Oscars: 5 Wins (Picture, Director, Cinematography, Sound Effects Editing, Make-up)
10 Nominations (Original Screenplay, Dramatic Score, Film Editing,
Costume Design, Sound)
AFI 100 years, 100 _____ tributes: Thrills (#91)
Runtime: 2h 57min
Best quote: "Every man dies. Not every man really lives. "
-William Wallace
�I came home to raise crops, and God willing, a family. If I can live in peace, I will.�
With this tragic line, William Wallace (Mel Gibson) is forced to fight for the freedom of Scotland after his wife is brutally killed by an English Magistrate.
Wallace makes a vow that he �will not be ruled by the English, and nor will any Scot while I live.� It is up to Wallace to avenge his wife�s death and protect the country from which he so proudly hails, against the invading English army and it�s ruthless King, the evil Longshanks.
And while this isn�t a historical epic, it is based on a real person, although many details (of the little we know about William Wallace) were changed to suit the story. This isn�t a well know person, by any means (except maybe in Scotland), so changing little details here and there doesn�t affect the story at all. In fact, it makes it better. We don�t care that Gibson isn�t 6�6� that the real Wallace was; it�s his performance that makes the film believable. Gibson does this wonderfully.
Braveheart is director Mel Gibson�s finest work, and should have earned him an Oscar Nomination for acting. Even Patrick McGoohan (Longshanks) deserved a nomination. He was incredibly evil is his portrayal (at one point throwing a young man out a window to his death for no real reason at all), wicked and cold and perfect for the role.
The film is as realistic as can be expected, more so in some parts. The film is very dark, too. Very dark. The film deals with extreme torture, beheaded heads and even ruthless killing. This last point is one of the better aspects of the film. Gibson doesn�t have the actors stop to torture prisoners. People are killed with out fuss. Prisoners do not get away; there is no last second reprieve. The film knows what must be done and it is done. Finally! A film that doesn�t stop to smell the roses!
There is no better scene exhibiting this than the throat slitting of the Magistrate. We know he must die for the murder of Wallace�s wife, and Gibson (as Wallace) doesn�t stop to ask why he killed her, or to gain power from him. He walks up to the Magistrate and slits his throat. Done. No talk, no torture. Killed. Dead. Well done, Mel.
In keeping with the dramatic death and darkness of the picture, Gibson keeps the battles bloody and violent, as they would have been in those days. Nothing is cheapened.
The small villages look lived in, the lands and environment are muddy and depressing, the people look worn down and tired and even Gibson himself looks a year older by the end of the film.
All of this works well in creating this thrilling, gripping epic. Even though Mel Gibson�s accent breaks in a few spots, we never notice. The film is too exciting to care about a little detail like that.
Movies it was nominated with for Best Picture:
Apollo 13; Babe; Il Postino; Sense and Sensibility
Is the movie worth your time to watch?
9.5/10 13-02-07
