Director Ang Lee tackles the subject of love against the odds with the heartbreakingly beautiful ‘Brokeback Mountain’. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal turn in astounding performances as two cowboys who are overtaken by emotions beyond their control against the backdrop of rural Wyoming. Spanning their 20 year relationship, the film spends more time with the pair apart than together, examining the price they pay for repressing their most powerful desires. Almost staggeringly beautiful in both tone and story, this film is a univsersal reminder of the need to be true to one’s self. A love story that should resonate with anyone, regardless of orientation, Brokeback Mountain may be the best, most honest romance Hollywood has put out in years.
Brokeback Mountain
4 & 1/2 Stars
Yes, it’s finally here: the movie that’s almost unrelentingly been referred to as ‘that gay cowboy movie’. Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain hits theaters today and I’m here to tell you why it needs to be on your must-see list.
First off, let’s just look at the pedigree: Originally a short story by Annie Proulx, Larry McMurtry turned it into a full-blown script which was originally going to be helmed by Gus Van Sant. Thankfuly, Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) took over the project and brought along with him his trademark eye for astounding visuals and his ear for stories that portray the repercussions of our repressed passions. I don’t care what the subject it, that’s a damn fine starting point. Throw in the ridiculously good Jake Gyllenhall and the OMFG-he-can-act-like-nobody’s-business Heath Ledger and you’ve got a movie that’s about so much more than just two cowpokes pokin’ each other.
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Spanning some 20 odd years, Brokeback Mountain starts off in the late 60’s when Jack Twist (Gyllenhall) and Ennis Del Mar (Ledger) first meet while herding sheep on the eponymous mountainside. Both taciturn and withdrawn, the two find themselves inexplicably drawn toward one another with feelings they neither want nor can explain. Once their summer work is over, they come down from the mountain knowing that what they’ve found in each other can’t exist in 1969 Wyoming, and part to make their own lives. Both marry supportive and caring women, but eventually the pull becomes too much and the pair embark on a ‘fishing trip’ that will soon become a yearly (and much anticipated) outlet for their deeply hidden passions.
While it’s easy to dismiss a film like this as a gay-themed love story, in reality the central message of Brokeback Mountain is universally accessible: the price for repressing our most powerful desires is always greater than the gain. Similar to Wong Kar Wei’s beautiful ‘In the Mood for Love’, the love Ennis and Jack share is explored more in how they can’t be together, not in the moments they can find for each other. It’s a theme that Lee has explored in almost every one of his films (Yes, even The Hulk), and he brings a fine understanding of those who are forced to live in that quiet desperation.
A taciturn and solemn Ledger hides his heart away from all but Gyllenhaal’s Jack, alienating his wife, his children, and anyone who would try to love him. While Jack suffers more openly under the blatant dismissal of his father-in-law and increasingly unconcerned wife (Anne Hathaway), only managing to escape in those fishing trips and the occasional anonymous pickup.
Less a film about two men together as it is about why they are kept apart, Brokeback Mountain is easily one of the most emotionally powerful and beautiful films this year. The simply gorgeous visuals act as a magnificent contrast to the inner lives of Jack and Ennis while they suffer the realities of a lesson most of us have already learned: You don’t get to pick who you love. You can only decide what you do about it.