20 lines
2.1 KiB
Plaintext
20 lines
2.1 KiB
Plaintext
it was with great anticipation that i sat down to view braveheart last week as it premiered on american cable .
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the academy award winning film had been highly acclaimed .
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it also featured the music of one of my favorite film composers , james horner .
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what i was in for was a disappointing and overlong film which was anything but the best picture of 1995 .
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what drags braveheart down is its screenplay .
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it abounds with high production values : john toll's award-winning cinematography ( which also graced edward zwick's 1994 legends of the fall ) , a gorgeous score by horner , and the sort of logistics that make you wish assistant directors were household names .
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but this does not save a misguided script .
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the film wishes to paint its central character as a hero , but the viewer's only response to his " heroism " is intellectual : william wallace ( producer-director mel gibson ) is fighting for freedom and against tyranny , so we have to root for him .
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but wallace's actions paint a different story .
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he speaks of freedom and acts of vengeance .
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though one intellectually realizes wallace is on the right side , the film paints an unconvincing emotional portait , in which wallace is just not as bad as the english king .
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wallace speaks of freedom , but his acts point toward vengeance .
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after kicking the english out of scotland , he decides to invade england .
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this is evident of a " spartacus complex " , and this example applies both historically and cinematically .
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the historical spartacus at one point moved from liberating slaves to sacking roman cities ; the film spartacus , like braveheart , has high production values and competent performaces and is dragged down by an awful screenplay .
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it is a shame that such an excellent score is part of such a terrible film .
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horner's score tries to make emotional connection , but the performances and the script do not help .
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gibson portrays wallace in such a way that the audience cannot relate to him or identify with him .
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this drags down any emotional connection to the film's plot , and turns three hours into a total waste of time .
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