This part of the movie makes my heart shake every time I watch it.
Specially this sentence: "Every man dies. Not every man really lives".
I like to change the sentence to "Every man dies. Not every man truly lives".
I brought for you the dialogue with the help of my fellow AI.
Here is the full conversation between Princess Isabelle and William Wallace in his prison cell the night before his execution, from the Braveheart script.
INT. PRISON - NIGHT
Princess Isabelle arrives, demanding to see the prisoner despite the jailer’s orders from the king.
PRINCESS: I will see the prisoner.
JAILER: We've orders from the king –
PRINCESS: The king will be dead in a month! And his son is a weakling! Who do you think will rule this kingdom? Now OPEN THIS DOOR!
The jailer obeys.
The jailers bring Wallace upright. The Princess, visibly shaken by his state, orders them to leave.
PRINCESS: Stop! Leave me! There is no way out of this hell! Leave me with him!
Once they are alone, Wallace speaks first, trying to lighten the heavy moment.
WALLACE: M'lady... what kindness of you to visit a stranger.
Isabelle, holding back tears, explains her mission.
PRINCESS: Sir, I... come to beg you to confess all, and swear allegiance to the king, that he might show you mercy.
Wallace, ever defiant, questions the nature of this mercy.
WALLACE: Will he show mercy to my country? Will he take back his soldiers, and let us rule ourselves?
The Princess offers the only hope she can.
PRINCESS: Mercy... is to die quickly. Perhaps even live in the Tower. In time, who knows what can happen, if you can only live.
Wallace refuses to compromise his principles for survival.
WALLACE: If I swear to him, then everything I am is dead already.
Desperate and weeping, Isabelle pleads with him.
PRINCESS: You will die! It will be awful!
Wallace replies with the line you asked about earlier, cementing his resolve.
WALLACE: Every man dies. Not every man really lives.
Knowing what awaits him, Isabelle offers him a potion to dull the pain of his torture.
PRINCESS: Drink this! It will dull your pain.
Wallace refuses again, this time to keep his mind sharp.
WALLACE: It will numb my wits, and I must have them all. If I'm senseless, or if I wail, then Longshanks will have broken me.
PRINCESS: I can't bear the thought of your torture. Take it!
She forces the vial to his mouth and pours the drug in. As she backs away, her eyes full of love and sorrow, Wallace watches her go. The door clangs shut, and he spits the purple drug out through the mouth hole of his mask.
The next day, Wallace would not break. He defied the English king and his torturers, shouting "FREEDOM!" with his final breath, proving that he truly lived by his own words
If you watched this movie, let me know what was your favorite scene.
