BlueWizard goes to the movies: BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN and KING KONG

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 1:00am

It's going to be a busy moviegoing season, and since I don't have my own blog, I thought I'd act ridiculously self-important and start a thread for my movie thoughts. Let discussion ensue!

(KING KONG on page 3)

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (a.k.a. "I always suspected that Jake Gyllenhaal was a bottom!")

SPOILERS - WATCH OUT!

I finally saw it yesterday, and was relieved to find that the film lived up to my expectations: gorgeous cinematography, fantastic performances, beautifully refrained direction from Ang Lee....and yet there was something oddly unexpected. Having never read Proulx's short story, I had assumed that the movie was a romance. But I was hard-pressed find anything romantic about BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN: its loneliness, frustration and regret make it all too real and raw. Despite the intensity of their feelings, this was certainly not an affair I wanted to find myself in, and I felt pity for Ennis and Jack for the doom of their love.

Interestingly enough, the movie seems more powerful in retrospect than in the theatre: I wasn't too moved while watching it onscreen, but ever since I left the cinema the film has been lingering in my mind and haunting me. I was glad to find that, despite the actors' proclaiming it simply being about "two souls who find each other," the characters are gay, gay, gay: Jack, after all, picks up other men to satisfy his sexual urges. Yet, although it's apparent that the culture of 1960s rural America is what is preventing these cowboys from accepting their natural tendencies and building a life together, the film is not a gay diatribe. Rather, it's a sad and brooding study of how the insecurities and pressures we face make us accept a life that is less than what we dreamed. Ennis doesn't just refuse Jack because he fears society will crack down on him: he's a good father who needs to make money to feed himself and his daughters; he can't just ride off into the sunset with Jack. I think it's this universal theme of inescapable regret that will make this film appealing to a larger audience.

Jake Gyllenhaal is good, but this is Heath Ledger's movie. His performance is fascinating and he steals every scene he's in; when his character breaks down emotionally, he's positively startling. His clenched jaw and tense mumbling is such a brilliant manifestation of the inner turmoils that paralyze him.

Ang Lee is perhaps the most versatile director in Hollywood, and thankfully he redeems himself here from the unfortunate faux-pas of THE HULK. Actually, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN reminded me of his ICE STORM, with its refrained tension, character depth and sense of communal tragedy. I just love his style of filmmaking -- both detached and poetic, which is a perfect combination for a film about an unrequited love between cowboys.

Updated On: 12/21/05 at 01:00 AM

[DAME]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 1:05am

Excellent review. So well written. Bravo. And I agree with you on everything... You might want to put the word "spoilers" on your title..

Updated On: 12/20/05 at 01:05 AM

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 1:09am

Thanks for the heads-up.

Biggest surprise: no one told me that Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal have nude scenes! (Or at least their body doubles do.)

[DAME]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 1:13am

Not body doubles.

This is my favorite movie of the last 2 years.

[eslgr8]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 3:15am

Sorry, Dame, you know I love you (despite our occasional tiffs) but you're wrong on this one, at least if you're talking about the scene where they jump off the cliff into the river. Full frontal shots taken the day of that scene (a censored version of which appears here) show that Heath did indeed jump naked into the river, but the man beside him was a stand-in for Jake.

On a more serious note, thanks BlueWizard for an beautifully written review. I would never call this movie romantic, but it is most definitely a love story.



Updated On: 12/20/05 at 03:15 AM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 3:31am

Excellent, BW. I agree; I thought it was absolutely Heath Ledger's movie, beautiful in all aspects. I also found myself more moved after the fact. I didn't cry during the movie, but when I came home and started to talk to people about it, then I started to cry. I also thought it was going to be very romantic -- and was surprised to see that it in fact was not.

I can not stop thinking about this movie.

[RobbO]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 8:20am

if a man keeping two shirts entwined together hanging like two skins one on top of each other does not spell romance, i don't know what does.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 9:51am

I think it (their relationship) is a romance but that the movie is not a romantic story. A romantic story would be the two of them riding off into the sunset and living happily ever after; to me, this is in the territory of a tragic love story.

Updated On: 12/20/05 at 09:51 AM

[RobbO]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 10:38am

the two of them riding off into the sunset together would be a fairy tale.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 10:40am

True. Semantics.

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 10:41am

Despite how lovely that would have been...

SPOILER SPOILER SPOILER


The scene that killed me was when Jack drove up to Wyoming, all giddy, thinking that Ennis' divorce meant that he wanted them to be together. Then he gets there and Ennis has the kids... and Jack cries in the truck on the way back to Texas. I'm tearing up just thinking about it. Updated On: 12/20/05 at 10:41 AM

[cturtle]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 10:46am

i consider a movie to be particularly good when i'm still thinking about it days afterwards, which has definitely been the case with BROKEBACK. i'm eager to see it again.

[RobbO]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 10:47am

me too. just don't go to see it in montclair, nj !!

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 10:53am

if a man keeping two shirts entwined together hanging like two skins one on top of each other does not spell romance, i don't know what does.

True, RobbO, but that moment is years after the fact. This certainly wasn't a relationship where I thought, "Wow, wouldn't it be great if I were one of them?" (Well, maybe for a few minutes, just to shack up with Heath or Jake).

[RobbO]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 10:57am

but jack kept the shirts all those years and then ennis took them and kept them as well. and did you notice that when jack had them, his shirt was on top and when ennis hung the shirts up, he placed his over jack's.

i think a lot of romances are not something i would want for myself - like in titanic or thelma and louise or any other movie that doesn't follow the formula of "happily ever after."

the end of their 20 year romance in no way diminishes their obvious feelings. is it a perfect romance? no, but what in life is?

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 11:50am

It's not the "happy ending" factor, for I found TITANIC romantic for the love that they shared. I guess our idea of romance is just difference. I never found WUTHERING HEIGHTS romantic, either (more like it was damn disturbing).

The relationship between Ennis and Jack was just too painful and seeped in unhappiness for me to swoon. Half the time, they didn't know wheterh to kiss or to beat each other up. It was pity I felt more than anything else. But I think this was a strength of the film, and was the source of the heartache I felt as an audience member.

Updated On: 12/20/05 at 11:50 AM

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 11:55am

I agree about their relationship, BlueWizard. I posted this elsewhere as soon as I got home from the movie:

I think the most surprising thing was how the scenes in which they're together are portrayed. It's not a love that makes you go "awwww" as much as I thought it would be. Some parts certainly do, but it's very rough and... animalistic. I think you're to assume there had been mutual unspoken feelings for a while, and they just couldn't take it anymore. They fight a lot -- physically and verbally. It's a very dangerous, scary, painful love. Even when they kiss, they sort of just hold each other's faces, almost looking like they might hurt each other.

I didn't expect the passion to manifest itself that way.

Updated On: 12/20/05 at 11:55 AM

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 11:59am

sometimes what appears to be love is just lust.

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 12:02pm

Yet it was, doubtlessly, love. Jack could have gotten action elsewhere, and indeed, did. If he didn't love Ennis, he wouldn't have been put up with all the nonsense after all those years.

Updated On: 12/20/05 at 12:02 PM

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 12:06pm

Do you watch Jerry Springer? People put up with a lot to get a piece of ass.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 12:10pm

I see what you're saying, but if he could just as easily get some near where he lives, why would he drive fourteen hours to get it if he didn't love this guy?

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 12:15pm

Why the assumption that it was so easy to get "it" whenever you wanted it in the 1960's. Fear can be a great deterrent to taking action. Known quantities are easier.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 12:17pm

Becuase there's that scene where he goes to Mexico; there's an entire alley full of men he could sleep with. Plus, there's that other guy -- his wife's friend's husband, or whatever. He obviously has ways to fulfill his needs without driving all the way up to Wyoming. I think that if he didn't love Ennis, what he had nearby would've been good enough.

Updated On: 12/20/05 at 12:17 PM

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 12:20pm

I've flown to states on the other side of the country for a pretty penis. It's never that simple.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 12:21pm

Fair enough.