"Brokeback Mountain," the film, is all that you've heard, and more--

Posted: 12/9/05 at 11:32pm

Brilliant. It is difficult for me to put into words.

It's a beautifully realized film. Powerful, majestic, yet quite personal and very close. Filled with confidence in its story to simply be quiet and to use as few words as possible. You will be experiencing a first exposure to a classic film.

The story of Jack and Ennis is not unlike a situation one finds in a Jane Austin novel. Societal conventions that prevent one from speaking openly, and from behaving in a manner that is true to one's heart. Coices are made with resulting consequences that cause hearts to ache.

Be prepared to be in awe, and to feel sad, and to re-experience feeling that yearning for another human beeing that is so acute that it makes you sick. And also the joy of time shared when you feel as if you two are the only ones in the world.

It is difficult for me to collect all my thoughts on this moving film. Each frame is filled with undertated manly elegance and restraint totally in keeping with its story and characters.


[Ed. Note: SPOILERS MAY LIE AHEAD.]




Updated On: 12/10/05 at 11:32 PM

[harris007]

Posted: 12/9/05 at 11:42pm

oh please we just wanna know how much nudity is in this movie lol

[Broadway_Baby]

Posted: 12/9/05 at 11:50pm

What harris said.

Posted: 12/10/05 at 12:03am

harris and bway_baby, not to disappoint you, I would suggest that your time would be better spent renting male porn videos/DVDs at your local video store. Just find one with a Western setting and you can pretend you're watching "Brokeback." You won't find what you're looking for here.

[TheEnchantedHunter]

Posted: 12/10/05 at 12:04am

It's a lovely film which, despite its subject of unspoken and inarticulate
emotions, might be a trifled TOO subdued in its handling. In many ways, it's
surprisingly retro filmmaking, reminding me of a (homoerotic) Douglas Sirk film
from the 50's. Heath Ledger will probably be giving Phillip Seymour Hoffman a
run for his money come Oscar time for his portrait of a tortured soul. Mr.
Gyllenhaal is perfectly cast as the more expansive, slightly dopey gent of Mr.
Ledger's dreams. The distaff supporting cast impresses as well, particularly
Michelle Williams as Ledger's wife (if I have this right, she is also the
real-life mother of Ledger's child). There are certain narrative ambiguities in
the film which should provide endless interpretation and discussion here and
elsewhere. I look forward to the discourse.


Milt C. Okedoke
Okefenokee, Florida

[harris007]

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

sigh fine, i just wanteed to know, ugh looks like i will have go see this, i guess sigh

[Broadway_Baby]

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

With all jokes aside, I realize what a brilliant piece of work this film is. I haven't had the pleasure of seeing it yet, but I'm sure it will exceed my expectations. Thanks for your thoughts on it, Jose'.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/10/05 at 12:23am

[ZONEACE]

Posted: 12/10/05 at 12:32am

I'm so glad to hear that Bareback Mountian is good.

[ljay889]

Posted: 12/10/05 at 12:39am

'Bareback Mountain' is definitely the title among gay men, lol.

[fflagg]

Posted: 12/10/05 at 1:08am

I am sure I will be in the minority but I was underwhelmed by the film.

It is 30 minutes too long, there are too many scenes on the Mountain that meander, and at some point in the film you care more about the supporting cast and less about the two guys. The film plays like a combo of D.H. Lawrence, Brief Encounter, and a Lifetime TV Movie of the Week [where is Lindsay Wagner when you need her? :)]

There is also one scene on the mountain where Jake's moustache and beard comes and goes. Surprisingly sloppy gaffe.

If anyone steals the show it is Anne Hathaway in a role smaller than what you might think from the reviews.

Speaking of which, shame on Stephen Holden for his ridiculouly florid review in the Times. I had no idea he had a cowboy fetish.

[TheEnchantedHunter]

Posted: 12/10/05 at 1:48am

...There is also one scene on the mountain where Jake's moustache and beard comes and goes. Surprisingly sloppy gaffe...

Darling, when Jake is sans beard, it is a flashback. He remembers an incident from the past when Ledger leaves on a horse and then it immediately cuts to the present when, mustache and beard intact, he watches Heath leave in a truck. Give Ang Lee some credit. Sheesh.


Mayella Ewell
Maycomb, Alabama

[fflagg]

Posted: 12/10/05 at 1:52am

Please. I am not in the mood for f**king attitude. I have an opinion and am entitled to it. If you are going to act like a queen do it somewhere else.

If I have made a mistake I apologize. On the other hand it does not say much for fluid filmmaking. There are other scenes that are confusing re the editing. And I still stick to my opinion that it is a gaffe. If it is not, so be it, but blame the editor.

See the film and make up your own mind.

[Luscious]

Posted: 12/10/05 at 2:19am

Jose… I couldn’t agree with you more!

To sum up how I felt about the film, here's an excerpt from an email that I just sent to a movie-loving friend...

Just got back from seeing BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN and words cannot do it justice. It's a heartbreakingly beautiful film that works on every possible level. Story wise, seemingly simple, yet full of complexities and nuances. Everything about it is authentic, and every performance rings absolutely true. There's not a false note in the entire film. It's poetic, eloquent, mature and hauntingly moving. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Needless to say, I have not seen all of the year-end Oscar contenders. Most opened today or will be opening within the next week or so. But I'll go out on a limb and predict that BROKEBACK will win this year's Oscar for Best Picture. I cannot imagine a better or more deserving film. And I wouldn't be at all surprised if Heath Ledger walks alway with a Best Actor Oscar. His performance ranks up there with the likes of Brando at his peak.

PS. It most certainly is NOT a gaffe. It's a flashback. Jake's character is noticeably younger in appearance in the scene, not just sans mustache. He's obviously recalling one of the first and many times that he and Ennis parted company.

Updated On: 12/10/05 at 02:19 AM

[eslgr8]

Posted: 12/10/05 at 2:28am

Agree agree agree with all the superlatives. I really want this film to win Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Adapted Screenplay. If any other film wins, I will be heartbroken. I am so proud of Ang Lee for making this film, and God willing it will, as Owen Glieberman in Entertainment Weekly says, "change hearts and minds."
Steven Stanley
Alhambra, CA

[DG]

Posted: 12/10/05 at 3:17am

" 'Bareback Mountain' is definitely the title among gay men, lol."

It may be the title used by gay men who can't think beyond their c*cks, or those who haven't matured past high school, but it certainly isn't used by the majority of us.

[paradox_error]

Posted: 12/10/05 at 7:27am

Well said, DG...

Posted: 12/10/05 at 8:21am

fflagg, it isn't a gaffe.

It is a momentary flashback direct from the story. Immediately after their argument during their last time together, Annie Prooulx begins a section with the following paragraph...

"What Jack remembered and craved in a way he could neither help nor understand was the time that distant summer on Brokeback when Ennis had come up behind him and pulled him close, the silent embrace satisfying some shared and sexless hunger...

...Later, that dozey embrace solidified in his memory as the single moment of artless charmed happiness in their separate and difficult lives..."

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 12/10/05 at 8:55am

I am glad so many people liked the film.
But I have absolutely no desire to see it.

[DG]

Posted: 12/10/05 at 9:10am

Master - I'm curious as to why not? I feel like I'm going to see it out of a sense of obligation rather than true desire. I try not to anticipate how I'll feel about it, but I can't help thinking that I'll have the same reaction to it that I did to things like DR. ZHIVAGO and THE AGE OF INNOCENCE - which wasn't very good, in the end.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 12/10/05 at 9:14am

It's pretty simple, DG - the subject matter just doesn't interest me. I find both leads bland, and I never had a cowboy fetish.

Yes, I think it's a ballsy movie to make in these times, but you hit on the 'sense of obligation' about it that turns me off. The gay press in particular seems to stress that "if YOU don't make this film a hit, the Christian right will win!"

We'll live.

Updated On: 12/10/05 at 09:14 AM

[melissa errico fan]

Posted: 12/10/05 at 9:26am

Saw the late show last night and was moved to tears. A simple, beautiful love story, with incandescent performances by all. I think Ledger is a lock for a Best Actor nomination, and either Michelle Williams or Anne Hathaway could score a Best Supporting Actress nod. Right now, it is easily the best film I've seen all year.

Memoirs of a Geisha this afternoon...

[DG]

Posted: 12/10/05 at 9:33am

Master - it's interesting that you bring up the critical response. I've been wondering if reviewers feel capable of being 100% objective about the film. There seems to be so much emphasis on how important it is to have had it made - I wonder if they might feel intimidated about seeming to appear not to validate that fact. NOT that it doesn't deserve the accolades it's receiving (I haven't seen it yet,) I'm just wondering.

And I completely understand your position - and also think 'we'll live'. Although, I DO have a cowboy fetish

Posted: 12/10/05 at 9:49am

I'm going to add that I knew nothing about this film until I started reading about it here on the OT board. I do not know that much about either of the two actors. I knew a little more about Gyllenhall, but that's only because I had deleted his picture as someone's avatar once, and I found out later that he was a legitimate film actor and not a crazed amateur twink porn performer. Ledger I only learned about last night after seeing the film, and searching the web.

So the OT board piqued my interest and I happened upon a copy of the story printed in paperback. I picked it up and read and was mesmerized by the boldness of the writing and by the unapologetic tale of two lonely people trapped into years of separation by the cicumstances of their respectives lives.

Like Master, this is not a film I would have run out to see had I not stepped out of my usual life box and allowed myself to be exposed to something which I thought had little or no interest to me.

I defy anyone to read this very short, short story (maybe it takes 30 to 40 uninteruppted minutes), and then to not see this film.

Anyone, of any sexual persuation, who has experienced love in their life will have a visceral response.


Updated On: 12/10/05 at 09:49 AM

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 12/10/05 at 10:04am

I agree with being turned off by not only the sense of obligation, but the feeling that it's being shoved down our throats.