Brokeback Mountain



GENRE(S): Drama | Romance
WRITTEN BY: Larry McMurtry
Diana Ossana
E. Annie Proulx (short story)
DIRECTED BY: Ang Lee
RELEASE DATE: Theatrical - December 9, 2005
RUNNING TIME: 134 minutes, Color
ORIGIN: USA

I went to the movies last night, with my dad. We were deciding which movie to watch: Brokeback Mountain or Good night, and Good Luck. I knew he wanted to watch Good night first, but for some reason he felt I wanted to watch Brokeback Mountain - I wonder which reason, though.

And so we got in the theater and found our seats, and, obviously, it was crowded with loud queers (and they still wonder about prejudice...).

The movie ran smoothly for its 134 minutes and in the end I was disturbed, but not totally emotionally involved by this picture. Heath Ledger's and Jake Gyllenhaal's roles were played perfectly, the photography was superb, the soundtrack was magnificently inserted and the direction was quietly outstanding (and not grievously outstanding, like Spielberg's in Munich, which I will write about later).

But there was something missing. I know that, lately, I've been quite severe while reviewing my movies, but at first Brokeback Mountain didn't hit me at all. The only above-average movie I had watched this year was Hotel Rwanda, and Munich was a big disappointment, so I'd put a lot of expectation into this.

And, after 134 minutes... (almost) nothing.

The movie ran slow, the dialogues didn't deserve any special attention. I was wondering why so much noise about this movie. It was just another of those Ang Lee's very well-crafted pictures, just another romance, but a gay romance, instead of a man and a woman, two men, beautifully played by two outstanding actors. The whole production seemed inert and inexpressive.

Until this morning, when I.. woke up. My heart was in pieces. I rewinded the whole movie in my head, every detail, every dialogue, every beautiful background. Every little thing. It was a shot in my heart. I could finally comprehend the actors' wonderful job, the director's, the productor's, the writer's... it is a beautiful movie from the beginning to the very end. And Heath Ledger proves what we've suspected all along -- this is his picture, and he steals it brilliantly. Superb.

It's possible to spot to some very weak spots in Brokeback – its seeming multiple endings, the lack of clarity about certain images, some digressions – but there is no movie this year that has moved my heart more than this one.

Its brilliancy has not found similarities; this is The Movie of 2006's Academy Awards. Although, in my honest opinion, it cannot match Crash's emotional appeal, it's easy to predict.

"Brokeback Mountain is that rare thing, a big Hollywood weeper with a beautiful ache at its center. It's a modern-age Western that turns into a quietly revolutionary love story." - Owen Gleiberman (Entertainment Weekly)