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Brokeback Mountain

It has two days since I saw Brokeback Mountain and I’m still feeling it. Literally. The film is packed full of subtle moments so beautifully crafted they infest themselves into your spirit and you feel a little twinge every time you remember them, as if they had happened in your own life. I have to concur with the hype machine on this one – Brokeback is a winner and in my humble opinion undoubtedly the best film of the year.

By now most everyone knows that the story revolves around two gay “cowboys” (who are actually sheepherders) that fall in love while alone together in the wilds of Wyoming. In their summer on Brokeback Mountain, Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar (Jack Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger) and are drawn to one another as lovers and spend the rest of their lives trying to juggle a secret affair with their public personas as husbands and fathers. The film does a truly amazing job bringing forth how frustrating and absurd their circumstances are and how little chance there is for resolving anything in the rodeo riding, cowboy boot wearing, Marlboro man environment that they’re living in. Both the dialogue by Larry McMurtry and the story (coming from the short story by Annie Proulx) reflects with candor what how confused the characters are regarding their own actions. In one scene early on when the viewer might be expecting a tender moment, a soft spoken word, we find our protagonists instead fist fighting to purge themselves of their conflicted emotions. Both Jack and Ennis are distinctly masculine but Ennis especially has the classical stoicism of a cowboy, that cool unfeeling demeanor that makes it even more poignant when we do see him give in to his emotions. Heath Ledger’s transformation is this movie is truly remarkable, with a performance that is at once subtle and commanding, and speaks volumes to the suffering one can endure in total silence.

Brokeback Mountain is already getting the credit it deserves in the critical world. I hope sincerely that the box office of its wide release will reflect those reviews. This is a movie that resonates with anyone who believes in love.

Written by: Jennifer O'Reilly

Reviewers Rating: 9.5
Reader's Rating: 9.79
Reader's Votes: 30

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