Braveheart

Braveheart is a historical movie which was directed by and starred Mel Gibson and was release in 1995. The film is based on a true story about a Scottish warrior who fought against the English for the rights of independence for the Scottish.

Braveheart was a blockbuster, grossing $210,409,945 at the box office over a $72million budget and won five Academy Awards out of ten nominations. Some reviews are positive, but the film was also controversial; certain critics attacked the film for conservatism, but there is proof that Braveheart portrays liberal values.

Story
As the film starts, the year is 1280. Scottish king Alexander III has died, oleaving no one next in line for the king. King Edward Longshanks invades and conquers Scotland.

As a kid, William Wallace witnesses the treachery and the murder of his father and brother. Years later, Longshanks' unfair laws worsen; he grants his noblemen land and privileges in Scotland, including the right of the lord to have sex with a woman subject on her wedding night. Wallace returns home and begins a relationship with his childhood friend, Murron McClanough, but things get ugly when she is raped by Longshanks' soldiers. Wallace saves her, but she is soon captured and publically executed. Wallace cannot take Longshanks' conservative laws much longer and thus swears vengeance.

Wallace rallies a squad of Scottish rebels and prepare for a battle against the English. He introduces himself and publically swears Scotland will eventually gain freedom. Longshanks does his very best to prevent this with assistance from his son Edward II. Wallace leads his army to victory at   Stirling  and then sacks the city of York, killing Longshanks' nephew and sending his head back. Wallace seeks the assistance of   Robert the Bruce, the son of nobleman   Robert the Elder and a contender for the Scottish crown. Robert is dominated by his father, who wishes to secure the throne for his son by submitting to the English. Worried by the threat of the rebellion, Longshanks sends his son's wife,   Isabella of France, to try to reason with Wallace hoping that Wallace will kill her in order to draw the French king to declare war. Wallace refuses the bribe sent with Isabella by Longshanks, but after meeting him in person, Isabella becomes enamored with him. Meanwhile, Longshanks prepares an army to invade Scotland.

Warned of the coming invasion by Isabella, Wallace implores the Scottish nobility that immediate action is needed to counter the threat and to take back the country. Leading the English army himself, Longshanks confronts the Scots at Falkirk where noblemen Lochlan and Mornay betray Wallace. The Scots lose the battle, and Hamish's father dies afterwards. As he charges toward the departing Longshanks on horseback, Wallace is intercepted by one of the king's lancers, who turns out to be Robert. Remorseful, he gets Wallace to safety before the English can capture him. Wallace kills Mornay and Lochlan for their betrayal, and wages a guerrilla war against the English. Robert, intending to join Wallace and commit troops to the war, sets up a meeting with him in Edinburgh. However, Robert's father has conspired with other nobles to capture and hand over Wallace to the English. Learning of his treachery, Robert disowns his father. Isabella exacts revenge on the now terminally ill Longshanks by telling him she is pregnant with Wallace's child, intent on ending Longshanks line and ruling in his son's place.

Wallace is brought to London to be publically tortured and beheaded. He is hung, drawn and quartered, but does not beg for mercy or submit to the king. However, moments before he is beheaded, Wallace cries; "Freedom" rather than "Mercy" and sees a vision of Murron in the background, smiling. In 1314, Robert gains the position of the 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 Wallace's memory, imploring his men to fight with him as they did with Wallace. Robert then leads his army into battle against the stunned English, winning the Scots their freedom.

Political Points
The film was long attacked for being conservative. This is partially due to Mel Gibson's public slurs which have angered Jews and gays. However this is way outside of the film and this is Braveheart we're talking about.

Speaking of homosexuality, the Gay Allience hated the film, due to the protrayal of the Prince Of Wales as homosexual and the scene where Longshanks murders his male lover by shoving him out of a castle window. Longshanks is therefore depicted as a conservative character, but bearing in mind he is also the villain in this film and it's very common for a liberal film to feature a conservative villain.

Braveheart attacks authority, a fair liberal point. William Wallace fights for freedom for his country, because basically, the English are controlling them and bossing them around. Maybe killing their guards was a bit much, but the Scottish had suffered much similar pain before Wallace's rally, so we can't really blame him for what he did. Braveheart is a bit like Mahatma Gandhi's story of the time India suffered harsh pain from the British rule, except that Wallace literally fights.

The message for the whole film is that every country deserves the right for independence and peace.