Review of Brokeback Mountain (2005) by Michaeldn — 03 Nov 2012

I don't give many tens, but this deserves it. Aside from being beautifully directed, with great technical aspects, as well as great acting, this is one of the most beautiful scripts of the 21st century so far.

It didn't surprise me when I found out Annie Proulx was a finalist for a Pulitzer for the short story, which is translated very well by the two screen writers. The movie starts out very innocent and sweet, and then it starts to turn into a gradual downward spiral of devastation until you're just left emotional knocked out by the end of the movie.

The themes of society's influence on human behavior, the desire for happiness, and demise caused by obsession, are all subtly, yet powerfully, conveyed in this movie. Calling this a gay love story is like calling Lord Of The Rings a movie about hiking.

This is one of the most torturous, psychological portrayals of two people's lives I've ever seen in a movie. It's so well calculated, without coming off the least bit unnatural. I've seen it several times, and I still pick up on things that I hadn't caught onto before.

I heard it was a groundbreaking movie about a gay romance, and I didn't get how that was, since there had been many movies about gay romances before. I figured it was probably an overrated movie. When I saw it, I realized I couldn't have been more wrong.

Your emotional connection will be irrelevant to your sexual orientation. What is really going to connect you to the movie are your ideas about the pressure to conform to society, compared to your desire to live a life of happiness.

One man chooses conformity, and the other chooses happiness, and it doesn't necessarily end up how you might expect. I'm actually getting emotional writing this, thinking about the movie. I really hope everyone who watches it is able to pick up on the subtle themes, the hidden meanings behind specific lines, and the inner thoughts of particular characters who might not be ready to say those thoughts out loud, or even admit them to themselves.

Those kind of things are extremely difficult to incorporate into a script without losing its realistic feel, but this movie does it. Of course, it might take a few views to pick up on everything. Whether you're judging this movie on its intelligent, calculated writing, its technical achievements, its performances, of which Heath Ledger's is one of the best of the 21st century, or its overall directing, or if you judge a movie on its emotional appeal, and its powerful, thought provoking themes, I can't see how you objectively give this movie anything less than a strong review.