Braveheart is a 1995 epic historical drama film directed by and starring Mel Gibson. The film was written for the screen and then novelized by Randall Wallace. Gibson portrays William Wallace, a 13th century Scottish warrior who gained recognition when he came to the forefront of the First War of Scottish Independence by opposing King Edward I of England (portrayed by Patrick McGoohan), who was also known by the nickname "Longshanks".
The film won five Academy Awards at the 68th Academy Awards, including the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Director, and was nominated for an additional five.
In the 13th century, after several years of political unrest, Scotland is invaded and conquered by King Edward I of England (known as "Longshanks") (McGoohan).
Young William Wallace witnesses the treachery of Longshanks, survives the death of his father and brother, and is taken abroad by his uncle where he is educated. Years later, Longshanks grants his noblemen land and privileges in Scotland, including Primae Noctis, the right of the lord to take a newly married Scottish woman into his bed on the wedding night. When he returns home, Wallace (Gibson), intending to live peacefully, falls in love with his childhood sweetheart Murron MacClannough (McCormack), and they marry in secret so that she does not have to spend a night in the bed of the English lord.
When an English soldier tries to rape Murron, Wallace fights off several soldiers and the two attempt to flee. But Murron is captured and publicly executed by the village sheriff, who proclaims "an assault on the King's soldiers is the same as an assault on the King himself." In retribution, Wallace and several villagers slaughter the English garrison and execute the sheriff.
Wallace is now compelled to rebel against the English, and as his legend spreads, hundreds of Scots from the surrounding clans join him. Wallace leads his army to victory at the Battle of Stirling, then sacks the city of York. All the while, Wallace seeks the assistance of Robert the Bruce (Macfadyen), son of nobleman Robert the Elder, and chief contender for the Scottish crown. Despite his growing admiration for Wallace and his cause, Robert is dominated by his father, who wishes to secure the throne for his son by submitting to the English.
Longshanks, worried by the threat of the rebellion, sends the wife of his son Edward, the French princess Isabella, to try to negotiate with Wallace, hoping that Wallace kills her and the French king declares war on Wallace in revenge. Wallace refuses the bribe sent with Isabella by Longshanks, but after meeting him in person, Isabella becomes enamored with him. Meanwhile, Longshanks prepares an army to invade Scotland.
Warned of the coming invasion by Isabella, Wallace implores the Scottish nobility, who are more concerned with their own welfare, that immediate action is needed to counter the threat, and to take back the country. Leading the English army himself, Longshanks confronts the Scots at the Battle of Falkirk where noblemen Lochlan and Mornay betray Wallace. The Scots lose the battle, and Wallace is wounded. As he charges toward the departing Longshanks on horseback, Wallace is intercepted by one of the king's lancers, who turns out to be Robert the Bruce. Remorseful, Bruce gets Wallace to safety before the English can capture him. Wallace kills Mornay and Lochlan for their betrayal, avoids assassination attempts, and wages a protracted guerrilla war against the English.
Robert the Bruce, intending to join Wallace and commit troops to the war, sets up a meeting with him in Edinburgh where Robert's father has conspired with other nobles to capture and hand over Wallace to the English. Learning of his treachery, the Bruce disowns his father. Following a tryst with Wallace, Isabelle exacts revenge on the now terminally ill Longshanks by telling him she is pregnant with another man's child, intent on ending Longshank's line and ruling in his son's place.
In London, Wallace is brought before an English magistrate, tried for high treason, and condemned to public torture and beheading. Even after being hanged and mutilated, Wallace refuses to submit to the king by begging for mercy. As cries for mercy come from the watching crowd, the magistrate offers him one final chance. Wallace instead shouts the word "Freedom!" Just before the axe falls, Wallace sees a vision of Murron in the crowd smiling at him.
Years after Wallace's death, Robert the Bruce, now Scotland's king, leads a Scottish army before a ceremonial line of English troops on the fields of Bannockburn where he is to formally accept English rule. As he begins to ride toward the English, the Bruce stops and turns back to his troops. Invoking Wallace's memory, he implores them to fight with him as they did with Wallace. He then leads his army into battle against the stunned English, winning the Scots their freedom.
The script for Braveheart was based partly on Blind Harry's 15th century epic poem, The Actes and Deidis of the Illustre and Vallyeant Campioun Schir William Wallace. In defending his script against criticism, Randall Wallace has said, "Is Blind Harry true? I don't know. I know that it spoke to my heart and that's what matters to me, that it spoke to my heart."[1] However some important aspects of the plot, e.g. his affair with Princess Isabella, are based neither on history nor Blind Harry.
Gibson's production company, Icon Productions had difficulty raising enough money even if he were to star in the film. Warner Bros. was willing to fund the project on the condition that Gibson sign for another Lethal Weapon sequel, which he refused. Paramount Pictures only agreed to American and Canadian distribution of Braveheart after 20th Century Fox partnered for international rights.[2]
While the crew spent six weeks shooting on location in Scotland, the major battle scenes were shot in Ireland using members of the Irish Army Reserve as extras. To lower costs, Gibson had the same extras portray both armies. The opposing armies are made up of reservists, up to 1,600 in some scenes, who had been given permission to grow beards and swapped their drab uniforms for medieval garb.[3]
According to Gibson, he was inspired by the big screen epics he had loved as a child, such as Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus and William Wyler's The Big Country.
The film was shot in the anamorphic format with Panavision C- and E-Series lenses.[4]
Gibson toned down the film's battle scenes to avoid an NC-17 rating from the MPAA, with the final version being rated R for "brutal medieval warfare."[5]
In addition to English being the film's primary language, French, Latin, and Scottish Gaelic are also spoken.
On its opening weekend, Braveheart grossed US$9,938,276 in the United States and $75.6 million in its box office run in the United States and Canada.[6] Worldwide, the movie grossed $210,409,945 and was the 18th highest grossing film of 1995.[6]
Braveheart met with generally positive reviews. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 79% with an average score of 7/10. The film's depiction of the Battle of Stirling Bridge is often considered one of the best movie battles in cinema history.[7][8]
However, in a 2005 poll by British film magazine Empire, Braveheart was #1 on their list of "The Top 10 Worst Best Pictures".[9] Scottish actor and comedian Billy Connolly infamously dismissed Braveheart as "a piece of pure Australian shite."[10]
The film generated huge interest in Scotland and in Scottish history, not only around the world, but also in Scotland itself.[citation needed] Fans come from all over the world to see the places in Scotland where William Wallace fought for Scottish freedom, and also to the places in Scotland and Ireland to see the locations used in the film. At a Braveheart Convention in 1997, held in Stirling the day after the Scottish Devolution vote and attended by 200 delegates from around the world, Braveheart author Randall Wallace, Seoras Wallace of the Wallace Clan, Scottish historian David Ross and Bláithín FitzGerald from Ireland gave lectures on various aspects of the film. Several of the actors also attended including James Robinson (Young William), Andrew Weir (Young Hamish), Julie Austin (the young bride) and Mhairi Calvey (Young Murron).
The movie was nominated for ten Oscars and won five.[11]
American Film Institute Lists
The film is credited by Lin Anderson, author of Braveheart: From Hollywood To Holyrood as having played a significant role in affecting the Scottish political landscape in the mid to late 1990s.[18]
With the release of the film in 1995 and the opening of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, the film brought about something of a revival of Scottish nationalism; it was reported that members of the Scottish National Party were seen promoting their party outside where the film was originally shown/filmed.[citation needed]
On November 15, 1996, the Stone of Scone (Scottish Gaelic: An Lia Fàil, English: Stone of Destiny, not to be confused with the Irish Lia Fáil), which had been confiscated by King Edward I exactly 700 years previously (John Balliol, King of Scots, was deposed and arrested at the same time), was returned to the custody of Scotland by Queen Elizabeth II. It is currently stored in Edinburgh Castle, in the Crown Room along with the Crown Jewels of Scotland. However, the Stone must be returned to Westminster Abbey whenever a new British monarch is coronated; after the King/Queen is crowned, the Stone will be returned to Scottish custody once more.
In 1997, a 12-ton sandstone statue depicting Mel Gibson as William Wallace in Braveheart was placed in the car park of the Wallace Monument near Stirling, Scotland. The statue, which was the work of Tom Church, a monumental mason from Brechin,[19] included the word "Braveheart" on Wallace's shield. The installation became the cause of much controversy; one local resident stated that it was wrong to "desecrate the main memorial to Wallace with a lump of crap."[20] In 1998 the face on the statue was vandalised by someone wielding a hammer. After repairs were made, the statue was encased in a cage every night to prevent further vandalism. This only incited more calls for the statue to be removed as it then appeared that the Gibson/Wallace figure was imprisoned. The statue was described as "among the most loathed pieces of public art in Scotland."[21] In 2008, the statue was returned to its sculptor to make room for a new visitor centre being built at the foot of the Wallace Monument.[22]
Randall Wallace, the writer of the screenplay, has acknowledged Blind Harry's 15th century epic poem The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, Knight of Elderslie as a major source of inspiration for the film.[23]
Scottish historian Elizabeth Ewan describes Braveheart as a film which "almost totally sacrifices historical accuracy for epic adventure".[24] The title of the film is also historically inaccurate as the "brave heart" refers in Scottish history to that of Robert the Bruce, and an attribution by William Edmondstoune Aytoun, in his poem Heart of Bruce, to Sir James the Good: "Pass thee first, thou dauntless heart, As thou wert wont of yore!", prior to Douglas's demise at the Battle of Teba in Andalusia.[25]
Historian Sharon Krossa notes that the film contains numerous historical errors, beginning with the wearing of belted plaid by Wallace and his men. She points out that in the period in question, "no Scots ... wore belted plaids (let alone kilts of any kind)."[26] Moreover, when Highlanders finally did begin wearing the belted plaid, it was not "in the rather bizarre style depicted in the film."[26] She compares the inaccuracy to "a film about Colonial America showing the colonial men wearing 20th century business suits, but with the jackets worn back-to-front instead of the right way around."[26] She remarks "The events aren't accurate, the dates aren't accurate, the characters aren't accurate, the names aren't accurate, the clothes aren't accurate—in short, just about nothing is accurate."[27] The belted plaid (feileadh mor) with the baldric (leine) was not introduced until the 16th Century.
In 2009, the film was second on a list of "most historically inaccurate movies" in The Times.[28][dead link] In the 2007 humorous non-fictional historiography An Utterly Impartial History of Britain, author John O'Farrell notes that Braveheart could not have been more historically inaccurate, even if a "Plasticine dog" had been inserted in the film and the title changed to William Wallace and Gromit.[29]
Screenwriter Randall Wallace is very vocal about defending his script from historians who have dismissed the film as a Hollywood perversion of actual events.[citation needed] In the DVD audio commentary of Braveheart, director Mel Gibson acknowledges many of the historical inaccuracies[citation needed] but defends his choices as director, noting that the way events were portrayed in the film were much more "cinematically compelling" than the historical fact or conventional mythos.
The portrayal of Robert I of Scotland (Robert the Bruce) in the film is considered by historians to be wildly inaccurate. In particular, his taking the field on the English side in the battle of Falkirk is completely fictitious; Bruce was not present at Falkirk. Although he repeatedly changed alliances between the Scots loyalists and the English, mostly for political reasons, Bruce never betrayed Wallace directly.
The depiction of the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward II) as an effeminate homosexual in the film drew accusations of homophobia against Gibson. The real Edward II did father five children by two different women, but was also thought to have had sexual affairs with men, not least with Piers Gaveston. Gibson replied that "The fact that King Edward throws this character out a window has nothing to do with him being gay ... He's terrible to his son, to everybody."[30] Gibson defended his depiction of Prince Edward as weak and ineffectual, saying,
I'm just trying to respond to history. You can cite other examples –
Alexander the Great, for example, who conquered the entire world, was also a homosexual. But this story isn't about Alexander the Great. It's about Edward II.
[31]
Gibson asserted that the reason that Longshanks kills his son’s lover is because the king is a "psychopath".[32] (This is another inaccuracy as Piers Gaveston lived on into the reign of Edward II.) Gibson expressed bewilderment that some filmgoers would laugh at this murder:
We cut a scene out, unfortunately . . . where you really got to know that character (Edward II) and to understand his plight and his pain. . . . But it just stopped the film in the first act so much that you thought, 'When's this story going to start?'
[33]
Braveheart has been accused of Anglophobia by some British sources. The film was referred to in The Economist as "xenophobic"[34] and John Sutherland writing in The Guardian stated that, "Braveheart gave full rein to a toxic Anglophobia".[35][36][37] According to The Times, MacArthur said "the political effects are truly pernicious. It’s a xenophobic film."[36] The Independent has noted, "The Braveheart phenomenon, a Hollywood-inspired rise in Scottish nationalism, has been linked to a rise in anti-English prejudice".[38]
The soundtrack for Braveheart was composed and conducted by James Horner, and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. The soundtrack, comprising 77 minutes of background music taken from significant scenes in the film, was noticeably successful, and album co-producer Simon Rhodes produced a follow-up soundtrack in 1997 titled More Music from Braveheart. International and French versions of the soundtrack have also been released.[citation needed]
[edit] Braveheart (1995)
- "Main Title" – 2:51
- "A Gift of a Thistle" – 1:37
- "Wallace Courts Murron" – 4:25
- "The Secret Wedding" – 6:33
- "Attack on Murron" – 3:00
- "Revenge" – 6:23
- "Murron's Burial" – 2:13
- "Making Plans/Gathering the Clans" – 1:52
- "Sons of Scotland" – 6:19
- "The Battle of Stirling" – 5:57
- "For the Love of a Princess" – 4:07
- "Falkirk" – 4:04
- "Betrayal & Desolation" – 7:48
- "Mornay's Dream" – 1:15
- "The Legend Spreads" – 1:09
- "The Princess Pleads for Wallace's Life" – 3:38
- "'Freedom'/The Execution/Bannockburn" – 7:24
- "End Credits" – 7:16
[edit] More Music from Braveheart (1997)
- "Prologue: 'I Shall Tell You of William Wallace'" [Narration: Robert The Bruce]
- "Outlawed Tunes on Outlawed Pipes"
- "The Royal Wedding" [Narration: Robert The Bruce]
- "'The Trouble with Scotland'" [King Edward The Longshanks]
- "Scottish Wedding Music"
- "Prima Noctes"
- "The Proposal" [William Wallace and Murron]
- "'Scotland Is Free!'" [William Wallace]
- "Point of War/Johnny Cope/Up in the Morning Early"
- "Coversing with the Almighty" [Stephen, William Wallace, Hamish, Campbell]
- "The Road to the Isles/Glendaruel Highlanders/The Old Rustic Bridge by the Mill"
- "'Sons of Scotland!'" [William Wallace]
- "Vision of Murron"
- "'Unite the Clans!'" [William Wallace]
- "The Legend Spreads" [Scottish Highlanders]
- "'Why Do You Help Me?'" [William Wallace And Princess Isabelle]
- "For the Love of a Princess"
- "'Not Every Man Really Lives'" [William Wallace and Princess Isabelle]
- "'The Prisoner Wishes to Say a Word'" [The Executioner and William Wallace]
- "'After the Beheading' [Robert The Bruce]
- "'You Have Bled with Wallace!'" [Robert The Bruce]
- "Warrior Poets" [William Wallace]
- "Scotland the Brave/The Badge of Scotland/The Meeting of the Waters"
- "Leaving Glen Urquhart/The Highland Plaid/Jock Wilson's Ball"
- "Kirkhill/The Argyllshire Gathering/The Braemar Highland Gathering"
Album length: 68:53
- ^ Anderson, Lin. "Braveheart: From Hollywood to Holyrood." Luath Press Ltd. (2005): 27.
- ^ Michael Fleming (2005-07-25). "Mel tongue-ties studios". Daily Variety. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117926430.html.
- ^ Braveheart 10th Chance To Boost Tourism In Trim[dead link], Meath Chronicle, August 28, 2003 . Retrieved 30 April 2007.
- ^ Chris Probst (1996-06-01). "Cinematic Transcendence". American Cinematographer (Los Angeles, California, United States: American Society of Cinematographers) 77 (6): 76. ISSN 0002-7928.
- ^ Classification and Rating Administration, Motion Picture Association of America. "Reasons for Movie Ratings (CARA)". http://www.filmratings.com/.
- ^ a b "Braveheart (1995)". Boxofficemojo.com. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=braveheart.htm. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
- ^ "The best -- and worst -- movie battle scenes". CNN. 2007-03-30. http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/03/29/movie.battles/index.html. Retrieved 2007-04-01.
- ^ Noah Sanders (2007-03-28). "Great Modern Battle Scenes - Updated!". Double Viking. http://www.doubleviking.com/great-modern-battle-scenes-4361-p.html. Retrieved 2007-04-02.
- ^ "Mel Gibson's "Braveheart" Voted Worst Oscar Winner". hollywood.com. http://www.hollywood.com/news/Mel_Gibsons_Braveheart_Voted_Worst_Oscar_Winner/2435436.
- ^ Leo Suryadinata, Nationalism and Globalism, East and West (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asia Studies) 2000, pg 248
- ^ "The 68th Academy Awards (1996) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/legacy/ceremony/68th-winners.html. Retrieved 2011-10-23.
- ^ AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies Nominees
- ^ AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains Nominees
- ^ AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes Nominees
- ^ AFI's 100 Years of Film Scores Nominees
- ^ AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) Ballot
- ^ AFI's 10 Top 10 Ballot
- ^ Boztas, Senay (2005-07-31). "Wallace movie ‘helped Scots get devolution’ - [Sunday Herald]". Braveheart.info. http://www.braveheart.info/news/2005/sunday_herald/2007-07-31/51063.html. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
- ^ "Wallace statue back at home of sculptor". The Courier. 16 October 2009. http://www.thecourier.co.uk/output/2009/10/16/newsstory13954661t0.asp. Retrieved 17 October 2009.
- ^ By Hal G.P. Colebatch on 8.8.06 @ 12:07AM. "The American Spectator". Spectator.org. http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=10191. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
- ^ Kevin Hurley (19 September 2004). "They may take our lives but they won't take Freedom". Scotland on Sunday. http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/williamwallace/They-may-take-our-lives.2565370.jp. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
- ^ "Wallace statue back with sculptor". BBC News. 16 October 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/tayside_and_central/8310614.stm. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
- ^ Anderson, Lin. Braveheart: From Hollywood to Holyrood. Luath Press Ltd. (2005), p. 27.
- ^ Ewan, Elizabeth. "Braveheart." American Historical Review 100, no. 4 (October 1995): 1219–21.
- ^ Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers and Other Poems / Aytoun, W. E. (William Edmondstoune), 1813-1865
- ^ a b c Krossa, Sharon L.. "Braveheart Errors: An Illustration of Scale". http://medievalscotland.org/scotbiblio/bravehearterrors.shtml. Retrieved 2009-06-15.
- ^ Krossa, Sharon L.. "Regarding the Film Braveheart". http://www.medievalscotland.org/scotbiblio/braveheart.shtml. Retrieved 2009-11-26.
- ^ White, Caroline (August 4, 2009). "The 10 most historically inaccurate movies". London: The Times. http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article6738785.ece. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
- ^ O'Farrell, John (2007), An Utterly Impartial History of Britain, Doubleday, p. 126
- ^ "Gay Alliance has Gibson's 'Braveheart' in its sights", Daily News, May 11, 1995, http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/gossip/1995/05/11/1995-05-11_gay_alliance_has_gibson_s__b.html, retrieved February 13, 2010
- ^ The San Francisco Chronicle, May 21, 1995, “Mel Gibson Dons Kilt and Directs” by Ruth Stein
- ^ Matt Zoller Seitz. "Mel Gibson talks about Braveheart, movie stardom, and media treachery". Dallas Observer. http://www.dallasobserver.com/Issues/1995-05-25/film/film_3.html. Retrieved 2008-01-27. [dead link]
- ^ USA Today, May 24, 1995, “Gibson has faith in family and freedom” by Marco R. della Cava
- ^ "Economist.com". Economist.com. 2006-05-18. http://www.economist.com/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=6941798. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
- ^ "John Sutherland". The Guardian (London). 2003-08-11. http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2003/aug/11/religion.world. Retrieved 2010-04-26.
- ^ a b "Braveheart battle cry is now but a whisper". London: Times Online. 2005-07-24. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article546776.ece. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
- ^ Colin, McArthur (2003). Brigadoon, Braveheart and the Scots: Distortions of Scotland in Hollywood Cinema. I.B.Tauris. p. 5. ISBN 1-86064-927-0. http://books.google.com/books?id=XMOUo5VUkoQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Brigadoon,+Braveheart+And+The+Scots#PPA5,M1.
- ^ Burrell, Ian (1999-02-08). "Most race attack victims `are white': The English Exiles - News". London: The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/most-race-attack-victims-are-white-the-english-exiles-1069506.html. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
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