Not a masterpiece, but I still can't believe what it has done to me

Rating: 10/10 (5 March 2006)

I was of course moved by some scenes while watching the movie, but it's only a few hours later that I felt this irrepressible need for crying, that « retro-active » emotional bang a lot of people have described. Never thought this would happen to me.
It's seems that, when a movie has a « gay component », it has to be a journalistic documentary. But this is not the « National Geographic », it is not a study on how those strange creatures called homosexuals live ;-). The characters are fictional. These movie is not based on a true story, but on simple human, and oh so common, feelings.
Still, some things are not credible, mainly some aspects of the relationship between Ennis and Jack, sometimes I felt that there are two heterosexual actors doing their best to play gay or bi-sexual characters. I guess it's because, even for talented actors, there are not much good cinematic examples of what an emotional relationship between two men can be
I also find that the make-up is sometimes a problem, and it is not easy to « feel » the characters aging.
Unlike many people, I found the movie too short. The twenty years between they met and Jack's death seem to be twenty months. I wanted to know more about them, their wives, their kids
About the « tent scene » : at first, I didn't like it  two men having a brutal, fast and raw sexual encounter- this is not good for the already bad enough image of how gay people behave. But, at second thought, why not ? This could happen. A genuine relationship between two people can begin with only sex, and then become something different. Those guys are young, probably knowing nothing about love and desire, and not able to manage it, and they are drunk, so they do what they can, even if it's in a rough and very « basically hormonal » way. One more « romantic » approach I touch your shoulder, then your hand, then I kiss you- would have been worse. Without going into details, that sex scene is not totally credible. I guess this is done on purpose, cause this is not necessary for the story. Everybody understand what they are doing, don't need a schematic. Frankly, when you see a cinematic sex scene between a woman and a man, do you think it is close to reality ?
Some didn't like the attitude of the two main characters  Well neither did I : they are emotionally immature, they lie to each other, to their wives. They lack so many marks that they can't solve their problems, and even if they knew how to, would the society let them do ? Somebody wrote that, if they had been more courageous, they could have moved to another place well what other place can you find in the 60's (and even now) where you can be, if not accepted, but at least tolerated when you are a gay couple? Probably in a big city, without the mountains, the wild nature you've always lived in. It would have been another kind of death. They should be free to live together in the country they were born and raised in. Social pressure can be a tombstone, and homophobia surely is, even for the people involved in the making of this movie. Let me explain :both Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger had to repeat that they are not homosexuals. Why do they feel obliged to ? Think about that
A good point is that the gay characters are portrayed as « normal » people, not « queens », or so cultivated artists from the jet set. They are not rich (which is very important in the story, especially for Ennis). They are average people trying to live their life in a harsh world.
Somebody wrote that the only mainstream successful movies talking about gay characters are tragedies (they suffer and they die) or silly comedies (« Birdcage » and co.) Well, that's sadly true. The difference here is that you can relate to the characters, because they are not from another galaxy, they are just people with problems beyond them.
Some people say this is not really a gay love story, but a love story that could happen between a woman and a man. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think that's a -probably unconscious- way to erase the main topic of the story. This is loving, sexual, passionate, call it the way you want, relationship between two men, with no clues on how to deal with it. A heterosexual relationship would have been different, maybe as tragic as this one, but different. But I agree with the fact that this movie is so much more than a « gay story » and surely not a « gay western » (it feels like this reducing definition has been created by some to destroy the movie even before it was released).
I saw Brokeback six days ago and I am beginning to slowly « get out » of it. The twenty or so last minutes, and particularly the final « Jack, I swear » still echo in my memory. Incredible how those simple words can produce such a painful emotion. Probably it is that profound loneliness and all those regrets Ennis is left with, and all he understands then, what could have been IF ...
Brobeback is not the best movie of all time, but, despite it left me with a lump in my throat for days, it reminded me what is really important in life. Since I've seen it, I can't stop holding in my arms the one I'm so lucky to love and live with.
That's why this movie is more than just another good movie : it gives something that stays with you and may change you.