Lonely Broken Hearts

Rating: 10/10 (4 December 2006)

"Brokeback Mountain" was the first short story I read from Annie Proulx--it was also the last. Her story drove me into a week-long depression, a reaction I've never had before or since. Her words spoke volumes in just a few short pages. I read this story after hearing about Ang Lee taking the director's chair for this supposedly "gay cowboy" adaptation. This oversimplification may have simply lowered my emotional guard. Why not also call Shakespeare's "Romeo & Juliet" a love story about teens? Brokeback Mountain, as filmed by Ang Lee, is one of the best romantic tragedies I've ever seen. It is one of the greatest love stories ever told. It is also one of the saddest, most heart-wrenching displays of grief, fear and regret to ever grace the silver screen. It is a tragedy of epic proportions--this is not the simple story of two gay cowboys (which isn't even accurate itself since they are not cowboys). It is about families torn apart through lies, it is about society's inability to accept unconventional love, it is about a man who is so stricken with fear that he is unable to accept love from anyone. Ennis Del Mar is a representation of the lonely broken heart, damaged at an early age and incapable or unwilling to be mended.
Both Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal play these characters with respect and dignity, relying on the emotional core to drive the story instead of the plot. There isn't one misstep in the cast, not one moment that rings false. Michelle Williams has the unenviable task of playing another lonely broken heart, one damaged by her husband's betrayal and dishonesty. Anne Hathaway does exceptional work with her rather underwritten character--until her final key scene shows her to be just another victim of Twist and Del Mar's love affair.
One could easily blame Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar for ruining many lives, not to mention their own. But such is the tragedy of Brokeback Mountain. Two characters who had no intention of ever falling in love finding themselves gripped with the kind of passion a person would be lucky to experience even once in a lifetime. In spite of this, Del Mar gives in to fear, pulling away from the only true love he may ever know. The final climactic moments as Del Mar learns of Jack Twist's fate are poignant, underplayed, and emotionally devastating--both for him and the viewer. I can not begin to express how shattering the final moments of this film are. Annie Proulx's words captured it perfectly and I can not do it justice but with pale imitation.
Common complaints and criticisms seek superficial answers for the complexities of this film's story. These characters are never pardoned for their transgressions. Del Mar's emotional abuse of his wife is a reflection of his own internal abuse. These are flawed human beings with real problems that are not easily tidied up. To say the film excuses his behavior is wrong on many levels; in fact, his behavior leads to his ultimate punishment, a life spent alone with only regret and pain to fall back on. This is the tragedy of Ennis Del Mar's choices, one we should all learn from. Love can never be explained and none is needed here.
Brokeback Mountain, in my opinion, transcends itself to become more than the sum of its parts. It is one of the greatest love stories ever told, but it is also emotionally tragic. This is Shakespearean in scope, a tale of true love lost by way of fear, and one of the best American films ever produced. Hopefully we may all learn to love and overcome the fear which can often paralyze us. One day, it may be too late, handed our fate on a small postcard, forever trapped in a pit of despair and sadness. I can not think of a worse punishment for anybody, a life of internal pain and sorrow that nothing can rectify. The final moments of the film, with Del Mar alone in his trailer with nothing but his long lost love's shirt hanging in his closet, are at the same moment truly horrific and truly heart-breaking. It is a punch to the gut. The lonely broken-hearted end of all things for Del Mar.