Daniel Frederick Digital Portfolio
Plot Synopsis
William Wallace is the medieval Scottish patriot who is spurred into revolt against the English when the love of his life is slaughtered. Leading his army into battles that become a war, his advance into England threatens King Edward I's throne before he is captured and executed, but not before becoming a symbol for a free Scotland.
Source - Wikipedia
Ruskin
Savageness
“I am not sure when the word ‘Gothic’ was first generically applied to the architecture of the North; but I presume that, whatever the date of its original usage, it was intended to imply reproach, and express the barbaric character of the nations among whom that architecture arose” (VII).
Instead of being an application of various medievalist characteristics, this movie is set in the Middle Ages, and attempts to realistically reproduce the emotion and violence of the time. Wallace’s execution at the end was very violent and bloody, and served a purpose. He would have been spared a violent death if he would only say “Mercy”, but instead he chose to shout “Freedom.” The audience can see his utter determination to never back down, and give his life for the freedom of his brothers.
Eco
National Identities
“when the medieval model was taken as a political utopia, a celebration of past grandeur, to be opposed to the miseries of national enslavement and foreign domination”(p. 70).
Wallace's whole purpose in the movie is to free his country from a tyrannical reign.
