Haunting movie, best I've ever seen

Rating: 10/10 (12 March 2006)

I saw this movie for the first time about six weeks ago and although I knew it was a beautiful movie, I realized I didn't quite get it. Then strangely enough I found myself thinking about the movie days later, something that has never happened to me. So I read the short story and went to see the movie again, and boy did it get me the second time and each time I've seen it after that. In my mind, this is the only case of a movie being far better than the book it was based on. I've seen it eight times so far and cry every time and am still haunted by it. I'm glad to see that I'm not crazy based on the posts here. I even bought the script and the soundtrack for Santaolalla's beautiful score and Rufus Wainwright's haunting and melancholy "The Maker Makes".
What I found so incredible is that apart from being beautifully done, this film made me care so much about people who I would appear to have nothing in common with (I am a 36-year old female, American, of Indian heritage, never been to Wyoming though have been to Texas.) Ennis and Jack are very real to me and it's somewhat of a shock to remember that these are just actors who have gone on to other projects. It made me reflect on the decisions I've made in my own life, missed opportunities, missed loves, fears, etc. That is incredible film-making, and this movie deserves to a classic. Even if everyone involved in this film never make another good film the rest of their lives, they should be immensely proud of having been part of this film. I'm also awed that people like Ang Lee and Gustavo Santaolalla, who didn't even move to the US until the 1970s, could be involved in making such a beautiful piece of Americana.
I am an American who has been living abroad for more than four years, first in Paris and now in London. Oddly enough this movie has made me proud to be an American again (which has been difficult through the Bush presidency), to see that this sort of movie can be made and do well in an America that has become hostage to the conservatives (although I wonder if it's making most of its money from people like me seeing it multiple times rather than having wide appeal?). It gives me hope. For the first time, I want to move back to the US and see these beautiful places.
I was very disappointed that "Crash" won for best picture, thought it was a pretty bad movie. I was also surprised to read that some members of the Academy in supposedly liberal Hollywood couldn't bring themselves to watch "Brokeback Mountain". Guess times haven't changed that much.
A response to a very strange comment I've seen posted, that Ennis was "raped" by Jack and somehow forced into the relationship? Jack certainly made the first move, but after the initial struggle with himself, Ennis became the aggressor. My favorite scenes: the second tent scene, the reunion, but most of all, the flashback near the end to the Brokeback Mountain days where Ennis holds a sleepy Jack from behind, humming to him and rocking back and forth, where you see the love on Jack's face, then being rudely brought back to the present where you see Jack looking sad, disappointed, and frustrated, and knowing that this is the last time they will ever see each other.