ITIS testament to the power of the Braveheart phenomenon that, 10 years after the release of the film, it can provoke such an interesting and lively debate in The Herald's letters page.
Two distinct strands of argument have emerged. One comments on the merits of Braveheart as a film, while the other examines the healthiness or otherwise of dwelling upon the events of the Wars of Independence.
The accepted status of Braveheart as a film is beyond dispute. Worldwide box-office hit, and winner of five Oscars, Braveheart is rightfully seen as one of the great movies of all time. It was the second movie, after Schindler's List, to receive a standing ovation when shown at the European Parliament, and Nelson Mandela, on a visit to Westminster Hall, expressed his pleasure at standing on the spot where Wallace stood as he was condemned to death, as he had "seen the movie".
The success of Braveheart, after a period when production of expensive historical epic movies was deemed too risky, paved the way for movies like Titanic, Saving Private Ryan, and Gladiator. Braveheart was acknowledged as a major influence on the films of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
While conforming to the conventions of the epic movie form, Braveheart heightens the emotional impact of the story by the skilful inclusion of a variety of universal themes. It examines corruption by wealth and power, the nature of community, separation caused by the death of a loved one, relationships between fathers and sons, and, most strongly, trust and betrayal.
Any dramatic work, be it Braveheart or Blind Harry's Wallace, which seeks to tell a story set in the past, will only achieve acceptance with audiences if it speaks to them of issues that are relevant to their lives and times. Hence the long-term success of Blind Harry's fifteenth-century epic poem, and hence the impact of Braveheart in pre-devolution Scotland. Andrew Neil described Braveheart as "the most politically inf luential movie of the twentieth century".
Braveheart was also a unique event in that, as it moved and entertained cinema audiences in Scotland, it simultaneously gave them the biggest history lesson ever. In 1995 and 1996 tens of thousands of Scots exited from cinemas emotionally shaken by the movie, and in a state of confusion and anger about how little they had previously been taught about the life of William Wallace, the national hero, and about the long struggle of the Wars of Independence.
John Anderson, 9 Merchiston Crescent, Edinburgh.
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