''Patty Hearst'' is a 1988 American biographical film directed by Paul Schrader and stars Natasha Richardson as Hearst Corporation heiress

Patricia Hearst Patricia is a female given name of Latin origin. Derived from the Latin word '' patrician'', meaning "noble"; it is the feminine form of the masculine given name Patrick. The name Patricia was the second most common female name in the United S ...

and

Ving Rhames Irving Rameses Rhames (born May 12, 1959) is an American actor. He is best known for his supporting roles as IMF Agent Luther Stickell in the ''Mission: Impossible'' film series and gang kingpin Marsellus Wallace in ''Pulp Fiction''. He also a ...

Symbionese Liberation Army The United Federated Forces of the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) was a small, American far-left organization active between 1973 and 1975; it claimed to be a vanguard movement. The FBI and American law enforcement considered the SLA to be the ...

leader Cinque. It is based on Hearst's 1982 autobiography ''Every Secret Thing'' (co-written with Alvin Moscow), which was later rereleased as ''Patty Hearst – Her Own Story''. The film depicts the kidnapping of student Patty Hearst by the Symbionese Liberation Army, her transformation into an active follower of the SLA after a long-lasting imprisonment and process of purported brainwashing, and her final arrest after a series of armed robberies.

Cast

* Natasha Richardson –

* William Forsythe – William "Teko" Harris *

– Cinque Mtume *

Frances Fisher Frances Louise Fisher (born May 11, 1952) is a British-born American actress. She began her career in theatre and later starred as record executive Suzette 'Red' Saxon in the CBS daytime soap opera ''The Guiding Light'' (1985). In film, she is ...

–

Yolanda Yolanda may refer to: * Yolanda (name), a given name derived from the Greek ''Iolanthe'' Places * Yolanda, California * Yolanda Shrine, monument located at Barangay Anibong, Tacloban, Leyte Film * ''Yolanda'' (film), a 1924 film starring ...

Jodi Long Jodi Long is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Madama on '' Cafe Americain'' (1993–1994), and Ok Cha on ''Sullivan and Son'' (2012–2014), and her role in ''Patty Hearst'' (1988). She won Best Supporting Actress at the Dayt ...

– Wendy Yoshimura * Olivia Barash – Fahizah *

Dana Delany Dana Welles Delany (born March 13, 1956) is an American actress. After appearing in small roles early in her career, Delany received her breakthrough role as Colleen McMurphy on the ABC television drama '' China Beach'' (1988–1991), for whic ...

– Gelina * Marek Johnson – Zoya * Kitty Swink – Gabi * Peter Kowanko –

Cujo ''Cujo'' () is a 1981 psychological horror novel by American writer Stephen King about a rabid Saint Bernard. The novel won the British Fantasy Award in 1982 and was made into a film in 1983. Background Cujo's name was based on the alias of ...

(as Pete Kowanko) * Tom O'Rourke – Jim Browning * Scott Kraft – Steven Weed *

Jeff Imada Jeff Imada (born June 17, 1955) is an American martial artist, stuntman, and actor. He has performed stunts in over 100 films and television programs and authored one of the first books published in the US about the balisong. Jeff Imada is traine ...

– Neighbor * Ermal Williamson – Randolph A. Hearst * Elaine Revard – Catherine Hearst * Destiny Reyes Allstun - Vicky Hearst

Production

The film was written by

Nicholas Kazan Nicholas Kazan (; born September 15, 1945) is an American screenwriter, film producer and director. Early life Kazan was born in New York, the son of Greek-American director Elia Kazan and his first wife, playwright Molly Kazan (née Mary Da ...

(son of Oscar-winning director Elia Kazan) drawing narration from Hearst's memoir. ''Patty Hearst'' premiered at the

1988 Cannes Film Festival The 41st Cannes Film Festival was held from 11 to 23 May 1988. The Palme d'Or went to the '' Pelle erobreren'' by Bille August. The festival opened with '' Le Grand Bleu'', directed by Luc Besson and closed with ''Willow'', directed by Ron How ...

on May 13 in the feature film competition. The film opened on September 23, 1988, in the US and grossed $601,680 in its opening weekend. It made a total domestic gross of $1,223,326.

Reception

The film garnered a generally mixed critical response, although Richardson's performance was applauded by most critics. Amongst credited critics, the film has a rating of 45% positive reactions on

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, with 11 reviews counted. Vincent Canby of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' wrote that "''Patty Hearst'' is a beautifully produced movie, seen entirely from Patty's limited point of view. It is stylized at times, utterly direct and both shocking and grimly funny." Roger Ebert writing for the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...

'' praised Richardson's performance: "The entire film centers on the remarkable performance by Natasha Richardson as Hearst." but concluded that "This whole story seemed so much more exciting from the outside."Review
in the ''Chicago Sun-Times'', 23 September 1988.

Pauline Kael Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael's opinions oft ...

called the film "a lean, impressive piece of work" and even suggested that it answered the longstanding mystery about Hearst: "Did Patty Hearst become part of the S.L.A. willingly, out of conviction, or was she simply trying to save her life? The movie shows you that, in the state she was in, there was no difference. Natasha Richardson, who plays Patty, has been handed a big unwritten role; she feels her way into it, and she fills it. We feel how alone and paralyzed Patty is — she retreats to being a hidden observer. Patty is a girl who is raped in mind and body, and no longer knows when it started."

References

External links

*
New Yorker review by Richard BrodyOfficial site
{{Paul Schrader 1988 films 1988 drama films 1980s biographical drama films American biographical drama films Biographical films about criminals Biographical films about people convicted on terrorism charges Crime films based on actual events Films about kidnapping Films directed by Paul Schrader Atlantic Entertainment Group films Cultural depictions of Patty Hearst Films set in the 1970s 1980s English-language films 1980s American films