So much more than romance

Rating: 10/10 (8 March 2006)

Hollywood excels at representing romance, seduction and thrill. But Ang Lee sets himself a higher goal with this movie. Brokeback Mountain is a story of love, simple requited love, but one of the most inspiring and enduring kind. Although the obstacles the lovers meet are important, their love is not really put to the test. It is the ineffectual and fatal way they face these obstacles that the movie tells the story of. Although they love each other with the same irrepressible urge, Ennis and Jack have been affected very differently by the prejudices of their society. Whereas Ennis has an overwhelming sense of duty and makes a habit of keeping his desires under control, Jack cannot deny his impulses. Ennis's sense of responsibility to his community and Jack's way of dealing with grief and loss will work on separating them in a society that pits duty against desire. And Lee is a master at illustrating the manifold ways human beings give rein to their contradictory emotions. While Ennis at times gives way to violent outbursts, Jack quits the game early and surrenders his life to chance. The movie deals with the impossibility of resolving these differences in a society that opposes their love. With the logic simplicity of a tale and visual intelligence, Brokeback Mountain characterizes for example the wives according to their contrasted relationships with their spouses. But the incredible soberness of the ending leaves the viewer with an optimistic sense that love is all powerful despite the violence that so often surrounds it.