‘Brokeback Mountain’

All these accolades are not bad for how many people deemed “Brokeback Mountain” “the gay cowboy movie.” I’ll end it right there. It stands alongside the best love stories ever put to film (“Casablanca,” “An Affair to Remember” and “Sleepless in Seattle”).

In this masterwork, director Ang Lee (winner best director) takes us directly into the “truth” of love. We experience pain, joy, lies, anger, hatred, love-making, fun, tears, disagreement and, most of all, humanity. This film shows us a relationship is the same between a man and a woman or a man and a man. Love is love and it doesn’t die.

I was reluctant to see this movie myself, but not because I’m homophobic or because one anonymous source said “the film ruins our last American tradition, the cowboy.”

I was taken aback because I heard there were guys kissing. My girlfriend at the time had read the book and told me, “It’s a love story, trust me.” Since she and I liked 99 percent of the same movies, I went. I state this fact because I left the movie in tears and never once noticed the story was about men.

One of my favorite film directors, Cameron Crowe, said, “The ultimate power of a movie is this: you go in one person and walk out a different person.” I’ve watched thousands of movies and have been inspired or seen movies I related to in various ways; but this movie completely changed me. I was forever a new person, willing to see any movie and accept art on any terms.

Ang Lee had taken a screenplay based on the E. Annie Proulx story about a forbidden and secretive relationship between two cowboys and their lives over the years and transformed it into art at its highest form. In fact against all stereotypes and prejudices, “Brokeback Mountain” managed to gross nearly $550,000 on only five screens (opening weekend) and within five months the movie had made $83 million. This  put the film into Hollywood’s history; by their terms a “gay” movie had become a smash hit.

Ang Lee’s storytelling is only the beginning. The acting is gut-wrenching, with Oscar-nominated performances by the late Heath Ledger (Ennis Del Mar), Jake Gyllenhaal (Jack Twist) and Michelle Williams (Alma) and Anne Hathaway (who was not nominated). This film leaves me thinking how did Heath Ledger, at age 26, and Jake Gyllenhaal, barely 25, understand the depths their characters go to. These two actors were as good as a young Al Pacino or Robert DeNiro. The unfortunate fact is this movie was considered a “career risk” for both. Instead it became the cornerstone (to date) of Gyllenhaal’s career and, well, some say it is Ledger’s best work, and others choose his Oscar-winning portrayal of the Joker in “Dark Knight.”

Last but not least, this film is incredibly photographed. The photography and imagery continuously move you into new places. The opening 45 minutes of the film is probably the best camera-work ever. If someone can change your mind completely without offending you, they’ve achieved the greatest honor, and Ang Lee manages to make the camera a paint brush and drives his vision straight into our hearts. To this day the movie moves me to tears, more so because I’ve been through breaking up with someone I loved.

Upon a recent viewing, it was the experience of love lost that gave me the eyes to truly see what Ang Lee and his cast did. I felt every bit as… Well, I don’t want to spoil the movie.

Year: 2005

Studio: Focus Features

Director: Ang Lee

Starring: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, MichelleWilliams

Oscars: Best director, best screenplay, best score (five othernominations including best picture)

Side note: Another 78 awards and 64 nominations

1. ‘The Good Girl’ (2002)

2. ‘Moonlight Mile’ (2002)

3. ‘Jarhead’ (2007)

4. ‘Zodiac’ (2007)

5. ‘Rendition’ (2007)

6. ‘Brothers’ (2009)

7. ‘Monster’s Ball’ (2001)

8. ‘Lords of Dogtown’ (2005)

9. ‘I’m Not There’ (2007)

10. ‘Dark Knight’ (2008)