My heart is full up

Rating: 10/10 (5 February 2006)

Old Brokeback Mountain has sure grabbed hold of my heart and seems in no hurry to let go. I'm not one who habitually sees movies multiple times, but this one I just can't shake off. In all my long life I've never experienced anything like this: seen it at least five times, re-read the Proulx story again and again, finally was able to buy the soundtrack just today (2/14). Powerful, classic, spare, spacious, filled with silences, a metaphor for all life's disappointments and tragedies and great loves lost, and just about as perfect a film as I've ever seen.
The director lets each viewer connect the dots for him/herself, contemplating the ambiguities (like the flashback scene) and involving them in the film in a way no obvious telling could do. Each time I see it, it reveals more exquisite little details. It took four viewings before I noticed Ennis, in the very last scene, folding his daughter's sweater against his chest, holding it to his face and carefully placing it on the shelf in his closet. What a telling gesture, revealing the deeply loving heart of his character without a word. And then the shirts.
Kudos to Ang Lee, and to every one of the fine actors and writers who brought this masterpiece to life. It deserves every award, and seems to me to be a film that can heal wounds and bridge gulfs between people, if it is allowed to. The tears we shed viewing it may be our own griefs and fears leaking out.