Greater than One Man - a Country

Rating: 8/10 (13 April 2006)

An inspiring film, hot-hearted, patriotic and bloody. Can I say I am 1/4 Scottish? In the years after watching this film I believed I was Scottish! Because to be truly Scottish, after watching this film, is to believe in principles above all else.
That isn't to say Gibson presents the Scots as pious underdogs. Political infighting is shown as an insidious given for an annexed state. And at no point does William Wallace want to be heroic. He acknowledges before battle that his avatar of personality is greater than him as a man,
"If William Wallace was here, he'll consume the English with fireballs from his eyes and bolts of lightning from his arse!"
He does not want to leave his home to fight, until events compel him to. A healthy alternative to the base barbarians of Schwarzenegger and Stallone.
The pacing of events is perfect. As Wallace grows in political influence he engages in greater fights for Scottish freedom. Smooth transitions are crafted, from tender love exchanges to brutal battle scenes - the mid-film clash of the hitherto undefeated English cavalry and the Scottish highlanders is a veritable film-punch to the stomach. And as the epic ending shows, what is necessary for those fighting for sovereignty can be found in no book.
To watch this film reflectively will lead you to ask, "What does it mean to give yourself to your country?" Before Australia's involvement in Gallipoli, a British minister declared that "no country cannot call itself a country until it has given up its sons." What do you feel when you hear that? I used to see it as an arrogance. Now, out of university and in the slog of society, I see that to give yourself for your country is the only the thing to do. Isn't it?
Freedom!