Review of Brokeback Mountain (2005) by Gregory G — 26 Jul 2014

Ang Lee's timid gay western was widely acclaimed as an IMPORTANT MOVIE but it tries so hard to be inoffensive that it comes across as blandly humanitarian. Based on the short story by Annie Proulx, adapted by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, its the story of two cowboys (Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal) who spend a summer in mountainous Wyoming and have a brief affair.

Over the next twenty years, they continue to pursue their sexual relationship fully aware of the consequences in a heterosexual cowboy culture. Like all Ang Lee movies, he is exploring the fate of individuals who are trapped by the social norms that prevent them from freely acting on their desires, without shame.

Tellingly, there is almost no eroticism in this affair and Lee keeps us at a distance with his leisurely pacing. We have no knowledge of the reasons for the attraction the cowboys feel for one another nor does the pain caused towards their wives (Michelle Williams, Anne Hathaway) feel, as it should, like an act of betrayal.

Heath Ledger gives a subtly touching performance as the reserved Enis. Gyllenhaal equates himself fine but is not as affecting as Ledger. Linda Cardellini and Randy Quaid also star. Won Oscars for Best Director, Adapted Screenplay, Original Score.

Selected for preservation by the National Film Registry.