historical epic as a genre was almost banished from hollywood in early 1990s . for many critics , scholars and , most importantly , film producers , it was a thing of the past - something that could have attracted crowds only in the era of black-and-white television and non-cgi special effects . but in 1995 , same as in the case of dances with wolves five years ago , there came the man who decided to use of all his energy and talents of actor , producer and director in order to revitalise that particular genre . and , same as in the case of dances with wolves , he was awarded for his effort with " oscars " . the name of the film was braveheart , and the name of its director and main actor was mel gibson . the plot chronicles the life of scottish warlord and folk hero william wallace ( 1272 - 1305 ) . in his time , english king edward i " longshanks " ( played by patrick mcgoohan ) has almost completely subdued entire british isles , including scotland , whose proud inhabitants are now subjected by " ius primae noctis " and various other forms of humiliation and oppression by english knights . although english had killed his father many years ago , young scottish commoner william wallace ( played by mel gibson ) doesn't care about politics and wants only to have peaceful life with his new bride murron ( played by catherine maccormack ) . murron's death changes that and wallace takes arms and , together with small but dedicated band of followers , begins guerrilla campaign that would systematically destroy almost every english garrison in the country . through time , more and more people join his ranks and in 1298 wallace's rag-tag army scores surprising victory against english knights in the battle of stirling bridge . but the newly won freedom is endangered by the internal squabbles between scots themselves , especially nobles under pretender robert the bruce ( played by angus macfadyen ) , who wouldn't like to have a simple commoner as a national leader . braveheart was only the second film in the directorial career by mel gibson , so it wouldn't be fair to compare it to the better known genre classics directed by david lean or anthony mann . however , even when we apply such criteria braveheart is more than decent historical epic that takes new and refreshing approach to the genre . the most noticeable element of this approach is naturalism . while older hollywood films set in medieval europe used to give fairytale-like vision of picturesque castles , splendid costumes and knights in shining armour , gibson shows us the extremely unpleasant world of poverty and feudal injustice where might made right and life was hard , short and brutish . this general unpleasantness is especially underlined in the scenes of battle , where hand-to-hand combat is naturalistically displayed in all its gory details , never seen since verhoeven's ultra-naturalistic flesh & blood . compared with this naturalistic approach , most of old hollywood epics look like stage plays . braveheart also employs humour at the right places , not only to make bloody realities of medieval british isles more bearable to sensitive audiences , but also to underline its down-to-earth atmosphere , so different from previous historical epics . what makes braveheart " larger than life " is his protagonist . mel gibson obviously invested plenty of his energy and talent in bringing the mythical figure of william wallace and , as a result , character of 15th century poems is transformed into superhuman being that resembles late 20th century comic book hero . wallace is more than superior to his enemies , both physically and mentally , yet he is able to show his sensitive , more vulnerable side . naturally , when the character is based on epic poems , most of historical accuracy is going down the drain ( which was the case with almost every historical epic from hollywood in 1990s ) . however , even those who don't particularly care about history or are willing to give poetic license to scriptwriter randall wallace might think that he went over the top in idolising wallace , especially in the second part of film when scottish superhero manages to seduce princess isabel ( played by sophie marceau ) and make her a child . because of that the disbelief is hardly suspended , and final scenes aren't as effective as they should be . mel gibson as an actor is truly wonderful , and he is also helped by small army of very good british and irish actors . most memorable of them all is patrick mcgoohan , whose cold , calculated and evil medieval monarch is one of the most effective villains seen in contemporary cinema . brendan gleeson ( who would later become famous for his role in boorman's general ) is also very good as wallace's trusted companion , as well as ian bannen is effective as leprosy-stricken king john balliol . david o'harra is very entertaining as wallace's irish ally , and angus macfadyen brings a lot of anxiety into his conscience-stricken character of robert the bruce . women in this film have rather thankless roles , especially marceau as one-dimensional french princess . catherine mccormack as wallace's wife was more interesting , but she was eliminated from the picture early on . from the technical point of view , the film is also very good . photography by john toll brings a lot of scottish natural beauty to the screen . on the other hand , the musical score by james horner employs too much of modern-day instruments for period piece set in medieval times . although mostly welcomed by critics and audiences alike , braveheart was often criticised for homophobia and other forms of extreme conservatism . the main reason for that was the fact that gibson , among many historical facts , chose to be faithful only to those related to sexual orientation of " longshank " 's son prince edward ( played by peter hanly ) . he is not only presented as a villain , but also as one of the less competent in villain's camp - and portraying of homosexuals as villains or inferior to heterosexuals is almost unforgivable sin in " politically correct " hollywood . to make things even more obvious , good guys in this film are the total opposite of effeminate and incompetent edward - rugged macho men of mountains who are more practical and efficient because they tend to employ conservatives' common sense instead of fashionable theories of ivory tower liberals . however , although the message of this film might look right-wing , it owes more to leftist ideology of various national liberation movements in 20th century . according to that ideology , oppressed classes ( workers , peasants ) are better suited to fight for national freedom because their members has less to lose in that struggle and , as such , they are more radical , less willing to make compromises and more efficient ; on the other hand , privileged classes ( aristocracy , bourgeoisie ) are more likely to betray the cause of freedom and be in cahoots with foreign oppressors in order to keep their privileges . this marxist worldview is presented in braveheart without any subtlety . in the end , whether the audience is patient enough to discover hidden meanings or simply wants to enjoy entertaining historical epic , braveheart is more than adequate choice for all fans of this recently resurrected genre .
