Daily Dialogue — October 14, 2014
EXT. MARION’S HOUSE — NIGHT
Marion slips out of the house and runs to the trees, where William waits with horses. She fetches a bundle she’s stashed in the crook of a tree, and they mount and ride off.
EXT. RUINS OF AN ANCIENT CHURCH — NIGHT
The church is at the base of the precipice, beside the loch.
INT. THE CHURCH — NIGHT
This ancient Gaelic place of worship has been destroyed by the occupying army, and yet it looks devoutly holy this way, lit only by candles and moonlight through the open roof. The village PRIEST whom we saw at the wedding celebration is waiting at the altar. Marion steps into the confessional, as William moves to the altar and kneels in prayer.
Marion emerges; she’s changed into the wedding dress she made from the cloth she bought. William stands and watches her float down the aisle; his whole life was worth this moment.
Together, the two lovers turn to the priest.
PRIEST: You have come to pledge, each to the other, before Almighty God.
From within his shirt, William withdraws a strip of cloth woven in his family tartan. He and Marion each lift a hand to the priest, and he binds their wrists with the cloth.
WILLIAM: I will love you my whole life. You and no other.
From her dress she takes a handmade handkerchief, embroidered with a thistle to look like the one she first gave him those years ago.
MARION: And I you. You and no other. Forever.
The Priest waits for them to go on, but neither can; they’re too taken with emotion, looking at each other. The Priest intones holy phrases…
PRIEST: Agus bhayd lauch… The Lord bless and keep thy love, now and forever.
The lovers kiss. As they break their embrace, a figure carrying something dark and spiky appears at the broken door of the church, and William spins as if to attack, but the Priest catches his arm; they see the man carries bagpipes.
PRIEST: I trust him — or I’d’a killed him me’self. A weddin’ needs pipes.
The piper begins to play, and the tune from his primitive chanter is wispy, ethereal, beautiful. The lovers look into each other’s eyes, as the single melody of the pipes merges into a swell of music, UNDERSCORING MONTAGE
William and Marion ride the path to the top of the precipice, where, in the shelter of the grove, they spend their honeymoon. The MUSIC CONTINUES as, still sweaty from their love-making, he returns her to her house just before dawn. She waves from her window, as William rides away, as we
DISSOLVE TO
— Braveheart (1995), written by Randall Wallace
The Daily Dialogue theme for the week: Wedding Vows. Today’s suggestion by James Schramm.
Trivia: Glen Nevis, the Scottish valley which served as the location for Wallace’s childhood village, also enjoys the heaviest rainfall in Europe. During the six weeks spent filming in the area, only three days of sunshine occurred, during which the wedding scene was finished. The filmmakers resigned themselves to the fact that constant rain was inevitable, and opted to film scenes regardless of weather conditions.
Dialogue On Dialogue: Commentary by James: “This scene beautifully sets up the rest of the movie with the power of their love and the need for a secret marriage to avoid the Prima Noctes (First Night) law and to go directly to the honeymoon. William’s focused wrath, after her murder, sustains him for the rest of the movie.”
If you have any suggestions for this week’s theme, please post in comments… and thanks!