The Patriot is the kind of symbolic, avant-garde, historical and cultural drama that lends itself to several viewings in order to get at the basis of what, in this case, director Alexander Kluge had in mind. Various aspects of German history are explored from several angles in a series of odd sequences. Gabi Teichert (Hannelore Hogar) is both a history teacher and a patriot. One day she goes out into the winter landscape carrying a shovel (digging for the truth?). She comes across is a dead soldier killed at the battle of Leningrad, whose symbolically disembodied knee speaks to her. Next, Gabi scans the landscape with a telescope, looking for evidence. Later, she is at a convention of the Social Democrat Party and tries to find information there. The scenes continue at different venues and with different people as this history teacher tries to piece together history.
~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide