BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (2005)

Country: U.S.A.

Genre(s): Drama / Romance / Western

Director: Ang Lee

Cast: Heath Ledger / Jake Gyllenhaal / Michelle Williams

Plot

After meeting while on a job corralling sheep, two men fall in love.  Separating at the end of the job, each spends the ensuing years desperately lonely, hiding within a heterosexual marriage.  A reunion and the love it rekindles causes a great deal of emotional turmoil for the men and their families.

What I Liked

“Brokeback Mountain” features some spectacular cinematography, most notably of the title location and other nature scenes, but director Ang Lee and crew also make terrific use of the camera for scenes shot in town or even indoors.  The scope of the film wavers between expansive freedom and oppressive claustrophobia, and all of this is accentuated marvelously by the cameras.

It is a great credit to the actors, then, that they outshine the marvelous visuals, even the otherwise overpowering panoramas of gorgeous mountains, expansive lakes, and lush forests.  Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams, and Anne Hathaway all turn in convincing, sympathetic performances.   Ledger’s death has made it so that praising his acting when commenting on any film in which he appeared has become an unspoken requisite.  That makes me want to find a reason to criticize him, but the fact is he the best of the entire talented cast, damn near perfection as repressed, conflicted cowboy Ennis Del Mar.  Ledger’s performance is a clear reference to the “strong, silent type” of cowboy which has been portrayed by everyone from Gary Cooper to Clint Eastwood in the classic American Westerns.  Yet his portrayal questions that archetype’s strength and highlights the cost of that silence, finding a tragic subtext in a macho ideal.  Michelle Williams is also an excellent study in the damage of repression as Ennis’s wife Alma.  Despite their characters not being as interesting as Ennis and Alma, Gyllenhaal and Hathaway are equally capable in their more reserved roles.

What I Didn’t Like

It’s a good thing that the film had excellent cinematography, characterization, and acting to fall back on.  Because otherwise the movie was overly long and disappointingly dull.  As the relationship of the two men played out over a period of twenty years, I kept wondering when something interesting was going to happen.  All of the conflict is character-driven and, as well rendered as the characters are, it would have been nice to have some sort of event worth watching happen.  I’m not asking for James Bond here, but some sort of external conflict would have been nice.  Were it not for the amazing scenery, this would have been a story better fitted for a novel than a motion picture.

Most Memorable Scene

The last line and moment in the final scene drops all of the weight of all of love, nostalgia, loss, and regret right onto the viewer’s chest.  I was holding back some serious tears.

Incidentally, for all those people who stayed away from this film because it was a “gay movie,” or because it represented some liberal media conspiracy, you might be surprised at how tame the gay sex scenes were.  Not that this would (or should) be a reason for you to see past your own hang-ups and actually give the movie a chance.

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5