Brokeback Mountain (2005) User Reviews

Six years later, it hits even harder.

[Rockwell_Cronenberg · 9/10 · 28 October 2011]

I've always admired this film to a certain extent, but I think the thing that always kept me from loving it was that it never resonated with me emotionally. I would get attached while watching it, but all of those feelings would leave me fairly soon afterward. It had been about five years since I'd seen the film, and in that time I have grown up a lot, fallen in love, had my heart ripped to shreds and fallen back in love again and I think this growth personally has really opened me up to a place in my mind and heart to embrace this film more than most other screen romances that exist. Almost immediately it hit me harder than it had before and after a day since I watched it, the pain and heartache I experienced during it still remains at my core.

It's a love film told non-traditionally, but not because it's two men, that doesn't even factor into the depiction of it. It's nontraditional because it's two people fighting against the love and it's accuracy in this is startling. How there are times where you can hate the person you love, hate so many things about them and hate that you are in love with them, but you can't give it up at all. You can't walk away from it because it's like an addiction and I think this film more than any before it captures that remarkably.

A lot of this lies in the writing, but of course the performances from Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal certainly play a key factor in capturing it. Their characters take the love in different forms, Ennis fighting himself over it and Jack fighting the world because of it, but both actors capture exactly what they need to and bring this magnetism that really sparks. Gyllenhaal's openness is beautiful, his determination to make the love work and to just exist the way he wants to, he definitely provides the emotional anchor for the film and gives a heartbreaking portrayal.

It's Ledger, of course, who steals the show though, with a kind of transcendent performance that we're treated to maybe once a decade. He becomes this character in such a vivid way that you don't even recognize the actor inside the role anymore. Gyllenhaal is Jack and hits the surface notes expertly, but you can still see Jake Gyllenhaal in there. Heath Ledger is completely gone and from the very beginning of the film we have Ennis and we have him until the very end. This character is an incredibly difficult one to take on, he could have easily been someone who was hard to like or sympathize with due to his internalizing and his refusal to fully embrace the relationship and who he is, but that's what makes it hit even harder, thanks to Ledger's brutal work.

You see the pain in this person living a lie in every moment we have with him, with that turned in mouth and speech pattern that always sounds like it's hurting him to let anything out because he's afraid of how people are going to react. It's a performance unlike any other out there and in the end it's one that brings me to my knees. "Jack, I swear," was always a line that floored me when I was watching it but now it's at a point where just thinking of the line and the way that Ledger delivers it brings some water to my eyes.

Finally A Film Which Gets it Right

[nycritic · 10/10 · 12 January 2006]

It was only time before a film about two men in love would get the treatment it gets in Ang Lee's BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN, since up to now, films had either skirted the subject, reduced it to a peripheral, sanitized version of itself or given it the eye-candy treatment only meant at making a quick impression in the "Gay-Lesbian" category. The simple yet deceptive story of two people who meet, fall in love, but are unable to fulfill their love has been done over and over again from the male-female perspective (i. e. IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE, THE AGE OF INNOCENCE, BRIEF ENCOUNTER), but never involving two men, and never this brutally honest.

Of course, the dynamic of male love is different than male-female love only in genitalia. Jack and Ennis' first encounter while waiting for work, their isolation leading to each other's arms, is the stuff of every restrained romantic drama. The mechanism of two men falling in love here develops along the lines of homo-masculinity dictating patterns of behavior which both Jack and Ennis obey whether they know it or not. It comes to me as no surprise when, following their first sexual encounter (brutally executed with undertones of sadomasochism but true to the style of love involving alpha males), they revert to "not being queers" but cowboys who excuse "what happened" to liquor and "manly needs". Which of course verbalizes society's impositions of men having to be "men."

Of course, things take a different turn and the heart wants what it wants. Once their work is done, Jack tries to keep their acquaintance alive but Ennis is so intensely closed and closeted to any possibility of emotions that he looks like he may implode at any moment and only once does he actually scream into his hat, bent over, as Jack drives away. The sound is a terrible, heart-rending puke of indescribable pain.

What follows is a series of brief encounters that become more intense as the years go by, but at the same time destroys two marriages and consumes then to the end. Love is an uncontrollable emotion, and when two people who belong together despite their gender cannot fulfill their dreams it's only a matter of time when things reach a head. Again, the constraints of time and space interfere: Ennis cannot see a life outside what he knows, again more a product of the trauma of seeing something horrible as a child, and Jack, not having what he wants, has to take to meeting other men in sordid locations and re-create a semblance of an affair with a man who resembles Ennis. In presenting these situations as they are and not trying to pursue change in its characters, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN is the love story that transcends gender, space, time, and proves that love -- even when tragic -- is universal.

Even so, will straight people see the message behind the story? I believe straight women (and a few enlightened straight men) will be the ones drawn to view the movie over a majority of conservative idiots who still hold the idea of two men locked in intimacy as being repugnant and are ripping their feeble brains out over the quasi "gay agenda" that BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN is trying to "convert people to homoesexuality". Sometimes it takes a movie like this which dares to take the risk and tell an unforgettable story rife in visual and emotional power -- true poetry in motion.

All of the actors in BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN are flawless, and all of them have roles that in another story might have been bland stereotypes of predictable natures. Jake Gyllenhaal is smoldering longing at the beginning but becomes a broken man who explodes in rage when he realizes that twenty years have gone down the drain. Heath Ledger goes one better: his painful speech, furtive eyes, and inward body language expresses an overwhelming set of emotions which state that he'd never be able to be happy with anyone, and his final scene holding Jack's shirt comes more as an apology to Jack than an added moment of schmaltz. Michelle Williams plays a typical housewife who is witnessing something she can't understand. Linda Cardellini, who comes quite late in the film, initially appears to be just a waitress, but is the person who gives Ennis an advice about love. Anne Hathaway's role as Jack Twist's wife is much more tricky: is she aware of his gayness or is she really all about business and having a perfect home? I get the feeling her character knows more than she expresses, and her turning progressively blonde is a manifestation of her choosing to look the other way and live a life of bitter complacency, best expressed in her telling speech about how "men don't dance with their wives." If she only knew.

I attempt from love's sickness to fly in vain

[harry_tk_yung · 24 February 2006]

While "I wish I knew how to quit you" has become a household lament, there's a more elegant way of saying the same thing, as in this beautiful 17th century art song that I borrowed for my summary line.

Structure-wise, the story of BBM is not unlike "Same time, next year", a very entertaining play (made into a movie in 1978), about a chance romantic encounter between a married man and a married women leading to an annual reunion at the same place (except that in the case of BBM, it's two or three times a year). The big difference is of course that "Same time next year" is a comedy. Another association that presents itself almost automatically is "The bridges of Madison County", first in a "forbidden love", then in the protagonists wishing their cremated remains to be scattered at the place enshrined in their hearts, Brokeback Mountain and Madison County respectively.

The first sequence of BBM (about 45 minutes) is mesmerising, totally captivating. It starts with two lonely cowboys, shown in several frames in which they are shot at different angles, waiting in front of the trailer of a range owner waiting for his return. One comes off a bus and the other drives an ancient pickup that is better suited to the junkyard. There is no conversation, no background music, and only the faintest of ambiance sound. The languid pace is set.

Hired to tend a large herd of sheep, the two set off to the breathtaking Wyoming mountains, Brokeback Mountain to be exact. The entire sequence that follows is accompanied by sporadic background guitar – gentle, unplugged, acoustic. The combined visual and audio effect is wonderfully poetic. The two cowboys are on friendly terms, being thrown into the lonely mountains as co-workers, but on the whole quiet. Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger), an orphan since his pre-teen days, is particularly taciturn and introvert. When more outgoing Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) finally gets him to say more than a few words about his childhood - "more than you have said for the last two weeks" – Ennis replies "more than I have said in a whole year."

Following in considerable details their mundane daily life in the beautiful place which is in the middle of nowhere (a supply man comes once every two weeks bring provisions), we see first friendship flourish between these two young men, and later development of romantic and sexual attachment to each other. As I said, this first sequence is beautifully poetic. Director Ang Lee is a master of handling subtle human emotions and relationships. Through his thoughtful as well as skillful direction, he has done a marvellous job in getting empathy for Ennis and Jack from the audience, homosexual or not. If he has not been completely successful, at least no one else will do any better.

This empathy is important because what follows in not happy to watch - the twenty year in which these two men struggled each with his own unhappy marriage. I wouldn't go into the details, other than saying that this movie is amazingly rich in subplots and supporting characters. But the soul of the movie is these two men's tortured relationship, in their two or three times a year "fishing trips" to Brokeback Mountain.

As I said, Ennis is taciturn and introvert, but he is not in the least timid – he beats up two 200-pound goons when they loud-mouth obscenity within ear shot of his little daughters. And Ledger portrayed particularly brilliantly Ennis' inward excitement upon receiving a post card from Jack 4 years after they have parted company at Brokeback Mountain. It is Jack, outgoing and sometimes even flamboyant, that is truly the gentle soul. He puts up with his obnoxious father-in-law until it become totally intolerable. But it is also Jack, an idealist, a dreamer, who is the active initiator in their relationship. Ennis is passive, practical and always worrying about his livelihood, due partly no doubt to the poverty he grew up in. Jack is passionate and wants to just run away with Ennis to have their own life but Ennis is constantly haunted by one nightmarish image his father made sure he saw, at the age of 9, of the body of a homosexual man tortured to death. As passionate young men when they first met at Brokeback Mountain, they had their best chance of taking off and facing the risk. When their love was rekindled 4 year later, it was already too late, and what was ahead was years of helplessness and unfulfilled passion.

One scene I want to particularly mention is their last encounter, in which Jack is really bitter that Ennis could not get away to meet him again until November. They have a fight (almost literally), and reconcile before parting. Ang Lee put into that sequence one ingenious flashback from their first encounter in Brokeback Mountain, completely seamlessly, of a parting, a very temporary one when Ennis just when out to tend the herd and would be back for supper at the tent. That flashback of tender goodbye when they first fell in love is particularly poignant when we realise later that this is the last time they would see each other, as Jack was killed before the November meeting.

While Ledger is obviously deservedly in the run for Oscar best leading actor, my personal favourite is Gyllenhaal whom I have followed since "Moonlight Mile" ("Donnie Darko" I only saw subsequently) through not-so-challenging "Day after tomorrow", to his two other excellent 2005 performances "Proof" and "Jarhead". Hope he wins the Oscar best supporting. Also nominated is Michelle Williams (playing Ennis' wife Alma) who was so impressive in Wim Wender's "Land of Plenty". There are other good supporting performances, too many to mention.

Should have won the Oscar (spoilers)

[Ricky_Roma__ · 9 July 2006]

The 2006 Best Picture Oscar was contested, primarily, by two 'issue' pictures – one dealing with race, the other dealing with homosexuality. But while one used a heavy-handed approach to deal with its subject, the other told its story with skill and restraint. The heavy-handed film won.

Brokeback Mountain is always going to be derisively referred to as 'that gay cowboy movie' by the people who are predisposed towards disliking it, but even though people aren't used to male homosexuality being portrayed on the big screen in a non-comic way, it's really not a very revolutionary film - repressed love has been dealt with many times in cinema. But because it's two cowboys, the supposed embodiment of everything that is masculine, that are engaged in a passionate relationship, it takes on a novelty value and possesses a shock factor for those people who have been living under a rock and haven't realised that men have been bumming each other since the dawn of man. But thankfully the more worldly wise can just ignore the novelty and the supposed shock and enjoy a very good film.

The opening part of the film is a tad slow (but not excessively so) and sees Ennis (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) working on Brokeback Mountain, looking after a farmer's livestock. There are no overt signs of their relationship developing into something more than it is, but all the time there are little hints. There are the sidelong glances; the look Ennis gives as he looks up at the mountain, perhaps contemplating his colleague; and the small smiles of satisfaction Ennis gives when Jack horses about. But rather than develop slowly over time, things explode one night in their tent. The sex scene that follows isn't loving or tender, it's violent. It's maybe years of frustration and repression being released. But the morning after, quite understandably, is awkward, and Ennis rides off to think about what happened. One of the first things he sees is a sheep that has been ripped apart by a coyote. The visual encapsulates his situation. All the time he's been a sheep – he doesn't stand out – but now his true nature has been revealed and violent repercussions are a definite possibility. (And later Ennis tells the story of how his dad showed him the dead body of a gay man when he was a kid. The man was beaten and then had his penis ripped off.)

When Ennis and Jack next talk, Ennis declares that he's not queer (Jack says he isn't either). And they're both right. Calling someone queer is a way of saying someone's less of a man and less of a human being because they're attracted to their own sex. Such an assertion is ridiculous, but unfortunately a lot of people still think that way either out of ignorance or insecurity as regards their own sexuality. But Ennis and Jack, whatever their sexual orientation, are just men.

And after the two finish on Brokeback Mountain they return to their lives. For Ennis this means getting married (Jack gets married also). But although both have a crack at leading 'normal' lives they can't change how they feel and meet again. And the scene where they're reunited is a powerful one. The two guys meet outside Ennis' place, but seeing as they're out in the open, neither knows how to respond. But when they retreat to a corner where they think no one can see, they're watched by Ennis' wife. For them it's a moment of joy, but for her it's devastating – her world is shattered. And it's to the film's credit that it treats Ennis' wife so evenly. She doesn't become a bitter, vindictive woman, but at the same time she doesn't become a victim. The film never takes the easy way out.

But eventually the marriage deteriorates to the point that the couple get divorced (by the end Ennis only sleeps with his wife to procreate). And after that you have an excellent scene where the estranged family have Thanksgiving dinner. It's so awkward because Ennis' ex has a new husband. Everything is bubbling under the surface. And sure enough, in the kitchen, Ennis' ex admits that she knows about his homosexuality and a scuffle ensues.

But Jack has his own domestic hell to deal with, too. His father-in-law shows him no respect and interrupts their dinner to put a football game on the television for Jack's son to watch. "We don't eat with our eyes," he says. "You want your son to grow up to be a man, don't you?" But Jack asserts himself and shows the stupid old geezer who the real man of the house is.

However, as much as the two guys would rather be with each other than their loathsome relatives, they have to make do with monthly 'fishing' trips. Only here do they experience genuine contentment. But eventually even these meetings sour. They just aren't enough. And thusly the relationship between Ennis and Jack eventually falls apart.

One of the film's final sequences sees Ennis, after Jack's death (and possible murder), visit Jack's parents. They're a wonderful bunch of scenes, which pick at all the different character's emotions. Mr Twist takes a couple of jabs at Ennis, hinting that Jack had a new 'friend' in a spiteful bid to hurt his guest, while Mrs Twist compassionately lets Ennis take a look around Jack's room. There Ennis finds a couple of shirts which he secretly hugs to his chest, and when he returns downstairs Mrs Twist gives him a bag to keep them in. It's a small act of tolerance and understanding, but one that means a lot for Ennis and the viewer.

The Heart Of The Matter

[marcosaguado · 10/10 · 16 December 2005]

I didn't believe for a moment that the film could live up to the hype, or to some of the comments posted here, some of them read like love letters to the film, to the director and the actors. Well, now, after seeing the film, I feel like writing a love letter myself. The film took over my senses and transported me. The tragedy that envelopes the lives of Ennis and Jack is caused by an ancestral ignorance that is part of our DNA and if you don't believe me read some of the hateful comments posted here alongside the love letters. That's the heart of the matter. After the summer in Brokeback Mountain, Ennis and Jack go their separate ways and Ennis hits a wall with his fists crying, trying to destroy his longing, self loathing, guilt, horror. Imagine in a world without ignorance and therefore without hatred, Ennis and Jack could have celebrated their love and attempt an honest life together. Imagine also if things were the other way and heterosexuals were the dark minority, imagine falling in love with a girl and having to keep it secret, never been able to tell or to show publicly your love for her. Men like Ennis, and there are many, have to curve their own emotions and conform, entering and developing unhappy marriages and why? Read some of the comments here and you'll understand why. There is one that condemns the movie and what the movie may do for his kid and his vision of cowboys without actually having seen the movie! That's the heart of the matter. I will go and see the film again tomorrow, if I can get tickets, I'm taking with me a group of people that hate the movie already without having seen it. I won a bet so they will have to. I'm taking them to diner later to talk. I intend to report the results if you let me. But for the time being let me tell you, "Brokeback Mountain" is an extraordinary film. Jake Gyllenhaal, Ann Hathaway and the magnificent Michelle Williams give superb performances but it's Heath Ledger's film. He gives us something that nobody could possibly have expected because what he gives us is not only, honest and moving and powerful but totally and utterly new.

Things sure do change when you're up on 'Brokeback Mountain'...

[Howlin Wolf · 8/10 · 23 February 2007]

I have to say what really impressed me the most was the scope of it all. I expected it to focus by and large on the immediate aftermath of Jack and Ennis' first coupling, but to my welcome surprise the whole film had a real sweeping, epic quality to it. When the bond that they shared survives such change in their circumstances it made the whole tale that much more evocative. It shows that regardless of your gender or your approach to relationships, love is like a tick that gets under your skin and won't ever stop affecting your mental processes throughout all of your time on earth (and don't I know that that sure is the truth... !!)

Helping to emphasize these developments is some gorgeously languid direction by Lee - his camera seeming to caress the landscape he films - and also a wonderfully subtle turn from Ledger, especially. This shows Heath in a different light to any of his other films, and if he can transform himself this well, then maybe he isn't as much of a risk as I thought for Nolan's 'Joker', after all!

I don't feel qualified to say whether it was the best picture of its year, but I certainly thought that it was braver and more emotionally genuine than "Crash". If you're anybody who's going to give "Brokeback... " a shot (and I suggest that everyone does) my advice is not to concentrate on its differences, but to instead take a clearer look at the smaller intimate details that can bring us all closer together if only we choose to let them.

The Finest Hour for Two Young Actors

[mindcat · 9/10 · 10 January 2009]

I have viewed Brokeback Mountain a total of three times on a 50 inch plasma. I spaced my views almost six months apart so I could grasp more completely and without prejudice, how I would rate this flick.

It is beyond a doubt an American classic and looking back I regret so profoundly the death of Heath, who played Enis. The amount of acting skill and diversity it took to do such a touching and completely honest job, makes this young man, Heath Ledger, a legend.

The scenes in the Brokeback were beautiful and allowed me to imagine somehow I was transformed back in time watch these young men.

The truth is neither one of the characters was entirely gay, rather bisexual, but they did find each other as their own natural soul mates.

Unfortunately cultural prejudice and homophobia prevented them from doing what Jack Twist had dreamed, ranching together on his father's spread.

The final scenes are absolutely acted with such depth of character, the viewer is taken to tears. The Brokeback will not have Jack's ashes, since even in death, the culture denies him his final request, his ashes spread upon the Brokeback.

Many of the bigots who have posted here on this fine cinema should be ashamed as they bray their ignorance for all to read.

A fine film and probably one of the top love stories of all time in film.

Very powerful and moving, one of the best films of 2005!

[Smells_Like_Cheese · 10/10 · 13 January 2006]

I have just heard so much about "Brokeback Mountain", it is crazy. People were either excited to see it or protesting against it's homosexuality theme and all the awards this movie is going up for, the girls at my work and I had to see it and saw this movie last night. You know, I really liked it. I've said it before and I'll say it again, 2005 wasn't the best year for movies, and I'm not just saying this, but I felt that Star Wars, King Kong, and now Brokeback Mountain so far are the only real decent movies to see.

The great thing about Brokeback Mountain for those who are uncomfortable with it's themes, the love story between Jack and Ennis is not rubbed in your face in any way. For me, I thought it was extremely touching and real, they had a very strong love for each other. I felt awful for Jack, probably because I can understand since this has happened to a couple of my friends, because he loved Ennis so much and wanted to make their relationship work, but Ennis kind of rejected that thought and just wanted to get back to his normal life. Only seeing Jack 4 or 5 times a year and then going back home to his wife and two girls and just acting like nothing ever happened.

The performances in this movie are terrific, all the actors gave it their best shot at becoming who their characters were. The pictures of Brokeback Mountain were just beautiful and relaxing to watch. The whole story is a wonderful one and I would highly recommend this film any day. I hope it does win an Oscar or two. :D

10/10

Unpredictable and uncommon love that last the times, and remains even when it ends in tragedy.

[blanbrn · 10/10 · 12 February 2007]

This for sure is not your typical cowboys story as it may seem when it starts out, "Brokeback Mountain" is something much more special. Starting out in 1963 in rural Wyoming a simple summer friendship is formed by two innocent cowboys by the name of Ennis Del Mar(Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist(Jake Gyllenhaal) only this summer encounter will turn into a lifelong connection of love and friendship. After the summer course of work ends, both return back to their old grounds and each begin new directions. Jack returns to Texas to enjoy the life of a rodeo cowboy and falls in love and marries a sexy and wealthy female(Anne Hathaway) and he begins a family. Ennis stays in Wyoming and marries his old school love(Michelle Williams) and a family of children begins right away, and Ennis has to continue to work hard as a ranch hand. Ennis then four years into his normal world receives a postcard, then him and Jack revisit and again start to have wonderful encounters every so often at Brokeback, this finally costs Ennis his wife. Anyway this strong bond continues year after year as each man goes along with the changes joys and heartbreaks so commonly associated with everyday life. When tragedy strikes and Ennis finds out about the fate of Jack, the emotional love lasts and you get an emotional feel at the tribute that Ennis gives to Jack at the end. I must say great movie and well done especially good acting from Ledger and Gyllenhaal who make both Ennis and Jack such likable characters that you feel emotions for and you feel their hurt. Also way to go for director Ang Lee for having the courage to take on the topic of gay cowboy love, especially the way he directed in the setting of a conservative Wyoming in the 1960's. Lee really proved that love is possible for anyone and that any human being can love another human being no matter who they are.

A Nutshell Review: Brokeback Mountain

[DICK STEEL · 9/10 · 10 February 2006]

Here's my challenge: Watch Casanova and Jarhead (both now showing in local theaters) before watching Brokeback Mountain, to appreciate and to keep fresh in your mind, the acting range of both Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. One plays a king of lovemaking, while the other plays an army grunt, in which both are alpha-males roles. Then when you watch Brokeback Mountain, you'll probably be wide-eyed at how these two have a go at each other.

Based upon the 1997 short story by Edna Anne Proulx, you must have your head stuck in mud if you're not aware this movie is about two cowboy shepherds who share a relationship up in the mountains of Brokeback. Set in 1963, we see Ennis Del Mar (Ledger) and Jack Twist (Gyllenhaal) team up in their job to shepherd sheep to graze, and having strict orders to be separate most times to take care of their flock.

But being together alone in the mountains, sharing their lives with each other, brings them too close, and soon, they share a forbidden illicit relationship (hey, they're supposed to be macho cowboys, and it's the 60s of free love and Vietnam looming) that transcends the usual boundaries of male bonding.

It's like a summer love, and after an hour into the film, we explore how this love affect them as they try to ease themselves back to normalcy. Except that things are never going to be normal anymore. While they establish families - Del Mar with his be-throed Alma (Michelle Williams), and Twist with rich Lureen Newsome (Anne Hathaway in another role which she shows off her assets), they cannot forget their throes of passion they had sparked back in summer of 63. Before long, they get together again to reignite their passion for each other and continue over a period of 20 years.

One thing's for sure, the story will still play out decently if you substitute gay love with heterosexual roles, like the countless of movies on cheating spouses, but there'll be a very distinct lack of punch. You'll notice that the male couples share similar trials and tribulations of any relationship - the love, passion, how much one party is willing to give the other, and how much the other will reciprocate, and unfulfilled dreams. What gives this movie the edge is how the characters are compelled to look for each other for solace, and the deceit and lies they have to go through in order to be together.

It's a movie that's paced slowly, but gives opportunity for the audience to admire the postcard perfect (CGI-enhanced) landscape of the mountains and plains, to study the expressions of the characters, to listen and ponder upon the dialog. Lee Ang had made Chinese Wu-Xia movies sexy, and it's no wonder that he has also managed to add a touch of sensuality that permeates throughout Brokeback. The hauntingly beautiful soundtrack helps too in keeping the mood and emotions in check, serving to add to the narrative in periods of silenced dialog.

Perhaps something which I thought was pretty neat, was the idea brought forward from Kinsey, that there is a degree of homosexuality in all of us, and it depends on how gay you are, or have the courage, to come out of the closet. What's interesting is when you think about whether the notion of gayness stems from nature, or nurture. If you'd seen the movie, you'll know what I'm talking about, and how passion can consume someone, that it takes over all sensibility, and about the propensity of risk you're willing to take.

Heath Ledger had a pretty busy 2005, with diverse roles in Brothers Grimm, Lords of Dogtown, Casanova and this. I've seen all of them, and while I disliked Grimm, I thought his roles in 2005 should be credited with an Oscar win for this. Jake Gyllenhaal too plays Twist with a touch of machoness, and yet is able to slip back into needy whining gentleness with a flick of a switch. Michelle Williams' role, while small, is accentuated by the particular one scene in which she discover the truth. It is powerful - nothing much said, but everything said through the eyes. Perhaps the weakness link is Hathaway with her megawatt smile and bimbotic blonde looks, as the clueless wife of Twist caught in between some major family squabbles.

Homophobes will probably give this movie a miss, but to generally brand this as a gay movie will be missing the point. I'd recommend it to everyone I know to watch this with an open mind. It's an out-and-out dramatic story on relationships, and it's classic storytelling at its best, with excellent acting and strong direction, cinematography, heck, this movie deserves its 8 Academy nominations, so let's see it take home some honors (I'm not sticking my neck out just yet, until I watch all the other contenders).

P.S. Yes, this movie is shown here uncut. If you're not celebrating this movie, at least celebrate the fact that we can get to watch it here as it is intended to be.

There's this, then there's everything else

[Boyo-2 · 10/10 · 24 December 2005]

No one has seen anything like this before, so of course I haven't either. That fact alone makes this stand apart and above everything else. Add to that the idea that more people will most likely experience this as their first 'gay-themed'(even though it is not, not really) movie, and you're breaking new ground again. On top of that, it just so happens to be a really excellent, thoughtful, impossible-to-forget piece of cinematic magic.

First I have to give it up for Ang Lee. I really admire an artist who cannot be pigeon-holed. As much as I love a lot of directors, a lot of their work is obvious, and 'been-there-done-that' is the tired expression that comes to mind. We've seen it before. They repeat themselves and are more than a little impressed by their own style. Lee does not have a style that's his, he creates it based on the project. He can excel in any genre and already has. Verrrry few people can go from "Sense and Sensibility" to "The Ice Storm" to "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" to "The Hulk" without missing a beat. Then he makes "Brokeback Mountain" and I, for one, am in awe of his talent and willingness to do something unlike everything else.

*Remember you were warned about spoilers!* Seeing Ang & Heath on 'Charlie Rose' gave me insight that I was glad I had before seeing the movie. Ang's comments about Lurene's conversation with Ennis about Jack's death were very helpful, even though I would have figured it out for myself, it was nice to have it confirmed. Ang said she's lying on the telephone, and he didn't say why she would do that, but anyway...Heath's saying that Ennis was a 'homophobic man in love with another man' summed up his character in one sentence and made me realize how he saw Ennis. He also gave some insight into the idea that believed Ennis was never attracted to another man in his life, and probably not a woman either for that matter, but that he fell in love with a person who happened to be a man. This theme is very seldom explored in cinema because I think an extraordinarily large amount of people never consider that as a human possibility. Its really not a 'gay-themed' movie any more than its a movie about how to herd sheep or how to easy it is to get sick of eating beans.

I have to say I agree with those who say its Heath's movie. It is true. He's quantum, he's in a place all by himself. He's the emotional core, which is strange since he's so far from expressing his feelings that it isn't even funny, but somehow he pulls it off. Its a perfect example of the more-is-less school of acting. Any character that says as little as he can get away with but at the same time provides the entire movie with its heart...

In fact all the emotion you feel comes from a very pure place. Its not manufactured by the soundtrack or some cinematic trick or anything..its just there and it never rings false, a true feat in itself.

Michelle Williams in particular broke my heart. I'd only seen here in "Dick", a largely ignored comic masterpiece of a movie, and she's 180 degrees from that. She hits all the right notes.

Jake is always great and the Thanksgiving scene with the battle over the television was so well done that I thought about that damn electric carving knife all day today. From his point of view, it may be unfair that Heath is getting all the press and praise, but let's face it, at least 80% of Heath's scenes are with Jake, so if he hadn't been as good as he is...

There is also not one single scene that I'd cut, and I can't say that about every movie. Most movies have fat on them to spare, this does not. You get enough, you don't get too much, and then its over, and you're left remembering this simple yet profound story for the rest of your life.

As far as awards go, I'm THISCLOSE to giving up hope that I'll will ever agree with the Oscars again. I've been disappointed much more than I've been in agreement. I am glad this movie has won all the critics awards; they don't have a sense of obligation or nostalgia or politics, it seems to me, and award movies that they just happen to think are worthy. I haven't seen anything else this year but from what I've read, I don't see what can beat it.

10/10, obviously. If you see this and do not, at the VERY LEAST, admire and respect it, then I have to say, I don't understand you...

Two Men In Love at the Venice Film Festival

[bethlambert117 · 10/10 · 3 September 2005]

It was a real ordeal to get into the screening. The anticipation was palpable. The film arrived surrounded by a plethora of innuendo. "A gay western" "Heath and Jake's hot scenes" As soon as the film started every imaginable preconception flew out of the auditorium. This is a remarkable, moving and powerful love story. The setting is that of a modern western "The Last Picture Show" comes to mind. Ang Lee's attention to detail verges on science fiction. You can actually smell the place. Extraordinary. I'm not going to reveal anything about the story - Gian Luigi Rondi a legendary Italian film critic, revealed the ending to a television audience, what was he thinking?! - The film will be enjoyed much more allowing the story to unfold without having passages underlined and attention drawn to this or that particular. I felt compelled to write this comment because I'm overwhelmed. It has changed my perception, I must confess, about certain aspect of same sex love because I didn't think of same sex when I was watching it, I saw two human beings (amazing performances by both actors)I have the feeling "Brokeback Mountain" will make history, deservedly so.

This film is so beautiful that it hurts.

[ozthegreatat42330 · 10/10 · 26 February 2007]

I have broken my own rule and given this film a 10 rating. (Which I reserve, as a rule, for "Citizen Kane.") Although set in another time and place it shows us how far we have to go as a people to find something other than bigotry and hatred in this great land of equality of ours.

This film hurt to watch. It hurt to see the love between Ennis and Jack. It hurt to know that they could not openly be together. It hurt to see the unfortunate end of that relationship. And most of all it hurt to realize the loneliness of Ennis in the end. This film should have swept the Oscars in its year, but the ever fickle and conservative Hollywood powers that be again acted out of their need to appear manly, godly, the usual form of Hollywood hypocrisy.

No one who has seen this film, and has any humanity in them, has been left unaffected. It says so much in just what it doesn't say. The performances of Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal are sublime, showing that they are both actors capable of going outside the envelope in the roles that they will take, and giving their all for the parts. The rest of the cast was all right, but the power and the emotion of the work rests squarely with these two fine actors. Just the number of positive comments on this site alone can tell you that in days to come when the great films of history are mentioned, this one will be among them.

Ang Lee's Cowboys

[don_agu · 10/10 · 17 September 2005]

What an extraordinary accomplishment! Ang Lee presents us with something we've known about but we've never seen. Profoundly honest, stunning to look at, superbly acted. I could go on with the superlatives because I feel lifted by the experience. You've all heard the ins and outs of the subject treated here. Well, forget it, the words used are used words and do not apply here. "Brokeback Mountain" introduce us to something utterly new, daring you and me to be indifferent. The film is about us, really. Love as an unexpected blow that makes you find and confront yourself. Jake Gylenhaal gives a performance that you'll never forget. Michelle Williams and Ann Hathaway are incredibly good but the film belongs to Heath Ledger. I'm not going to talk about revelations or Oscar buzz, I'm just going to let you know that what he does in this film is so courageously beautiful, so truthful and so transcendental that his Ennis del Mar is bound to become a point of reference not just for us but for generations to come.

a rare gem

[nobbytatoes · 10/10 · 11 February 2006]

In 1963, two strangers, Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist are looking for work. Both find work herding sheep for Joe Aguirre on Brokeback Mountain. Both men are completely different from each other, Ennis is extremely introverted and emotionally isolated, not connecting to others through his mumbled words. Jack is open and self confident, with inspirations of glory on the rodeo scene. Over the days stuck in the isolated mountain range, their friendship makes a strong connection between them, soon becoming a highly intimate and emotionally charged relationship. When the season is over, returning to humanity, they both go their separate ways. Ennis marries his fiancé Alma and have two girls, while Jack tries the rodeo with little success, though soon meets Lureen both marrying with a baby boy soon to follow.

Brokeback Mountain is one of those exceptional films that come ever so rarely, that instantly marks itself in history. The emotional manipulation is wielded so strong that its hard not to be swept up in the emotionally charged relationship of Ennis and Jack. While Ennis is happiest with Jack, he understands the ramification of public scrutiny, which Jack fails to understand, not wanting a hidden life. Taking the brunt end are Jack and Ennis's wives, stuck in their empty, impassioned marriages, constantly questioning themselves and the nature of Jack and Ennis's friendship.

The subtlety of Ang Lee's direction reveals the beauty of Brokeback Mountain. Lee superbly connects the dilemmas of the characters and the landscapes they wonder. The breath taking, sweeping, remote landscape of the Wyoming Mountains, brilliantly captured by cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, are so lush and alluring that your uncontrollably drawn in. Brokeback Mountain could not have been placed in the hands of another director, Lee never being didactic while shooting you right into the heart of the film. While set in the open plains of the mountain, the story is so emotionally suffocating. The claustrophobia is tautly constructed by Ang Lee, tightly grabbing you and never letting go.

The truth and honesty is the real distinguishing facet of Brokeback Mountain. Never does the story feel artificial or unrealistic. The themes are so universal of love stories, perfectly depicting unrequested love; where everything doesn't work out and doesn't end happy. Enahncing this is the somber, mellow acoustic guitar, constantly encapsulating the heart break and angst between Ennis and Jack.

Nothing short of exceptional can describe Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal performances. Never have both actors been so revelatory in their career so far. Heath Ledger perfectly embodies the introversion and depth of Ennis. Ledger wonderfully shows the change of Ennis over the twenty year period the film takes. Jake Gyllenhaal does an equally brilliant performance, vividly bringing the angst and heartbreak to Jack. While it is the male actors that are center stage, Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway are both sorely overlooked. Michelle Williams is outstanding, with her shining above Ledger and Gyllenhaal. Williams is so dramatically charged, giving her career defining performance. While she has a minor role, Anne Hathaway is great as Lureen, finishing the perfect touch of brilliant casting.

Deserving of all the accolades it's given, Brokeback Moutain is a heart breaking love story like no other. It's simple perfect in every way.

One Of The Most Beautiful Movies Ever Made.....

[hyder_sagg2003 · 10/10 · 23 October 2008]

Brokeback Mountain is extremely painful movie based on complexities of life and is one of my personal favorites. Often called " A gay cowboy love story " is completely unjust statement.

Ang Lee sure knows how to deal with emotions on the camera and gives a masterpiece which exceeds expectations. The strong characters, excellent cinematography, genuine screenplay, Beautiful tracks, Perfect score are enough for representation of the story of author Annie Proulx. The Story of the ill-fated characters is a landmark and will be remembered for a long time. And so Will one of my favorite actors HEATH LEDGER.

Michelle Williams, Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway give wonderful performances and look very promising.

The movie is disturbing. I thought all about it for long time after watching it. I was hurt emotionally and was haunted for weeks. But it was intense and beautiful. I thought of it as a drama.... or a love story but I couldn't figure out what part made me more sad or interested.

a perfect 10/10 from me.

Not Just Gay Cowboys ..a Laughing Audience too.

[isabelle1955 · 16 January 2006]

Although that is, of course, what's got all the attention, this is very much more than a story about two gay cowboys. This is a story about unfulfilled and frustrated lives in general. And it's also quite a stark appraisal of hidden rural poverty, because if there's one thing most of the characters apparently share in this look at 1960s Wyoming, it's lives defined largely by their poverty, in contrast to the much more affluent Texan characters. It's a tragic story, beautifully filmed, perfectly scripted and wonderfully acted with a good soundtrack. Heath Ledger (Ennis Del Mar) gives a terrific performance as a gruff guy living a life of constant frustration and suppressed anger and passion, torn between what he wants to do and what society expects. I can forgive him the mumbling, which meant a few of the words were lost, because somehow you still knew what he was saying. Jake Gyllenhaal (Jack Twist) is equally good in a slightly smaller role, and the supporting cast members are all perfect. I loved this movie, and everything that can possibly be said about it has already been said on this web site and at many other sources, so what I'd really like to assess is the rather strange reaction of the audience with whom I shared the viewing experience.

I saw this movie in an art house cinema in an ultra liberal, west coast, university town, amongst a largely young audience, many of whom I suspect were local students. The show was sold out. This was an audience ready and primed to embrace everything this movie stood for. At one of the most tragic parts of the movie, when Ennis Del Mar's young, unsuspecting, wife first discovers that her husband is attracted to other men, (she sees him furtively kissing Jack), a large proportion of the audience burst out laughing. I sat in utter astonishment as the kids around me chortled and guffawed, apparently thoroughly entertained at the idea that this poor woman's life was falling apart. It could have been a sitcom, judging by their reaction, with wifey saying "Oh gosh! Silly me! Fancy me not realizing dear ol' Ennis is gay!" As we watched this woman's confusion and distress unfold on screen, they laughed! Many times. In truly inappropriate places. As she checked out his unused fishing gear, to see if her worst fears were confirmed, as she eventually confronted him, they laughed.

I've puzzled about this reaction ever since. Have we really come so far in 40 years that kids can't imagine a world in which homosexuality was not just dangerous but illegal, and now they think it's some kind of joke that many people hid it within marriage? And if we have come that far, is it a good thing or a bad thing? Have they really no idea how horribly innocent women were back then (my mother's generation – I remember it well)? Are their senses so dulled by the over stimulation of modern life that they have lost the ability to empathize with other people's personal pain and tragedy, even when it's so well presented to them? I was astonished by the laughter, and a little disturbed. Fortunately, as the movie progressed, they "got it", finally seeming to appreciate that this was indeed a tragedy, of Shakespearean proportions, not a fall-about comedy. They were silent by the end, and, I hope, moved.

Heartbreak Mountain

[samuelding85 · 9/10 · 24 February 2006]

Ang Lee turns the heartbreaking short story from Annie E. Prolux's Brokeback Mountain + Close Range into a heartbreaking drama that touches the heart of every man, with Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as the heart breakers kept in the closet.

It is really amazing for Ang Lee to turn a mere 55 pages short story into a 134min drama, of two cowboys who finds love among themselves during the period where they take care of a bunch of sheep in Brokeback Mountain. They found passion among each other and they shared their happiest moment together. Soon, their job comes to an end and they go separate ways.

Both Ennis (Ledger) and Jack (Gyllenhaal)hide their feelings for one another during their respective marriage with Alma (Michelle Williams) and Lureen (Anne Hathaway). While Ennis is torn between his fidelity with Jack and Alma, Jack never seems to find satisfaction from Lureen, who has a well to do background. He finds fulfillment from the gigolos in Mexico, and that marks the threat to their relationship.

Ang Lee is not selling homosexuality in Brokeback Mountain. More rather, he let us see how love can be powerful outside heterosexual context. Though i've not personally watched his previous homosexual-themed drama The Wedding Banquet, i could see that Brokeback is not your typical homosexual-themed drama or gay haha comedy, where a happy ending among a gay couple just simply passed off the whole film. It does not sell or glorifying homosexuality, but more rather, it reflects homosexuality and the pressure it faced during the 60's to the 80's. If Brokeback Mountain is just simply a gay drama that features nothing but endless gay sex, glorifying homosexuality through husband divorcing his wife and go live with another man, then Brokeback Mountain has failed terribly, and at the same time, defy Prolux's initial idea of penning down Brokeback Mountain.

Compared to the novel, Ang Lee and his scriptwriter Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana adds in more details to back up some points that surrounds the story, without destroying Prolux's idea. This further enhanced the film on the forbidden relationship that lasted for decades.

Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal shines in the film, with Ledger as the more reserved Ennis, who puts his family in his first place on top of his love of the more talkative, outgoing Jack. While Gyllenhall took the role of Jack, his appearance to continue his relationship with Ennis not only makes Alma cry and kept Lureen back in the dark, but also putting their relations at jeopardy. He questions himself on his fulfillment in love and lust on both Ennis and Lureen, which earns himself a nomination for Best Supporting Acotr in 2006 Acdamy Awards.

Michelle William's breakthrough role of Alma earns her an nomination for Best Supporting Actress, where her helpless cries on Ennis fidelity with a man could not be heard. She finds an escape to that through constant overtime work, which eventually ends her marriage with Ennis. For her breakthrough role, she is putting herself onto the world map from her previous unknown roles in her earlier movies.

The film breaks the heart of the audience, and breaking the mountain into pieces means they are making several award statues for themselves as well. Brokeback Mountain is one of the rare gems that could make such a remarkable achievements.

Ang Lee's tragic, daring, unflinchingly powerful masterpiece

[galileo3 · 9/10 · 31 March 2008]

Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Number 2 - 2005

When Brokeback Mountain came out in 2005, it was instantly recognised and praised by critics and film fans alike. The film won every major Best Picture award across three continents, yet I said to myself there is no way this film is that good.

In the light of other heavyweights of that year, such as Spielberg's intense Munich, and Paul Haggis' uncompromising Crash (which actually won the Best Picture Oscar), I thought Brokeback Mountain was probably overrated. I could not have been more wrong and more ignorant; not having a chance to catch the film and perhaps not pursuing it due to its nature and theme, it has finally been more than three years when I decided to sit through and watch Ang Lee's unusual western if you like.

Undoubtedly on of the best films of 2005, Brokeback Mountain is a daring and immensely powerful film with a simple statement: Love Is A Force of Nature (and who are we to judge how it takes form for some people).

A lot of jokes have been made about this film, regarding the homosexual relationship between two grown men in 1960s Wyoming. All I can say is for those people who have not seen it, to go forth and witness a tragic love story, which is as sad as what we see in James Cameron's Titanic between Kate Winslet and Leonardo Di Caprio.

A rancher, Ennis del Mar, (played astonishingly by the late Heath Ledger) and a rodeo cowboy, Jack Twist (another impressive performance by Jake Gylleenhaal) develop their relationship while alone in the isolated landscapes of Brokeback Mountain while attending a job of looking after hundreds of sheep. During the long cold nights, the two men finally form a sexual attraction between them; I suspect this is the first time they have been allowed to express themselves freely, in a time and a place much more hostile to homosexuality than some of our modern societies today.

The story develops, as Ennis and Jack get married and have children - a sign that they are healthy, strong men, fit for America to accept them. However, the passion and the love between the two does not die out and their relationship takes on a dangerous path, sometimes destructive and ultimately tragic for both...

Brokeback Mountain is an important film. It daringly shows a common humanity, it shows us that some people are simply happier with a same sex partner; now I won't sit here having moral and religious arguments.

Ang Lee's film is a masterpiece. Praise must go to the superb cast, the amazing composition by Gustavo Santaolalla, the screenplay by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana and the cinematography by Rodrigo Prieto. An accomplished achievement.

9/10

"Bottom line is... we're around each other an'... this thing, it grabs hold of us again... at the wrong place... at the wrong time... and we're dead. " - Ennis

[MichaelMargetis · 10/10 · 6 January 2006]

It seems as though whenever the subject of 'Brokeback Mountain' comes up almost everyone is quick to make jokes. 'Fudgepack Mountain', 'Bareback Mountain', 'Breaking My Back on a Mountain', etc. To be honest, I felt the idea of a film about two gay cowboys was flat-out stupid. I mean it's perfect bait for a Saturday Night Live skit. Then about a month before release I heard all these incredible rave reviews from film critics across the globe. The New York Film Critics and Los Angeles Film Critics both named it the 'Best Film of 2005'. The most negative review I read of 'Brokeback' was a '3 stars out of 4 stars' review. I couldn't believe it, and I had to see it. If everyone was raving about this film, I knew I had to see it so I could have an opinion about it. I went with my sister's fiancé, Mike. We are both straight, but we were able to put the mild homophobia we shared behind us and enjoy the film. I personally went into it thinking it was going to be pure graphic and explicit gay sex the movie critics panned as brilliant to be what every asshole in Hollywood is -- "politically correct." But let me tell you something, when those ending credits started to roll I thought to myself, "My god, was I wrong!" I knew at that moment I just viewed a beautifully crafted masterpiece with some of finest ensemble acting I've seen in years. 'Brokeback Mountain' will move most people emotionally no matter what orientation, race or creed.

A common mis-conception about 'Brokeback Mountain' is that it is the gay cowboy movie. It's not, really. Deep down, it's a film about love and real life. The film doesn't distinguish gay and straight and 50% of the love agony is from straight relationships. 'Brokeback' is a portrait of four very unhappy people trying to find true love and more importantly happiness. Ennis can't find happiness with Alma since he can never have the same love for her as he does Jack, and Alma can't find happiness with her 'gay' husband because he's gay. (same thing with Jack's wife). 'Brokeback Mountain' rises above the labeling of 'gay', 'straight', or 'bi' and just labels these people as 'humans'. It preaches a positive message that love isn't just about straightness, gayness or even sex. Love is a force of nature, like the slogan of the film says, and it cannot be controlled. This is a message everyone can get no matter what orientation or social backgrounds.

From a technical stand-point 'Brokeback Mountain' is all the more brilliant. Ang Lee (who has previous shown his diversity from going from a film like 'Sense and Sensibility' to 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) even furthers his range with this. When you think a movie surrounding issues stemming from homosexuality, the last film director that comes to mind is Ang Lee, a straight Asian film director. However, Ang Lee provides us with excellent and eye-popping direction capturing some of the most beautiful sites on screen, the beautiful mountain-range and country scenery is undeniably breathtaking. Lee also does a masterful job capturing the actor's emotions which are even more brilliant than the dialogue. Not to take anything away from the writing, 'Brokeback Mountain' has a rich, multi-layered and complicated screenplay that will no doubt win the 'Best Adapted Screenplay' Oscar come March. IThe best aspect about this motion picture in my opinion, however, is the acting. Heath Ledger gives a performance so exquisite and indescribably powerful that it reminds me of previous work from a young Brando or DeNiro. What shocked me most about the movie was Ledger's capability to engage you through the entire runtime and make it seem so natural. You know an actor is ingenious in their craft when they can make it seem easy. In a less awe-inspiring role, Jake Gyllenhaal is outstanding to say the absolute least as the tortured soul that is Jack Twist, who yearns more than anyone else in the film to be happy. Gyllenhaal and Ledger steal the entire film from the ladies, but Michelle Williams still manages to move audiences with her compelling portrayal of Alma , a woman who does the best with knowing her husband is gay, while Anne Hathaway who was previously known for less than impressive work in 'The Princess Diaries' opens us up to a whole new side of her with a performance that is quiet yet first-rate none-the-less.

I recommend 'Brokeback Mountain' to people who admire excellent and innovative cinema like I do, and for people who can excuse some gay scenes for one remarkable film. I went into 'Brokeback Mountain' figuring I'd get some material for jokes but what I got was a masterpiece and a lump in my throat which lasted an entire hour. I predict this will go down in film history as a classic. Grade: A (screened at Harkins Camelview 5, Scottsadle, Arizona, 1/2/06)

Profound, cathartic, important

[Laakbaar · 10/10 · 2 March 2014]

This is a beautiful, simple film about a lifelong romance between two closeted men raised in a homophobic culture. Yes, it's a movie about coming out of the closet and about homophobia, but more importantly it's a movie about finding true love and being true to your feelings.

The morning after their passion erupts, they tell each other they're not gay. The second night, they embrace once again and accept what they are. This is the true coming out. No, it's not just about sex.

It is crucial that this movie was shot in God's country, and the love that burst through here occurred between two attractive, masculine men in the prime of their lives. Gay love is everywhere and it will always find its way out.

All relationships are different. The story of what happened to Ennis and Jack is particular to them and not true for all gay men. Both of them were unable to complete the process properly (after all, it was 1963), but Ennis in particular was almost crippled by his mental blocks and social constructs. His closet became of his own making. Thankfully most in the West now don't have so much difficulty with it.

What rang true in the movie were the powerful and painful experiences of coming out, finding love and fighting prejudice. It's unbearably sad that self-hatred and homophobia have choked so many millions of people from leading fulfilling lives. In a sense, this movie is a clarion call for perhaps the greatest liberation movement in modern times.

This movie said to me: all the sh*t you put up with, all the things you missed out on, all the difficulties and disappointments -- it was worth it because what matters most is Brokeback Mountain.

This movie touched me deeply. The second time I saw it, the ending was so moving to me that I started weeping…uncontrollably. I kept crying during my walk home from the theatre. The floodgates really burst when I finally got home. How do you explain that? Catharsis? I still don't understand why this movie had this effect on me. No movie has ever done that to me before or since.

The final scene with Ennis and Jack's jacket ("Jack, I swear...") is the most powerful image of lost love ever put on film. Heath, thank you.

Not all gay stories are sad. Many gay men live happy, joyous lives without regret or trauma. For many of us, Ennis and Jack make it work.

How can I rate this movie anything less than 10? Thank you Annie, Ang, Larry and Diana. And perhaps most of all, thank you Jake.

A Modern-Day Tristan and Isolde?

[lavatch · 8/10 · 13 January 2006]

I watched "Brokeback Mountain" after viewing the recently released film version of the tragic love story "Tristan and Isolde." In a curious way, the two films, stories, and characters seemed remarkably similar! In fact, "Brokeback Mountain" included even more visual poetry than "Tristan and Isolde," which is one of the greatest love stories of all time.

I never would have imagined poetry of any kind in the herding of sheep! But that is what director Ang Lee brilliantly provides in this breathtakingly beautiful film. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal also deliver sensitive and completely believable performances as Ennis De Mar and Jack Twist, the young men who fatefully meet on Brokeback Mountain.

One minor quibble: Despite fine performances by Michelle Williams (Alma) and Anne Hathaway (Lureen), the women's roles could have been developed more completely. For example, after watching her husband Ennis kissing Jack Twist on the mouth, would Alma not want to have a frank conversation about what she had witnessed? It was difficult to imagine that Alma would wait until after their divorce was finalized to finally confront her ex-husband about his relationship with Jack. After all, the setting for the film was the 1960s and 70s, a time when people were (finally) talking openly about matters of human sexuality.

This film was still enormously successful in its lyricism and in its message about the power of love. Like Tristan and Isolde, the relationship of Ennis and Jack unfolded secretly and against the will of society. And what better backdrop for a romantic saga than the beautiful landscape of Wyoming, as masterfully filmed by Ang Lee.

Brokeback Masterpiece

[thesar-2 · 10/10 · 21 October 2009]

Brokeback Mountain *****/5 stars 10/21/09

This review of 'Brokeback Mountain' is long overdue. I first saw this in 2005, the night before it opened as a sneak-preview. I feel in love with it then, and now, and 4-5 viewings, I consider it a masterpiece. And I do so, from personal experience. I can certainly relate to what the main characters are going through, and watching their facial expressions, eyes and motions; they are truly real. I've gone through what they did (for the most part.) What society teaches us, at a very young age, is: grow, get married, have offspring. There is no room for people that think outside the box. And so these two lead cowboys did just that. Sad. Tragedy ensured, of course. They were the square pegs in round holes that tried what society taught them and they cheated to their one true love: each other. If there were no other evidence, there's the Academy Awards that ignored this masterpiece due to homophobia. Tragic that they missed out on a perfect film in all categories: music, score, beautiful cinematography, acting, script/dialogue, originality. I mean, this movie worked on every level. But, what I focused in on was, very simply, these two heterosexual actors showing true love for each other on screen. I truly believed that from the get-go. I would've rated the movie the same if it were cowboy and girl, as long as they led me to believe in their need of each other. Two cowboys meet and fall in love, but (as previously mentioned) society taught them the breeder way and they part company only to meet up several times a year for 20 years. Trust me, for people that object to this kind of love, you see this as black/white but the heart bleeds/cries when it can't be whole.

Side Note: I hope this movie serves as a message for young viewers (of age to see it, that is): Please don't waste your time, 20 years in this film's timeline, listening to others. If you find true love like this and even if it only lasts but a moment, cherish it. Nurture it. I don't condone adultery. So don't let it get to that. I felt for the women (well, not so much for Hathaway character – she was married for convenience) and I would dump someone cheating on me. Know who you are before getting into a committed relationship. Definitively know who and what you are prior to having children. Too many of my gay friends had children and they, their ex's and absolutely the children, pay for the inevitable break up when they finally realized who they were. Spend time finding yourself before diving right into a so-called committed relationship.

Side Note 2: I am sad this movie fell amongst the curse of a lot of movies. It's great, excellent even, until it gets too much press. I loved (and still do) 'Titanic' and 'The Blair Witch Project.' I saw them both opening weekends. My opinion never changed as the weeks/months/years passed. I know what I like or what makes a great film. No public opinion will change that. But the curse is, the more exposure a film gets, the more criticism it gets, i.e. "Oh, I heard it was the best ever! But it sucked!" You should judge on the qualities, not what your neighbor says.

Side Note 3: I was still recently very bitter on the good (but not great) 'Crash' winning the best picture Oscar. I liked 'Crash.' But it was highly unoriginal (even for its time) and 10x less of the movie 'Brokeback' is. Years later, it was reported that the main reason 'Brokeback' lost, was due to the fact that more than half of the Academy voters refused to watch the movie based on the homosexual content. If I hated them before, this was the final nail in the coffin. Each year, I watch all 5 movies (soon to be 10) that are nominated before making my own conclusion of the choices given. If I am unable to do so, I will not make my pick. This is blasphemy, bigotry and phobia at its worst. Though I am saddened, ashamed and disgusted at their inactivity, I finally came to believe that one of the most honored films in history (from all the other awards it won,) it doesn't matter. We'll always have homophobia, as we do racists. Does it make this film any less perfect? No. If anything, it makes me want to find my own soul mate, my own "Brokeback Mountain" and disown the select bigots that inhabit society.

A mirror

[Vincentiu · 19 February 2007]

It is a bizarre film.

In first part is common, occasionally boring. Same recipes, magnificent images and old story between two cowboys. Nothing new, nothing important.

In the second part-a different story. Symbols, gestures of love, fear and desire,ambiguity of feelings and chimeric expectations, truth and vital lies, memories and strong sin, slices of time and hypocritical existences, words and far worlds and shadow of a mountain.

It is not a gay movie or pledge for tolerance. It is not a tale about the brave heroes and their silence. It is not a lesson of life or a touching moment of a Sunday evening. It is a mirror.

The lost, the hope, the desire, the responsibility like cage are realities for every existence. In every life exists a seed of a great and secret guilt and a nostalgic favor.

The image of farm is only the ordinary Arcadia. The perfect refuge and the place of reason of existence. And this guilt is more and more bigger, with every hour and every year.

"Brokeback Mountain" is a magnificent film. Not for the art of director or casting but for the science to transforms the silence in only dialog. To create a small and anonymous catharsis in the conscience of audience and to make questions.

It is a tale about the price of sacrifice. About illusions and about the image of the other. Only victory is touch of a blue shirt.

After his end, I considered this film a splendid piece of Extreme Orient cinema. Not for the image but for the visual taste, for the grounds of final, for the obsession of mountain and for the memories of every soul. The ash of a lost golden age like only treasure.

An Epic Cinematic Masterpiece

[Isaac5855 · 9/10 · 8 January 2007]

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN is a masterpiece of storytelling that takes some uncomfortable topics and situations and places them in the context of a moving and beautiful story. This is the story of Ennis Delmar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal), two cowboys whose isolated summer sheepherding assignment turns them from strangers to friends to lovers in the matter of couple of months. After their assignment is over they are separated for four years, in which time they both marry and have children. They are then reunited and it's like no time has passed at all. Unfortunately, Ennis' wife, Alma (Michelle Williams)witnesses their passionate reunion and chooses to live with the secret instead of confronting Ennis. What we then see is two people who seem to genuinely love each other, kept apart by circumstance. The word love never passes between Ennis and Jack. Ennis calls it "this thing." The men claim to be straight after their first encounter (though I have my doubts about Jack). The words "gay" or "homosexual" appear nowhere in the screenplay, though the word "queer" is used once. What we see more than the passion these men share when they're together is the passion they long for when they are apart. Ang Lee's sensitive and detailed Oscar-winning direction captures every nuance of emotion and passion between these two men without preaching to us or taking a stand on the underlying issues here. Ledger and Gyllenhaal give breathtaking, Oscar-worthy performances and receive solid support from Williams as Alma and Anne Hathaway as Jack's wife, Lorene. For me, this movie is above everything else, a love story, a beautiful, moving, emotionally charged love story where the protagonists just happen to be men.