Brokeback Mountain

[JewelSong]

I saw this last night and it really affected me. I thought the performances were outstanding by both Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. I already (sort of) knew the plot, but I was still taken aback by the ending...and it left me feeling unsettled and sad.

Some people might hesitate to go see this because of the plot and/or because of the so-called "graphic sex scene" between the two men. In case you don't know, the plot concerns two young men (in 1963) who go to work on a sheep ranch one summer and unexpectedly fall in love with each other. The rest of the movie deals with the fall-out as both return home and try to have a "normal" life - marrying women, fathering children and trying to pretend. It is not a "gay" movie so much as a social commentary and a story of love and tragic loss.

The "sex scene" is intense and almost brutal...but I would not call it "graphic" although it is clear what they are doing. I thought it made sense in the context of the movie and the characters.

There are a number of reviews out about this film, and one of them is from "Christianity Today" which includes some thought-provoking questions. http://www.christianitytoday.com/movies ... ntain.html

I'd like to know what others thought of the movie - not so much the "controversial theme" as the movie itself. I have not been this affected and moved by a film for a long time.

[sauronsfinger]

There are many movies i want to see this season. This is not one of them.

sorry

[JewelSong]

Well...

I started this thread for those who have seen or will be seeing this movie.

So I hope eventually some of those people will comment. I really would like to talk about it - I cannot get it out of my mind.

And if you're "on the fence" about seeing it...well, I recommend it. (For whatever that may be worth! )

[yovargas]

I've been dying to see this since its supposed nationwide release but good ol' Orlando here won't be getting it till Jan. 6. Glad to hear you liked it!

[vison]

I'd like to see it, but I seldom get out to a theatre. The idea of the two men being in love doesn't trouble me at all, but what I find so very, very often is that what I see as "mainstream" movies are so superficial!

Is it, in fact, what an adult human being can enjoy? Maybe "enjoy" is the wrong word. Is it a movie that moves the viewer, gives the viewer an insight into "the reality" of the world the movie is set in?

I'm doing this very badly. I'm sorry. It's just that I have been SO disappointed by movies that are superficial and Hollywoodish and full of cheap sentiment and easy answers. It isn't that I want tragedy, but I want something that seems "real". Since I see so few movies, I am not accustomed to the conventions of moviedom, those conventions irritate me, make me realize through every frame that it's a MOVIE. Everyone is beautiful, for one thing. Cliches abound.

If it's not like that, I'll trot across teh river to see it.

[JewelSong]

vison, I think you would be pleasantly surprised by this movie. The characters seem absolutely, heartbreakingly real.

And it isn't really a "mainstream" movie - it had a limited first release and the "conventional wisdom" was that it wouldn't fly at all, due to the subject matter.

As I said, I was very affected by it. I don't see that many movies in the theater, either, for some of the same reasons. This one really resonated...and ached.

[vison]

The odd thing is, just after I posted the above, a friend phoned and asked me to go with her to see it tonight! I'm not going to go, I'm still not feeling well enough to go out at night and to be up past 9:00 p.m., etc., but I'm looking forward to hearing her thoughts.

A movie that has always stayed with me is "Midnight Cowboy". I know that the two men weren't lovers, but they loved one another. I don't know if it was a "Hollywood" movie, although I know quite well that Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voigt were/are major stars. It just didn't seem like a Hollywood-type movie to me, if you know what I mean. I didn't see it in the theatres, but saw it for the first time many years after its release, when I bought the video for $1.99 in a drugstore sale bin. I LOVE that movie. I cry every time I watch it, which I do now and again, maybe once a year or so. If Brokeback Mountain is half as good, I know I'll like it.

[Teremia]

Jewelsong -- This movie was the highlight of the holidays for me. It wasn't perfect (all right, we're all fusspots and can always find something to complain about), but so much of it was so good, that I ended up feeling uplifted, when I had expected to emerge feeling Emotionally Devastated.

Mr. Ledger does an incredible job with his role, and the woman who plays his wife was great, too. The scenery is gorgeous. Thank goodness we just see the sheep, without having to smell them!

It's a small movie, I think: small in the sense of being a short story, which it was originally, and somehow very much still is even on the big screen. There's something delicate about it. It's much sweeter than I thought it would be. My first informant had come back from the film feeling traumatized, and so I was all prepared for, as I said above, emotional devastation, but to my surprise that wasn't what I felt I got.

My little complaints would be that Gyllenhaal's a bit too pretty (personal taste?), that there were just a couple of scenes that seemed like the sort of confrontations that happen only on stages or pages but not in real life (their argument by the water late in the movie was one of those scenes: they're acting, they're acting, I kept thinking).

But for the most part, I liked this movie very much.

[Jnyusa]

vison,

John Voigt was not already a star when Midnight Cowboy was made. I believe it was his first major role in a movie. Brilliant casting.

That also rates among those movies that I consider really, really good. Haven't seen Brokeback Mountain and could not sit in a theatre chair for two hours right now but hope to see it when it comes out in video.

Jn

[JewelSong]

My little complaints would be that Gyllenhaal's a bit too pretty .

Oh, no, no, no! Gyllenhaal is not too pretty at all! He's simply lovely.

[Rowanberry]

There was an article about this movie in our biggest newspaper today; they presented all the premieres already scheduled for next spring. It was received very well by the critics, and sounded like a movie that I might go and see. Unfortunately, it doesn't open here until in February, we always get everything but the blockbusters a couple of months later than the rest of the world.

[Ethel]

Saw this today and thought it was very fine. I had fairly high expectations - Annie Proulx (original story), Ang Lee (director), and Larry McMurtry (screenwriter, with Diana Ossana) are all extremely gifted. I was not disappointed. It's an awkward and tragic love story between two cowboys - real westerners - whose lives revolve around ranching, the rodeo, pickup trucks, and all the rest. They love each other - and it's very much a love story, not a "gay sex" story - but the world they live in does not permit their love. So they marry, unhappily, and try to do what they see as "the right thing". They get together when they can. It becomes apparent that the infrequent occasions when they see each other are the most authentic parts of their lives.

Their tragic bind makes messes all around them. Their wives suffer, and their children, though both men make a real effort to behave as expected, and both clearly feel some respect and affection for their families.

The picture is visually stunning, as I have come to expect from Ang Lee films. Along with the "forbidden love" theme, the slow death of the Old West is also important. We see the magnificent scenery juxtaposed with the grim and dusty little towns; the rodeos and ranches; the pickup trucks and country bars.

All the acting is wonderful. The two women who play the wives are both excellent in small but sympathetic roles. Both leads seem to be perfectly cast, but Heath Ledger in particular gives an amazing performance. He's a man who is absolutely closed off from life and emotions - except in some of the brief scenes with his beloved. His face and body language are rigid in a very believable way. He is the perfect laconic Westerner who keeps his torment inside.

Highly recommended.

[JewelSong]

I thought Heath Ledger was terrific too, Ethel and I would very surprised if he didn't get an Oscar Nóm for his performance.

I didn't pick up so much on the "slow death of the Old West" but you know, you are right. I should see it again, but I don't know if I can - the movie really affected me on a gut level and it would be hard for me to watch it again.

My daughter and niece just saw this and my daughter (almost 19) thought it was "very, very, sad..."

[Pearly Di]

Absolutely superb film.

I have little to add to what's been said about it, but this really is an incredible piece of work.

And absolutely heartbreaking.

Jake and Heath are AMAZING.

And I appreciated the film's compassionate and sympathetic attitude towards the wives and families of Jack and Ennis.

Goodness me, what a heartbreaker.

But so much more satisfying than the average Hollywood tearjerker, because it seemed so authentic.

A fine, fine film.

[yovargas]

Just saw it. Such deep sadness. :(:(


From jewel's link in the first post:

Steven Isaac (Plugged In) says, "Taiwanese director Ang Lee … certainly doesn't soft-sell the damage done by the choices Jack and Ennis make. But you don't walk away from Brokeback Mountain thinking about the destructiveness of acting on homosexual temptations. Rather, you're left with the idea that these cowboy-lovers would have experienced none of this pain if only social and moral norms had allowed them to pursue their passion from the get-go."

He points out that the obstacles to Jack and Ennis's relationship are, in fact, good things. "Usually it's a negative thing when people give in to the societal norms around them and give up on their dreams, refuse to step across racial divides, etc. But here, Ennis' reluctance to live with Jack is a good example of how established—biblical—morality within a culture can help people make right decisions. (It isn't a pressure so strong that it keeps him from repeatedly having sex with Jack, though.)"

And that's even sadder.

[JewelSong]

My daughter was visiting some friends this week out in Arizona and they were watching the end of ROTK. Comes the emotional scene with Frodo and Sam on the rock, surrounded by lava, in an exhausted embrace.

What did one of her friends say?

"Look! It's Brokeback Mount Doom!"



(My daughter could not wait to get home and tell me this. She said she "knew I would think it was funny.")

[yovargas]

I've been haunted by this movie all night and all day. I can hardly stop thinking about it. All day I've been feeling on the verge of tears. I'm crying right now. I'm starting to think that maybe this movie is too powerful.................

[JewelSong]

yov!

I had a delayed reaction to it, too...

But not all tears are an evil.

[Teremia]

yov, it's sad because it reflects our own heartaches and the aches of the world back at us. Sometimes a film does that, just dives right in and opens up all our tender spots. Still, it's a story, and not actually, say, a picture of our own fate.

[sauronsfinger]

Look like there is some conflict at Universal over Mountain versus Munich in the push for Academy Awards.

From the Drudge report.

STUDIO EXECS PREFER 'BROKEBACK' OVER 'MUNICH'; SPIELBERG SAID DISPLEASED

**Exclusive**

As the first wave of Oscar voting closes, a sibling rivalry between films at UNIVERSAL has turned sour.

The enthusiastic backing of BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN by UNIVERSAL chief Stacey Snider has come at the expense of MUNICH, a top source involved with the Steven Spielberg drama tells the DRUDGE REPORT.

"Stacey and her team believe BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN is their winner this year," claims a well-placed insider. "The movie has been spoiled, spoiled and spoiled again, with endless promotion and support. MUNICH, on the other hand, has been horribly neglected. Steven has been thrown in the backseat. It has been painful."

Tensions flared further with news that BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN passed MUNICH at the boxoffice in total receipts!

BROKEBACK has been far more profitable, costing only $14 million to make, while pulling in $34 million so far in domestic sales. While MUNICH cost $70 million, with a $33 million return.

A UNIVERSAL source strongly denies a BROKEBACK preference at the studio.

UNIVERSAL President Ron Meyer is said to be MUNICH's top advocate and supporter, calling it a masterpiece.

"We are behind the movie 1000%, and strongly believe it has a great shot at winning Oscars," says the studio source.

"More money has been spent on TV advertising [for MUNICH]."

Hollywood players watched Spielberg's polite reaction as Ang Lee's controversial western won award after award Sunday evening during the nationally televised GOLDEN GLOBES.

But behind the scenes, a quiet anger has developed over the handling of MUNICH during the award season run-up.

"She says she loves all of her children equally, but Stacey [Snider] and her team have given every priority to BROKEBACK," charges the MUNICH source. "Gay romance is easier to sell to the academy than a complex study of an Israeli assassin."