William Wallace

• Every man dies. Not every man truly lives.

• [ending narration] In the year of our Lord, 1314, patriots of Scotland, starving and outnumbered, charged the fields of Bannockburn. They fought like warrior poets. They fought like Scotsmen. And won their freedom.

King Edward Longshanks

• Not the archers. My scouts tell me their archers are miles away and no threat to us. Arrows cost money. Use up the Irish. Their dead cost nothing.

Dialogue

Longshanks: Nobles. Nobles are the key to the door of Scotland. Grant our nobles lands in the north. Give their nobles estates here in England, and make them too greedy to oppose us.

Advisor: But sire, our nobles will be reluctant to uproot. New lands mean new taxes, and they are already taxed for the war in France.

Longshanks: Are they? Are they? The trouble with Scotland is that it's full of Scots. Perhaps the time has come to reinstitute an old custom. Grant them prima noctes. First night, when any common girl inhabiting their lands is married, our nobles shall have sexual rights to her on the night of her wedding. If we can't get them out, we breed them out. That should fetch just the kind of lords we want to Scotland, taxes or no taxes.

Advisor: A most excellent idea, sire.

Longshanks: Is it?

William: Of course, running a farm is a lot of work, but that will all change when my sons arrive.

Murron: So, you've got children?

William: Not yet, but I was hoping you could help me with that.

Murron: So, you want me to marry you then?

William: Well, that's a bit sudden, but alright.

Murron : Is that what you call a proposal?

William: I love you, always have. I want to marry you.

[she kisses him]

William: Is that a yes?

Murron: Aye, that's a yes.

Robert the Bruce: A rebellion has begun.

Robert Bruce, Sr.: Under whom?

Robert the Bruce: A commoner named William Wallace.

Robert Bruce Sr.: We will embrace this rebellion. You will support it from our lands in the north while I gain English favor by condemning it, and ordering it opposed from our lands in the south. Sit down. Stay a while.

Robert the Bruce: This Wallace, he doesn't even have a knighthood, but he fights with passion and he inspires.

Robert Bruce, Sr.: And you wish to charge off and fight as he did. So would I.

Robert the Bruce: Well, maybe it's time.

Robert Bruce, Sr.: It is time to survive. You're the 17th Robert Bruce. The 16 before you passed you land and title because they didn't charge in. Call a meeting of the nobles.

Robert the Bruce: But they do nothing but talk.

Robert Bruce, Sr.: Rightly so. They're as rich in English titles and lands as they are in Scottish, just as we are. You admire this man, this William Wallace. Uncompromising men are easy to admire. He has courage, so does a dog. But it is exactly the ability to compromise that makes a man noble. And understand this: Edward Longshanks is the most ruthless king ever to sit in the throne of England. And none of us, and nothing of Scotland will remain, unless we are as ruthless. Give in to our nobles. Knowing their minds is the key to the throne.

William: We'll make spears. Hundreds of them, long spears. Twice as long as a man.

Hamish: That long?

William: Aye.

Hamish: Some men are longer than others.

Campbell: Your mother been telling you stories about me again, eh?

Gaurd: Volunteers coming in!

Faudron: William Wallace, we've come to fight and to die for you.

William: Stand up, man, I'm not the Pope.

Faudron: My name is Faudron. My sword is yours. I brought you this. [reaches for something, Hamish tries to stop him]

Gaurd: We checked 'em for arms.

Faudron: brought you this. [pulls out sash] My wife made it for you.

William: Thank you

Stephen: [laughs, speaking heavenward] Him? That can't be William Wallace. I'm prettier than this man. All right Father, I'll ask him. [To William] If I risk my neck for you, will I get a chance to kill Englishmen?

Hamish: Is your father a ghost, or do you converse with the Almighty?

Stephen: In order to find his equal, an Irishman is forced to talk to God. [Heavenward] Yes, Father. [To William and Hamish] The Almighty says don't change the subject, just answer the fucking question.

Hamish: Mind your tongue.

Campbell: Insane Irish.

[Stephen pulls a sharpened stag's horn and holds it to the throat of Campbell]

Stephen: Smart enough to get a dagger past your guards, old man.

William: That's my friend, Irishman. And the answer your question is yes - if you fight for me, you get to kill the English.

Stephen: Excellent! Stephen is my name. I'm the most wanted man on my island. Except I'm not on my island of course. More's the pity.

Hamish: Your island? You mean Ireland.

Stephen: Yeah. It's mine.

Hamish: You're a madman.

Stephen: [laughs] I've come to the right place then.

Stephen: The Almighty says this must be a fashionable fight. It's drawn the finest people.

Lochlan: Where is thy salute?

William: For presenting yourselves on this battlefield, I give you thanks.

Lochlan: This is our army. To join it you give homage.

William: I give homage to Scotland. And if this is your army, why does it go?

Soldier 1: We didn't come here to fight for them.

Soldier 2: Home! The English are too many!

William: Sons of Scotland! I am William Wallace.

Soldier 2: William Wallace is seven feet tall!

William: Yes, I've heard. Kills men by the hundreds. And if HE were here, he'd consume the English with fireballs from his eyes, and bolts of lightning from his arse.

[Scottish army laughs]

William: I AM William Wallace! And I see a whole army of my country men, here, in defiance of tyranny. You've come to fight as free men, and free men you are. What will you do with that FREEDOM? Will you fight?

Soldier 1: Against that? No, we'll run, and we'll live.

William: Aye, fight and you may die, run, and you'll live... at least a while. And dying in your beds, many years from now, would you be willing to trade ALL the days, from this day to that, for one chance, just one chance, to come back here and tell our enemies that they may take our lives, but they'll never take... OUR FREEDOM!

William: I said I have an offer for you.

Lochlan: You disrespect a banner of truce?

William: From his king? Absolutely. Here are Scotland's terms. Lower your flags, and march straight back to England, stopping at every home you pass by to beg forgiveness for 100 years of theft, rape, and murder. Do that and your men shall live. Do it not, and every one of you will die today.

Cheltham: [laughing] You are outmatched. You have no heavy cavalry. In two centuries no army has won without--.

William: I'm not finished. Before we let you leave, your commander must cross that field, present himself before this army, put his head between his legs, and kiss his own arse.

[Cheltham rides off]

Mornay: I'd say that was rather less cordial than he was used to.

Craig: Sir William, where are you going?

William: We have beaten the English, but they'll come back because you won't stand together.

Craig: Well what will you do?

William: I will invade England and defeat the English on their own ground.

Craig: Invade? That's impossible.

William: Why? Why is that impossible? You're so concerned with squabbling for the scraps from Longshank's table that you've missed your God given right to something better. There is a difference between us. You think the people of this country exist to provide you with position. I think your position exists to provide those people with FREEDOM. And I go to make sure that they have it.

Robert the Bruce: Wait! I respect what you said, but remember that these men have lands and castles. It's much to risk.

William: And the common man who bleeds on the battlefield, does he risk less?

Robert the Bruce: No, but from top to bottom this country has no sense of itself. Its nobles share allegiance with England. Its clans war with each other. If you make enemies on both sides of the border, you'll end up dead.

William: We all end up dead; it's just a question of how and why.

Robert the Bruce: I'm not a coward. I want what you want, but we need the nobles.

William: We need them?

Robert the Bruce: Aye.

William: Now tell me, what does that mean to be noble? Your title gives you claim to the throne of our country, but men don't follow titles, they follow courage. Now our people know you. Noble, and common, they respect you. And if you would just lead them to FREEDOM, they'd follow you. And so would I.

Robert Bruce, Sr.: I'm the one who's rotting, but I think your face looks graver than mine. Son, we must have alliance with England to prevail here. You achieved that. You saved your family, increased your land. In time, you will have all the power in Scotland.

Robert the Bruce: Lands, titles, men, power... nothing.

Robert Bruce, Sr.: Nothing?

Robert the Bruce: I have nothing. Men fight for me because if they do not, I throw them off my land and I starve their wives and children. Those men who bled the ground red at Falkirk fought for William Wallace. He fights for something that I never had. And I took it from him, when I betrayed him. I saw it in his face on the battlefield and it's tearing me apart.

Robert Bruce, Sr.: All men betray. All lose heart.

Robert the Bruce: I DON'T WANT TO LOSE HEART!!!. I want to believe as he does. I will never be on the wrong side again.

Robert the Bruce: [after William is betrayed] Father! You. Rotting. Bastard. Why? Why?

Robert Bruce, Sr.: Longshanks required Wallace. So did our nobles. That was the price of your crown.

Robert the Bruce: Die! I want you to die.

Robert Bruce, Sr.: Soon enough I'll be dead. And you'll be king.

Robert the Bruce: I don't want anything from you. You're not a man, and you're not my father.

Robert Bruce, Sr.: You are my son, and you have always known my mind.

Robert the Bruce: You deceived me.

Robert Bruce, Sr.: You let yourself be deceived. In your heart, you always knew what had to happen here. At last, you know what it means to hate. Now you're ready to be a king.

Robert the Bruce: My hate will die ... with you.

Royal Magistrate: It can all end, right now. Peace. Bliss. Just say it. Cry out mercy.

Crowd: Mercy...mercy!

Royal Magistrate: Cry out. Just say it. Mercy.

Hamish: Mercy lad, mercy.

Stephen: Jesus, mercy.

Royal Magistrate: The prisoner wishes to say a word.

William: FREEEEE-DOMMMMMM!!!!!

Taglines

• Every man dies, not every man really lives.

• What kind of man would defy a king?

• His passion captivated a woman. His courage inspired a nation. His heart defied a king.

• He who fought, fought for FREEDOM.

Cast

• Mel Gibson - William Wallace
• Patrick McGoohan - Longshanks, King Edward I
• Sophie Marceau - Princess Isabelle
• Catherine McCormack - Murron MacClannough
• Angus Macfadyen - Robert the Bruce
• Brendan Gleeson - Hamish Campbell
• David O'Hara - Stephen
• Peter Hanly - Edward, Prince of Wales
• James Cosmo - Campbell
• Sean McGinley - MacClannough
• Brian Cox - Argyle Wallace