The secret of this film's success

Rating: 10/10 (11 January 2006)

The secret of this film's success is how it stays with you, after the event, and indeed, its power intensifies. I hugely enjoyed watching Brokeback Mountain at the cinema - the film is a visual cinematographic treat, the acting performances are spot-on, the changing period details are subtly wrought (although Anne Hathaway's wigs are outright hilarious), the theme of forbidden love is duly frustrating and - less hyped - the class context which underpins much of the story too is extremely well done.
However, there are some 'minor' problems with the film too. The film's first act up Brokeback Mountain is a masterpiece - as indeed it is the high point for Ennis and Jack for all of their lives - and the chemistry generated between the lovers is deftly handled. We warm to their characters, we want them to be happy.
After Brokeback, the film has to cover a lot of time and comes across as choppy, too episodic, and by the end of the film, the pace even loses traction a little. Perhaps we would have been better off witnessing Jack's death for ourselves? Although we cannot be precisely sure just HOW he died, which is possibly why the film chooses to offer us two versions - Lureen's account and Ennis's lurid imaginings which mirror his own childhood fears of the brutalised, murdered homosexual rancher his father cruelly forced him to witness - the experience which traumatises poor Ennis for life.
Interesting then that these 'problems' actually become a strength after leaving the cinema ... the episodic format enables easier 'recall'. I found moments and scenes drifting into my consciousness, often unbidden, for a few days afterwards. Similarly, the soundtrack which mainly comprises acoustic guitar riffs and vast swathes of silence, was far from impressive I felt - and even a little annoying, when each mini-episode seemed to crank up with yet another twanging reprise of the acoustic guitar. And yet, this little riff can't quite leave my mind now - and I have even come to like it. It is a cunning little device, because it formally kickstarts each little episode - both on film and in mental replay. Again, post film recall is made easier.
Much praise has gone to Heath Ledger as Ennis, and much of it is deserved, as he embodies this pained, buttoned-up character, who shies from emotion and only seems to find release with Jack. But I found myself more haunted by Jake Gyllenhaal as Jack Twist. His frustration is palpable - not just with Ennis and their circumstances - but his whole life. The turkey- carving scene with his overbearing father-in-law was superb, capturing their 'masculine' battle for patriarchal control of the family. This then was mirrored perfectly by Alma's demure new husband carving his turkey with an electric carving knife - which said everything about Alma's new squeaky-clean life without Ennis.
Jake Gyllenhaal's haunted eyes powerfully recall what might have been, as he nostalgically remembers the intimate, playful relationship Ennis and Jack once enjoyed up Brokeback Mountain, even revealing how Ennis had cared so tenderly for Jack  a sudden insight into Ennis himself, his own emotional potential, which has been stymied throughout the film. This brief glimpse into past youthful happiness which has never been fully realised is tantalising and tragic, as Jack wistfully watches Ennis driving away from the mountain after a bust-up. Gyllenhaal carries this moment superbly well.
One of the most poignant and important moments in the film is when Ennis explains to Jack that it is his poverty, the harsh realities of his hand-to-mouth economic situation, which also put a brake on his ability to spend more time with Jack. The contrast between their circumstances is stark. Jack can afford to take time off work to visit his 'fishing buddy'; Jack works for the family firm and is unlikely to lose his job. But poor Ennis has had to sacrifice much more to be with Jack. Jack brings swish camping gear to their mountain rendezvous, subtle signification of his increasingly middle- class status, which further alienates him from the non-aspirational Ennis who is socially entrenched. Indeed, so rigid is his conservatism, it has become his personal prison. Ennis always stays the same.
Jack's wife, played by Anne Hathaway, is also superb - and in fact impressed me much more than Michelle Williams who plays Ennis's long-suffering wife Alma, and seems to be garnering more critical plaudits. Williams was OK, but she never moved me, and I feel her role demanded that kind of response.
Did the film as a whole move me in the way it appears to have affected so many others? Frankly no - but this is probably a strength and not a failing. Ang Lee has not opted for mawkish sentimentality - and he had many options to do so. A completely melodramatic emotional collapse from Ennis at the end would have served this point well - but he chooses instead to steer clear of overt emotionalism, and allows the story to tell itself, the characters to 'be'. The film thus feels realistic, rather than voyeuristic - and political messages are never forced home with undue punch and pomposity. The narrative solely charts the emotional journeys of these two simple, everyday men - it is never hyperbolised, messy, unnecessary but tightly controlled, under-stated, even spartan. Much is left unsaid, and the film is the better for it.
One of the most glorious 'characters' of the piece is the awe-inspiring scenery of "Wyoming"/ Alberta in the film - the manifold wide-lensed shots, the dramatic colours, the luminous skies, the rolling clouds, the clear blue rivers and even the vast flocks of sheep texturing the landscape - these images stay with you.
8.5 out of 10.