Braveheart is an action packed film on the life and trials of Willam Wallace and his quest for freedom and love

Rating: 9/10 (31 July 2014)

Braveheart (1995) is an action film, with a theme focused on character, based upon the life of Scotsman William Wallace (Mel Gibson) and his heroic battle to free Scotland from King Edward I, Longshanks (Patrick McGoohan), King of England. When Wallace was a child, he witnessed the King of England hang and murder the Nobles of Scotland. Shortly after, his father and brother went to war; neither of them survived. Young Wallace was taken in by his uncle who educated him and taught him how to fight. Years later, Wallace returned to his village to take over his father's farm. Here he reunited with Murron (Catherine McCormack), a young lady who had captured his attention before he left. He courted Murron and the two fell in love. They were wed, although secretly, because Wallace did not want to share Murron with the English leaders of Scotland (which was acceptable custom at this time for the English Lords to take a bride to bed on the night of her wedding). Here we see Wallace's passion and wit as he charms Murron and proves himself to his friends upon his return. Wallace is man of integrity who is merely trying to farm his father's land and start a family. While walking in the village one day, one of the English soldiers attacked Murron and attempted to rape her. Wallace came to her defense and attacked the soldiers and the two attempted to escape. They were captured and the English sheriff tied Murron to a pole in town and he slit her throat to make an example of her. After seeing this, Wallace rode in to "surrender" and actually ended up attacking the soldiers and murdered the sheriff in the same manner in which he slaughtered Murron. After his attack, Wallace and his fellow Scots formed a militia and went on an attack of England. After sacking the English city of York, and murdering its Lord who was family of Longshanks, Longshanks sent Princess Isabelle (Sophie Marceau) (because the King knows Prince Edward (Peter Hanley)is not strong or threatening enough for the task) to persuade Wallace to surrender. Wallace denies the bribe and Princess returns, but only after the two share a private moment of understanding. In the meantime, Wallace was attempting to enlist the help of the Scottish nobility. They deny his pleas and later, two of them set him up in one of the battles. Here he is nearly killed by one of the King's guards, which he discovers one of the Scottish nobility, Robert the Bruce (Angus Mcfadyen), who saves Wallace from being captured just in time. Wallace goes into hiding and kills the two who betrayed him. Robert the Bruce, feeling guilt for his part in the attack on Wallace, set up a meeting intending to join forces with Wallace but was sabotaged by his father, the Leper (Ian Bannen), who has Wallace beaten and arrested for treason. Throughout each battle, their losses and gains, Wallace remains true to his passion for the freedom of Scotland from the evil rule of Longshanks. Wallace is imprisoned and set to be tortured unless he submit to the King of England. Longshanks has become terminally ill. Princess Isabelle first goes to see Wallace and beg him to surrender to King Edward; when that was unsuccessful, she went to see the King to beg for the release of Wallace. When he will not free Wallace, she informs the dying King that she is carrying Wallace's baby. Wallace in the end is tortured and murdered, standing for the freedom of Scotland until his dying breath. Robert the Bruce is crowned King of Scotland (through arrangements of his father the Leper) and in the end charges the English army instead of submitting to them and winning the freedom for Scotland for which Wallace had fought so hard. Director, Mel Gibson, also makes good use of motifs throughout the film to drive home his point. We often see scenes of Wallace, face determined, sword drawn, ready to fight for freedom at all cost. Another area of emphasis in Braveheart, is the power of love and what it can lead a person to do. It is his love for Murron is what set Wallace's anger into motion. The love of his country and for his father and brother are other driving aspects in keeping his fight for freedom. The angle of filming also adds to focus on Wallace's character. The camera is focused on him whenever he is in the scene. Many shots of him are filmed slightly looking up at him to make him seem larger, stronger, and more formidable. Braveheart has a similar theme and focus on character as Gladiator (2000). In Gladiator, it is Maximus who attempted to be executed for his moral upstanding. After escaping execution, he finds that his family had been murdered instead. Through the film, Commodus in fits of jealousy, attempts to rid himself of Maximus. Even after attempting to cheat to do so, Maximus still manages to kill Commodus and return power to the people, undoing the work of Commodus' time in power. Maximus, like William Wallace, also had a passion to uphold good and give people their freedom, with love as a driving force.