Review of Brokeback Mountain (2005) by Emily G — 28 Dec 2011

This 2005 academy award winning film for best direction (Ang Lee) is much more than a simple gay cowboy movie. Ang Lee does a terrific job at directing this movie which has to do with the internal torments that the main characters have to go through because of their forbidden love throughout a timeframe of 20 years.

This is a great western movie very different from the ones we are used to see. The scenary and cinematography are just incredible, but what makes the film work are the characters and their internal conflicts in a society that is not ready to accept their love.

Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal give terrific performances and really transmit their emotions and love for each other. Michelle Williams also gives a great performance, especially in the scene where she confronts her ex husband Ellis (Heath) during his fishing trips with Jack.

The scenes are very emotional and powerful. However, there are several scenes which are very hard to watch, especially the scenes between Heath and Jake. This film reminded me a lot of Scorcese movie, The Age of Innocence, due to the internal torments that the two main characters go through due to societies restrictions.

A lot of things work in this film, but in my opinion it is Heaths performance which stands out above all. Ledger had proven himself as one of the best actors of our time with this movie and he confirmed it with his performance in The Dark Knight as the joker.

He was an actor with tremendous potential and will surely be missed, but he has left us his legacy in these films in which he has taken all kinds of different roles and created memorable characters. This is his second best role after the Joker.

If you are a fan of Heath Ledger, then make sure you check this movie out.