Braveheart Review "They may take our lives but they will never take OUR FREEDOM!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK, so its time for another post and this one is another revisitation of an older post on this blog, which is my review of the historical drama, Braveheart starring Mel Gibson as the legendary Scottish knight, William Wallace. 

The film even though it won several Oscars, has been slated for its many historical inaccuracies but after 25 years, how does Braveheart still hold up??? Well, let's take another look and see...

And I will put the usual warning ahead...

PLOT SPOILERS ARE AHEAD!!!

STORY 

OK so the story begins in 1280 with King Longshanks (Patrick McGoohan) of England having invaded and conquered Scotland.  William Wallace as a young boy survives the deaths of his father and brother and witnesses Longshanks treachery as village leaders were found hanged.  Wallace is taken away by his Uncle Argyle (Brian Cox) to Rome where he will be educated.  

Years later Wallace returns to Scotland as a man (Mel Gibson) to find that under Longshanks rule, he has permitted the Scottish noblemen lands and privileges, but also sexual rights to an English lord with a newly wed Scottish woman on their wedding night (known as Prima Notca).  Wallace soon falls in love with his childhood sweetheart Murron (Catherin McCormack) whom he marries in secret to avoid the English lords claiming their sexual rights with her.  

The day after however one of the English guards tries to rape Murron, but Wallace prevents it.  However Murron is captured then executed publicly in order to provoke Wallace, who then kills the English garrison along with the help of the local villagers.  Wallace also sends the garrison occupying Lanark back to England and warns them that Scotland's daughters as theirs no more.

Meanwhile Longshanks is furious on hearing the news and insists that his son and heir, Prince Edward (Peter Hanley) do everything he can to stop Wallace, however the Prince is weak minded and inexperienced.  Edward is married to Isabella of France (Sophie Marceau) but he is also involved in a homosexual relationship with his military counsel Phillip (Stephen Billington).  

Wallace's rebellion in the meantime grows as he gains more Scottish followers and he soon leads his army to victory at the battle of Stirling against the English.  Wallace also goes on to invade the English on their home soil at York, where Longshank's nephew is beheaded and his head is sent back to Longshanks, who then decides to send Isabella to negotiate with her.  Wallace meets with Isabella but refuses to accept any bribes from Longshanks, but Isabella begins to develop feelings for Wallace, as she inspired by his passion for his country.

On returning to Longshanks Isabella discovers that Longshanks has set an army in place to invade Scotland, and she secretly dispatches her aide to warn Wallace.  Wallace then meets with the Scottish nobleman and insists they stand together and fight against the English, but the noblemen are reluctant to do so.  However one of the noblemen, Robert the Bruce (Angus MacFadyen) who is a contender for the throne is intruiged by Wallace and gives his consent to unite the clans and the other nobleman.  

At the battle of Falkirk however the nobleman Lochlan and Mornay betray Wallace on the battlefield, and the Scottish lose the war, and Wallace as he charges on a horse toward Longshanks, he is stopped by one of the king's lancers, who turns out to be Robert the Bruce, but Bruce soon helps save Wallace from the English capturing him.  

After the battle Wallace begins to wage his own war against the English and he also fights his own fight with the Scottish nobleman as he continues to try and achieve the dream of having a country of their own... 

THOUGHTS 

Braveheart even 26 years still remains an entertaining historical drama and it tells an important story in history about Scotland's battle for independence from the English.  The film is of course somewhat guilty of historical inaccuracies in the storytelling and I will get to some of them in a bit, but what Mel Gibson does depict in the film is of course done for cinematic and drama effect.  But with Braveheart, Gibson does show he has a certain aptitude for creating historical epics on a big budget and he manages to make the film very accessible to audiences.  The film itself was shot on location in Scotland, but the battle scenes were in fact filmed in Ireland, with Gibson also using nearly 2,000  extras who were Irish army reserve. 

PERFORMANCES (Warning: this section may contain spoilers and strong language!)

Getting onto the performances (the usual structure as always) they are all excellent as the cast are on solid form. 

Starting with Mel Gibson who does a pretty good job as Wiliam Wallace, who also remains somewhat tormented by his past, and the deaths of his father, brother and his beloved Murron, but is willing to fight and die for his country.  He also portrays Wallace as an educated man who also can speak several different languages (not sure how many though!). 

Gibson has his share of notable scenes such as the one near the start where Murron's father shows his reluctance to the idea of Wallace dating (or courting as they say back then) his daughter. 

So, in the scene, Murron's father, McClannough rides with another man, Campbell who says to Wallace "I've come to fetch you to a meeting" and Wallace asks "What kind of meeting?" and Campbell says "The secret kind". Campbell then says to Wallace "You're father was a fighter, and a patriot" and Wallace tells him "I know who he was. I came back home to raise crops, and God willing, a family. If I can live in peace, I will". McClannough then asks Wallace "You say you want to stay out of the troubles?" and Wallace says "Aye!" and McClannough then says to him "If you can prove it, you can court my daughter, until then, the answer is no" and Wallace asks "No?" and McClannough again says "No" and rides off.

Then there is the scene Wallace rides the battlefield at Stirling prior to engaging with the English, and he delivers his stirring speech to the Scottish locals who have turned up.  This scene also features an amusing line when one of the Scotsmen says "William Wallace is supposed to be seven feet tall!" and Wallace replies "Yes so I've heard.  Kills men by the hundred, and if he were he would consume the English with fire from his eyes and lightning bolts from his arse!" and the men all laugh.  

Wallace however asserts himself as he rides on the field and tells the men "I AM William Wallace. And I see a whole army of my countrymen, here in defiance of tyranny. You've come to fight as free men... and free men you are. What will you do with that freedom? Will you fight?!". And one of the men says "No, we will run and we will live!" and Wallace says to him "Aye, fight and you may die, run and you may live, at least for a while!".  But Wallace then stirs the men by delivering his powerful words "Would you be willing to trade all the days from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance to come back and tell our enemies that they can take our lives, but they will never take our FREEDOM!!!".  

Another notable scene is where Wallace is knighted and but during the scene, the other Scottish nobleman all squabble with one another. So as he is about to leave they ask where he is going and he tells them "We have beaten the English but they'll come back because you won't stand together!" and he says "You think the people of this country exist to provide you with position.  I think that position exists to provide those people with freedom.  And I go to make sure that they have it."

Then there is the scene where Wallace confronts the Scottish nobles as they squabble over standing together as a united army. So, in the scene Wallace enters and says to them "My army has marched for more days than I can remember, and we still have preparations to make. So I'll make this plain. We require every soldier you can summon. Your personal escorts, even yourselves. And we need
them now!". 

However the nobles refuse to help and one of them, Craig, tells Wallace "We cannot defeat this army!" but Wallace defiantly shouts at him "We CAN and we WILL!". Wallace then berates the nobles and says to them "We won at Stirling, and still you quibble! We won at York and you would not support us. If you will not stand up with us now then I say you're a coward!". And as the nobles looks outraged and move forward, Hamish takes his axe and plunges it into a table. And Wallace says with disgust "And if you are a Scotsman, I ashamed to call myself one!".  

Robert the Bruce however then asks Wallace to step outside to talk, which they both do and Robert tells Wallace "Now you've achieved more than anyone could have dreamed but fighting these odds looks like rage and not courage". Wallace then makes an impassioned plea to Robert and says "It's well beyond rage. Help me. In the name of Christ help yourselves! Now is our chance, now. If we join, we can win. If we win, well then we'll have what none of us have ever had before: a country of our own. You are the rightful leader, and there is strength in you. I see it!". Wallace then offers his hand to Bruce and says to him "Unite us! Unite us! Unite the clans!" and after some hesitation, Bruce shakes hands with him and Wallace says "Alright!" as he rushes his way out.
 

Patrick McGoohan is excellent in his role as the cruel king Edward Longshanks, who has several highlights in the film and his clipped delivery and commanding tone makes for an intimidating figure.  

McGoohan has some good scenes also that include his first one where Longshanks plans to use a cruel custom known as Prima Noctes to take sexual advantage of Scot's brides on their wedding night as a means to tax them. 

So, in the scene, Longshanks says to his men during a meeting "The trouble with Scotland is that it's full of Scots. Perhaps the time has come to reinstitute an old custom. Grant them prima noctes. First night, when any common girl inhabiting their lands is married, our nobles shall have sexual rights to her on the night of her wedding. If we can't get them out, we breed them out!". 

Then there is the scene where after Wallace has started his uprising against the English, Longshanks returns to his castle and chastises his son, Prince Edward for his weakness as a leader.

So, Longshanks says to Edward "Scottish rebels have routed one of my garrisons and murdered the noble lord" and Edward says "I heard. Wallace is a brigand, nothing more!" and Longshanks with some sarcasm asks him "And how would you deal with this brigand?" and Edwards says "Like any common thief. Have the local magistrate arrest him and punish him accordingly". Longshanks then says to the others in the room "Leave us" and they walk out and Longshanks suddenly hits Edward in the face, who falls down and tells him"Wallace has already killed the magistrate and taken control of the town!".  Edward nervously backs away and Longshanks tells him "Stand up! Stand up. In the morning, I depart for France to press our rights there, and I leave you here to quell this little rebellion, understood? Is it? One day you will be a king. At least try to act like one!" and he walks out. 

Then there is the scene where after Wallace invades the city of York in England, Longshanks on returning home and heard the news, he asks what Edward has done about it. 

And in the scene, Longshanks enters his castle and the room where Edward is with his counsel (and presumed gay lover). So, Longshanks asks "What news of the North?" and Edward nervously tells him "Nothing new, my Lord. We've sent dispatchers to spread any word". However, Longshanks informs Edward "I heard the word in France, where I was fighting to expand your future kingdom. The word, my son, is that our entire Northern Army has been annihilated. And you have done nothing!".  Edward then anxiously tells Longshanks "I have ordered conscriptions. They are assembled and ready to depart!".

However, a messenger then enters with a sack and a letter, says to Longshanks "Excuse me, sire. There is a very urgent message from York". Edward takes the letter and on reading it tells his father "Wallace has sacked York!" and Edward takes the letter and reads it and looks in the sack to find a severed head, which cause Edward to nearly faint. Longshanks coldly says to himself "If he can sack York, he can invade lower England!". 

And then Edward's counsel, Phillip interrupts and says to Longshanks "Then we must stop him!" and Longshanks, irritated by this turns and asks Edwards "Who is this person who speaks to me as if I needed his advice?!". Edward then tells Longshanks "I have declared Phillip my high counselor!". Longshanks sceptically asks Edward "Is he qualified?" and Phillip proudly tells him "I am skilled in the arts of war and military tactics, sire". Longshanks then puts his arm round Phillip and walks with him and asks "Are you? Then tell me what advice would you offer on the present situation?" and he suddenly throws Phillip out a window to his death, leaving Edward distraught, who runs over and looks down on Phillip's dead body below. Edward then tries to attack his father with his a knife, who swiftly hits him in the face and kicks him on the ground and he sits down and ponders what to do about Wallace "I will make him a truce and pie him off!".

And last of all is the scene where during the battle of Falkirk, the English army overwhelms the Scottish army and Longshanks reveals that some of the Scottish nobles betrayed Wallace for money and lands.

So, in the scene as Wallace's army appears to be doing well in battle, Wallace waves his flag to signal two of the Scottish nobles, Mornay and Lochlan to attack but instead they just ride away much to Wallace's shock. 

And as we see them ride off, an English general riding next to Longshanks asks "Mornay, Lochlan??" and Longshanks tells him smugly "I gave Mornay double his lands in Scotland and matching estates in England. Lochlan turned for much less. Archers!". And the archers prepare to fire and the general says to Longshanks "I beg your pardon, sire but won't we hit our own troops??" and Longshanks indifferently tells him "Yes, but we'll theirs too! We have reserves. Attack!". And as the English archers fire volley and volley and start to cut down the Scottish army, Longshanks then orders "Send in our reinforcements!". And as the English army turn the tide and become victorious, Longshanks tells the general "Bring me Wallace! Alive, if possible. Dead, just as good!". 

Sophie Marceau is also quite good in her role as Isabella, although in the end she just serves more a romantic subplot for Wallace as the two of them become involved with one another.  

And I will mention just one of her scenes and its the one where near the end, Isabella has engaged in a romance with Wallace, visits Longshanks, who by this time is very ill and cannot speak and Edward sits with him and she begs for Longshanks to spare Wallace. 

And Isabella says to Longshanks "I have come to beg for the life of William Wallace" and Edward says to her "You're quite taken with him, aren't you?". Isabella then says "I respect him. At worst he was a worthy enemy. Show mercy, O great king, and win the respect of your own people. Even now you are
incapable of mercy. And you. To you that word is as unfamiliar as love!". Edward however tells Isabella "Before he lost his powers of speech he told me his one comfort was he would live to know Wallace was dead!".  Isabella then in a more sinister tone moves in close to Longshanks and tells him "You see, death comes to us all. But before it comes to you, know this. Your plot dies with you. A child who is not of your line grows in my belly. Your son will not sit long on the thrown, I swear it!".

Brendan Gleeson is excellent in his role as Hamish (and ironically is an Irish actor!) who is Wallace's childhood friend, and becomes one of his key allies in fighting the English.  

And I will mention again just one of Gleeson's scenes and its the one where Wallace prepares to ride off to meet with Robert the Bruce for a meeting but Hamish warns him that it is a trap. 

So, in the scene Hamish says to Wallace "You do know that it is a trap. Tell him!" but the Irishman, Stephen says "I think if Bruce wanted to kill you, he would have done it already at Falkirk" and Wallace agrees and says "Aye". Hamish however is still reluctant and warns Wallace "I ain't leaving him aside. What about the others?! The scheming bastards couldn't agree on the colour of shite!! It's a trap, are you blind?!". Wallace however pleads with Hamish "We've got to try. We can't do this alone. Joining the nobles is the only hope for our people. You know what happens if we don't take that chance?" and Hamish asks "What?" and Wallace says "Nothing!". 

Hamish then says to Wallace "I don't want to be a martyr!" and Wallace tells him "No do I. I want to live. I want a home and children and peace!". Hamish asks him "Do ya?" and Wallace sincerely says "I do. Its all for nothing if you don't have freedom!". Hamish however cynically tells Wallace "Its all a dream, William" and Wallace annoyed asks "A dream?! Just a dream?! What have we been doing all this time? We've been living that dream!". Hamish defiantly tells Wallace "You're dream isn't about freedom! Its about Murron! You're doing this to be a hero because you think she sees you!" but Wallace says to him "I don't think she sees me. I know she does. And your father sees you too!" and Hamish angrily punches Wallace in the face.

Angus MacFayden however is probably the weak link in the cast as his potrayal of Robert the Bruce is far from commanding and he comes across more a meek figure than the strong leader that would eventually lead his country to freedom.

Nevertheless MacFayden has a couple of excellent scenes as Bruce with his father, Robert the elder (played superbly by Ian Bannen) as the two of them argue over their position on Wallace and the Scottish noblemen. 

And I will mention the first one where after Bruce betrays Wallace on the battlefield of Falkirk, he tells his father about his anguish over doing it. 

So, in the scene, his father tells Bruce "Soon you will have all the power in Scotland" and Bruce feeling empty and ashamed says "Lands, title, power, nothing!" and his father asks "Nothing?". And Bruce with great anguish tells his father "I have nothing. Men fight for me, because if they do not, I throw them off my land and I starve their wives and their children. Those men who bled the ground red at Falkirk, they fought for William Wallace, and he fights for something that I've never had. And I took it from him when I betrayed him and I saw it in his face on the battlefield, and it's tearing me apart!!". His father however tells him "All men betray, all men lose heart" which prompts Bruce to yell "I DON'T WANT TO LOSE HEART! I want to believe as he does! I will never be on the wrong side again".  

David O'Hara is also really good in his role as Stephen the demented Irishman, who provides some funny moments (again the irony here is that O'Hara is Scottish yet he plays an Irishman!).  

O'Hara as Stephen has some funny scenes especially when he first meets Wallace and he laughs and says "That can't be William Wallace. I'm prettier than this man!" and he looks to the sky and says "Alright Father, I'll ask him!" and he looks to Wallace and asks "If I risk my neck for you, will I get a chance to kill Englishmen?".  Hamish then sarcastically asks O'Hara "Is your father a ghost or do you converse with the Almighty?" and O'Hara says "In order to find his equal, an Irishman is forced to talk to God. Yes, Father. The Almighty says don't change the subject; just answer the fooking question!".

Hamish then warns O'Hara "Mind your tongue!" and Hamish's father, Campbell scornfully says of O'Hara "Insane Irish!" which prompts O'Hara to quickly draw his dagger by Campbell's neck as the other draws sword on him and O'Hara grins and says "Smart enough to get a dagger past your friends, old man!". Wallace then tells O'Hara "That's my friend, Irishman and the answer to your question is yes, if you fight for me you get to kill the English". O'Hara then smiles and says "Excellent. Stephen is my name! I'm the most wanted man on my island, except I'm not on my island, of coarse. Mores the pity!". 

Then there is the scene where Wallace hunts in the woods with a bow only for O'Hara to follow him nearby but then we also see another armed with a sword charge towards Wallace and O'Hara throws his dagger, which hits the man in the chest, who falls down dead. So, O'Hara says to Wallace "Are you sure the almighty didn't send me to watch your back? I never liked him anyway. He wasn't right in the head!" and he pulls his dagger out of the man and runs off leaving Wallace to look up to the sky to the Almighty in wondering.  

And last of all is Catherine McCormack who does a good job as Murron, Wallace's true love, who sadly would meet her death at the hands of the English, which spurred Wallace to rise up against them. McCormack herself is an English actress playing a Scottish woman, so again its funny now all the different nations play the Scots! 

And I will mention just one of her scenes and its the one where Murron meets with Wallace after they go for a ride and Wallace declares his love for her (as you do!).

And he tells Murron about his plan to raise a farm and have children and says "Of course running a farm is a lot of work, but that will change when my sons arrive" and Murron asks "So, you've got children?" and Wallace awkwardly says "Well not yet, but I was hoping you could help me with that". Murron smiles and asks "So, you want me to marry you then?" and Wallace smiles and says "Well, that's a bit sudden but alright!" and Murron laughs and asks "Is that what you call a proposal?!". Wallace then tells her sincerely "I love you. Always have. I want to marry you" and Murron smiles and Wallace asks "Is that a yes?" and Murron says "Aye, that's a yes". 

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC

Finally moving onto the direction, Mel Gibson does a good job with the action of the film although it has to be said he does overdo the slow motion sequences during the battle scene at Stirling and also the moment where Wallace is about to attack the English garrison on horseback in his village.  But his visual sense and staging of the action scenes are quite spectacular (also thanks mainly to John Alcott's stunning cinema photography) and the bloody violent battles are impressive, which include plenty of hacking, slashing, stabbing, as well as decapitating (well it is a war film after all!).  

As for the film's score by James Horner it is also quite good, but it is somewhat guilty of being overly romantic and sentimental at times, and Horner uses the Uilleann Irish pipes as opposed to the traditional Scottish bagpipes, which suggests the film has bigger Irish heritage than a Scottish one, which is a bit annoying! Mel Gibson however did admit that he chose the Irish pipes over the Scottish ones in his commentary for the DVD as he thought they sounded better. Yeah but this IS a film about SCOTTISH people, Mel, right???!! Ah well. Never mind, its a decent enough score all the same.

FLAWS (Warning: this section may contains spoilers but also more about the film's inaccuracies!) 

Now getting onto the film's flaws and niggles, Braveheart of course has its fair share. 

And to start off, I thought would mention the film's numerous historical inaccuracies starting with Wallace's relationship with Isabella of France, which in reality never happened as that time Isabella was only three years old and lived in France and was nine years old at the time of Wallace's death! So, yeah I don't quite see that romance working out very well!

Robert Bruce is also shown to have betrayed Wallace on the battlefield of Falkirk in the film, but according to history there was no record that Bruce had betrayed Wallace directly, even if he did switch allegiances between both sides in the early years of the war for independence. So, the scene with Bruce's portrayal is completely fictional in itself from what history has recorded. 

Prince Edward who was portrayed as a weak and ineffectual gay man, but in reality the Prince was in actual fact a married man with children, although it was rumoured that he did have relationships with other men, and he also married Isabella at a time when he was already crowned as King Edward II.  This was also an accusation aimed at Gibson in this portrayal of the prince as it was deemed as being homophobic by the media, although Gibson himself claimed it wasn't, and that Longshanks was purely a psychopathic personality who took some pleasure in tormenting his son, also seen in the scene where Longshanks throws Philip's military counsel out a window. Longshanks however to be fair was said to have been a ruthless leader by nature anyway, so I guess Mel got that right enough! 

Longshanks is also depicted to have been rather tight-fisted with money, as he seems to grudge Isabella for giving the bribe money for Wallace to the poor.  Although this was also another historical inaccuracy as Longshanks was reputed in reality to have been a generous man who gave to charity, who in fact died during a campaign rather than in bed from fever as depicted in the film.

Another big inaccuracy is that the Scottish were shown to be wearing kilts but in the 13th century, Scottish people did not wear kilts and it would several hundred years later before kilts would come into fashion. The same can also be said for the blue warpaint that Wallace and his men wear during the battle of Stirling as there was no record of Wallace having ever worn paint of any kind. 

Its also worth pointing out that the film even gets the battle of Stirling wrong because for starters, it takes place on a field in the film but the actual battle itself took place on Stirling bridge! The bridge itself was a narrow entrance for the English soldiers, which was an advantage for the Scottish soldiers, who ambushed them and cut them down, which is quite different from fighting on a big field! 

There were also criticisms leveled at the film for being somewhat anglophobic (fear and hatred of English people) especially in its depiction of Longshanks as such a loathsome king, and also for having strong Anti-English sentiments.  And its difficult to try and level these criticisms when the film itself deals with the English and how they dominated the Scottish at that time, and it was all about the fight for independence, its difficult to portray the English in such a positive light in that regard.  

However to be fair to an extent, writer Randal Wallace said that the screenplay was inspired by an epic poem written by Blind Billy, a minstrel, who wrote the poem based on Wallace's life, but the poem itself also has various historical inaccuracies, so that in itself may account for a lot of the historical discrepancies in the film.

I also felt given the film deviates so much from actual history there really are some moments that have to be called out as complete nonsense. And a particular example is the scene where Isabella pleads with a dying Longshanks to spare Wallace's life, even though Longshanks can't even talk! Isabella also even says that she is pregnant with Wallace's son and that his son Edward, will not live long on the throne, suggesting heavily that she will kill him. Now, given that she is saying that, I mean how can she even expect to survive long at all given that the Prince is right there in the room and heard her words! I guess the film was trying to assert how weak the Prince is and that he wouldn't do anything about it. Either way though its just a silly scene that is wildly inaccurate and made up. 

And last of all I would have to say regarding the Wallace's final torture scene that we have that ridiculous line where, Wallace manages to shout "FREEDOM!!!!" while he is being disemboweled! Yeahhh, I'd imagine in reality, Wallace would have had a mighty hard time trying to even say that line while all this gruesome stuff was going on with him! 

Anyway that's it for the flaws.

SUM UP

So, to sum up, Braveheart is an entertaining historical drama that does provide some spectacular action scenes as well as fine performances from its cast with Mel Gibson doing a fine job in the role as Wallace and managing a decent Scottish accent at the same time. However, the film isn't without its problems especially with its numerous historical inaccuracies and it is also quite lengthy and Gibson also overdoes the slow motion moments to build tension. 

However, if you can forgive its flaws (and there are plenty of people that wouldn't lol!) then Braveheart is still an entertaining film but just don't take it as an actual history lesson is all I'd say! 

So, I will rate Braveheart as:

7 out of 10 

So, that's it for now and this most likely will be my final post of the year, so I will wish you all a Happy New Year and see you in 2022.

Until then its bye for now!