Braveheart Movie Report

Braveheart is a film directed by Mel Gibson which loosely portrays the life of William Wallace, a national hero in Scotland. In real life, Sir William Wallace was a Scottish knight who led the resistance against the English occupation of Scotland during significant periods of the Wars of Scottish Independence.

While there are no accurate historical records that exist concerning the birth date and place of birth of Sir William Wallace, there are accounts of his exploits, one of the most memorable of these accounts is the mark of the beginning of this resistance movement for the independence of Scotland which was his killing of the son of the English governor of Dundee.

The heroism of Sir William Wallace was such that it was the inspiration of historical novel The Acts and Deeds of Sir William Wallace, Knight of Elderslie written by the 15th century minstrel Blind Harry which was also attributed as the cause for the legend which surrounds Sir William Wallace. The onscreen portrayal of Sir William Wallace by Mel Gibson in the film Braveheart, according to critics, “has been somehow stretched to the limits that the silver screen can provide.
” (Roger Ebert 1995) The famous cry for “freedom” in the movie is not as historically accurate as it is portrayed because the concept of personal freedom wasn’t widely celebrated during the era of Sir William Wallace. Another inconsistency of the movie with regard to the portrayal of Sir William Wallace lies in the battlefield strategy employed; there are no historical accounts of the 14th century Scotsmen burning the battlefield.
Most of the characters in the movie, Sir William Wallace included, have been “glorified” to be able to properly manipulate the sentiment of onscreen audiences. Much of the portrayals tend to show only the glorious and benevolent sides and don’t reflect an accurate recount of the historical truths concerning the charact