Braveheart
Short description
Set in Scotland near the end of the thirteenth century, Braveheart follows William Wallace, a man of modest origins who wants only to settle down and live quietly. England's King Edward I has other plans for the country, and when English soldiers kill Wallace's wife, his private grief turns into open rebellion. What begins as one man's answer to a killing grows into a wider Scottish uprising against English rule, though the nobility's loyalties prove less steady than the cause itself.
Mel Gibson directs and stars, working from a screenplay by Randall Wallace. It is the second of the films Gibson has directed, arriving two years after The Man Without a Face. Catherine McCormack plays Murron, with Sophie Marceau as Princess Isabelle, Patrick McGoohan as King Edward, Angus Macfadyen as Robert the Bruce, and Brendan Gleeson as Hamish Campbell. The production, mounted by Icon Productions and The Ladd Company among others, cost 72 million USD and took 213 million USD worldwide.
On IMDb, the film holds 8.3/10 from 1,200,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 7.9/10 from 11,448 votes. A critics' rating of 7.4/10 from 139 reviews places it below the audience scores. The scale of the vote counts on IMDb indicates a film that has been watched and rated continuously by a very large international audience over three decades.
What's left behind the scenes
- The woad blue face paint used by Wallace and his companions was employed by ancient Celtic warriors. It wasn't used in the 13th century, the period in which the film is set.
- William Wallace’s father and brother were killed in 1291, meaning Wallace was around 21 years old, not 10 as depicted in the film.
- Several of the main battle scenes in the film had to be reshot because sunglasses and wristwatches were spotted on extras in the frame.
- At the 45-minute mark, when Marion is tied to the stake, the soldier she bites has a beard, although he was clean-shaven in the previous scene.
- King Edward I was not a pagan, as claimed in the film. Moreover, he participated in the Eighth Crusade.
- The real William Wallace could not have been the father of Edward III, as suggested in the film. Seven years passed between Wallace's execution (1305) and the birth of Edward III (1312).
- King Edward I did not die at the same time as Wallace, but two years later (in 1307).
- In the film, Scotsmen universally wear kilts, or rather, the so-called 'great kilt' or 'great plaid'. The film's action takes place in the late 13th and early 14th centuries (the dates of William Wallace's life – 1270-1305). However, the kilt appeared in Scotland only in the 16th century, at the earliest two hundred years later. The earliest description of the great plaid in the Scottish Highlands dates back to 1594. The kilt only became traditional Scottish clothing in the mid-19th century.
- Filming took place from June 6th to October 28th, 1994.
- In the film, William Wallace is a peasant. In reality, however, he was a hereditary nobleman. According to the traditional version, he was the younger son of a small Scottish knight, Sir Malcolm Wallace, who was a vassal of Lord James Stewart, from the line of future Scottish kings, the Stuarts. According to another version, William Wallace was the younger son of an important Scottish aristocrat, Allan Wallace.
- The depiction of the Battle of Stirling Bridge omits the Stirling Bridge itself, which played a crucial role in the Scottish victory.
- Wallace's capture was provoked not by the betrayal of Robert the Bruce's father, as shown in the film, but by the betrayal of the Scottish knight John de Menteith, who was loyal to the English king.
- A love affair between Wallace and the English queen (Isabella of France) could not have happened in reality. At the time of the main events of the film (1297-1298), Isabella was about five years old and lived in her homeland – in France, at the court of her father, King Philip IV.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
