Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst | Review

Doc acts as a refreshers course for the most notorious kidnapping in history.

Fascination with the Hearst family began way before the family name was associated with newspaper headliner terms as the “Symbionese Liberation Army”, “Stockholm Syndrome” or the “most bizarre kidnapping tale in U.S history”. Grandpa Hearst like Machine Gun Patty’s was also the center of a feature film – he was the basis for Orson Welles’ masterpiece.

By way of a massive compilation of archival materials, a handful of talking heads and a splicing of celluloid variations of Robin Hood interpretations – documentary filmmaker Robert Stone’s timeline explores the influence, the psychology and the affects of the counterculture movement on the most bizarre tale of kidnapping,- by the same token Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst takes a look at the media frenzy that surrounded the event and lastly makes a not-so-discreet-remark about how “fortune” can decidedly twist a person’s fate .

While Stone initiates a generalized understanding about the events prior to and during the hostage taking and demonstrates the historical relevancy surrounding the early developments and shifting attitudes that ignited the late 60’s and late 70’s, where the film is somewhat lacking is in examining the once brainwashed, thousand-word picture girl herself. The omission of Hollywood-ized Patty from the commentary is equivalent to a heavy-weight card without a championship fight.

While Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst fails to demystify the mystery behind Patty and fails to live up to the excitement of the subject matter, it serves better as an informative document instead of an affective one, it still manages to almost scientifically address how media frenzy and outspokenly refreshes viewer’s that the rich do have it easier than others.

Rating 2 stars