BEST PICTURE SHOWCASE: "Braveheart" (1995)

It's been said that history will teach us nothing, or that those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.  In the case of 1995 Best Picture winner Braveheart, it can also be said that history doesn't have to get in the way of Hollywood storytelling.  There has perhaps never been a more historically-inaccurate Best Picture than this one, and I'm not saying that just to nitpick.  Randall Wallace wrote the screenplay with heavy influence from Blind Harry's 15th century epic poem The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, Knight of Elderslie, which has long been considered in and of itself quite historically inaccurate.  However, in writing about William Wallace, Randall Wallace (no relation, by the way) based very little of the screenplay on either actual history or Blind Harry's poem.  Hell, even the title of Braveheart refers in the film to William Wallace when in reality, it was a nickname for Robert the Bruce.  The movie depicts an affair between Wallace and France's Princess Isabelle, which surely did not happen since in the depicted time period of actuality, Isabelle was about 3 years old.  Scotsmen also did not wear kilts, much less plaid with belts, in this era.  Historian Sharon Krossa pretty much summed it up in a 2001 essay by saying, "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."

Evidently, history isn't important here.  Just entertainment.  So in that regard, I suppose Braveheart is a success.  Let's take a look.

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Scotland, circa 1280 A.D.  England's King Edward I, known as Longshanks (Patrick McGoohan), invades and conquers Scotland after the death of its king Alexander III, who left no successor to his throne.  Longshanks grants areas of Scotland to his noblemen, which they are to rule as they see fit.  In the northern Scottish town of Lanark, the young boy William Wallace (James Robinson) discreetly follows his father and brother to a meeting of Scottish nobles that has been arranged by Longshanks. When William's father and brother arrive at the meeting place, they find that the Scots have all been hanged. William also sees the hanging corpses and has an anxiety attack.  The area Scots decide to go to war with England.  William wants to join his father and brother in battle, but he is too young, so he stays and minds the farm, spending a lot of time with his best friend Hamish (Andrew Weir).  Before leaving, William's father told his son that fighting is one thing, but one's wits are one's biggest weapon.

A few days later, the bodies of William's father and brother are returned home, as they have been killed in battle.  At the funeral, a young girl gives a flower to William to console him.  After this, William's Uncle Argyle (Brian Cox) greets him and tells him he'll now raise him, but it will be in Rome away from all this treachery.  They leave for Rome the next day, and William grows up there.  Part of William's education includes learning how to fight, as Argyle gives William a sword.  However, he warns William that he'll never use the sword properly without using his mind properly first.

We fast forward ahead many years later.  England still rules over Scotland, and Longshanks has granted his noblemen "primae noctis", which is the right for the area magistrate to have sex with female subjects who are newly-married on their wedding night.  Longshanks also marries off his son Prince Edward (Peter Hanly) to France's Princess Isabelle (Sophie Marceau).  All of this is to eventually breed all the Scots out of Scotland.  We also meet Robert the Bruce (Angus Macfadyen), son of leprosy-stricken Scottish nobleman Robert the Elder (Ian Bannen).  The elder Robert and the rest of the nobles seem content living under Longshanks and his iron thumb.  Robert the Bruce, not so much.

The now-adult William Wallace (Mel Gibson) returns to Lanark in the midst of a wedding celebration.  He reconnects with the now-adult Hamish (Brendan Gleeson) as well as the now-adult girl who gave him the flower at the funeral, Murron MacClannough (Catherine McCormack).  The celebrating is interrupted when nobles arrive to "borrow" the bride for the night.

William and Murron spend some time together and fall deeply in love.  Murron's father disapproves of William's desire to marry Murron since William doesn't desire to be a fighter like his dad was.  William just wants to tend to the farm.  This fact combined with the "primae noctis" cause William and Murron to elope, thinking the magistrate won't be able to bed Murron on her wedding night since they're marrying in secret.

A day or so later, English noblemen are watching William and Murron interact very lovingly and they suspect something, so when William heads out of Lanark, the noblemen begin to harass and surround Murron, ultimately with the magistrate attempting to rape her.  William returns and fights them off as Murron flees at his direction.  Unfortunately, she is captured and publicly executed.  William finds her later, then returns to the village appearing to surrender to the waiting noblemen.  Instead, William starts to fight them, eventually joined by several villagers to slaughter the entire English group of noblemen.  William personally executes the sheriff in the same manner that Murron was executed.

William and the villagers are now fully ensconced in wanting to free Scotland from Longshanks' rule.  As his legend spreads, hundreds of Scots from surrounding clans volunteer to join William's crusade. William leads his army through a series of successful battles against the English, despite sometimes being outnumbered by the English army.  After one battle, some English soldiers are spared with direction for them to go to Longshanks and tell him that Scotland demands to be free of his reign.  William's army then burns down the fort.

Longshanks is irate and he tells his son to stop William by any means necessary.  However, Prince Edward is a coward.  Longshanks smacks him and tells him to act like a future king.  Longshanks decides to send his son's wife, Isabelle, to try and negotiate peace with William since unlike his weak-willed son, she is a strong leader.  He does have a bit of an ulterior motive though.  Longshanks knows if William kills Isabelle, the French king will join England in battle for revenge.  Meanwhile, William tries to enlist the aid of Robert the Bruce and have him convince the Scottish nobles, who right now continue to submit to England's cruelty, to join the crusade.  Robert the Elder continues to believe this submission is necessary so his son (RTB) can be named the king of Scotland.

Before visiting William, Isabelle is told by one of the servant girls William's background, which has made the rounds as lore.  William fought off the guards to protect his wife, and even evaded a trap at her grave, killing the English soldiers who tried to ambush him.  He's now moved his wife's body to a secure place in hiding.  The servant girl says that's what love really is.  Isabelle says she wouldn't know.

More join William's army, including a somewhat-unpredictable Irishman named Stephen (David O'Hara).  Hamish isn't sure he trusts Stephen but he proves he is indeed trustworthy when he saves William from an attempted assassination.

William and his army next are to battle at Stirling.  The Scottish armies see the throngs of English and some begin to flee, but William arrives and rallies them all.  A magistrate first approaches for negotiation, and delivers to William's the king's terms, but William rebuffs the terms and insults the king before returning to his army.  The Scots all flash the English soldiers, showing what's underneath their kilts.  The English soldiers shoot arrows but the Scots block them.  William then sends all the Scottish horsemen away, and the English think they are retreating so they send THEIR horsemen to attack.  The Scots crouch with their shields awaiting William's word, which he gives just as the horsemen are set to arrive and attack.  The Scots pull up spears and all the horses are brought down immediately.  The English now send the ground infantry to attack, but the Scots dominate them as the Scottish horsemen now attack the English on the other side from behind.  Scotland wins their biggest battle yet.

William is knighted by the Scottish nobles, and there is now an internal battle within those nobles as to whether or not they should aid William's crusade.  Robert the Bruce tells William that 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 think that the Scots will lose and the English will treat them even worse than they are treated now.  Also, the nobles are getting money from England and live quite well.  Some of them are more concerned that this money continues to come and that their standard of living continues to be the best instead of looking after their people.  Robert the Bruce is particularly torn.  William tells RTB that joining him to lead Scotland to freedom will make him (RTB) a true king in his country's eyes.

Longshanks checks in with Prince Edward, who remains meek and pretends that everything is under control regarding William and his army.  Their meeting is interrupted by the delivery of Longshanks' nephew's severed head in a gift box.  Edward puts over his "friend" (ahem) Philip as part of his war council.  Philip starts to talk up the plan but Longshanks sees right through this and tosses Philip to his death out of that open window you see in the photo above.  Edward is now enraged and tries to kill his father, but gets his ass handed to him quite easily.  Longshanks wonders what he should do next to try and defeat William.  Longshanks is also getting more and more sick as time passes.

Isabelle finally visits William, who rejects the bribe offer of a title, an estate and a chest of gold.  He says he will continue to fight.  However, during their conversation, Isabelle tells Wallace that she understands his suffering and that she has heard about the death of his wife.  They seem to bond and she finds herself charmed.  When Isabelle returns, Longshanks is a bit surprised to see her alive.  He talks up his war plan of how he will invade Scotland, and admits that he actually sent troops weeks ago so they should arrive soon.  Isabelle sends a servant girl to deliver a letter to William warning him of the invasion.  William calls a meeting of the Scottish nobles, and it seems the nobles just want to negotiate with the incoming English.  William calls them cowards.  Robert the Bruce asks William if this is just rage, but ultimately he is finally won over and agrees to aid William.

The Battle of Falkirk is up next.  Longshanks himself is leading the English army and he's brought Irish troops with him.  He sends the Irish to attack first.  When the Irish reach the Scots, they all start hugging.  Stephen has already convinced his countrymen to aid William.  The Scots then attack the English and have the upper hand at first.  William signals for the Scottish noblemen's troops to now join, but Lochlan (John Murtagh) and Mornay (Alun Armstrong) betray William and retreat with their army, leaving the Scots greatly outnumbered.  England is winning this battle easily so Longshanks decides it's time to leave.  As he does so, William breaks away and charges toward Longshanks to kill him personally.  He is intercepted by one of the king's hooded lancers and knocked from his horse, but gains the upper hand when the lancer dismounts to examine the fallen William.  William is set to kill the lancer and removes his helmet, but is shocked to see that it's Robert the Bruce.  William is shocked into submission and just collapses onto the ground.  Robert the Bruce laments his actions and is able to get Wallace to safety just before the English can capture him.

Over the next seven years, William goes into hiding and wages a careful guerrilla war against the English.  Part of this war is killing both Lochlan and Mornay for their betrayals.  Longshanks is very sick by now, but he continues to rule.  Robert the Elder is also very sick by now, but he continues to believe their alliance with England is necessary.  Isabelle is actually aiding William secretly, and they also wind up having an affair.

Robert the Bruce decides it's time to meet with William in Edinburgh, fully commit to the war and supply troops.  Hamish thinks this is a trap, but William does not, and he goes to meet RTB.  The two men see each other in Edinburgh and smile, but Robert's expression changes as he sees William being ambushed.  Robert tries to stop the soldiers but takes a beating as well.  An irate RTB goes to his father, who states he set the trap along with the rest of the Scottish nobles.  Robert the Bruce disowns his father.

In London, William is brought before the English magistrates and tried for high treason.  He can die a quick death if he swears allegiance to England, or suffer a slow death if he does not.  He denies the charges, declaring that he had never accepted Edward as his King.  Isabelle visits William in his cell.  She begs for him to swear allegiance to Longshanks so that he can stay alive long enough before the king dies (which is going to be soon as his health has deteriorated severely) and she takes over the crown.  William refuses, saying that would go against everything he stands for.

Isabelle goes to her husband and father-in-law, begging them to show mercy.  Prince Edward, speaking for the now-terminally ill and mute Longshanks, tells his wife that the king will take pleasure in William's death.  Isabelle verbally lambasts the duo, then whispers to Longshanks she is pregnant with William's child.  Longshanks is shaken and unable to tell his son of her plans, which are to rule and eventually turn Scotland over to her and William's son.

Wallace is taken to a square at the Tower of London for his torture and execution.  The subjects jeer him at first.  Hamish and Stephen are hidden amongst the crowd.  William refuses to submit to the king and beg for mercy for a quick death.  He is partially hanged, racked and castrated publicly.  The crowd begins to yell for mercy, and the magistrate offers him one final chance.  Using the last ounce of strength in his body, the defiant William instead shouts, "FREEEEEEEDOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!!"  Just before being beheaded, Wallace sees an image of Murron in the crowd smiling at him, and he smiles back.

In 1314, Robert the Bruce is now Scotland's king.  He leads a Scottish army before a ceremonial line of English troops on the fields of Bannockburn where he is to formally accept English rule.  As he begins to ride toward the English, he stops and invokes William's memory, imploring his men to fight with him as they did with William.  Robert then leads his army into battle against the stunned English, winning the Scots their freedom.

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The musical score, conducted by James Horner and performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, is one of the most successfully-selling soundtracks in history.....Some may call this a "vanity project" being that Mel Gibson starred in and directed the film, but in reality he didn't want to play the role because he thought he was too old for it.  Paramount Pictures insisted he do so or they wouldn't finance the production.....There is a line spoken by William Wallace in the film: "Every man dies, not every man really lives."  This quote is from a 19th century poem by William Ross Wallace, who has nothing at all to do with THIS William Wallace.....Robert the Bruce is a national hero in Scotland, and some Scotsmen took offense to the character portrayal of RTB in this film....."Primae noctis" was never practiced in English rule at any time.....The film helped bolster Scottish tourism that continues to thrive today.  Tours of the actual castles portrayed and used in the film are popular tourist destinations.

Being that we're covering it here, you already know that Braveheart won Best Picture.  What's strange is that the Best Picture Academy Award was the only top award it won from any awards guilds.  The Golden Globes went with Sense and Sensibility.  The BAFTAs did the same.  This may be the only time in modern history we've seen such an occurrence, and going into the Oscars despite getting 10 nominations, I'm not sure it was considered the frontrunner.  It did not win for Original Screenplay (Randall Wallace), Costume Design (Charles Knode), Sound Mixing (Andy Nelson and team), Film Editing (Steven Rosenblum) or, surprisingly, Original Score (Horner).  I'm glad it didn't win for Film Editing, by the way, because the editing throughout this film was ATROCIOUS.  There were many moments when an impact occurs (for example, a sword coming down on someone) and the jump-cut was so horribly obvious.  How the hell this even got nominated in this category is a mystery to me that I'll probably take to my grave.  Braveheart did take home 5 Oscars for Makeup (Peter Frampton and team, and no, it's not the "Show Me the Way" Peter Frampton), Sound Editing (Lon Bender, Per Hallberg), Cinematography (John Toll), Director (Gibson) and Best Picture, with that victory coming over Apollo 13, Babe, Il Postino and Sense and Sensibility.  This was a strong year with good nominated films, but I think the wrong film won.  At least two, and perhaps even three, of those other nominated films are better in my opinion.  And yes, the one about the talking pig is actually one of them.  I remember seeing this film for the first time several months after it won Best Picture, and I remember liking it.  That would have been 1996 while I was in college.  Now, rewatching it in 2014, it bored me.  It got better in the second half, but as a whole, I don't have the love for this movie that I do for other 1995 movies.  I suppose it's possible that my disdain for Mel Gibson that has developed over the last several years could be part of the reason why, but I really don't think that's the case.  I just feel that Braveheart hasn't aged well.