Roland Emmerich, I Love You

Roland Emmerich is another of my heroes when it comes to film. This director is so often made fun of by critics, but that's what makes him so appealing to me. Something about adversity that produces great work.

This man has directed the greatest big budget action films of all time and believe me, they stand up to the test of time.

• Independence Day
• The Patriot
• The Day After Tomorrow
• 2012

I needed to watch a film last night, as film addicts do from time to time, and I decided to watch The Patriot. Oh, this film, it has layers for years, I can watch it over and over again and still find new meaning.

Mel Gibson, whose body of work demanded that I forgive, but not forget his "pack of niggers" speech, gives one of the greatest performances of his life, in my eyes, as a father who is forced into arms when he everything he holds dear is thrown into turmoil. Heath Ledger, my dearly departed, plays his rebellious son. The film is set against the backdrop of the British/American civil war of 1766. Jason Isaacs plays an insatiable colonel in this layer upon layer of cinematic excellence.

I would also like to say that like my other favourite directors, Emmerich NEVER FAILS to include black people in his films and not just as background, black people are vital elements to the protagonists survival. In The Patriot, the family seek refuge in a small slave colony which saves them from death. In 2012, Africa is the only place on the planet not besieged by water to where our heroes find sanctuary. As a black women, I look for signs in a film, music video, photoshoot, that lets me know I am positively represented and Emmerich does that for me. YAY!

Roland Emmerich, I love you. I love your work ethic and your delivery. I could ramble on for ever about your subtle digs at society embedded in your work, but this is a blog, not a dissertation.

"When you're not loved by the critics, it's very hard for anyone to say anything good about your movie. For me, it's more important that the audience enjoys it and embraces it, anyway. You get something that does well, but is criticized. So you say, 'OK, they just didn't get it. There's 1% or 2% who didn't like it. But there's 98% who did."

-Roland Emmerich (source: IMDB)

Enjoy the trailers for his other great films.

God bless.

Dx