At first I was impressed, I was petrified...

Rating: 1/10 (12 July 2006)

I am paraphrasing Gloria Gaynor's lyrics of 'I Will Survive' substituting 'afraid' by 'impressed' to express the first impression this film made to me. However, as time passed by, I changed my opinion very much and came to a very different conclusion:yes, I have to admit that I was at first moved by it, probably influenced by all the hype surrounding it but... After having thought about this film a very long time, I became convinced that its great success and overall high rating is due to its tragic ending. The question is: If Ang Lee had slightly 'deviated' from Annie Proulx's short story, and put a less tragic ending (something like, for instance, Jack Twist fleeing to a supposedly gay-friendlier country, or disappearing in a big city, or something like that...), would the film have been so highly praised? I am convinced that the answer is a definite NO. The 'sacrifice' of one of the gay characters at the end (killing them both would have been too much, of course...)is certainly what a great part of the audience unconsciously demanded, in order to render the subject matter acceptable. This is precisely what fills me up with some kind of nausea, and I therefore disagree with many people who claim that this film could contribute to a greater acceptance of homosexuality. It seems, that also nowadays any gay-related film, in order to gain some success must absolutely add a so-called 'virtuous' note, in the case of 'Brokeback Mountain' one of the protagonists ending up bashed to death.Moreover, if we compare 'Brokeback Mountain' to the, in my opinion, far superior 'Mysterious Skin' (whose director was, by the way, nominated for best director alongside Ang Lee at the Independent Spirit Awards, and it is a shame that he did not win it), things become even more clear: despite of its sometimes questionable behaviour, Neil McCormick, the gay character played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt in 'Mysterious Skin' (terrific performance, by the way...) does NOT end up tragically, on the contrary... But this, of course, does certainly constitute a 'major sin' to many viewers, and this is why, very unfortunately, some very courageous films do not stand a single chance against the fundamentally homophobic weepie I just reviewed...