The Rage against Injustice in “Braveheart”

Excerpts from the Paper

The Rage against Injustice in "Braveheart"
Mel Gibson’s 1995 freedom epic Braveheart creates a very different impression from the man who made the movie. Gibson, a troubled alcoholic racist, knows how to make the audience go hot with rage against injustice. He accomplishes this with some pretty speeches about freedom and superb battle scenes. The real key ingredient to this film, however, is the blood.
The setup for the film, Scotland’s William Wallace attempting to free his country from the occupation by England, is carefully sketched out for the viewer to demand an enormous confrontation. Gibson understands the little things that visually make the audience very emotional. For instance, Wallace seeing his countrymen playing traditional...

.....ually watch the movie with one’s body, as if the audience’s eyes connected directly to the central nervous system rather than the brain.
With Wallace’s final cries of “Freedom!” at the end as he is being broken on the rack by the English, the audience’s suspension of disbelief is practically annihilated. Braveheart is a masterpiece of Hollywood excitement. Among the many film stars today who are screwed up by their own success, Mel Gibson may be the saddest case. If he could be rescued from his own madness we might get more great films like this. It’s as if his talent is his inner Scot, and his blustery racist madness is the evil English king who dwells within him.
Bibliography
Gibson, William. Braveheart. Hollywood: 20th Century Fox, 1995.