Powerful!

Rating: 10/10 (8 January 2006)

This is a very emotionally painful film to watch, and for many more reasons than the obvious. Certainly the story is upsetting when you see two people who are deeply in love with each other and because of circumstance it cannot be pursued, or must be kept a secret. But what about the people involved in the whole circle, and the times they live in. These two men, Ennis (Heath Ledger) and Jack (Jake Gyllenhall) meet as young sheepherders in 1963. They are from the Great Plains where the notions of everyday people are not really liberal or fair-minded. They know the danger that could await them if their secret got out. Moreover, what about their families? Each character has children and a wife. How would this affect their relationships with those members? Obviously their wives would probably divorce them and maybe they would never see their children again. All these men eventually have is a seasonal trip to Brokeback Mountain where they first met. The film is not shy about the subject homosexuality or showing the intimacy of their relationship. But I never found it to be anything offensive, pornographic, amoral, etc. This movie is not a film that seeks the why of anything. It does not try to be a psychological, physiological or morality study. It is simply a tragic love story between two people who are forced to keep their affections a secret. Nothing more or less, this is the reason why the film is so painful to watch. It strikes an emotional core that we can all relate to. The performances are outstanding, especially Ledger's, as he is the protagonist of the film. But that's not to down Gyllenhall is any way. He's a fine young actor and I've been a fan of his ever since I saw "October Sky" in 1999. What is more? The cinematography is breathtaking. Ang Lee's direction is terrific. He's a director who has quite a diverse palletfrom "Sense & Sensibility, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," even "Hulk" was a fine film. There have been other films that have tackled gay relationships before, but not so mainstreamed as this. And, certainly not with one of the greatest and most conservative of American imagesthe cowboy.