Film Analysis Of Braveheart

The world has been plagued with inequality issues since the beginning of time. The film Braveheart portrays this issue magnificently. Braveheart, directed by Mel Gibson, was released in 1995 and since then has won a total of 5 Academy Awards including Best Picture 1995 and Best Director Mel Gibson. Based on true history, Braveheart takes place in the late 13th Century in Scotland. William Wallace (Mel Gibson) returns to Scotland after living away from his homeland for many years. The king of Scotland has died without an heir and the king of England, a ruthless man known as Edward the Longshanks, has seized the throne. With Longshanks in the throne, the people of Scotland suffer as if they are slaves. The film deals with various literary, dramatic, and cinematic aspects to show the viewer the true struggle of the Scots during this era. Mel Gibson does a good job of meshing these aspects of the film together to portray his viewpoint on the inequality brought about during this time period.

The director uses literary techniques to create a purpose in the film. The literary aspects of the film that create a major impact are the use of a narrator and symbolism. Throughout the film at major turning points, a narrator is used to recap the events that are about to take place, or already have taken place. A good example of the use of a narrator is in the last scene of the film. The narrator, who at first is Robert the Bruce, explains the events that have just occurred, namely the beheading of William Wallace. The narrator sets the scene for the upcoming events. The other prominent literary technique that Mel Gibson uses in Braveheart is the use of symbolism. In the beginning of the film, William Wallace weds a woman whom he has always loved. At a tragic point in the film the woman who he is married to is raped and murdered by English nobles. William Wallace uses this event to spark a revolution in order to win their independence from England. As the film progresses, he has several dreams about his deceased wife. Wallace’s wife symbolizes his purpose for trying to gain freedom. The literary aspects of Braveheart help to establish the dramatic feel of the film.

Braveheart is filled with dramatic scenes and relationships. Mel Gibson uses conflict and characters as very involving dramatic aspects of the film. Conflict is the most obvious aspect of the whole film. The whole plot is based on Scotland trying to gain their freedom from England by means of war. However, the characters add to the conflict through betrayal and revenge. Aside from the main conflict, there are several smaller conflicts between the characters. The conflict between William Wallace and the Scottish nobles leads to Wallace’s death. The conflict between Robert the Bruce and the ideas of his father leads to Scotland’s freedom. The smaller conflicts of the film add to the dramatic feel. The characters add to the depth of the plot. William Wallace is the righteous leader who will do whatever it takes to win freedom, Edward the Longshanks is the ruthless king who causes the pain and torture of several Scots, and Robert the Bruce is the next heir to the throne of Scotland who wants to lead his Scots proudly, but after meeting William Wallace he wants to gain freedom from the evil English. The characters add depth and conflict, and the conflict adds drama. The drama is added to even more so with the use cinematic aspects.

Together, the director and editor of Braveheart establish cinematic aspects such as camera movements and angles, editing techniques, and artistic qualities to create a mood and pace to the film. During the war scenes there is a lot of fast paced dollying, trucking, and panning. There are also abrupt cuts that switch the viewer back and forth between soldiers. These cinematic aspects put the viewer in the place of a soldier during a war. The camera techniques that are used show that war is fast paced. There are several long, establishing shots throughout the film that show the landscape and area of where this film is taking place.

Also before war scenes, there are usually two establishing shots of the Scottish army and of the opposing army. These shots really show the size of how big each army is. The editor chose to use dissolve and fade techniques very selectively. Only after very dramatic scenes is there a dissolve or fade into another scene. The sound effects and music add true feeling to the film. The sound effects are very realistic and range from the sound of crunching bones, to very simply a background conversation. The music, however, really sets the tone of the scene. The music portrays a message to the viewer such as sadness, triumph, action, or love. The cinematic aspects of Braveheart compliment the whole film.

In conclusion, The world has been plagued with inequality issues since the beginning of time. The film Braveheart portrays this issue magnificently. The film deals with various literary, dramatic, and cinematic aspects to show the viewer the true struggle of the Scots during this era. Mel Gibson does a good job of meshing these aspects of the film together to portray his viewpoint on the inequality brought about during this time period. The prominent literary aspects of the film deal with a narrator and the use of symbolism, the dramatic aspects are the conflict and characters, and the cinematic aspects include camera movements, angles, editing techniques and artistic qualities. The film Braveheart is a very inspiring, epic tale of struggles with inequality. Mel Gibson’s directing brilliancy makes this one of the greatest films of all time.