Brokeback Mountain: a review plus a rant

At once beautiful and bleak, Brokeback Mountain is utterly stunning. Jake Gylenhaal is expectedly good, Michelle Williams a revelation (while Anne Hathaway, perfectly reasonable, is more memorable for her hairstyles) but all are acted off the screen by Heath Ledger, whose tight-lipped performance makes for an incredibly moving film.

The starkness of the relationships in the film contrasts with the gorgeous cinematography, and I continue to be amazed at Ang Lee's ability to shine in any film genre. True, the vast majority of his work is concerned with human relationships, but to explore that theme so successfully in such diverse guises as the costume drama (Sense and sensibility) and comic book adaptation (Hulk) is nothing short of amazing.

(I gather the cast and crew aren't happy with the film being called "a gay cowboy movie", to the displeasure of much of the gay community. I have to say I side with the former: it's an injustice to summarise it thus, as there's a lot more to Brokeback Mountain than the same-sex relationship at its core. Besides, this is a film which deserves to have wide appeal, so let's not be exclusive about this, children ...)

(7th January 2006)

Comments:
I long for the day when a same-sex coupling on screen doesn't ruffle any feathers. Hollywood pairs up mixed-race heterosexual couples all the time, especially in action movies (Halle Berry/Pierce Brosnan, Arnold Schwarzenegger/Vanessa Williams, Denzel Washington/Julia Roberts, etc.) and no one even notices. But here's a movie that's 10 gejillion times better than any of those blockbusters and people are all upset. I don't even like the general gay response to the movie, like this is some kind of enormous victory. It's just a film (albeit a great one).
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 2:06 PM
 
Oh, I wanted to be clear, I don't find mixed-race romances shocking or wrong, I meant to add in there that 40 years ago or so it would have been a much bigger deal. The gays just have to be patient (but persistent).
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous : 2:07 PM
 
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