Forbidden Love

Rating: 10/10 (2 February 2006)

When it comes to movies, forbidden love is a very common theme. Classics like Casablanca, American Beauty, and even Some Like it Hot have elements of this theme throughout. Countless romantic comedies or "chick flicks" have based the entire story on this premise and nothing else.
The producers of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind present an Ang Lee, director of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and The Ice Storm, has added a new, controversial film to this genre. Brokeback Mountain is an extremely emotional and intense film about two ranchers who after spending one fateful summer in 1963 together on Brokeback Mountain fall in love.
Ennis, played by Heath Ledger (The Patriot), is the roughneck cowboy who is just trying to earn some extra money over the summer. He winds up working with Jack, Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko), a soft-spoken boy who is also looking for a summer job. The two must keep watch over a heard of sheep for three months in the area of Wyoming known as Brokeback Mountain.
When a freak blizzard hits, the weather turns cold up on Brokeback and instead of having one sleep in the tent and the other sleeping near the sheep, the two shack up for warmth, but what happens is not what the two expected. In what can only be described as a passionate love scene, is the turning point of the picture.
After their engagement is cut short, they say farewell and go their separate ways. The next summer, the employer who gave them the job last summer (Randy Quaid, Independence Day) found out how they were "passing the time".
Jump to four years later, Ennis has a wife Alma, Michelle Williams (Dick) and two children, living in a cramped apartment. Jack is working with his wife Lureen, Anne Hathaway (The Princess Diaries), selling heavy farm equipment. Jack writes Ennis telling him he is coming down to see him. Upon their meeting, Alma catches the two being a little too familiar with each other. From here on out she must hide his secret without him or their children knowing.
The rest of the film features several rendezvous back to Brokeback and the complications their wives create and the world they live in. It spans several years with each year bringing more conflict and hurt. Jack wishes they had never fallen for each other saying, "I wish I knew how to quit you!" several times.
Lee's direction is stellar to say none-the-less. He uses the panoramic landscape of the Canadian wilderness as his Brokeback Mountain stage. The vivid color is very romantic. It really brings out the emotion and passion emanating from the two actors. Lee's previous works have similar concepts with nature as a great element to have.
Ledger and Gyllenhaal, both nominated for Academy Awards (Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor respectively), shine as two men lost in a world that can't accept them as lovers. As they get older, their relationship becomes more and more complicated. The most important part of their acting that makes this movie stand out is they make the story not about gay lovers, but about two lovers. Straight or gay, their acting is so compelling it doesn't matter what their orientation would be.
Brokeback Mountain is a modern classic that speaks volumes. It has power beyond explanation. Lee presents a story about love that conquers all boundaries. Thanks to Lee's ambitious film making, the doorway has been opened up for filmmakers everywhere to pursue their dreams.