A Tsunami, and three cheers to Annie Proulx as well

Rating: 10/10 (13 February 2006)

I have just seen this film a second time and found it even more powerful than on first viewing - its emotional force literally takes my breath away. First time round my pickiness revolved mainly around the fact that Ang Lee's movie was a little too polite in comparison with E Annie Proulx' short story (which is itself breathtaking, particularly when you remember her persona is that of a mumsie American housewife).
However, second viewing has cast this and other reservations of mine to the winds and I now think 1) Jake Gyllenhaal delivers a performance every bit as mesmeric as Heath Ledger's; 2) Anne Hathaway delivers the goods just as much as Michelle Williams - that scene Lureen has with Ennis on the phone was so much more powerful second time round; 3) Fate is inescapably to the fore like a Thomas Hardy novel, and it is the crushing weight of fate that drives the story to its shattering conclusion; and 4), not fully appreciated first time round, is that while Ennis may loath himself he is actually much loved, and in that he will find a degree of salvation. Shame about his makeup in the last scene though...