One of the greatest, saddest, most heartbreaking films ever made.

Rating: 10/10 (21 December 2005)

I can see by the voting curve that there is a weighted backlash against this unforgettable film. Whether that has anything to do with homophobia or just plain ignorance I have no idea, but it doesn't speak well for the vocal minority apparently full of narrow-minded hate and fear. And I say this as a straight male who feels that Ang Lee and his remarkable cast and crew have made one of the most HUMANE films ever, one that eclipses gender issues and tells a beautifully understated tale with a poet's eye and a tragic undertone of yearning. Heath Ledger doesn't merely act in this film, he inhabits the role of Ennis Del Mar with a depth that feels more real than any "performance" I've seen in memory, and that includes Philip Seymour Hoffman's astounding acting in "Capote". The way he attempts to throttle his feelings, even as they continually bubble to the surface, is a wrestling match painful to watch, the dilemma of a man torn between what he thinks he should be and what he is. He and Jake Gyllenhall as Jack are terrific together. You can feel their furtive bond lighting the screen, even as they know, sadly, that it can never be anything more than episodic. But what is so devastating about "Brokeback Mountain" is how this love compromises the lives of those Ennis and Jack enter as substitution for their own passion. I will never forget the stricken look on Alma's (Michelle Williams) face as she catches Ennis kissing Jack with a ferocity she has never known in her marriage to him. You can see the life draining from her eyes, all hope of whatever she hoped to have shattered in a single, revelatory image. After all the dust of controversy has settled, time will justly award this magnificent film its rightful place in cinematic history.