IT is hardly surprising that that the film Braveheart was voted as the most undeserving Oscar winner of Best Film at the Academy Awards by the London magazine, Empire, as its true portrayal of a Scottish people uniting to oppose a brutal and imperial English state is hardly likely to appeal to its largely southern staff and readership. What is more puzzling is the constant drip-feed of Scottish cringeing which tends to follow the film north of the border.
The two points trotted out are that the film is "historically inaccurate" and it was shot largely in Ireland.
I do not recall the peoples of England, France or the US complaining about the recent films Elizabeth, Joan of Arc or The Patriot, despite the historical liberties taken by their screenwriters. They, like everyone else, simply enjoyed these films for what they were intended to be - good movies based on fact, but marketed for modern audiences - and were glad to take full advantage of the attention the films brought to their nations.
The reason Braveheart was made largely in Eire because the Irish have the powers to give tax concessions to film-makers in their country and they use them. Michael Forsyth, then Scottish secretary of state (who was roundly booed by the crowd outside the film's Scottish premiere) , tried to persuade Westminster to give the same powers to the Scottish Office. He failed and the Scottish Parliament does not have these powers even today. A film which won Oscars for best Film, Director, Cinematography, Make-up and Sound Effects Editing is hardly "rubbish" as your film critic suggests, but one which struck a chord the world over and is extremely popular with most Scots whom I know - a view completely out of kilter with the snarling the movie is subjected to from almost all parts of the Scottish media.
Gavin Fleming, 517 Webster's Land, Grassmarket, Edinburgh.
EMPIRE magazine? Ho, ho, ho. This is the magazine whose readership once voted for the most dramatic moment in film history. Top of the poll was - "The T-rex coming through the fence in Jurassic Park." That'll give you some idea of the type of people who read Empire. I don't think Mel Gibson or anyone else should be too worried about this particular mag's opinions.
Braveheart was partly filmed in Ireland as opposed to Scotland because ourWestminster parliament in its wisdom doesn't give tax breaks to film-makers even though movies shot in a particular country have been shown time and again to be beneficial to that country's economy. Ireland's government did give Mel Gibson's film company tax breaks and even offered their army to be extras in the movie.
Martin Gallagher, 1237 Dumbarton Road, Glasgow.
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