Film Review - Braveheart

Rating: 10/10 (10 December 2011)

The movie Braveheart (1995) tells the story of medieval Scottish patriot William Wallace and Robert the Bruce's fight to unify his nation against English oppression. It is the story of how one man, Wallace, (Mel Gibson) unites his countrymen to take up arms against the English for the cause of freedom and to crown Robert the Bruce King of Scotland and ultimately securing their independence. The film begins with a young William Wallace who has lost his father and brother fighting the English. After William's father's funeral he is taken by his educated and cultured Uncle Argyle (Brian Cox) who teaches William that he must learn to use his brain and wit, before he can learn to use a sword (Braveheart, 1995). Wallace returns to his home twenty years later and is reunited with his childhood sweetheart Murron (Catherine McCormack). The two fall in love and secretly marry to avoid the English right of prima Noctae, allowing an English soldier to sleep with the bride on the first night of marriage. Soon after, Murran is assaulted by an English soldier and in an attempt to escape, is captured, and killed. Wallace responds to her death with anger and to avenge her death, kills the entire platoon of foot soldiers. The other villagers join William in his fight against the English and eventually, the revolt becomes a full-fledge war. The film continues to show how Wallace leads his fellow Scotsmen against the English in a series of bloody battles and proving the Scots are a real threat to the English (Braveheart, 1995).
Although the film has been criticized for not being historically accurate, it is still a story filled with passion and courage, illustrating the influence one man had on his countrymen to rally and fight for their freedom (Ferguson). It is the life of William Wallace and his passion and drive to inspire his countrymen resulting in eventual freedom that is the underlying theme of Braveheart. Braveheart is an action, romance, and drama movie that created a sense of pride and nationalism throughout modern Scotland upon its release in 1995. Wallace is considered a national hero in Scotland, with numerous poems and stories written about his life (Scotsmart, 2011).
The films cinematography (John Toll, Cinematographer) captures the beauty and ruggedness of the landscape of Scotland and Ireland where the film was shot. The colors of the landscape were vibrant and clear, whereas the colors of the actors tended to be muted creating a more historic and realistic picture of the people of the time. Director Mel Gibson's epic battle scenes realistically showed the brutality and violent hand-to-hand warfare used during the 13th century. Gibson hired members of the F.C.A., the Irish Territorial Army to act as extras for the battle scenes to create a more authentic looking army. The battle of Stirling took six weeks to film and over 90 hours were shot for the sequence (IMDb, 2011).
Braveheart is a convincing tale of Scotland's fight for freedom, and although it lacks in historical accuracy, it is a powerful movie that is realistic and inspiring.