Thought provoking and intelligent horror

Rating: 8/10 (4 December 2006)

Out of all of the horror movies that come out today, too many rely on cheap thrills and gore to give the viewer a scare. That was scary when it was new, but now it is so old that almost any gore based horror flick is bound to be disappointing and just cheesy entertainment. The true symbolic nature of the art of horror has almost all but vanished completely. First the gore based movies became popular, but they they virtually dominate the horror shelf at rental stores. This is the case since gore is easy to make. Relatively easy. Just like explosions are easy to make in an action movie. But a true horror film and a true action thriller need something more: plot.
This film was much misunderstood due to film audiences misunderstanding of the word "horror." Viscerally it is a love story, but the symbolic vile nature of what is really going on is so well hidden that no one got it. It is simply too intelligent for today's typically mundane film goers.
Take the title: Brokeback Mountain. What does it mean? It is where Ennis and Jack realize what they mean to one another. Two men in love. The film going audience interpreted this as a cultural step towards the acceptance of homosexuals as normal day-to-day human beings that also have feelings and can also fall in love. But the title of the film says it plainly: Ennis and Jack are the poison to society. They have to hide what they feel. They must keep it a secret and they do so at "Brokeback Mountain." There they commit there sins of infidelity and homosexuality and they "break the moral back" of society with the weight of their sins that has now, symbolically, taken the weigh and immensity of a mountain. There are other mountains nearby and theirs seems to blend in to what is a beautiful landscape, but the film almost always focuses on mountain of the title. It is only natural, because if you see or feel a problem you direct your attention toward it.
Like the loose tooth that you keep probing with your tongue, you have 31 other teeth, so why put so much effort into one when you hardly think of all your teeth except when you are washing them? Because it is a painful problem that you want to get rid of. With all that in mind, watch the film again, but with this attention to subtlety and see a truly thought provoking and intelligent horror film that makes a powerful moral commentary.