A heart-wrenching tale that haunts and inspires......nothing like I've ever seen

Rating: 9/10 (3 January 2006)

Brokeback mountain has to be one of most poignant and moving film that I've watched in years. I barely go to the cinema, and never watch a movie twice, but Brokeback mountain has left me with so many deep-seated emotions about forbidden love, and how in an age where so many of us have become so cynical and jaded when it comes to relationships ,and finding that one special person, Brokeback mountain has only increased my optimism for love, despite the characters'inabilities to express their love openly in society.
Director Ang Lee's masterpiece is filled with so many wonderful nuances and intricacies in its plot, at certain points I felt like I could reap up Ennest's and Jack's emotions when they are together, and that they became my own. Heath Ledger was brilliant in portraying Ennest Del Mar, his squinty eyes brimming with fear and frustration when he tries to tell Jack that they could never settle down together because society would not allow it. When he told Jack " if you can't fix it, you gotta stand it" , I could feel the pain in his voice, so much that I wanted to reach out to the screen and embrace him. The most touching moments were when Ennest said nothing, his expressions and thoughts could be read out loud.
Jake Gyllenhal was also superb as Jack Twist, there was an innocence in him that I, and I believe lots of us hopeless romantics embody, a yearning to be with someone, to hold them, to kiss them, to share with them one's most intimate secrets. In relations to my earlier comment on how intricate this film is, as one watches this movie, he/she can recognize the love between Jack and Ennest as genuine because the two have connected on a level that they haven't with any one else. Ennest was quiet and stoic, but you see him opening up to Jack, very much like a loner, an outcast who has finally found someone he could trust, and provides him with a sympathy and understanding that he has never known before, just like the Beast in Beauty and the Beast, and his relationship with Belle, or River Pheonix's character in My Own Private Idaho, and his friendship with Scott Favor, played by Keanu Reeves.
The portrayal of the other characters' wives, Ennest's daughters, Cassie, Jack's in-laws were also relevant and moving, especially with Ennest's oldest daughter, and her love and respect for her father, and sticking by him no matter what happens. Over all, I was very surprised by the audiences who came to see the film. I found myself surrounded by older couples and women both times that I saw the film, and most of them were moved to tears. I must admit to being slightly preoccupied with the fact that older viewers might get turned off by the sex scene, but then I realized that it didn't matter, the gay love scenes, or the labeling of the film as a " gay cowboy" movie. The ever-lasting mark that Broke mountain in many people, I believe is that one must chase after their love, cherishes it , and have faith that even if the love is forbidden or denied by the proprietors', or society's prejudices, it is worth the sacrifice, something that to Ennest, amounted to mountains of regret for what could have been, his life with Jack . This film is truly enlightening !