Braveheart Essay 1

I've had a go at finishing the paragraph we were working on during Wednesday's lesson.  It's not necessarily perfect but should give you some pointers as to how to weave a technique, with quotes, and with the directorial intention!  We'll keep going with this essay tomorrow in class, addressing the other techniques we mentioned in the intro.

“The use of a range of production techniques can help a director to develop characters.”

To what extent do you agree with this view?

Respond to this question with close reference to one or more films you have studied.

The historical epic film Braveheart, winner of the 1995 Best Film Oscar, tells the tale of William Wallace, a commoner who led a Scottish uprising against the oppression of the English and their cruel leader, Edward the Longshanks.  Mel Gibson both directed and starred in this film, playing the lead role of William Wallace.  Through the use of lighting, camera angles, costume, music and dialogue the character of William Wallace develops from Scottish commoner to national hero.

Gibson’s Braveheart has been called Anglophobic in that it presents a slanted view of Scottish history.  At the heart of the film is William Wallace, a real character from the late 13^th century who fought the English in a bid to lead Scotland to independence.  The film tells of the murder of his wife, Murron, and his subsequent crusade to avenge her death and bring freedom to all Scots.  His main rival is King Edward the Longshanks, ‘the most ruthless pagan’ ever to rule England.  In the film, the character to William Wallace develops from a man of the land to a man who fights, inspires and ultimately dies for his country.

The film makes much use of blue lighting.  It is symbolic that much of the lighting is blue as the Cross of Saint Andrew (the patron saint of Scotland) is a white cross on a blue background.  One significant moment is when William, as a child, has seen his father’s body laid out for burial.  As his dead father tells him, ‘your heart is free, have the courage to follow it,’ a blue filtered light emphasises the nationalism shown by Wallace senior and which will go on to inspire young William.  The same blue filter is used throughout the film but never as poignantly as at the close of the film, just before his execution, when William in his cell, prays, “Lord give me the strength to die well.”  The use of blue lighting throughout is to develop the character of Wallace and his immense nationalism, and for viewers to realise that it is for this country that he loves that Wallace is prepared to lay down his life.  The intention here is that we see the Scots as being the more nationalistic, and as better characters than the English.  Although many critics saw this as Anglophobic, the fact that so many Europeans can trace their heritage to Scotland added to the appeal for many movie goers.  It is to this Celtic sense of belonging that the film is to appeal.