Like every other Hollywood movie, scenes based on true-life events are often exaggerated and highly altered. Braveheart is no exception. Filled with countless historical inaccuracies, one could say the movie was a fictional piece of fantasy.
After doing some research on the Internet I have concluded that Mel Gibson’s Braveheart is absolute utter garbage. It is filled with inconsistencies and highly inaccurate.
We begin with the childhood of William Wallace. Depicted as the orphaned son of a farmer, he was left all alone when his father & brother left to defend their land against the English army. However truth is, William Wallace’s father Alan and eldest son John was in fact was fighting along side the English together.
Many years later, he is seen as a poor man who was truly in love with his childhood sweetheart, Murron MacClannough; which is before he got himself in a lot of trouble with the English. Actually he owned many lands and a scholar who was well versed in French, English and Latin. He was considered an outlaw for not swearing allegiance to the English, not because he single handedly led an up rise against a group of soldiers. There was no Murron, she never existed and therefore he never married anyone. The romance in the entire movie is completely made up and only meant to add emotional and sympathy value to the movie.
Contrary to the representation of Wallace, he was in fact a noble Knight and renowned poet, had he been in a time of peace he might even have been a scholar and not a brutal savage as shown on screen. He gained respect through his battles and leadership in war, despite not having a firm influence on the nobles of Scotland, due to corruption within power.
The dress code in the movie portrayed all Scottish freedom fighters as wearing kilts and leather. William Wallace at any point in time never wore sleeves. Again completely false, for most of the battles the men were covered in armory and clad in metal chains and coifs. Kilts provided little and almost no protection at all. Mel Gibson sacrificed historical inaccuracy in a bid to show off his bulking biceps and lean arms, all in the name of entertainment.
During the battle of Falkirk, Wallace was seen as being betrayed by the Scottish lords and nobles. He was shown as going against the desires of other nobles by charging into battle. Contrary to what was shown, Wallace actually did not desire to fight on that very day due to the fact that the battlegrounds were not in their favor. The Lords and Nobles did not betray him directly, although they did indeed withdraw their troops halfway through battle, the reason for this is still unclear.
In the aftermath of the Falkirk battle, William Wallace rides alone to kill King Edward I himself. Defended by a personal knight, Wallace was knocked off his horse and played dead. The Knight was later revealed to be Sir Robert Bruce, who then saves Wallace’s life in repent for his betrayal. This never took place and is entirely made up. Sir Robert Bruce never betrayed William Wallace. Records show that Bruce might never even been in the battle or yet alone did any such significant act of repent. This bullshit dramatic twist in the plot was purely for entertainment purpose.
Next, which is probably the biggest lie in the entire movie is of Wallace and his secret affair with the French Princess Isabella. Having heard of his courage and desire to avenge his love, Isabella sent her escort to warn of danger twice. Seriously? Isabella was no older than 10 years old when he died. How could she have possibly been carrying his baby at his time of death? Portrayed as a delicate flower who opposed English brutality, Isabelle was in fact a feminist and as hard as a stone. She had her husband, the King, imprisoned and murdered. Then launched her own invasion of Scotland. Wow, that was entirely different from the movie.
Towards the end King Edward I was shown to have die at the same time that Wallace was beheaded. The scene was powerful, emotionally moving and deeply satisfying however King Edward in fact lived on for another 3 years after Wallace’s death.
Mohamed Sahdique Caubang
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