BRAVEHEART

In this day of ever-increasing social awareness, it is often difficult to separate artistic endeavors from the harsh realities of their creators. Do you still listen to Michael Jackson songs? Do you still watch Woody Allen movies? Do you still watch Bill Cosby's shows? It is in this same vein I had great discontent with my need to watch a Mel Gibson film to complete my goal of seeing all Oscar-Winning Best Pictures. Mel Gibson is a racist, anti-Semitic, misogynist, homophobic cur. But he did direct and star in the film that would be handed the Oscar statue for Best Picture in 1996. That film is Braveheart.

Since Mel likes to view things superficially, I’m going to start my critique in the same manner. The hair. Need I say more? His ridiculous hair alone knocks this movie from a possible A to a B. Full stop. It is beyond absurd that a movie that strives so hard to realistically show the messiness and sludge of the natural landscapes of the film’s era (the 1200’s) would allow for this big 90’s windswept Fabio doo. It’s a nearly 40-year-old Mel Gibson trying to play a 20-something character by attempting to rock out the hair of Nick on Family Ties. The hair was atrocious. My feeling is that it was supposed to represent William Wallace’s (Gibson’s character in the film) virility, a characteristic the movie strives to continually reinforce. If this is the case, the hair is an epic fail.

A friend pointed out the realistic nature of the fight scenes, and how every single character (of hundreds) in these ambitious battles seems to be fully choreographed. I would agree. These scenes are cinematic masterpieces on a magnificent scale. My issue with the battle scenes is that there are a lot of them. I mean, a LOT of them. Their grandness grows old after the fifth time or so. The supporting cast is outstanding (Sophie Marceau as Princess Isabelle and Patrick McGoohan as the malicious Longshanks in particular). Mel is quite good as well, though he can often delve into overacting, and his Scottish accent thickens and thins continually throughout the film. (No one from the movie received an Oscar nod for acting.)

Overall, this is a very fine motion picture. I started it at 1:00 a.m. in the morning expecting to stop halfway through and pick it up the next day. But once I was into it, I had to see it through to the end… three hours later! That’s a big compliment overall. It was exciting, offered some absolutely stunning scenery and music, and the story was a compelling one. With that said, while the film is about actual people who fought for the independence of Scotland, the story itself is highly fictionalized. It was a vanity project for Mel for sure, and in my personal opinion, Apollo 13 was a more worthy contender for the Best Picture award that year.