by Focus Features
| Average Rating: |
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| Sales Rank: | 96410 (lower is better) |
| Price Used: | $3.97 |
| Shipping: | Free Shipping on most orders over $25* |
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| Director: | Ang Lee |
| Label: | Focus Features |
| UPC: | 065935221685 |
| Binding: | DVD |
| Published By: | Focus Features |
| ASIN: | B000ENC67S |
| Category: | DVD |
Actors and Actresses
Editorial Reviews and Product Descriptions
Amazon.com
A sad, melancholy ache pervades Brokeback Mountain, Ang Lee's haunting, moving film that, like his other movies, explores societal constraints and the passions that lurk underneath. This time, however, instead of taking on ancient China, 19th-century England, or '70s suburbia, Lee uses the tableau of the American West in the early '60s to show how two lovers are bound by their expected roles, how they rebel against them, and the repercussions for each of doing so--but the romance here is between two men. Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) are two itinerant ranchers looking for work in Wyoming when they meet and embark on a summer sheepherding job in the shadow of titular Brokeback Mountain. The taciturn Ennis, uncommunicative in the extreme, finds himself opening up around the gregarious Jack, and the two form a bond that surprisingly catches fire one cold night out in the wilderness. Separating at the end of the summer, each goes on to marry and have children, but a reunion years later proves that, if anything, their passion for each other has grown significantly. And while Jack harbors dreams of a life together, the tight-lipped Ennis is unable to bring himself to even consider something so revolutionary.
Its open, unforced depiction of love between two men made Brokeback an instant cultural touchstone, for both good and bad, as it was tagged derisively as the "gay cowboy movie," but also heralded as a breakthrough for mainstream cinema. Amidst all the hoopla of various agendas, though, was a quiet, heartbreaking love story that was both of its time and universal--it was the quintessential tale of star-crossed lovers, but grounded in an ever-changing America that promised both hope and despair. Adapted by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana from Annie Proulx's short story, the movie echoes the sparse bleakness of McMurtry's The Last Picture Show with its fading of the once-glorious West; but with Lee at the helm, it also resembles The Ice Storm, as it showed the ripple effects of a singular event over a number of people. As always, Lee's work with actors is unparalleled, as he elicits graceful, nuanced performances from Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway as the wives affected overtly and subliminally by their husbands' affair, and Gyllenhaal brings surprising dimensions to a character that could have easily just been a puppy dog of a boy. It's Ledger, however, who's the breakthrough in the film, and his portrait of an emotionally repressed man both undone and liberated by his feelings is mesmerizing and devastating. Spare in style but rich with emotion, Brokeback Mountain earns its place as a classic modern love story. --Mark Englehart
Customer Reviews
A flawed masterpiece - Reviewed on 2008-11-16
1 customer found this review helpful, 1 did not.
This movie is very affecting, and well deserves the numerous favorable reviews here.
Like many, I found the film almost shattering emotionally, with a pervasive gloom and bitterness that it is hard to describe in words. One is left with the feeling of wasted lives in an emotional and cultural desert of utter loneliness. Rural Wyoming and Texas of course were and are stuck in a kind of time warp circa 1900, dominated by the most intense fundamentalism and bigotry imaginable. Gay men in such a climate must be invisible if they wish to survive. Although the movie melodramatises this a bit, it is quite true that gay men are in physical danger in such places even today, and certainly cannot make a secure living there.
It is ironic however that neither of the leads is/was gay, at least not officially, nor the director, nor the producers. Ang Lee praised the `courage' of the two leads in merely kissing each other! Most of the sex scenes are largely irrelevant hetero filler, while the homo sex scenes are sanitized, and at times almost unmeaning.
Still, the movie is visually very arresting. The dialogue is not very good; the actors mumble and one is reminded that there is a reason why actors were traditionally trained to ENUNCIATE so they can be heard from more than a few feet away. Even the French dubbing is much easier to understand than the original soundtrack.
The final scene is very moving, or would be if the lighting were better and the dialogue were fully audible.
On balance then, this is a fine movie, and well worth watching several times, but not exactly a masterpiece. For that, the two leads would have to be given better dialogue, and have a lot more convincing sexual relationship. It is somewhat unbelievable that two people would really be in love and not find a way to be with one another more often than twice a year or so over a twenty year period. But the Ennis character is obviously deeply repressed and disturbed emotionally, so perhaps it is not so unbelievable after all that they didn't decamp to California together.
The intense bitterness and hatred that straight men in rural America feel toward gay men is well captured in this movie, and adds a grimness and ugliness to the film that is very unpleasant, but no doubt long overdue - perhaps it will persuade homophobes to relent at least a little, and not automatically identify gay men with Satan in person.
Heath Ledger is generally considered to have been hetero, but there is the ticklish matter of just why he died accidentally/committed suicide. Perhaps his attraction to gay roles was not entirely just a career choice, despite his marriage. Perhaps he was able to play the Ennis character so convincingly because he could somewhat identify with Ennis' situation.
I like many others here would be interested to see the 40 minutes of deleted scenes, especially if they were deleted for sexual reasons.
A Lot of People Missed the Point - Reviewed on 2008-10-31
3 customers found this review helpful.
To call this a "gay cowboy" movie is to sell it short. The heart of this film is "the path not taken".
It is compelling to watch someone look happiness in the eye and walk away from it. This can happen in heterosexual relationships as well. Sometimes people feel that they cannot be together. Perhaps families do not approve, cultural boundaries make it difficult, religious obstacles are too much to overcome, etc. It could happen to anyone, gay or not.
If this type of story grabs you, you should also watch The Lover with Tony Leung and Jane March. As the wealthy Chinaman wrote to his one-time school-girl, he "would love her until death".
How ironic that this alleged "gay cowboy movie" resulted in the real life love story between Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams. Jake Gyllenhall became the godfather to their daughter. We will see Heath's face in Matilda for the duration.
Among other things, I will remember Ledger for his response to all those that called him "brave" for taking on this role. He answered something along the lines of "no, it's people such as firefighters that are brave". What a humble reply from a remarkably gifted actor. We miss you, Heath.
I believe the Actor's Academy fell short this time around. It seemed that Brokeback deserved the Oscar for Best Movie, as Ledger probably merited the Best Actor award. When the chips were down it appeared that this subject matter was just too much for Hollywood to embrace, at least for the time being.
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