Beautiful

Rating: 10/10 (7 January 2006)

This film stayed with me and invaded my waking thoughts. The Oscar-worthy performances (Heath Ledger deserves the hype) cement the story as an instant classic. The fact that the protagonists are two men is irrelevant, their situation is just a vehicle for a beautiful story of forbidden love and its consequences. There is nothing remotely "gratuitous" about any of the sex scenes - they exist merely to show the relationship between them and are integral to the point. This film is a grown-up, frank portrayal of a love story, with an ending that will stay with you as it did me. The characters are destined to be immortalised in the hearts and minds of anyone who watches this, each is so expertly portrayed and deep. Anne Hathaway, in particular, in one of the closing scenes which is filmed entirely in close-up, is a revelation, shedding her Disney image.
Overall, this is a powerful and haunting story, and I urge you to see it.