Achingly Beautiful

Rating: 10/10 (4 February 2006)

The phrase "gay cowboy film" is, in a large part, a misnomer. Though it is true two men wear cowboy hats and cowboy boots while riding horseback, there is scarcely a cow in the film at all. However, the phrase does get right down to the emphasis of the film. It is hard for many to comprehend the idea of two men sharing a kiss, making love, or even staring longingly into each other. It is even more strange to imagine the two as rough ranch hands.
I wonder how the film will play in fifty years, will our prejudices and fears be quelled by then? Even to a 21st Century audience it is hard for many to watch the love between these two men, so it is not hard to imagine the hatred and fear within many of the characters.
The archetypal "cowboy" is one of a mysterious nature. He wears the rim of his hat low to keep people from seeing his eyes; he scrapes mud and muck from his boots before entering a saloon where he drinks a bottle of whiskey before retiring to the cold trappings of a prostitute. He rarely says a word, and when he does it is preceded by the spit of tobacco and a hissing glare.
In Ang Lee's achingly beautiful Brokeback Mountain, we see some of these actions. It is true these two must remove defilement from their boots; one of them indeed rarely says a word; another (we assume) attends the benefits of a person paid for sexual favors. But it is altogether different, Ennis and Jack seem more human in their interactions with these settings. Of course there is no saloon, since the meat of the film takes place in the 1960's and 1970's, but there are bars. And it is understood that in those bars there lurks a fear of what Jack and Ennis are, and that could get them killed.
Jack and Ennis meet innocently enough, they are hired to watch after a herd of sheep on the distant hills of Brokeback Mountain. Ennis, quiet and reserved in speech and so we assume in emotion, is in charge of keeping camp. The film weaves a tapestry of domestic ritual to Ennis' daily work. Even when two men are left to their own devices in the wilderness, someone must do the cooking, preparing, cleaning and shopping. Jack's job is to watch after the herd, he is more extroverted than Ennis, so it is no surprise when he makes the first move.
They do come down off the mountain. This is not a slice of life tale that exists in a few hours. The film follows them and forces them to make the choices we understand must me made. It is hard to watch some of the decisions and the hard truths they bring, but there is an understated tone throughout Brokeback Mountain that recognizes much of this could have been avoided, and that is the real tragedy that is told.
So what are Jack and Ennis? Are they gay? Bisexual? Adventurously straight? What really matters is that their relationship is a dangerous taboo that can either be smothered with a come what may attitude, or more often recede to a psychological haze. Indeed the film has little to do with the sexuality of it's characters. Put any sort of "Romeo & Juliet" type of love and you could produce the same story. I thought, for instance, of the love between a white woman and a black man or the union of a Catholic and a Jew. These bonds are as sinful or radical as is forced by the society within which they exist.
The main thread through Brokeback Mountain does not wholly explain this force of society, but it exists quietly in the background. The story moves so delicately that the thoughts of retribution for the characters' actions seem so harsh they may break the film in two. So, too, does Ennis' actions - a man of few words but, when pushed, he can unleash a horrific scene of contrary behavior.
Like a bed sheet floating perfectly down into place, Brokeback Mountain is the type of film that nestles quietly waiting for someone to notice it. Heath Ledger, who is tremendous as Ennis, steals the film with a look and sound completely original yet recognizable in life. Ang Lee continues marching through Hollywood, making films his own way, each more different in treatment and look than the last. What he creates here is his best work to date, a masterpiece of tone, presentation, and spirit. **** out of ****