Masterpiece but with some imperfections

Rating: 9/10 (20 January 2006)

While the heterosexual actors in Brokeback Mountain play gay characters---their portrayal of gay people is not entirely convincing. For that reason two gay men who can project a heterosexual persona should have done the part of Jack Twist and Innis particularly in the sex scenes which instead of being done like two people in love come across more like a prison rape scene than consensual sex. The heterosexual sex scenes come across more like the characters are enjoying heterosexual sex a little too much--at least more than gay characters would enjoy being queer queer. It is only later that these actors achieve some similance of what their gay characters would have been like by being tender and gentle with each other. Most times; one does not know for sure if the characters are beating each other up or not with all the rough treatment these actors give each other.
I had heard before seeing this movie that it was filled with one sex scene after another,nudity, expletives in just about every sentence ad nauseum. I am glad to report that this is not true. The nudity is very tastefully done with no frontal scenes.
The story line has a great deal of reality to it. IT is however a very sad and tragic story because it deals with heterosexuality and traditions violating the rights of gay people and forcing them to deny their gayness. If you are expecting the see the stereotype of gay men here you will have to look elsewhere. These guys play the stereotype super macho heterosexual guy to the hilt and are proud to be gay men not an imitation of a fake woman. If there is a real life day to day lesson in this movie it is that gay people should be allowed to marry and raise their own families as same sex couples just as heterosexual couples do. One has to be a very hard hearted person not to have some tears in their eyes when coming out of this movie. Innis's denial of his homosexuality is so profound that when he finally recognizes that he is gay; it is too late ---he learns that Jack is dead and they can not be a couple as Jack had wished all these years. Innis holds own to Jack's clothing and a picture of Brokeback Mountain in his closet which is all he has left of a relationship that could have been.
Highly recommended; the landscape is simply gorgeous and the screen writers keep things real except for the sex scenes but then the author says that she had to imagine what sex would be like between men and she might have not known that same sex experience is almost the same as heterosexual sex. There are some continuity problems and while I have not seen the parts that fell on the editing floor--I suspect that just too much was cut from the film which is why parts of it come across on the brutal side as the scenes leading up to various scenes have been cut out.
This is a do not miss movie.