A painful masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (30 January 2006)

I have to admit, when I first heard this movie was getting made (December 2003, on Italian TV), I never thought I would see it, as the idea of watching a "gay Western" wasn't that appealing (actually, I wasn't a big fan of the Western genre in general back then, but that was before I saw Dances with Wolves and The Searchers). Then I heard it had won the Golden Lion in Venice, whereas everyone thought the award would go to Good Night, and Good Luck. And now it has won four Golden Globes and will most probably get this year's Best Picture Oscar. Yes, it is that good, and I don't regret I finally went to see it.
The film is directed by Ang Lee, a filmmaker who can seamlessly move from a genre to another and make an excellent picture (his last effort, Hulk, suffered from some bad SFX, but otherwise it was an interesting film). Brokeback Mountain is no exception, in fact it's arguably Lee's best movie ever, beating even Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. It's a gripping, heartbreaking, painful film, and labeling it as a "gay Western" is to entirely miss the point. It's a love story, and a very universal one, which just happens to involve two men.
The story begins in Wyoming, 1963. While shepherding on the titular mountain, Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) develop a friendship which eventually leads to a night of brutal, almost animal sex. After an embarrassing exchange ("You know I ain't queer";"Me neither") , the two men part and don't see each other again for four years. When they finally meet, they're both married (to Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway respectively) and have children, but the passion they've been holding inside them for so long is still there, and for the following twenty years, they occasionally return to Brokeback, in order to freely express that passion.
The movie's greatness lies in its honesty, the forbidden love story at its center being so pure and touching, you don't care that the love-birds are both men. It's a doomed, tragic romance, which won't last forever, even if Jack wishes it could be so.
Pain, honesty and sadness permeate the entire movie, and they're obvious in the flawless performances: Michelle Williams is astounding as the faithful wife who suddenly bursts out in panic as she discovers the truth, and Gyllenhaal is amazingly perfect as the idealist who wants more than "a few high-altitude f**ks once or twice a year". But it's Ledger who surprises more than anyone with what has to be his best performance to date: a conflicted, brooding individual who chooses to hide his true emotions until it's too late. This is one of those cases where a single look is much more powerful than all the words in the universe.
I really hope this masterpiece will get the recognition it deserves at the Oscars. In my opinion, the best picture of 2005, as well as one of the best films I've ever seen.