Weathering the storm

As much as the Scottish summer is maligned and complained about, John Toll credits the harsh conditions for that Best Cinematography Oscar.

“It was because of the weather really, it brought an incredible look to the film. It brought so much to the film, the fact that we were able to shoot in that weather, and especially, for this story. 

“It would not have been the same movie if it had been bright and sunny every day, it just would not have been the same character. The photography would not have looked the same. 

There was one day in Ireland, I remember, it was this unbelievable freezing rain monsoon kind of thing and we were up in the hills and we knew we weren’t going back, so we decided to keep shooting.

“That had become sort of our formula, in that it didn't matter. They were the most difficult shooting conditions I’ve ever been in.”

I remember Mel’s friend Dick Donner the director, he came to visit, he had he wore this incredible parka.  It was like he was going on a polar expedition.

“He was literally there for like ten minutes and he said, ‘I gotta get outta here, this is absolutely insane’. That was just a regular day on the set.”

Gibson laughs. “He looked at us with this crappy weather, with the rain and sleet coming down and everybody looking freezing, and he said, ‘you're out of your fucking mind’ and he took off.

Again, it’s this atmosphere during the production that Toll credits with the success of the film. “The scene looked great. Mel has got hair all over his face and he’s all wet.  And the lens is all fogged up.

“It looks fantastic.”

With the gruelling shoot complete, Gibson was left with the unenviable task of post production on a film which had shot over 90 hours of footage on the Battle of Stirling sequence alone.

He was, unsurprisingly, at his wits end. “I couldn't even talk for about a month afterwards. People would ask me a question, and I’d just stare at them blankly and drool, seriously.

“I was over directing. I said ‘I'm not doing that anymore', because it just it tears you to pieces.”

Of all the hurdles Gibson and the crew had climbed during the production, the biggest challenge still lay ahead. Would Braveheart be well received by the public and the critics?

The answer would prove to be much like the weapon Wallace wielded throughout the film; a double edged sword.

Next: Unleashing an epic