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CRUD Challenge: Braveheart
Nov. 7th, 2020 07:41 pmBraveheart (1995) dir. Mel Gibson
It is late 13th Century Scotland, and the land is without a king. King Edward I of England (Patrick McGoohan), known as "Longshanks", claims ownership and has sent his armies to occupy the land. After a peace negotiation with Scots lords ends in a war crime by Longshanks, William Wallace's (James Robinson) father and brother die in an abortive rebellion. William is taken away by his uncle, who trains him in culture and combat, so it is many years before he returns to Scotland.
When William (Mel Gibson) returns, he's just gone through some rough years fighting in the Crusades, so he'd like to just settle down on the old family farm and marry his childhood sweetheart Murron (Catherine McCormack). Problem! To convince English nobles to take lands in Scotland, Longshanks has given them the privilege of "prima nocte", the ability to take the virginity of any subject's bride. To avoid this, our happy couple weds secretly. Unfortunately, this does not protect against garden-variety rape attempts by English soldiers. When Murron fends off such an attack, she is executed for striking a soldier.
His wife's death radicalizes William, and he joins the local rebellion, quickly becoming its leader. William Wallace's innovative tactics, personal bravery and bonny speeches win some battles, and gain him the support of the common Scots. Unfortunately, the Scots lords who control the main supply of trained fighting men are divided. Many of them have had lands in England granted to them by Edward Longshanks as bribes, and several of them are rival claimants to the Scottish throne.
The most relevant of the nobles is Robert the Bruce (Angus MacFadyen), who really would like to support the rebellion, but is talked out of it by his leprous father.
William is betrayed, and winds up dying, but not before inspiring the desire for freedom in his countrymen, including Robert, who eventually leads them to victory.
This is an epic movie (nearly three hours long) with lovely scenery, awesome battle scenes and some very quotable moments. The acting is good, and there's little padding.
That said, this movie is notorious for historical inaccuracy. In real life, William Wallace was a minor noble, not a commoner; prima nocte was never a thing and King Edward I certainly didn't authorize it; Queen Isabella (eventual wife of Edward II) never met William Wallace and certainly did not have his child; and on and on. The narration tries to handwave it a bit by noting that the English would say the narrator is lying, but no.
While watching the film, I began to suspect that the film's repeated insistence on "FREEDOM!" without ever explaining what that would mean in the context of 13th/14th Century Scots culture was more of an attempt to appeal to American audiences than a thought-through theme. And given what's come out about Mel Gibson in the ensuing years, it's...interesting...that while several made-up atrocities are attributed to Longshanks, one of his worst traits, rabid antisemitism, never comes up.
Content note: relatively limited gore, partial nudity for both male and female characters, Edward II is depicted as being an ineffective person because of his homosexuality, attempted rape, an extended torture scene towards the end.
This is a pretty awesome film, and well worth watching as long as you treat it as the ahistorical legend it is.
It is late 13th Century Scotland, and the land is without a king. King Edward I of England (Patrick McGoohan), known as "Longshanks", claims ownership and has sent his armies to occupy the land. After a peace negotiation with Scots lords ends in a war crime by Longshanks, William Wallace's (James Robinson) father and brother die in an abortive rebellion. William is taken away by his uncle, who trains him in culture and combat, so it is many years before he returns to Scotland.
When William (Mel Gibson) returns, he's just gone through some rough years fighting in the Crusades, so he'd like to just settle down on the old family farm and marry his childhood sweetheart Murron (Catherine McCormack). Problem! To convince English nobles to take lands in Scotland, Longshanks has given them the privilege of "prima nocte", the ability to take the virginity of any subject's bride. To avoid this, our happy couple weds secretly. Unfortunately, this does not protect against garden-variety rape attempts by English soldiers. When Murron fends off such an attack, she is executed for striking a soldier.
His wife's death radicalizes William, and he joins the local rebellion, quickly becoming its leader. William Wallace's innovative tactics, personal bravery and bonny speeches win some battles, and gain him the support of the common Scots. Unfortunately, the Scots lords who control the main supply of trained fighting men are divided. Many of them have had lands in England granted to them by Edward Longshanks as bribes, and several of them are rival claimants to the Scottish throne.
The most relevant of the nobles is Robert the Bruce (Angus MacFadyen), who really would like to support the rebellion, but is talked out of it by his leprous father.
William is betrayed, and winds up dying, but not before inspiring the desire for freedom in his countrymen, including Robert, who eventually leads them to victory.
This is an epic movie (nearly three hours long) with lovely scenery, awesome battle scenes and some very quotable moments. The acting is good, and there's little padding.
That said, this movie is notorious for historical inaccuracy. In real life, William Wallace was a minor noble, not a commoner; prima nocte was never a thing and King Edward I certainly didn't authorize it; Queen Isabella (eventual wife of Edward II) never met William Wallace and certainly did not have his child; and on and on. The narration tries to handwave it a bit by noting that the English would say the narrator is lying, but no.
While watching the film, I began to suspect that the film's repeated insistence on "FREEDOM!" without ever explaining what that would mean in the context of 13th/14th Century Scots culture was more of an attempt to appeal to American audiences than a thought-through theme. And given what's come out about Mel Gibson in the ensuing years, it's...interesting...that while several made-up atrocities are attributed to Longshanks, one of his worst traits, rabid antisemitism, never comes up.
Content note: relatively limited gore, partial nudity for both male and female characters, Edward II is depicted as being an ineffective person because of his homosexuality, attempted rape, an extended torture scene towards the end.
This is a pretty awesome film, and well worth watching as long as you treat it as the ahistorical legend it is.
