Braveheart

FADE IN:

EXT. THE SCOTTISH COUNTRYSIDE - DAY

Epic beauty:
cobalt mountains beneath a glowering purple sky

fringed with pink, as if the clouds were a lid too small for

the earth; a cascading landscape of boulders shrouded in

deep green grass; and the blue lochs, reflecting the sky. We

hear a voice, husky, Scottish...

VOICE OVER:

I will tell you of William Wallace.

EXT. MACANDREWS FARM - DAY

A farmhouse and a large barn lie nestled in a Scottish valley.

Riding down the roads that lead in from opposite sides are

Scottish noblemen in full regalia: eye-popping tartans,

sparkling chestplates. Even the horses are draped in scarlet.

Behind each nobleman rides a single page boy.

VOICE OVER:

Historians from England will say I

am a liar. But history is written by

those who have hung heroes.

Another noble rides in from the opposite side. Two more appear

down the road, converging on the barn.

VOICE OVER:

The King of Scotland had died without

a son, and the king of England, a

cruel pagan known as Edward the

Longshanks, claimed the throne for

himself. Scotland’s nobles fought

him, and fought each other, over the

crown. So Longshanks invited them to

talks of truce. No weapons, one page

only.

The nobles eye each other cautiously, but the truce holds.

They enter the barn, with their pages...

EXT. SCOTTISH FARM - DAY

Nestled in emerald hills are the thatched roof house and

barn and outbuildings of a well-run farm. The farmer, MALCOLM

WALLACE, and his nineteen-year-old son JOHN, both strong,

tough men, are riding away from the farm. They hear hooves

behind them and turn to see a boy riding after them.

VOICE OVER:

Among the farmers of that shire was

Malcolm Wallace, a commoner, with

his own lands and two sons: John...

We FAVOR JOHN WALLACE, the nineteen-year-old sitting easily

on his horse, beside his father...

VOICE OVER:

...and William.

WILLIAM, a skinny eight-year-old riding bareback, catches up

to his father and older brother.

FATHER:

Told ya to stay.

WILLIAM:

I finished my chores. Where we goin'?

FATHER:

MacAndrews'. He was supposed to visit

when the truce was over.

They ride on, over the lush hills.

EXT. THE MACANDREWS FARM - DAY

The horses are all gone; the place looks deserted. UP ON THE

HILL we see the three Wallaces, looking down.

FATHER:

Stay here.

He means William. He and his elder son spur their horses.

AT THE BARN - DAY

The Wallaces ride up, looking around.

FATHER:

MacAndrews!... MacAndrews!?

Malcolm finds a pitchfork, John the woodpile axe...

INT. THE BARN

POV from within as the door opens and a widening block of

sunlight illuminates the dusty shadows. Malcolm and John

Wallace step in, and are shocked to see...

POV THE WALLACES

Hanging from the rafters of the barn are thirty Scottish

noblemen and thirty pages, their faces purple and contorted

by the strangulation hanging, their tongues protruding.

Malcolm stabs the pitchfork into the ground in useless anger;

John still grips the axe as he follows his father through

the hanging bodies of the noblemen to the back row, to see

the one man in commoner's dress, like theirs...

FATHER:

MacAndrews.

A SHUFFLE; John spins; William has entered the back door.

JOHN:

William! Get out of here!

WILLIAM:

Why would MacAndrews make so many

scarecrows?

Before his father and brother can think of anything to say,

William, with a boy's curiosity, touches the spurred foot of

the hanged noblemen we first saw riding in. It's too solid;

he takes a real look at the face, and suddenly --

WILLIAM:

R -- real!!!... Ahhhhhgggg!...

He turns to run, but knocks back into the feet of the hanged

man behind him! In blind panic he darts in another direction,

and runs into another corpse, and another; the hanged men

begin to swing, making it harder for William's father and

older brother to fight their way to him.

FATHER:

William! William!

Then, worst of all, William sees the pages, boys like himself,

hanged in a row behind their masters!

Finally his father and brother reach William and hug him

tight. There in the barn, among the swinging bodies of the

hanged nobles, Malcolm Wallace grips his sons.

FATHER:

Murderin' English bastards.

CUT TO:

EXT. WALLACE FARMHOUSE - NIGHT

The cottage looks peaceful, the windows glowing yellow into

the night. From outside the house we see John rise and close

the shutters of the kitchen, where men are gathered. We PAN

UP to the upper bedroom window...

INSIDE THAT BEDROOM

Young William is in nightmarish sleep. He mumbles in smothered

terror; he twitches. We see

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