Nicolas Cage won the actor prize for playing a suicidal alcoholic in “Leaving Las Vegas.” This was Cage’s first nom, though his relatives Francis Ford Coppola, Carmine Coppola and Talia Shire are all Academy vets. This year’s acting champs ranged from nuns to whores, with both supporting actors winning for playing lowlifes – Kevin Spacey as a murderous thief in “The Usual Suspects” and Mira Sorvino as a prostie/porn star in “Mighty Aphrodite.” This reps back-to-back best picture wins for Paramount, which took the prize last year for “Forrest Gump.” (Twentieth Century Fox has “Braveheart” overseas.) Eight times in the past, studios have had two consecutive wins Par last achieved it when “Going My Way” and “The Lost Weekend” won in 1944 and ’45 and United Artists had three consecutive wins, ‘7577. This inspires Wallace to take up arms against the English, and gather able-bodied onto battlefields to fight the ever-ticked-off English armies.“Braveheart” also became the filth winning film in the last 20 years that did not receive a script prize - all of them, interestingly, nominated in the original screenplay category. When Wallace tries to fight off the Brits, his childhood paramour Murron (Catherine McCormack) is killed. When Wallace returns to Scotland as an adult, Edward is still enacting his shenanigans by enacting the rite of jus primae noctis, allowing English noblemen to bed brides on their wedding nights before their husbands with the idea being that more English babies will be born and fewer Scots. Wallace grows up abroad, learning the ways of the world. When Edward hung Scottish nobles to assert his rulership, a young William Wallace, then a boy, developed a lasting hatred for the occupying English. King Edward I (Patrick McGoohan) had taken the Scottish throne from King Alexander III, who left no heir. The story of the film - briefly - states that Scotland is under English rule and had been for some time. This is not an event that happened, but Randall Wallace included it in his screenplay, citing its dramatic power. There is a scene at the start of 'Braveheart' that depicts the hanging of Scottish noblemen at the hands of the English at the Barns of Ayr. The screenplay for 'Braveheart' took its framework and a lot of its story beats from the Blind Harry poem, which was, itself, exaggerated at best. It was an old-world Hollywood historical epic of the highest order, complete with extreme violence, a touching love story, and a lot of rousing dialogue about war and freedom. 'Braveheart' was an enormous box office hit in 1995, and won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Makeup, and Best Sound Design at the Academy Awards.

This Wallace guy was happening.Īrguably most recognizable to modern audiences is the 1995 feature film about Wallace called ' Braveheart' written by Randall Wallace (no relation), and directed by and starring Mel Gibson.

Henty wrote 'In Freedom's Cause: A Story of Wallace and Bruce' in 1885. Sir Walter Scott wrote 'The Story of Sir William Wallace' in 1928. Jane Porter wrote a romantic novel about Wallace in 1810 called 'The Scottish Chiefs.' Felicia Hemens wrote a celebrated poem about Wallace at The Battle of Falkirk called 'Wallace's Invocation to Bruce' in 1819. Robert Burns wrote the lyrics to a hit song in 1793 called 'Scots Wha Hae wi Wallace Bled.' The 19th century was lousy with works about Wallace. William Wallace would serve as inspiration for several major works of poetry, lit, and film over the centuries.

Brave heart movie