Simply incredible

Rating: 9/10 (5 June 2008)

I'm not even going to bother discussing the prejudices that will prevent a large number of men from enjoying this film. That it will go unappreciated by many for such an inane reason is extremely unfortunate since in my opinion this is one of the best films of the decade thus far.
For starters, the film is immaculately shot by Ang Lee with breathtaking cinematography throughout. Lee was justly rewarded with the Best Director Oscar while the cinematography also received a nomination. But you'll have to see it for yourself because words cannot describe how good this film looks.
Another of the film's three Oscars went to the screenwriters. Instead of dumbing down the story the screenwriters opted for subtlety and produced a gem of understatement. The subject matter is treated with utmost maturity and the script is thankfully devoid of preachiness. This isn't a film about homosexuality, it's a film about the universal theme of forbidden love.
The principle actors, Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, are exceptional. At first I didn't take to Ledger's mumbly Ennis del Mar but by the end of the film he had made a believer out of me. He and Gyllenhaal are excellent together, exuding a complicated mix of warmth and ruggedness. In the supporting cast, Michelle Williams deserves special mention as del Mar's rejected wife. It is worth nothing that she nabbed an Oscar nomination for her work, as did Ledger and Gyllenhaal.
There was one thing about the film that wasn't quite to my liking, though, and that's the score (which, incidentally, won the film its third Oscar). However, I will admit that it's unlike any score that I've heard before and my disapproval probably comes down to a question of taste.
The biggest disappointment for this film on Oscar night was the loss to "Crash" in the category of Best Picture. I firmly believe that 2005 is one of those years that people are going to look back upon as a year that the Academy got it very wrong.