Ang Lee's Last Picture Show

Rating: 10/10 (27 December 2005)

Perhaps the saddest thing about "Brokeback Mountain" is that, though the story begins in 1963 and ends roughly in the early 80s, Ang Lee's film could have been set in the present day and not much would be different. Homosexuality has become almost stylish in America's urban areas, but out in the heartland, where men are still meant to be MEN, I can still see how homosexuals could spend their entire life in the closet for fear of being completely rejected, if not worse, by the society around them.
"Brokeback Mountain" put me in the mind of last year's "Million Dollar Baby" in its approach to controversial subject matter. Like Clint Eastwood's film, "Mountain" avoids becoming an "issue" movie. The point is not whether you think homosexuality is sinful, or that all gay people are damned to hell, etc. The point is about whether two human beings who share an emotional connection should be able to act on that. And I would think someone would have to have a heart of ice to come out of this film and not recognize how tragic it is that two people who obviously care as much about each other as the two men in this film do should have to live in fear of expressing their bond. The film also put me in mind of "Baby" in its style--spare, quiet, unsentimental. The most important thoughts and feelings are conveyed through what remains unsaid.
Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal give sensational and, for two straight heartthrob Hollywood actors, quite brave performances. Ledger especially is a revelation. Nothing he's ever done up to this point, with maybe the exception of his brief performance in "Monster's Ball," prepared me for his work here. He has a tough role, as Ennis Delmar, the character he plays, has an instinctual inability to show emotion of any kind. You can see in Ledger's face that his character thinks it's unmanly to expose himself, so his Ennis is all clenched jaw and swallowed words. The only emotion he expresses is violence; whether it's anger, grief, despair or even lust, his first instinct is to lash out and cause pain.
Gyllenhaal's Jack Twist is the more gregarious of the two, and the more willing to take risks with their shared secret. Ennis is more grounded in the reality of his environment. He accepts an occasional escape with Jack up into the mountains as more than either of them have the right to expect. Jack, on the other hand, as he says at one point in the film, isn't able to get what he needs from a secret meeting every couple of years. He wants a full committed relationship with Ennis, and is too rebellious to let the cowboy culture in which they live prevent them from having that. His character comes across as restless and reckless. You're left wondering whether Jack is attached to Ennis specifically or just the satisfying of desires that Ennis makes possible, until the film's final moments, when you realize just how important a role Ennis played in Jack's life.
Meanwhile, the two principal actresses, Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway, deliver bravura performances in small roles, conveying loads of emotion in a facial expression or gesture. Watch Williams's face when she sees her husband, Ennis, locked in a kiss with Jack. Or watch Hathaway's when Ennis calls her near the end of the film to talk about Jack, and you realize that this wife who appeared throughout the film to know nothing about her husband's clandestine personal life seems to know a great deal, and has been hurt considerably by it.
Ang Lee nails the good ol' boy culture of the American west. One has to think that screenwriter Larry McMurty also helped in this department. Like his "The Last Picture Show," "Brokeback Mountain" paints a desolate portrait of deserted Western towns. These are essentially ghost towns, even though they're full of people. Boredom and stagnation are the norm. Men are men and women are women. Gender roles are strictly assigned and there's no deviation. In fact, one wonders at times whether or not Ennis is strictly gay, or whether he forms a bond with Jack because he's the one person with whom Ennis feels safe to be freely emotional without the fear of judgement. At times, it seems as if Ennis is drawn to Jack not because he's a man, but because he's another human being who seems to understand him.
It's really amazing and heartening that a film with this subject matter is finding such mainstream appeal. It remains to be seen how much of an audience it draws outside of the urban areas. It would be nice to think that Americans everywhere will be able to put aside preconceived attitudes and be able to appreciate what is essentially a tragedy about two caring human beings, but that's probably too much to hope for. But even if this film makes a few people across the country think twice about passing judgement on people different from themselves, it will have served a valuable purpose.
Grade: A