DILLON ON FILM

Braveheart: 30 Years On

If approached as mythology rather than history, Mel Gibson’s hagiographic take on William Wallace is still rip-roaring stuff

Credit: 20th Century Fox/Paramount

Warning: Contains spoilers

My late, much-missed father was a Scotsman and an ardent British unionist. He loathed the Scottish Nationalist Party and considered Braveheart (1995) a propaganda gift to them. On the other hand, he enjoyed Mel Gibson’s blood-soaked epic in much the same way I do: As mythology. Yes, there was a historical figure named William Wallace, but for all Gibson’s admirable efforts at realistically depicting the brutality of medieval warfare, he shamelessly prints the legend concerning his subject in this hagiographic crowd-pleaser.

Others have taken Gibson to task for the myriad historical inaccuracies depicted herein. These range from including kilts before they were invented, to denigrating Robert the Bruce (Angus McFayden) for a betrayal that never happened, and having Wallace (Gibson) sleep with French Princess Isabella (Sophie Marceau); implying that her resultant Wallace-sired offspring will supplant cruel tyrant Edward the Longshanks (Patrick McGoohan). In reality, it is doubtful at best Isabella and Wallace ever met, considering she was two years old at the time the film…