Brokeback Mountain

Brokeback Mountain is a 1997 short story written by American author, Annie Proulx, which told the story of two men falling in love whilst herding sheep together on the fictional plains of Brokeback Mountain in Wyoming and the subsequent secret relationship the two share with the passage of time and stuff like marriage, children and jobs getting in the way. It won the National Magazine Award for Fiction in 1998, was further expanded upon in a collection of short stories published by Proulx in 1999 called Close Range: Wyoming Stories, and was popular enough to eventually be turned into an opera in 2008, and even a hit film in 2005 starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger, where it arguably became its most popular. In 1963, Wyoming, cowboys Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist (played by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal) are hired by foreman, Joe Agurre (played by Randy Quaid) to herd a flock of sheep to a grazing pasture through the summer on Brokeback Mountain. After spending some time together and after a night of hard drinking, the two end up having sex together and even form a strong emotional and sexual relationship, although the two (mainly Ennis) only see this as a one-time incident. After parting ways, the two form their own families, with Ennis marrying his longtime fiancé, Alma Beers (played by Michelle Williams), and Jack marrying wealthy rodeo rider, Lureen Newsome (played by Anne Hathaway). Though the two have families now, the spark is clearly still apparent when the two meet up again, resulting in them taking various trips up to Brokeback Mountain to be together, which destroys their current relationship in the process. With Jack wanting to give up his old life and be with Ennis, but him being unwilling to actively take that step due to his own fears of his sexuality and public reception, this love affair may never evolve past this secretive state, despite how much the two clearly care for the other. Brokeback Mountain satisfied critics and audiences at the time, earned itself a total of eight nominations at the year’s Academy Awards (taking home three, including Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay) and served as a benchmark for LGBTQIA+ representation in the mainstream media by producing a movie that offered fantastic lead performances, very impressive direction and atmosphere, and a portrayal of a love story that was unique for the time, but was presented without any sense of stereotyping.

The film was thrown into the cinematic ring by screenwriter Diana Ossana (who also served as a producer for the film), who along with her screenwriting partner, Larry McMurtry, convinced Annie Proulx to give them the filming rights to the story after she was impressed by their screenplay. After several directors were considered like Gus Van Sant, Joel Schumacher, and Pedro Almodóvar, Ang Lee eventually took up the reigns after he was brought to tears by the story and was convinced to come back to filmmaking after his recent failure with the 2003 superhero film, Hulk. You can tell even just from watching the movie that the people behind-the-scenes really respected and understood the source material, and were able to capture its slow-moving, emotionally resonant, and tragically quiet atmosphere, while still presenting a film that could connect with audiences through grounded performances, nicely structured dialogue, and a very firm directing job. Ang Lee was known for working on films that had a dramatic, romantic, comedic, and even cultural touch to them with examples like Pushing Hands, The Wedding Banquet, and Eat Drink Man Woman being good showcases of most of those points, and his later work in the west with films like Sense and Sensibilities, Ride with the Devil and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon proving he’s capable of tapping into new genres while still bringing his usual touch to a project, and this film is no different. There’s a lot of directions this film could go down that could either be too in-your-face and forcibly put into one tone or style, or be too aggressively serious and moody to the point of being dull and even unpleasant, but the manner in which this story is led is very soft, mellow, atmospheric and very rich in emotions, resulting in a very solid portrayal of a romance that feels genuine, representative of the time period and western lifestyle with a new coat of paint, and presents the problems with the situation in a sense that isn’t harmful to the community, but actively engrosses the audience more and uses that tragic boundary for cinematic and emotional engagement. He leads his actors very well, the visuals are not overblown yet are still portrayed as subtly beautiful, the music is placed in at the perfect moments, and his almost ‘’perfectionist’’ level of directing means that it leaves little room for fluff or wasted scenes, making everything feel relevant and purposeful throughout its approximate two-hour length. With that said, while the direction is very impressive, the script could’ve used a few tweaks here and there. While McMurtry and Ossana do a great job adding onto the short story while still maintaining its tone, personality, style of dialogue and writing, it can leave out some context clues that prevent the story from feeling as fleshed out as it could be. It results in an opening act that feels a little slow-moving and not that engaging due to not knowing much about the characters, and the focus on the lead’s family lives is present and is done fine but isn’t written strong or interesting enough to be really engaging. It still works out and the ending is really solid, but it is a little noticeable blemish.

A lot of praise was thrown at Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger as the leads in this film, with both receiving Oscar nominations for their portrayals of Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar. While there were other options for casting originally like Matt Damon, Joaquin Phoenix, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Josh Hartnett, Mark Wahlberg, Ryan Phillippe, and Edward Norton, it feels like casting director Avy Kauffman made the right decision with these two. Both were known but not mainstream names yet, so there was a nice newcomer and youthful feeling to the both of them that felt refreshing, but despite this freshness, they feel pretty accurate to the vibe and energy of people who lived within that era and lifestyle, as well as make what are otherwise basically presented characters and work pretty well with them. Gyllenhaal as an actor has consistently proven to be solid, but often struggles with coming across as a bit bland if not given good material or direction to work with, but his portrayal as Jack is pretty good here, carrying this sense of subdued confidence, but also highlights the tragic indifference he feels about his own life outside of being with Ennis, taking a character that is still a little generic, but bringing enough heart and emotion to make it really work. Heath Ledger is definitely more of a Hollywood actor with his physical appeal and even method-acting stance on rehearsing, but his role also comes across pretty well here. Ennis as a character does have a lot of issues to him that could easily make him unlikeable (his treatment of his wife both emotionally and even physically is pretty awful), but Ledger really portrays the repressed emotions of this character, creating a truly flawed lead that is hard to often get behind, but you are with him enough as you watch the movie. This more than likely comes from the fantastic chemistry both of them have, as their intimate scenes are so softly handled, yet conveys a lot of passion and care from their expressions, their mannerisms, and their way of interacting with each other, it’s very sweet and romantic while also feeling different from other times men who are in the LGBTQIA+ community are portrayed in most movies at the time. While most of the side characters aren’t that amazing from a writing standpoint as they really feel like stepping-stones next to the true focus, most of the actors do pretty good with what they have. Michelle Williams does good as Ennis’ wife and you truly feel sorry for her given the situation she’s stuck in (he is literally just having an affair and she just has to take it), and while people like Randy Quaid, Linda Cardellini, Anna Faris, Roberta Maxwell, Kate Mara, and David Harbour do well with very little, people like Peter McRobbie and Anne Hathaway don’t work as well. Hathaway in particular isn’t terrible as Jack’s wife, but it feels like other actress could’ve done it a lot more convincingly while she just comes across like someone putting on a performance and an accent, and not much else.

The visuals in the movie aren’t the most striking or unique thing ever presented for a movie within this genre, but they perfectly match the atmosphere and mood of the story and result in some very pleasing shots from cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto. There’s a tranquility to the story that really comes through in how the film is presented, as despite the murky ambiance from the lighting and the rundown nature of the sets and buildings handled by production designer, Judy Becker, the film still feels engrossing and never too sorrowful in its tone. The shots of Brokeback Mountain are never in-your-face or like they’re showing off, it instead just presents it in its natural beauty and that weirdly feels just right and truly creates a feeling for this environment and truly makes it come across like a sectioned-off part of the world where these two can go and actively be themselves together, almost like a closed-off haven that is free of discrimination and judgement for what they view is wrongful. Its picturesque, unaltered by any form of housing or population outside of nature, and the only thing they can ever interact with is themselves, it really comes across that way in the film through how its filmed. Even the rest of the cinematography is nice, clean, and effectively cinematic without featuring any flashy or dramatic angles, it’s an overall great job. The score by Gustavo Santaolalla is also very strong and is one of those pieces where you actively notice when it’s not being used in a good way. While the piece is beautifully composed and carries with it a typical Western flair except now with a more sombre and romantically modern twinge, it also knows when to let a moment sit in silence and allow the natural ambiance of the world to build the scene’s atmosphere, and both are absolutely perfect in that regard.

Brokeback Mountain manages to do a lot more than just stand as a very solid movie of the time, as many see it as a turning point in mainstream media for its showcase and acceptance of LGBTQIA+ representation. While it had to contend with its fair share of controversies and criticism around the time, and there are still barriers that need to be taken down in regard to queer cinema, this movie that is solely about two men falling in love (one seemingly being gay with the other seemingly being bisexual) was able to appeal to people from all edges of demographics because it didn’t feel forceful, like it had an agenda attached, or like it was demeaning or taking its content for granted, but instead just a very well-told tragic love story. While it may have a few stumbles in regard to some of its characters not being as fleshed out as they could be, and the script could’ve pushed a few things further, the engrossing atmosphere, very solid performances (especially from its leads), effective visuals, and its sturdy direction takes this straightforward tale of star-crossed-lovers on the modern western front, and tweaks it to be something much than that. Maybe not rich in content, but definitely rich in romance, this is a destination that is definitely worth visiting.