BRAVE HEART

 

THREE STARS – Searching, Thoughtful

 

 

       Freedom to determine one’s own destiny is not only the desire of every heart, but it is our God-given right.  Perhaps that is why it is so costly.  Set within the 13th century  struggle between England and Scotland, BRAVEHEART is a study of the cost of freedom.

        Based upon historical events, the film creates a milieu with very bloody and graphic scenes of violence establishing the theme of the costliness of freedom.  There is no ‘cheap freedom’ for the Scots, nor is there ‘easy domination’ for the English.

       The main character, played by director Mel Gibson, is William Wallace, a person of intelligence, commitment, courage and love.  As a boy, young William witnessed the treachery of King Edward the Longshanks of England (Patrick McGoohan) in which the king had invited the Scottish nobles to a meeting and then murdered them.   In the anger and relationation which followed, he lost his father and brother.

       This lesson, both of the deceit of those who would take away our freedom and the cost to those who fight them, was a driving force in William’s  life.  Woven throughout the struggle for freedom is a powerful image of love and commitment.  It is begun when William is grieving the loss of his father and brother at their grave side.  A young girl, touched by his pain, stops and picks a thistle’s flower to give him.  No words are exchanged, but this act of kindness binds them as soul mates for life and the spiritual life beyond death.

        As an example of marital love and commitment their bond provides all of us with the wonderful possibility of life-long love which begins in child-hood.  But the symbol of the thistle’s flower portrays the painful beauty of their life.

       Though they experience the deepest love, the thistle’s thorns are present when, after a secret marriage, Murron (Catherine McCormack) is murdered by an English noble.  The brutal murder is avenged by William and his clan.  But in so doing the events are set in motion which not only avenge for her murder, but for 100 years of brutal domination.

       The war is a vicious one full of loyalty, courage and deceit.  The greatest deceit comes not from the English, but from Robert the Bruce (Angus McFadyen) the Scottish noble that William trusted and admired.

       As the rightful heir to the deposed throne of Scotland, Robert the Bruce is a man under the evil, manipulative domination of his father.   His conscience deformed by his father’s manipulation, Robert is weak and not free to follow his own moral choices.  It is in this internal struggle within Robert’s heart that corresponds with the struggle for freedom within the nation.

       Freedom can never come from treachery, betrayal and deceit, either in our hearts or in our nations.  Like the disease which was rotting his body and face, Robert’s father’s spirit had long before become a deformed and rotten presence in  Robert’s life.

       Unable to become free to lead in a truthful and moral way, it was Robert’s deceit and finally being deceived himself which causes the death of William.  This final martyrdom is the key that sets Robert the Bruce and all Scotland free.

       The truth that freedom takes the lives of the innocent and courageous is of course a central theme of Christian thought.  Evil seems to have its time until someone is willing to lay down his life to fight it.  With obvious Christian symbolism, William Wallace is brought to his death with arms outstretched on a wooden cross, exemplifying this truth that Jesus Christ lived, and for which he died, so many centuries before.

       Freedom is a costly prize and it is not for those willing to compromise.  It is rather ultimately obtained only by those willing to lay down their life to attain it.

      

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