I’m shocked to say it but this is my new favorite movie from 1995 about Scottish peasants rising against the British. I can’t say I expected Braveheart to be surpassed in that category, let alone for that category to exist whatsoever, it’s clear Braveheart’s shadow was the main thing holding this back because in the end I’d actually say this is the better film (at least until I rewatch Braveheart since it’s been forever). I haven’t seen him in Schindler’s List yet but I’m easily ready to call this Liam Neeson’s best performance from the ones I’ve seen, yeah I can still hear his Irish accent peek through at points but the Scottish accent was better than I thought it’d be and this was far and away the best emotional acting I’ve seen him give. The cast around Neeson was great and maybe even better than he was, I’ll get to Tim Roth in a second but Jessia Lange was amazing and I really liked John Hurt too. It’s also tough to outright recommend this because of the SA scene but I will say I don’t think it was mishandled or unnecessary to the plot, and even with how much I hate seeing it I can’t deny how much it makes me hate a character, who, in this case, was the phenomenal villain portrayed by Tim Roth. There are few men in film who I’ve hated more than Roth here, a pompously monstrous villain who embodies the entitlement of 1700’s Britain through his every action, as a man of Irish blood I’m always subconsciously looking for a reason to hate the British and this fed my vice as beautifully as something like RRR did. Speaking of this movie’s beauty it’s a must to bring up these beautiful Scottish highland landscape shots, some of my new favorite use of green in a film ever and besides the landscapes they had some really stunning sets and costumes as well, all across the board I loved this technical vision. Paired with that you get an almost Lord of the Rings-esque score from Carter Burwell with the flutes and the evocation of that whimsical joy when experienced with this gorgeous cinematography, it brought the same feeling I love about Howard Shore’s iconic work here with the fun Scottish elements, it’s obviously not to the level of Shore’s but it was easily one of my favorite things about this. I also like that it chooses not to represent the Scottish people through one “real” person but through a folk legend and how it says this story symbolizes the Scottish individuals’ struggle against corrupt nobles and the Brits at that time, and even though I love the military stand-against-oppression in Braveheart this story being more focused on the ramifications of conflict and the common person’s resilience to that makes it feel more intimate and because of that it worked more for me. If that down to earth and personal story sounds more your thing than the melodramatic revenge fantasy that is Braveheart and if you can prepare for the uncomfortable scenes then I recommend giving this a try, for myself I love both of them, but like I said in the beginning, this is my pick.
“Honor is… what no man can give you and none take away.”
I’m shocked to say it but this is my new favorite movie from 1995 about Scottish peasants rising against the British. I can’t say I expected Braveheart to be surpassed in that category, let alone for that category to exist whatsoever, it’s clear Braveheart’s shadow was the main thing holding this back because in the end I’d actually say this is the better film (at least until I rewatch Braveheart since it’s been forever). I haven’t seen him in Schindler’s List yet but I’m easily ready to call this Liam Neeson’s best performance from the ones I’ve seen, yeah I can still hear his Irish accent peek through at points but the Scottish accent was better than I thought it’d be and this was far and away the best emotional acting I’ve seen him give. The cast around Neeson was great and maybe even better than he was, I’ll get to Tim Roth in a second but Jessia Lange was amazing and I really liked John Hurt too. It’s also tough to outright recommend this because of the SA scene but I will say I don’t think it was mishandled or unnecessary to the plot, and even with how much I hate seeing it I can’t deny how much it makes me hate a character, who, in this case, was the phenomenal villain portrayed by Tim Roth. There are few men in film who I’ve hated more than Roth here, a pompously monstrous villain who embodies the entitlement of 1700’s Britain through his every action, as a man of Irish blood I’m always subconsciously looking for a reason to hate the British and this fed my vice as beautifully as something like RRR did. Speaking of this movie’s beauty it’s a must to bring up these beautiful Scottish highland landscape shots, some of my new favorite use of green in a film ever and besides the landscapes they had some really stunning sets and costumes as well, all across the board I loved this technical vision. Paired with that you get an almost Lord of the Rings-esque score from Carter Burwell with the flutes and the evocation of that whimsical joy when experienced with this gorgeous cinematography, it brought the same feeling I love about Howard Shore’s iconic work here with the fun Scottish elements, it’s obviously not to the level of Shore’s but it was easily one of my favorite things about this. I also like that it chooses not to represent the Scottish people through one “real” person but through a folk legend and how it says this story symbolizes the Scottish individuals’ struggle against corrupt nobles and the Brits at that time, and even though I love the military stand-against-oppression in Braveheart this story being more focused on the ramifications of conflict and the common person’s resilience to that makes it feel more intimate and because of that it worked more for me. If that down to earth and personal story sounds more your thing than the melodramatic revenge fantasy that is Braveheart and if you can prepare for the uncomfortable scenes then I recommend giving this a try, for myself I love both of them, but like I said in the beginning, this is my pick.
“Honor is… what no man can give you and none take away.”
