Braveheart

Chosen answer: Just like he said, it would dull his wits and not leave him fully lucid the next day when he had to face the torture.

LorgSkyegon

He wanted his full awareness so he didn't accidentally yell for mercy.

Answer: Because it's a reference to what his Father's last words to him were at the beginning of the film before he was killed, 'I know you can fight but it's our wits that makes us men'. That's why Wallace says to the Princess, 'It will dull my wits and I must have them always'.

Question: What is the name of the song that plays at the beginning of the movie at the funeral when the girl gives William a flower?

Answer: It's called "A Gift of a Thistle" and it's on the soundtrack conducted by James Horner. Incidentally, the tune is a recurring theme throughout the film's music, and appears in several other songs on the soundtrack as well. Also in relation to the song, the flower was a thistle.

Krista

Question: The script was written by Randall Wallace. Any family connections to William Wallace or is it just a coincidence?

Answer: According to IMDb Randall Wallace's personal quote reads, "I think he is an ancestor, I feel his blood in my veins. I can't prove it but then no one can disprove it."

OneHappyHusky

Question: Can anyone point me to a website or explain what all is involved / symbolism, etc., of the wedding ceremony between Wallace and Murron?

Answer: The kneeling is customary for a Catholic wedding ceremony. The only real 'symbolism' is when the priest wraps their hands in a tartan. Today, a groom would put his family's tartan around his bride's shoulders to show she is now part of his family. You can see in the next scene in the town, when Wallace asks to see Murron that night, he pulls the tartan out from under the neck of her dress. The wrapping of the hands is left over from the Celtic culture. Before Christianity came to the Celts, they would be handfasted, literally tied together at the hand and wrist. Usually this was done with a string, but here was shown with Wallace's clan tartan. Once the Scots became Christians, they still kept several old pagan rituals and incorporated them into their new-found religion. So, even though the priest performs this part of the ceremony, it was perfectly acceptable. The priest 'ties' the hands together and performs the rest of the marriage ceremony; once the marriage ceremony was over, he would untie them.

Question: When Robert the Bruce is talking to the nobles at the begining of the movie, what is the significance of him seeing his dad up above on the balcony and saying that his dad couldn't be there in person, but sends his regards?

Answer: The significance is that his Dad is not away on business he is very sick and hiding. I would imagine both he and his dad think that their position would weakened if the other nobles new his dad was sick and probably going to die soon.

pross79

Question: How is Wallace being tortured right after they show one of the executioners tear his shirt open?

Answer: The little people shown before Wallace's execution give us a clue-they are cutting him open and pulling out his guts, then castrating him. Traitor execution traditionally was done by drawing and quartering. This is was done by hanging, then cutting open the abdominal wall and removing the intestines and setting them on fire. A good executioner would then reach up under the rib cage and quickly cut out the still beating heart for all to see.

Nick N.

Man that's pretty grim, but I believe what you wrote. People have always been barbaric. This rates in the top 5.

Question: Directly before Wallace is beheaded, he sees his dead wife in the crowd. Is this meant to be her ghost or is he imagining it?

Answer: I prefer to think that her spirit is actually there to welcome him to the afterlife.

Its all left for us to figure it out.

lionhead

Answer: He is imagining it. He is trying focus on the fact he will see his wife again soon, in the after-life, rather than the pain of torture and his impending death.

Mark English

Question: During Wallace's execution, he stares at a child in the crowd, who stares back and smiles. What does the child symbolise?

Answer: I think the child symbolizes purity. Overall, Wallace is a pure man in the sense that he's uncompromising and fights for his convictions without wavering. He's not tainted with compromise, politics, and other things that other men succomb to. By seeing the child, he's reminded that he has to stick to his pure ideals of freedom, and not crack under the strain of torture.

Krista

Question: In the secret wedding scene Wallace gives his Tartan to bind the hands but what is it that Murron gives to him? Is there a documented tradition for this?

Answer: Traditionally the woman gives the man some cloth that she has woven or embroidered while the man gives the woman some food that he has grown (usually wheat or barley).

Question: After Wallace kills the lord that killed his wife, Hemish's father starts chanting something like, "McCoughlick, McCoughlick", then, "Wallace, Wallace", what exactly is the first thing he says?

Answer: In the script of the movie Braveheart (Section 9 http://www.macbraveheart.co.uk/movie/script.htm) the Scots are chanting "MacAulish, MacAulish, WALLACE, WALLACE!" The term "Mac" means "son of", and "Aulish" is intended to be a variation of the Medieval Gaelic name "Uallas" (later translated to the Anglican, "Wallace"). Where the writers got the spelling "Aulish" is anyone's guess. Perhaps they were just trying to simplify the name for literary purposes. At any rate, essentially the Scots are chanting "MacUallas!" or "Son of Wallace" which then morphs into "Wallace!"

Question: The Irish man uses the "F expletive" in one of his first scenes. Would that word have been in existence then?

Answer: It might have as the word is very old. But since it has always been considered very obscene it doesn't appear much in written form (before modern time). The earliest written occurrence known is in a poem from before 1500. But regardless of whether the word existed or not; the dialog in Braveheart is in contemporary English, since 13th century Scottish would be impossible to understand for the average moviegoer. So it's not a mistake for a character to utter the f-word.

Andreas[DK]

Answer: There's also lots of f-words in Luc Besson's The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc by The English Commanders.

Answer: Historically speaking Wallace's exploits didn't go much further than causing havoc for garissons about his area. The warpaint was all Hollywood.

Question: Why did they decapitate Wallace after he said "freedom"? I thought they implied that if he said "mercy", they'd give him a quick death, but if not, they'd continue to torture him. So what would they have done if he said "mercy"?

MikeH

Answer: In the end, they just gave up. They realised he was not going to say it before dying anyway, so they ended it. If he would have said "mercy" they would have done the same thing, but it didn't matter anymore. They couldn't break him.

lionhead

Question: What sickness does the king have, which he apparently succumbs to at the end?

Answer: King Edward I died of dysentery.

Question: What illness does Robert's father have?

Answer: Within this movie's storyline he has leprosy.

Super Grover

Braveheart mistake picture

Visible crew/equipment: During the "full attack" at the start of the Battle of Stirling Bridge, Wallace repeatedly shouts, "Hold," and in the wideshot right before Wallace finally shouts, "Now!" as the horses gallop towards the right side of the screen, we can see a white car at the left side of the screen. Viewed widescreen version. (01:27:15)

Super Grover

More mistakes in Braveheart
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Trivia: The Irish Army personnel, who were used as extras in the battle scenes, had an unfortunate habit of wearing wristwatches and sunglasses, causing several scenes to be re-shot.

More trivia for Braveheart

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