopolitical analysis need not bother. This is really more of a character study. It boils down to this: an examination of how one young woman reacts to a nightmare. While Schrader’s bias against Hearst occasionally shines through, this is still a fascinating story that may leave some wondering if Patty Hearst joined the SLA under duress or not.
From a technical standpoint, this is an underwhelming release. As part of MGM’s Limited Edition Collection series, it’s pressed on a DVD-R that will not work on most computer DVD drives or DVD recorders. The anamorphic 1.85:1 transfer is nothing to write home about. It’s noticeably murky and it flickers in spots. The stereo mix is passable. The only extra is the film’s theatrical trailer.
