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I liked Braveheart when it was first released. It was the first film on a Scottish historical figure in many years that I can remember. It made me want to return to this period of Scotland's history to remind myself of the real facts. I still watch the film.
However, I do now find the Holyrood fiction more intrusive than I did on the first few viewings. My main concern about the fictional events is that what did happen during the Wars of Independence do not need to be fictionalised. Too much time is taken up with the fake Princess of Wales love affair. Whereas it is interesting that the massacres at Berwick upon Tweed where it is believed that around 15,000 inhabitants were slaughtered by English forces was not depicted. (I also remember that James MacKay in his biography mentioned that the hanging of nobles at the beinning of the film is believed to have happened in Ayr.)
Other Holyrood films are full of errors about their subject. The two films that I have seen about about Mary Queen of Scots include a meeting betweem Mary and Elizabeth of England (fiction). In addition they depict the Casket Letters as genuine (which most historians either consider fabrications or dubious in the least).
The Holyrood film about the finding of the Enigma code depicted it being recovered by the US Navy when in fact it was the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom.
Holyrood do smudge the facts to fit their screenplay. I have yet to see a film about other periods of history that fits with the known documented facts. In this regard Braveheart is not unique and to condemn it totally on this ground is not really enough.
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