Touching, honest, tragic, beautiful

Rating: 9/10 (25 January 2006)

I find it hard to express in words just how this movie made me feel. Take this as less of a review and more of an expression of my impressions and feelings regarding the film.
It is touching, and extremely emotional. It is raw, pure, and honest. Tragic, heart breaking. Beautiful. These are all words that describe this movie. I won't explain any of them, all I will say is, if you see the movie, you'll know what I'm talking about.
This isn't a film for everyone. People whose favorite film from last year was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, or King Kong (as good as they may be) will probably not like Brokeback Mountain. But people who can appreciate an honest, beautiful and tragic drama, which is slow and subtle but at the same time very complex, should go see this amazing triumph of film-making.
My theory is that, besides the normal division into genres, films can also be divided into the following three categories: Plot-driven films, character-driven films and mood-driven films. Plot-driven films are those in which much happens, and the plots are intricate and complex. Most American movies fall into this category. Character-driven films are more rare, and are usually win lots of awards. Recent films such as The Hours, Sideways, 21 Grams, and others are intricate character studies, although plot-wise, nothing much happens in them. Nor is the plot at all important. The third category, mood films, can be found mostly in European or Far Eastern cinema. Ang Lee, whose roots are in Hong-Kong-based cinema, brings this Eastern subtlety and ability to create a very specific and strong feeling or mood in films and transfers it to his American films.
Ang Lee is a director of subtlety. Sure, he has directed some bigger films, such as Hulk, but his masterpieces (Sense and Sensibility, The Ice Storm, Eat Drink Man Woman, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon) are pieces of subtlety. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has its action scenes, but the movie expresses far more in the scenes in which nobody speaks than it does in the action scenes. Even the action scenes, while impressively choreographed, still express a sort of subtle, quiet, tranquil beauty, and are not bombastic or overbearing.
Almost every aspect of Brokeback Mountain is very subtle, but all these aspects together create an elaborate and very powerful mood. The cinematography is very simplistic. The camera rarely ever moves, and there are no pompous or intricate shots. The shots take there time, too, but the vistas of the Wyoming mountains and lakes are just so beautiful, and the cinematography emphasizes these vistas with stunning and unsparing long shots. The musical score, played basically on a single guitar, is minimalist, but beautiful, and fits the mood of the film perfectly. The acting, too, is subtle, but flawless and quite amazing. Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway give strong performances, but the two real stunners of the film are Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams, who plays his wife. Ledger's character is so intensely complex, and yet, he acts him with such subtlety. He flawlessly slips right into the part. It's a really, really powerful performance, and it coming from Heath Ledger, whose previous movies include mediocre "teenage" films such as "A Knight's Tale" and "10 Things I Hate About You", only adds more to its value. Michelle Williams gives yet another strong performance, expressing her characters emotions through her facial expressions alone, and not through talking or actions. The scene in which she snaps is haunting and tragic.
The script, too, is very minimalist. As in Ang Lee's previous films, the true shining moments of Brokeback Mountain are those in which none of the characters speak. There really isn't that much dialogue in the film (although this is partly because of the nature of Heath Ledger's introvert, reclusive and mainly quiet character), which allows the film to express itself through the characters' emotions and feelings, and not through their actions or dialogue.
To my dismay, this film is receiving some severe backlash due to its gay themes  themes that aren't even present in the movie. The film is not a "gay cowboy" movie  it even emphasizes the fact that both characters are heterosexuals. The movie, as its tag-line says, describes love as a "force of nature"  it is an emotion so strong that once it grabs hold of you, it will never let you go. Although the film focuses on two very specific characters, its themes couldn't be more universal. Its message and themes could apply to any case of forbidden love  homosexual, inter-cultural, religious, and more.
I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that Brokeback Mountain is a cinematic landmark. I think it is the best movie of 2005, and I will be very happy if it wins some major awards. It has already won quite a few  all of them very well deserved. I recommend this beautiful, flawless film to anyone and everyone  although viewers who are not used to slow-paced dramas probably won't benefit from the ultimate effect of this touching, emotional and tragic movie.