Close to perfection for the most part

Rating: 8/10 (22 January 2018)

"Brokeback Mountain" is an American movie mostly in the English language and this one was released back in 2005 when it dominated large parts of the awards season. I don't want to go into detail now if I think that it deserved the Best Picture Oscar more than Crash or not, but I believe both are extraordinary films really, so it was a win-win situation and Munich, another nominee, is at least as good. But back to this one here. It won Oscars though for its direction (gotta love Ang Lee), its music and its screenplay and I had the chance to watch Brokeback Mountain on the big screen last night again on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Heath Ledger's death. A sad tribute this is. The film runs for 2 hours 15 minutes, so very long, but it never drags one bit I must say. A lot of that has to do with the previously mentioned Ledger, who gives one of the best performances of the decade and what a year for Best Actor this was with the winner now also dead way too early. Anyway, Ledger is really hitting all the right notes here from start to finish in a truly masterful performance. His co-lead Jake Gyllenhaal (obviously not supporting) has 2 or 3 misses in it I would say and that may be the reason why he "only" won the BAFTA and came short at the Oscars in a year that had a wide open race for Best Supporting Actor. Also in it are Michelle Williams, another nominee, and Anne Hathaway as well as a few others. The two ladies I just mentioned also have great moments. For Hathaway, that would be the phone scene at the very end of course and for Williams, there are several like for example the fishing rod note scene or also the scene when she sees the two men kissing outside the house. There is that moment when she begs her husband to get her some cigarettes just to have him do something for her, but there is no way he would do anything when going out with his lover and it becomes painfully obvious for Williams' character, not that she cared about the cigarettes or anything. This was just a tiny moment, but these tiny moments are what makes the film so great because there is so so much attention to detail in this one that it is simply a joy to watch. You will recognize these moments yourself whenever you see the film (again). And it certainly is an irony that so far Hathaway is the only one who managed to win an Oscar in her lifetime from the cast here, the only one from the 4 romantic key players not nominated for BBM.
I think with the huge quantity of gay-themed movies out there these days that all of these filmmakers can learn so much from Lee here. The key to the film's success is that the movie almost never relied one bit on the fact that it was a relationship between two men. There is the scene with the flashback to Ledger's character's youth, but that is one of very few exceptions, even if it becomes crucial near the very end again when we wonder together with Ledger's character to what extent Gyllenhaal's character's death may have been dubious or really just an accident. We only know what he knows and that is true for almost the entire film. We find out about the death the moment he does when the letter comes back. We find out what happens during the phone call near the very end. And admittedly this death was so abrupt and I really liked it. This can happen absolutely out of nowhere and this film should inspire us to cherish our loved ones or to get active in winning over our future loved ones with the little time we are given to do so. Just like Ledger's character did not take the risk to live with another man together on a ranch for decades and he cannot turn back time when it is all over. And there certainly is some tragedy to the fact that Gyllenhaal's character died the way he died working for his wife and would not have when he had lived with his great love. And then there is some great emotion in this one like the ashes scene at the very end or Ledger's character crying during their last meeting. Here and there, there is also some situational comedy like the talking (or lack thereof) by Ledger's character. On a side note, you will find familiar faces here and there and I really did not remember Kate Mara to be a part of this. Or David Harbour from Stranger Things. Or Anna Faris. Quite a few surprises. This is a really amazing movie, close to perfection technically and extremely elevated by the mesmerizing lead performance, the really convincing script and Ang Lee's vision. I very much enjoy Joaquin Phoneix in Walk the Line as I am a huge Johnny Cash fan, but even I find it difficult to argue against Ledger's turn in here being top of the pile from 2005. What else can I say? If you still have not seen this movie yet, then you really really really need to change that. This was the second or third time I watched it as a whole, first time on the big screen and it is still so rewarding to watch this one. It all feels so real, never just as if the film or certain scenes only existed to make a political statement pro tolerance and pro homosexuality. It's all about the story and the message comes from itself, but it's not like the film exists only for the message and has nothing else to offer, which is so frequently a problem with gay-themed (ugh I hate the term) movies. This one here's an absolute thing of beauty, without a doubt one of 2005's very finest and I highly recommend checking it out.