No need of any awards

Rating: 10/10 (14 March 2006)

This is the first time I've felt compelled to write something after seeing a movie, and it feels strange to do it, to say the least. But after Brokeback Mountain has got me for one week and 3 viewings, I desperately needed to find some kind of catharsis to all these feelings still burning inside. That's how I ended up here on IMDb reading all the postings and finding to my big surprise that everybody feels the same! Man or woman... straight or gay... old or young... Everybody. And everywhere around the world! I wonder what it is with this movie that sticks to your soul and makes you feel so sad, yet so hopeful after viewing...
The story about the love between two men is not precisely what you can call universally appealing. Even more, they happen to be cheating on their wives and passing their own children's needs on behalf of their own. So, where does the instant empathy with Ennis and Jack comes from? I think it might be the fact that everybody has his/her share of mistakes, wrong choices, regrets and 'what ifs' to fight internally with that makes it so easy to understand them and the way they so hardly try to come to terms with their own desires. Because Brokeback Mountain is not just a gay love story. It transcends any attempt on labeling to become a human story about unrealized happiness and regrets of wrong choices.
I know almost everybody has said it already, but Heath Ledger's pitch perfect portrayal of Ennis and Jake Gyllenhaal's nuanced Jack Twist are the main reason why this film worked so incredibly well. Not trying to undertone Ang Lee's heartfelt direction, McMurtry and Ossana's intelligent adaptation, the rest of the supporting cast or the staff, but let's face it... is anybody out there able to say he/she didn't want to jump inside the screen and give both of them a big hug and protect them from the rest of the world? A lot of people think this was Ledger's film, but I think he wouldn't have been as perfect without the other half... would he? I positively think that such a perfect chemistry between the leads has rarely been seen before. Forget about Taylor/Burton, Bacall/Bogart, Rogers/Astaire. And I even dare to bet not even star-crossed lovers like Romeo & Juliet, or Heathcliff & Cathy had ever had the kind of rave support for their love to become real as Ennis & Jake have. If this isn't becoming part of history then I don't know how to name it. Ennis and Jack. They will be forever united in eternity because they shared (even in small ways), they cared for each other, they loved...
And to think of it, maybe the secret of healing with this hard to understand feeling you're left with after viewing, is precisely to share with others your most feared dreams, your inner feelings, your lost love stories. Like we're all doing. I hope tonight I am able to sleep...
It's natural to wish our favorite films and stars to receive plenty awards to reassure them as THE Best, but who needs an Oscar when so many people around the world express their love in so many ways? They're both very young, so I'm sure they will have their great awards moment in a very near future.
To all the people involved in this film, thank you for having the guts to have it made! No need of any unreceived awards, it's perfect as it is. You've just given us all a big lesson on love and understanding.