Braveheart

For the House, M.D. episode, see Brave Heart.

Braveheart
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mel Gibson
Written by	Randall Wallace
Produced by	Mel Gibson Alan Ladd, Jr. Bruce Davey Stephen McEveety
Starring	Mel Gibson Patrick McGoohan Angus Macfadyen Brendan Gleeson Sophie Marceau Ian Bannen James Cosmo Catherine McCormack David O'Hara Brian Cox Gerard Kelly
Narrated by	Angus Macfadyen Mel Gibson
Cinematography	John Toll
Edited by	Steven Rosenblum
Music by	James Horner
Production companies	Icon Productions The Ladd Company
Distributed by	United States: Paramount Pictures International: 20th Century Fox
Release date	May 24, 1995 (1995-05-24)
Running time	177 minutes
Country	Template:Film US
Language	English
Budget	$53,000,000
Box office	$210,409,945

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 Sir William Wallace, a 13th century Scottish knight who gained recognition when he came to the forefront of the First War of Scottish Independence by opposing King Edward I of England, also known as "Longshanks" (Patrick McGoohan).

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.

Plot

In 13th Century Scotland, Alexander III had died without a son, and after several years of political unrest in the country, the land is open to an invasion from the south. King Edward I of England (Patrick McGoohan) also known as Longshanks takes control of Scotland.

William Wallace (Mel Gibson) grows up in this atmosphere of repression and fear and survives the death of his father and brother. Wallace is taken abroad by his uncle Argyle (Brian Cox). They travel to Europe and Wallace learns to read, write and speak Latin and French, as well as to use a sword.

Meanwhile, King Edward's son Prince Edward (Peter Hanly) marries Princesss Isabella of France (Sophie Marceau), to unite the countries of England and France. However, Edward's homosexual desires for his advisor Philip means he has no love for her, which causes her to suffer from emotional pain.

King Edward begins to grant his English nobles privileges in Scotland. One such privilege is Primae Noctis, the right for the lord to take a newly married Scottish woman into his bed and spend the wedding night with the bride.

When William Wallace returns home, he falls in love with his childhood sweetheart Murron MacClannough (Catherine McCormack), and they marry in secret in hopes of preventing her from spending a night in the bed of the English lord.

The Scots continue to live under the iron fist of Longshanks' cruel laws. Wallace intends on living as a farmer and avoiding involvement in the ongoing "troubles", but when an English soldier tries to rape Murron, Wallace fights off several soldiers and the two attempt to flee. However, the village sheriff William Heselrig captures Murron and publicly executes her by slitting her throat, proclaiming "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, executing Heselrig in the same manner that he executed Murron.

After this, Wallace is compelled to fight against the English, and in response to Wallace's exploits, the commoners of Scotland rise in revolt against England. As his legend spreads, hundreds of Scots from the surrounding clans volunteer to join Wallace's militia.

Wallace leads his army through a series of successful battles against the English, including the Battle of Stirling Bridge on September 11, 1297, and the Sacking of the City of York. All the while, Wallace seeks the assistance of young Robert the Bruce (Angus Macfadyen), son of the leper noble Robert the Elder (Ian Bannen) and the chief contender for the Scottish crown. However, Robert is dominated by his scheming father, who wishes to secure the throne of Scotland to his son by bowing down to the English, despite his son's growing admiration for Wallace and his cause.

Worried by the threat of the rebellion, Longshanks poses to send the French princess Isabelle to try and negotiate peace with Wallace. Princess Isabelle is the wife of Prince Edward, the Prince of Wales and Longshanks's oldest son. The King sends her because his son is a weak-willed man and, not being imposing enough to negotiate, would likely only encourage Wallace to press his advantage, but she is a strong and intelligent woman. Longshanks also knows that if Wallace kills her, the French king will declare war on Wallace in revenge.

Isabelle meets with Wallace, who tries to tell him that Edward will give him gold, land, and other rights. However, Wallace refuses. She tells Wallace that she understands that he is doing it for a dead woman. Wallace tells her she was his wife, and they murdered her to lure him into the fight.

For Wallace to continue fighting, he needs the Scottish nobility on his side, contributing troops and food. But Wallace has problems convincing the nobility that they have a real chance to take back the country from the English. The nobles are more interested in their own welfare, assisted by British privileges and bribes, than the welfare of their subjects. Eventually, two of these nobles, Lochlan and Mornay, betray Wallace at the bloody Battle of Falkirk the following year on July 22, 1298 as a new and larger English army invades Scotland led by Longshanks himself. The Scots lose the battle, and Wallace nearly loses his life when, in a last desperate act, he furiously breaks ranks and charges toward Longshanks to kill him personally. He is intercepted by one of the king's lancers, who turns out to be Robert the Bruce (ordered by his father to support the English), but in an act of remorse Bruce is able to get Wallace to safety just before the English can capture him.

Over the next seven years, Wallace goes into hiding and wages a protracted guerilla war against the English. To repay Mornay and Lochlan for their betrayals, Wallace brutally murders both men.

A trap is set for Wallace to be assassinated, but Wallace is informed of this by Isabella, and he evades the trap. He then visits Isabella in a shack. He asks her why she helps him, and she reveals she has been enamored by him. The two make love, impregnating Isabella.

Robert the Bruce contacts Wallace to set up a meeting, where the Bruce intends to declare his intent to join Wallace and commit troops to the war. Still believing there is some good in the nobility of his country, Wallace eventually agrees to meet with Robert the Bruce in Edinburgh. However, Robert's father has conspired with the other nobles to set a trap, and Wallace is caught and handed over to the English. Learning of his father's treachery, the younger Robert Bruce disowns his father. Isabelle has her own revenge on the now terminally ill Longshanks by quietly confessing to him that she is pregnant with Wallace's child and that she will end Longshank's line and rule following his death.

In London, Wallace is brought before the English magistrates, tried for high treason and after refusing to confess, sentenced to execution by public torture and beheading at the Tower of London. Despite being half hanged, racked, castrated and disemboweled alive, Wallace refuses to submit to the king and beg for mercy. Awed by his courage, the Londoners watching the execution begin to yell for mercy, and the magistrate offers him one final chance. However, the defiant Wallace instead uses the last of his strength to shout, "Freedom!" Just as he is about to be beheaded, Wallace sees an image of Murron in the crowd smiling at him, before the blow is struck.

Epilogue

In 1314, nine years after Wallace's death, Robert the Bruce, now a Scottish king and still guilt-ridden over his involvement in Wallace's betrayal, leads a strong Scottish army and faces a ceremonial line of English troops at the fields of Bannockburn where the English under their new king are to accept him as the rightful ruler of Scotland. Just as he is about to ride to accept the English endorsement, the Bruce turns back to his troops. Invoking Wallace's memory, he urges his charges to fight with him as they did with Wallace. Robert then turns toward the English troop line and leads a charge toward the English, with him and his men chanting Wallace's name as they charge the field. This surprises the English Soldiers, who were not expecting a fight.

The film ends with Mel Gibson's voice intoning that the Scottish won their freedom in this battle.

Cast

• Mel Gibson as William Wallace, the film's tragic hero. When his father and brother are killed fighting English soldiers, he leaves Scotland and travels abroad with his uncle. Upon returning, he marries his childhood friend Murron. After Murron is summarily executed by an English magistrate, Wallace leads an uprising demanding justice that leads to the Wars of Scottish Independence.
• Patrick McGoohan as King Edward I of England, the primary antagonist. Nicknamed "Longshanks" for his height over 6 feet, the King is depicted as a tyrannical psychopath. He is also shown to be emotionally and physically abusive to his son. Determined to ruthlessly put down the Scottish uprising, he intends to ensure his rule over all of Britain. Despite serving as the film's villain, he and Wallace do not share a single scene throughout.
• Angus Macfadyen as Robert, 17th Earl of Bruce, son of the elder Bruce and claimant to the throne of Scotland, he is inspired by Wallace's dedication and bravery.
• Brendan Gleeson as Hamish Campbell. Wallace's childhood friend and captain in Wallace's army; he is brave and thinks with his fists.
• Sophie Marceau as Princess Isabelle of France, who sympathizes with the Scottish and admires Wallace.
• Peter Hanly as Prince Edward, Prince of Wales. The son of King Edward and husband of Princess Isabelle through an arranged marriage. A homosexual, he suffers from emotional and physical abuse at the hands of his father. The Prince's male lover Phillip is killed by King Edward by being thrown out of a castle window.
• Ian Bannen as the elder Robert the Bruce. Unable to seek the throne personally due to his disfiguring leprosy, he schemes to make his son the next King of Scotland despite the claims of the Balliol clan to the throne.
• James Cosmo as Campbell the Elder. The father of Hamish Campbell and captain in Wallace's army.
• Catherine McCormack as Murron MacClannough, the murdered wife of Wallace. Her name was changed from Blind Harry's Marion Braidfute in the script so as to not be confused with the Maid Marian of Robin Hood legend.
• David O'Hara as Stephen. An Irish recruit to the Scottish army, he endears himself to Wallace with his humor, which may or may not be insanity, and his knowledge of guerrilla warfare. He professes to be the most wanted man on "my island," and claims to speak to God personally. He becomes one of Wallace's captains and quasi-bodyguard, saving his life several times.
• Brian Cox as Argyle Wallace. A Roman Catholic priest and uncle to William. After the death of Wallace's father and brother, Argyle takes Wallace as a child into his care. Promising to teach the boy how to use a sword after he learns to use his head, he teaches Wallace to speak and read fluent French and Latin. He is also described as having taken his nephew on pilgrimage to the Holy See.
• James Robinson as young William Wallace. The 10-year old actor reportedly spent weeks trying to copy Gibson's mannerisms for the film.

Conception

The script for Braveheart was based mainly 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."

Production

Gibson's 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.

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.

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.

Gibson toned down the film's battle scenes to avoid an NC-17 rating from the MPAA. The final version was rated R for "brutal medieval warfare."

In addition to English being the film's primary language, French, Latin, and Scottish Gaelic are also spoken.

Release and reception

Box office

On its opening weekend, grossed US$9,938,276 in the United States and $75.6 million in its box office run in the United States and Canada. Worldwide, the movie grossed $210,409,945 and was the 18th highest grossing film of 1995.

Reviews

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. In a 2005 poll by British film magazine Empire, Braveheart was #1 on their list of "The Top 10 Worst Best Pictures."

Around the world

The film generated huge interest in Scotland and in Scottish history, not only around the world, but also in Scotland itself. 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).

Academy Awards

The movie was nominated for 10 Oscars and won 5.

Award	Person
Best Picture	Mel Gibson Alan Ladd, Jr. Bruce Davey Stephen McEveety
Best Director	Mel Gibson
Best Cinematography	John Toll
Best Sound Editing	Lon Bender Per Hallberg
Best Makeup	Peter Frampton Paul Pattison Lois Burwell
Nominated:
Best Original Screenplay	Randall Wallace
Best Original Score	James Horner
Best Sound	Andy Nelson Scot Millan Anna Behlmer Brian Simmons
Best Film Editing	Steven Rosenblum
Best Costume Design	Charles Knode

Cultural effects

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.

Wallace Monument

File:BraveStatue 1200x1600.jpg

Tom Church's 'Freedom' statue.

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, 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." 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." 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.

Historical accuracy

Randall Wallace, the writer of the novel, 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.

English Historian Elizabeth Ewan describes Braveheart as a film which "almost totally sacrifices historical accuracy for epic adventure". 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.

The first major battle sequence (where Mel Gibson gives his "Freedom" speech) is meant to represent the battle of Stirling Bridge. The film's depiction of the Battle of Stirling Bridge shows the Scots facing off against the English on a flat plain on equal terms, when in reality, it took place at a bridge where the outnumbered Scots were able to concentrate their forces on the overextended English who were in the process of crossing the bridge. The battle plan itself was the brainchild of William Wallace and another resistance leader Andrew Moray. Moray, who died from wounds sustained in the battle is completely absent from the film.

The scenes depicting Princess Isabella and her hand maiden speaking French while at the English court for privacy are inaccurate. From the time of the Norman invasion the language spoken by the English royal court and the vast majority of the nobility, at least at court, would have been French. The Norman dialect was the dominant tongue until the time of King Henry II who introduced a more mainstream French conversational dialect due to his Angevin upbringing. Edward Longshanks was only 3 generations removed as he was Henry II's great-grandson. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann writing in The Guardian noted several historical inaccuracies: William Wallace never met Princess Isabella, as she married King Edward II three years after Wallace's death (and was no older than ten when Wallace died), thus she never slept with him. Also, as her marriage to Edward took place after he had ascended the throne, she never held the title Princess of Wales. The infamous primae noctis ("law of the first night") decree, seen in action early in the film, was never used by King Edward. Little or no historical evidence has been unearthed from the Middle Ages to support the idea that such a right ever actually existed. Also the English charged the Scots at Bannockburn not the Scots the English

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)." Moreover, when Highlanders finally did begin wearing the belted plaid, it was not "in the rather bizarre style depicted in the film." 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." 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."

In 2009, the film was second on a list of "most historically inaccurate movies" in The Times. 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. The final scenes of the film also suggest that William Wallace and Edward I of England died at exactly the same moment, which is false. Wallace was executed in 1305 and Edward I died in 1307.

Screenwriter Randall Wallace is very vocal about defending his script from historians who have dismissed the film as a Hollywood perversion of actual events. In the DVD audio commentary of Braveheart, director Mel Gibson acknowledges many of the historical inaccuracies 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.

Portrayal of Robert the Bruce

File:Brave mel.jpg

Mel Gibson as William Wallace wearing woad.

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 rebels and the English, mostly for political reasons, Bruce never betrayed Wallace directly, and Wallace was not known to have been a staunch supporter of Bruce.

Portrayal of Prince Edward

The depiction of Prince Edward as an effeminate homosexual in the film drew accusations of homophobia against Gibson, particularly since the real Edward II fathered five children by two different women. Edward II was implied to have been at least bisexual due to his relationships with Piers Gaveston, apparently favouring Gaveston over even his wife in several regards, and later Hugh Despenser), although many historians believe these were simply rumours spread by the King's enemies to discredit him. 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." 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.

Gibson asserted that the reason that Longshanks kills his son’s lover is because the king is a “psychopath,”. (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?'

Anglophobia

Braveheart has been accused of Anglophobia. The film was referred to in The Economist as "xenophobic" and John Sutherland writing in the Guardian stated that, "Braveheart gave full rein to a toxic Anglophobia". Colin MacArthur, author of Brigadoon, Braveheart and the Scots: Distortions of Scotland in Hollywood Cinema calls it "a fuckin' atrocious film" and writes that a worrying aspect of the film is its appeal to "neo-fascist groups and the attendant psyche." According to The Times, MacArthur said "the political effects are truly pernicious. It’s a xenophobic film." The Independent has noted, "The Braveheart phenomenon, a Hollywood-inspired rise in Scottish nationalism, has been linked to a rise in anti-English prejudice".The evoking of Prima noctis by the English barons in the film is particularly emotive, especially since it never happened in reality. Accusations of Anglophobia would again re-visit Gibson with his next film The Patriot.

Soundtrack

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.

Braveheart (1995)

1. Main Title (2:51)
2. A Gift of a Thistle (1:37)
3. Wallace Courts Murron (4:25)
4. The Secret Wedding (6:33)
5. Attack on Murron (3:00)
6. Revenge (6:23)
7. Murron’s Burial (2:13)
8. Making Plans/ Gathering the Clans (1:52)
9. “Sons of Scotland” (6:19)
10. The Battle of Stirling (5:57)
11. For the Love of a Princess (4:07)
12. Falkirk (4:04)
13. Betrayal & Desolation (7:48)
14. Mornay’s Dream (1:15)
15. The Legend Spreads (1:09)
16. The Princess Pleads for Wallace’s Life (3:38)
17. “Freedom”/The Execution/ Bannockburn (7:24)
18. End Credits (7:16)

More Music From Braveheart (1997)

1. Prologue: 'I Shall Tell You Of William Wallace' [Narration: Robert The Bruce]
2. Outlawed Tunes On Outlawed Pipes
3. The Royal Wedding [Narration: Robert The Bruce]
4. 'The Trouble With Scotland' [King Edward The Longshanks]
5. Scottish Wedding Music
6. Prima Noctes
7. The Proposal [William Wallace And Murron]
8. 'Scotland Is Free!' [William Wallace]
9. Point Of War/Johnny Cope/Up In The Morning Early
10. Coversing With The Almighty [Stephen, William Wallace, Hamish, Campbell]
11. The Road To The Isles/Glendaruel Highlanders/The Old Rustic Bridge By The Mill
12. 'Sons Of Scotland!' [William Wallace]
13. Vision Of Murron
14. 'Unite The Clans!' [William Wallace]
15. The Legend Spreads [Scottish Highlanders]
16. 'Why Do You Help Me?' [William Wallace And Princess Isabelle]
17. For The Love Of A Princess
18. 'Not Every Man Really Lives' [William Wallace And Princess Isabelle]
19. 'The Prisoner Wishes To Say A Word' [The Executioner And William Wallace]
20. 'After The Beheading' [Robert The Bruce]
21. 'You Have Bled With Wallace!' [Robert The Bruce]
22. Warrior Poets [William Wallace]
23. Scotland The Brave/The Badge Of Scotland/The Meeting Of The Waters
24. Leaving Glen Urquhart/The Highland Plaid/Jock Wilson's Ball
25. Kirkhill/The Argyllshire Gathering/The Braemar Highland Gathering

Total Timing (68:53)

See also

• Sir William Wallace
• First War of Scottish Independence
• List of historical drama films

External links

• Braveheart at IMDb
• Braveheart at AllMovie
• Braveheart at Rotten Tomatoes
• Braveheart at Box Office Mojo
• Braveheart at Metacritic
• Roger Ebert's review of Braveheart