BRAVEHEART- Y'know it truly amazes me that so many people can find this contrived, Mel Gibson vehicle so good and engrossing! I mean, this three hour monument to Hollywood celebrity ego has been voted as one of the top 100 greatest films ever made on the Internet Movie Database (http://www.imdb.com/)! That's scary, when it's nothing more that a 'Lethal Weapon' film in a tartan kilt!
Now, Gibson being Gibson, isn't the sort of guy that ever lets anything like historical accuracy get in his way during a over hyped pet project. This film, that strongly implies that it's realistic because there was a real life William Wallace, scales the heights of lunacy in its attempt to pander to the modern political correctness of modern American audiences. Especially with the inclusion of an Irish freedom fighter on the side if the Scots to give it a nice contemporary feel to people who don't know anything about Northern Ireland.
Yet, Gibson single-handedly hijacks a 700 year old Anglo-Scottish conflict and gives us a ridiculously, inaccurate, distorted and downright fictional telling of the real life freedom fighter. Not only do we have barmy story plots, like Wallace's fictional affair with Princess Isobelle, but Gibson vainly puts himself into the role of Wallace. A role that, quite frankly, he was two decades too old to play. Not that his female co-star was played by an older actress. No, he pairs himself with a young, trim Scottish actress!
Add to this the over the top characterization and stereotypes, stuck in by director Gibson and writer Randall Wallace in a particularly hamfisted way. The English are just so ridiculously evil, they come across as cartoonish. Not only do they enact a fictional law called 'Prima Nocta' to give them the right to have it off with Scottish brides, but they're all either effeminate, weaklings or rabid psychopaths. I suspect the 'breeding the Scots out of the population' bit was stuck in to associate the English with NAZI racial policy during W.W.II.
How does Gibson portray 'his' side? Well, the Scots are all honest, innocent, good hearted and simple village folk. Y'know, like something out of the Munchkin Village in 'The Wizard of Oz'. They spend their days farming, visiting Ewok village style town festivals, having it off naked in frigid valleys and romancing each other on horseback. Completely oblivious and uninvolved in the affairs of their country.
Off course, once stoked up to full killing power by English atrocities, Gibson effortlessly slays every Englishman north of Carlisle. Inflicting a crushing defeat on the English at the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297. Which Mr. Ego totally re-writes to remove the river, the bridge, the tactics used and the half of the English army that retreated south.
Other liberties taken include Wallace's fictional taking of the English city of York and the implication that Wallaces's amazing leadership almost resulted the the complete and utter defeat of England, when the real life Wallace only raided on and around the Anglo-Scottish border. Oh well, I guess Gibson's self hero worshiping can't be blamed for not taking 'little' details like this into account. After all, we only want to be entertained.
Needless to say, the wicked English defeat Wallace by foul, underhand means. Accompanied by the strong implication that King Edward I was far too cowardly to face Wallace man to man. Even resorting to sending Princess Isobelle north to negotiate with our hunky hero and his monstrously over the top wig. Huh! Despite the fact that the real life Edward was a cunning and strong warrior king who fought campaigns in England, Wales, Scotland, France and the Middle East! Ah, the unnecessary English bashing just doesn't ever stop in this drivel...
Thankfully Wallace meets his miserable end eventually, putting us all out of ours too. The film then goes on to suggest that Scotland 'won their independence forever', nicely disregarding subsequent centuries of Anglo-Scottish history to boot in its highly simplistic 'happy, smiles' Hollywood ending.
Bottom line, this film is contrived, highly biased, emotionally manipulative, revisionist when it suits its own cause and poorly written when it comes to attitudes of the day. Would the real Wallace use a blatantly modern sounding phrase to berate the English commander at the Battle of Stirling Bridge? "put his head between his legs and kiss his own a**e", hmmm, yeah, right! Also, this film was released to coincide with some local Scottish elections, giving a nice boost to the Scottish National Party. Nice one their Mel, eh!