A distortion of history

Rating: 6/10 (4 July 2012)

Let me get this out of the way first. I am a descendant of a famous(infamous?) Scottish border clan who fought in numerous battles between the Scots and the English, sometimes for both sides depending who paid the most money. The original Turnbull (Sir William de Rule) was knighted by Robert Bruce for saving his life on a hunting expedition, hence the new name and the Turnbull motto, 'I Saved the King'.
The Turnbulls fought at Bannockburn and right through the English invasions of Edward Longshanks and his son. Scottish history is littered with deceit and treachery through this period including the murder of one of my ancestors 'the Red Cummyn' supposedly by Bruce himself, in order to solidify his legality for the throne. This preamble is only to mention I know something of the history of the period and to have a distant connection to it.
Unfortunately the movie (and the book from which it is derived) is little more than a sensationalist, revisionist rewrite of the facts. Some of this I can forgive in recognition of entertainment but Wallace was a lowlander and his troops did not dress as shown, and most certainly did not daub their faces blue. Wallace was no country yokel and was a member of the Scottish nobility. He had no claim to the Scottish throne but was dismayed that others who did, such as Bruce, would not stand up to Longshanks. In many respects he was an accidental hero.
But what annoys me most about this movie is the utter fiction that is inserted such as Wallaces affair with the future Edwards wife and her impregnation. That is just preposterous nonsense. I don't see why the movie could have not been historically accurate. It would have been just as exciting and gory, and more fitting of Wallace the man, who did after all die a horrible death, and did much to energise the Scottish nobility to eventually carry the day at Bannockburn.
I really enjoyed Patrick McGoohan as Longshanks. He was a cut above all others. As others have commented, he was a complex person; at once a lawmaker and King, but also a tough cookie to boot. His tomb bears a simple inscription (in Latin, deciphered as): Edward Rex, hammer of the Scots.