Braveheart

Braveheart is an epic American motion picture released in 1995 very loosely based on the life of William Wallace, a national hero in Scotland. Mel Gibson played Wallace and also produced and directed the movie.

The film opens with Robert the Bruce telling us "I shall tell you of William Wallace. Historians from England will say I am a liar, but history is written by those who have hanged heroes."

In the first scene, a young William Wallace sees the hanged bodies of Scotsmen and boys who had traveled to a meeting with representatives of Edward I, popularly known as "Longshanks." Edward I had invaded Scotland, causing the Wars of Scottish Independence. His ultimate intention was to destroy the indigenous population of the country through war or by breeding. Longshanks invokes an ancient law, primae noctis ("first night"), which allowed lords the first sexual rights to any common woman on her wedding night.

William’s father and older brother leave home to do battle with Edward's army. Both are killed and their bodies are returned home to an orphaned William. Following the funerals, William’s uncle, Argyle, adopts William and takes him on a 20 year journey across Europe; the travels, which are referred to but not shown in the film, become William’s education.

When William, now a grown man, returns to his homeland, Longshanks’ son has married Isabelle, a French princess, in a political ploy that Edward believes will increase his power over France. William hopes to rebuild his father’s farm, marry, and raise a family. He reunites with his childhood love, Murron, and they marry in secret to avoid the jus primae noctis. However, when Murron is attacked and almost raped by the local English guards, William fights them and retreats into hiding. Murron, unable to escape with William, is captured and executed by having her throat slit in public by the local magistrate seeking to set an example against dissention, but more directly to provoke her husband.

William rides back to the village on horseback, feigning surrender. At the last second, he attacks the English soldiers. His lone fight is soon joined by his friend Hamish, Hamish's father Campbell, and the local townsfolk who kill every soldier in the magistrate's fortress. Bound by revenge, William kills the magistrate in the same fashion that he murdered Murron. Shortly after, William captures an even larger English garrison. (He does so by disguising himself and his comrades in the uniforms of English soldiers they have killed.) They seize control of the local lord's fortress and Wallace allows one of his soldiers to kill the lord (named Lord Bottoms in the script), who had taken his wife on their wedding night. The loss of this second base angers Longshanks and an army is sent to fight Wallace. However, word has already spread throughout Scotland, and highlanders come in droves to fight this invading force. Wallace knows that eventually the King will send his entire Northern Army, but to this end he has a plan.

Their first victory in this war comes at the Battle of Stirling. William, leading an outnumbered army, boosts their confidence with a charismatic speech. They outwit the English cavalry with long spears, then charge as the Scots knights close in on the English flank. Wallace's infantry slaughters the remaining English foot soldiers and William personally beheads the English general Cheltham, whom he had previously insulted during negotiations.

Though awarded the post of “High protector of Scotland” by the Scots nobles, William is still unable to convince them to solidly unite and invade England to ensure their victory and drive Longshanks from Scotland forever. The highest ranking noble, Robert the Bruce, a possible heir to the throne of Scotland, tells William that his efforts are directed more out of rage and vengeance, rather than the preservation of his homeland. William agrees but also sees the Bruce as the kind of leader Scotland needs and bids him to unite the clans.

William makes the decision to invade England himself and his army marches several hundred miles south to the city of York. They successfully raid the city and seize control of it. The local magistrate is beheaded and his head is sent to London as a message to Longshanks.

Longshanks sends the Princess of Wales, Isabelle, to York to negotiate a truce with William. He meets with her, but refuses to accept Longshanks demands. He cites Longshanks' longstanding cruel treatment of Scotland and his attempts at genocide. The princess returns to London, only to find that the meeting she held was merely a distraction. Longshanks' strategy had been to send his armies to Scotland and attack Wallace’s flank while he was preoccupied. Isabelle sends a courier to William with the news. He musters his troops and marches back to Scotland to engage the English army at Falkirk. During the battle, William again proves to be the better tactician, using his archers to ignite a field laden with oil between his infantry and Longshanks’ with the English cavalry trapped in the middle. Additionally, during the battle, the Irish soldiers accompanying Longshanks’ army join Wallace’s army at the manipulations of a seemingly insane Irishman called Steven, doubling its size instantly. However, Longshanks was able to subversively recruit the Scottish nobles and their cavalry. No longer a backup force for Wallace, they leave their “ally” for dead. William escapes the ensuing slaughter and rides after Longshanks. He is stopped short by Longshanks’ helmeted companion whom Wallace reveals to be Robert the Bruce. Robert helps William escape arrest and return to his army. At the Scottish army encampment, Hamish watches his father die as William looks on. William realizes that his pride has caused their defeat.

Though his army is defeated, William is still able to rally more highlanders to his cause and rebuild his forces. He also takes brutal vengeance on several of the nobles, murdering Mornay in his bedroom (on horseback by smashing his skull with a chain mace) and Lochlan, whose body he drops through an open window onto Lord Craig's dinner table after slitting his throat. Longshanks realizes Wallace is once again becoming invulnerable and plots to assassinate William, again using the princess as a ploy. The princess again warns William, and the assassins are brutally burned and murdered by William, Hamish, and Steven the Irishman. William secretly visits the princess to thank her and the two make love.

Several months pass and Longshanks works subversively to trap Wallace. Robert the Bruce is unwittingly used as the decoy this time, calling Wallace to a meeting to negotiate a truce. William is captured at Edinburgh by English soldiers and the Scottish nobles who betray him a second time. He is sent to London to be tried for treason.

Princess Isabelle pleads with William to beg the king for mercy. William refuses, preferring to die a free man. Isabelle later pleads with the king to spare Wallace’s life. The king is unable to speak due to a fatal, unknown illness (most likely tuberculosis as per the heavy cough that plagues him in the film's second half), but his will is unchanged. Whispering in the king’s ear, Isabelle reveals that she is pregnant with Wallace’s child and his offspring will be heir to the throne.

Wallace is brought into the public square for execution. He is offered clemency (which translates to a quick death by beheading) in exchange for declaring himself the king’s loyal subject. He refuses and is strung up, first by his neck, then by his wrists and ankles. He is then tied to a cross and has his shirt cut off. He is subsequently disembowelled. Refusing the taunts of the executioner to submit to the king, he yells his last word, "Freedom!". Realizing that Wallace will not be broken, even under extreme pain, the executioner orders his beheading. An instant before the axe falls, Wallace sees Murron floating among those in the crowd. The small cloth that Wallace was given by his wife as a wedding gift falls from his hand.

In Scotland, shortly after the execution, Robert the Bruce leads the remnants of Wallace’s army onto the field at Bannockburn to accept the title of King of Scotland whilst recognizing the King of England as Lord Paramount of Scotland, the feudal superior of the realm. Holding the small cloth that fell from Wallace’s hand in his final moment of life, he rallies the army to do battle with the English, much to the consternation of the nobles, who'd hoped that the Bruce would accept his title without incident. A voiceover by Wallace/Mel Gibson informs us that the year is 1314, and that the Scottish soldiers won their freedom on the battlefield.