The Blind Men and the (Brokeback) Elephant

Rating: 9/10 (20 February 2006)

Putting aside for a moment whether "Brokeback Mountain" is or is not a good movie, it has certainly stirred up a fascinating (and in some cases, disturbing) range of conflicting reactions. Reading the various reviews, I keep thinking of the old parable of the blind men and the elephant: one grabs hold of the trunk and thinks an elephant is like a snake, one grabs a leg and thinks an elephant is like a tree, another feels the body and thinks an elephant is like a wall, etc. (In the case of "Brokeback Mountain," there are also some who've never touched the elephant at all but are nevertheless adamant that it must be a foul and disgusting creature!)
Frankly, I'm more than a little puzzled by the intense controversy surrounding an Academy Award nominated film dealing with homosexual content within a decade of a movie such as "Boys Don't Cry," and a couple of decades after "The Crying Game" and "Kiss of the Spider Woman" (not to mention FORTY YEARS after "Midnight Cowboy"!). By now, can't we all accept that it is possible to make good, artistic, meaningful films about the human condition that deal with homosexuality? And isn't the only "agenda" that really matters whether or not the treatment is honest?
"Brokeback Mountain," both Annie Proulx' short story and the movie adaptation, is an attempt to create an honest, powerful but starkly unromantic love story. Two macho ranch hands find themselves caught up in a profound and inescapable love for each other that is the great passion of their lives. For reasons both personal and cultural, they are never able to come to terms with it. Their needs, their desires, and their responsibilities are in conflict for the rest of their lives, and the imperfect decisions they make have painful consequences for themselves and their families. Apart from the obvious requirement of at least a minimal amount of open-mindedness toward the subject matter, the movie requires that a viewer be able to respond to a love story without the traditional romantic elements; to a pacing that is often slow and langorous (which allows the environment to mirror and magnify the emotions of the characters); to reticent characters who are uncomfortable and usually awkward at expressing their real feelings; and to drama that is often conveyed through non-verbal communication and what ISN'T being said. (In my case, it was also necessary to shrug off a couple of false-note scenes -- such as Ennis heroically punching out the grotesque biker on the 4th of July, or Jack putting his obnoxious father-in-law in his place at Thanksgiving -- which seemed too contrived and stereotypical to fit in with the stark realism of the rest of the story.)
For those of us who touch this aspect of "Brokeback Mountain," it is a great tragic love story: original, honest and extremely moving (and also the best film nominated for an academy award this year). If enough people respond to "Brokeback Mountain" in this way, it will be regarded in years to come as one of the few classic American films of this era.