Family Fun

Rating: Null/10 (20 February 2006)

'Brokeback Mountain' is a fairly traditional Ang Lee film. The director has given us everything from cross-cultural romantic comedy ('The Wedding Banquet') and literary adaptation ('Sense and Sensibility') to historical adventure ('Ride With The Devil') and superheroics ('The Hulk')with stops at every genre station in between. One thing all of these films have in common, though, is that they concern dysfunctional families. Often pairs of them, in fact.
A generally genial and traditional tale of doomed love, it says a great deal about our society that this story has caused such a furore in certain quarters. If Ledger's 'other' was female, their relationship would hardly be worthy of critical note. That the emotionally and sexually conflicted protagonists should come from traditionally down-at-heel blue-collar traditionally right-wing backgrounds makes it the source of controversy. I'd like to think that that makes the near twenty-year span of the story a picture-postcard of period mores, but  the flick being banned in many places  that's clearly not the case. As with 'Ride With the Devil' and the superior 'The Ice Storm', Lee demonstrates that the outsider's eye is often more effective in observing US culture than many of it's home-grown film-makers.
Gyllenhal and Ledger have a genuine on-screen chemistry, the latter giving a less forceful  but perhaps more nuanced  performance. Michelle Williams, surprisingly, outdoes both of them, giving a rather moving turn as Ledger's wife. Largely, though, the two principals dominate.
It's a good film. Not Lee's best, not by a long shot, and  it's importance in highlighting continuing sexual hypocrisy in US culture aside  I don't think it's worthy of much of the praise heaped upon it in recent months. Still, though, it is an excellent piece of cinema.