Brokeback Mountain is what love is all about.

Rating: 10/10 (16 February 2006)

Brokeback Mountain  It is not about the Wild West, and it is not about sex, and yet it is so powerfully wild and sexy that one's mind goes off when Ennis (Heath Ledger) gets behind Jack (Jake Gyllenhaal) and hugs him gently. It is an epic drama so brilliantly written and directed as if there had been no love before or after.
The greatest love is always the most painful. The fact that it is about two ordinary guys makes it even more painful than that. For a man to kneel down and punch the wall in despair while not even knowing what was happening to him, it takes nothing but love. For a man to gently stroke another man's ear in a split of a moment, it takes absolutely nothing but ultimate love.
It is a story of any forbidden love. It could be two girls; it could be a woman and a man of different races; it could be anything new, anything that the world does not want to face with. And America in the 60-ies, remote Wyoming countryside is no better. Some of the places in today's modern world are no better.
It begins in 1963 when two boys go looking for jobs and end up together for an entire season on Brokeback Mountain. What happens there is inexplicable to both of them but they know it's earthshaking and they cannot stop it. Do they want to? Jack certainly does not. He is the outgoing one, the braver one, the one who is willing to embark on a different journey not aware of the possible consequences. Ennis wants to go on with his life as planned. And he tries so for 20 years and nothing is as planned. At one crucial moment he tells Jack: "Why don't you let me be? Look at me, I am like this because of you " but he knows better than that. On the one hand he is trapped in his early childhood memory of two guys beaten to death because of "that thing." As he recalls: "My father made sure my brother and I saw it." At the same time, he is overwhelmed with this wonderful feeling that he knows is wrong  so why is it so good when he is with him? Drawn to one another, they meet several times a year for "fishing" in Brokeback Mountain where they felt free and utterly happy; in spite of their families' doubts and suspicions. Ennis' wife has seen their passion and she does not want to face it. She does not want to admit her marriage has failed. Gradually, she becomes more and more unhappy and gets it off her chest only when remarried to another guy. Jack's wife is simply unhappy. Until the very end, when her suspicions unveil, she does not know the reason why but she does not feel loved.
Jack's death is sudden and unexpected for the viewer. Yet, Ennis could picture exactly what happened because he knows his friend only too well. Was it just a reflection of what he saw in the past? Perhaps, but reality is too cruel to escape. His visit to Jack's parents is as touching a scene as it could possibly be. Not many words are spoken but so much is said. Jack's room, the window from which he looked into the world as a kid and the words: "I promise you Jack "  it all comes together and Ennis comes to terms with his feelings for the first time and forever.
All characters are brilliantly brought to life by a wonderful cast. Jake Gyllenhaal shines with optimism in search for what he thinks is doable. The two supporting roles of Williams and Hathaway are played to perfection. Finally, Heath Ledger's Ennis Del Mar is breathtaking and unforgettable. He manages to convince us in the simple and yet complex nature of his character. The pain in his eyes when he finds out his shirt in Jack's closet is out of this world; that's how good he is.
Brokeback Mountain is not just another pathetic "Love Story" or as some label it "a homosexual Gone With the Wind." Brokeback Mountain is what love is all about. Undoubtedly.
P.S. To answer some of the comments here: Everyone watches from their own embedded social prospective. If you lived in San Francisco or Amsterdam and you are gay, sure it will be a step back, if you are in Teheran, it will be outrageously brave. Straight people will also see it differently and mainly be bitter for wasting good money on a "queer" movie, so there is no point to expect a common ground. Some will be disappointed because of the lack of Hollywood glamour, some with the lack of "tender" love scenes ... However, one thing is certain ... the world is not ready for a normal movie about two people who love each other if they do not fit the social milieu.