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Now Playing: BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN turns 20!
Other than their shared secret, what is it that makes these guys stay together? Why their romantic longings survive time is never fully understood.
Not unlike the audience, Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal can't take their eyes off the scenery.
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (2005) Ang Lee / Writers: Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana from a short story by Annie Proulx / Cinematographer: Rodrigo Prieto (1.85:1) / Design: Judy Becker / Editors: Geraldine Peroni & Dylan Tichenor / Composer: Gustavo Santaolalla / Acted by: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Michelle Williams, Randy Quaid, Valerie Planche, David Trimble, Victor Reyes, Lachlan Mackintosh, Larry Reese, Marty Antonini, Tom Carey, Dan McDougall, Don Bland, and Steven Cree Molison / USA & Canada / Distributor: Focus Features / Rated R / Length: 145 mins.
It’s been twenty years since the gay cowboys of Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain rode into Tinseltown, after months of advance word, to kick up a trail of dust that stretched all the way to awards season. (The only reason Crash earned the Oscar for best picture that year lay in its ability to take on all minorities, instead of just one.) Oddly enough, in spite of all of the hype that accompanied the film, the first distinction of honor that came to mind had nothing to do with awards. It was the first time in the history of San Diego's late, lamented Hillcrest Cinemas that four of their five theaters screened the same movie, with staggered showtimes. To mark the anniversary, the Angelika Film Center and AMC Theatres will revive the picture, which is more than can be said of the Hillcrest.
Video:
Trailer: BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
Rodeo clown Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) and ranch-hand Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) sign on as herders hired to "sleep with the sheep" in the isolated majesty of the non-existent, but real-sounding Brokeback Mountain. As beautiful as the introductory man-against-nature passages are, it seems a waste to employ natural splendor for picture postcard effects. Make the topography a third character instead! If only Lee had used the rugged environs as a visual externalization of and/or commentary on his characters' emotional states — but this is a far cry from the Anthony Mann/Jimmy Stewart cycle.
If Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was Lee’s flying-people action fantasy aimed at an older, art-house crowd that had always considered martial arts flicks as slumming, Brokeback Mountain was, at the time of its release, the film destined to introduce queer cinema to the boonies. How do we know the picture is 20 years old? MAGA cheerleader Randy Quaid could still find work in a major Hollywood release as the Wyoming rancher Joe Aguirre who hires the two men to work Brokeback.
As for bareback, the eager and curious may need to look elsewhere. Lee plays his box office cards wisely by minimizing onscreen sexual contact. Had the film chosen to follow a less traditional, more erotic plotline, it would not have been an awards season darling. With the exception of one soft-focus background shot of a naked Del Mar (Twist discreetly averts his eyes), it takes a full two reels before any free-range love ensues. While sleeping, Twist dreamily wraps Del Mar’s arm around him. Del Mar resists for about three seconds before flipping over his fellow cowpoke. Blame it on a full moon.
The boys soon part company and settle into a typical hetero '60s lifestyle: Twist marries his high school sweetheart Alma (Michelle Williams), while Del Mar settles down with rodeo queen Lurene (Anne Hathaway). Both men raise families. Other than their shared secret, what is it that makes these guys stay together? Why their romantic longings survive time is never fully understood. This is all the more regrettable when one considers how genuine and tender are their intimate scenes together.
Four years later, Del Mar makes a return visit to Wyoming. The trysts become more frequent, and it's not long before Williams becomes suspicious of fishing trips that bring back spotless, empty creels. Twist raises a fist to Alma when she makes it clear that she knows what's going on.
The most burning question remains: oughtn't the tempestuous relationship between Joan Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge in Nicolas Ray’s Johnny Guitar (1954) be enough to cement its reputation as the true first gay western? As it is, there is more female than male nudity on display in Brokeback Mountain. The topless views of Williams and Hathaway are a wife's insurance that her homophobic hubby won't let her go it alone.
While the aging process on display is laughable (fresh-faced Hathaway with a Dolly Parton wig and Lee press-on nails will never pass for 40), the acting is anything but. The New York Times ranked Ledger's performance right up there with Brando's best. Nobody is that good, and while superb, a little less of a Sling Blade mumble would have helped. The last third dissolves into predictable melodrama, with Williams and Hathaway each assigned a scene in which they get to act their pants off. And just when you think the point of no return has been crossed, the film's heartfelt conclusion does an about-face and drives you into your seat. **
Coming this weekend to Angelika Carmel Mountain and an AMC theater near you.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Now Playing: BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN turns 20!
Other than their shared secret, what is it that makes these guys stay together? Why their romantic longings survive time is never fully understood.
Now Playing: BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN turns 20!
Other than their shared secret, what is it that makes these guys stay together? Why their romantic longings survive time is never fully understood.
Not unlike the audience, Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal can't take their eyes off the scenery.
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (2005) Ang Lee / Writers: Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana from a short story by Annie Proulx / Cinematographer: Rodrigo Prieto (1.85:1) / Design: Judy Becker / Editors: Geraldine Peroni & Dylan Tichenor / Composer: Gustavo Santaolalla / Acted by: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Michelle Williams, Randy Quaid, Valerie Planche, David Trimble, Victor Reyes, Lachlan Mackintosh, Larry Reese, Marty Antonini, Tom Carey, Dan McDougall, Don Bland, and Steven Cree Molison / USA & Canada / Distributor: Focus Features / Rated R / Length: 145 mins.
It’s been twenty years since the gay cowboys of Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain rode into Tinseltown, after months of advance word, to kick up a trail of dust that stretched all the way to awards season. (The only reason Crash earned the Oscar for best picture that year lay in its ability to take on all minorities, instead of just one.) Oddly enough, in spite of all of the hype that accompanied the film, the first distinction of honor that came to mind had nothing to do with awards. It was the first time in the history of San Diego's late, lamented Hillcrest Cinemas that four of their five theaters screened the same movie, with staggered showtimes. To mark the anniversary, the Angelika Film Center and AMC Theatres will revive the picture, which is more than can be said of the Hillcrest.
Video:
Trailer: BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN
Rodeo clown Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) and ranch-hand Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) sign on as herders hired to "sleep with the sheep" in the isolated majesty of the non-existent, but real-sounding Brokeback Mountain. As beautiful as the introductory man-against-nature passages are, it seems a waste to employ natural splendor for picture postcard effects. Make the topography a third character instead! If only Lee had used the rugged environs as a visual externalization of and/or commentary on his characters' emotional states — but this is a far cry from the Anthony Mann/Jimmy Stewart cycle.
If Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was Lee’s flying-people action fantasy aimed at an older, art-house crowd that had always considered martial arts flicks as slumming, Brokeback Mountain was, at the time of its release, the film destined to introduce queer cinema to the boonies. How do we know the picture is 20 years old? MAGA cheerleader Randy Quaid could still find work in a major Hollywood release as the Wyoming rancher Joe Aguirre who hires the two men to work Brokeback.
As for bareback, the eager and curious may need to look elsewhere. Lee plays his box office cards wisely by minimizing onscreen sexual contact. Had the film chosen to follow a less traditional, more erotic plotline, it would not have been an awards season darling. With the exception of one soft-focus background shot of a naked Del Mar (Twist discreetly averts his eyes), it takes a full two reels before any free-range love ensues. While sleeping, Twist dreamily wraps Del Mar’s arm around him. Del Mar resists for about three seconds before flipping over his fellow cowpoke. Blame it on a full moon.
The boys soon part company and settle into a typical hetero '60s lifestyle: Twist marries his high school sweetheart Alma (Michelle Williams), while Del Mar settles down with rodeo queen Lurene (Anne Hathaway). Both men raise families. Other than their shared secret, what is it that makes these guys stay together? Why their romantic longings survive time is never fully understood. This is all the more regrettable when one considers how genuine and tender are their intimate scenes together.
Four years later, Del Mar makes a return visit to Wyoming. The trysts become more frequent, and it's not long before Williams becomes suspicious of fishing trips that bring back spotless, empty creels. Twist raises a fist to Alma when she makes it clear that she knows what's going on.
The most burning question remains: oughtn't the tempestuous relationship between Joan Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge in Nicolas Ray’s Johnny Guitar (1954) be enough to cement its reputation as the true first gay western? As it is, there is more female than male nudity on display in Brokeback Mountain. The topless views of Williams and Hathaway are a wife's insurance that her homophobic hubby won't let her go it alone.
While the aging process on display is laughable (fresh-faced Hathaway with a Dolly Parton wig and Lee press-on nails will never pass for 40), the acting is anything but. The New York Times ranked Ledger's performance right up there with Brando's best. Nobody is that good, and while superb, a little less of a Sling Blade mumble would have helped. The last third dissolves into predictable melodrama, with Williams and Hathaway each assigned a scene in which they get to act their pants off. And just when you think the point of no return has been crossed, the film's heartfelt conclusion does an about-face and drives you into your seat. **
Coming this weekend to Angelika Carmel Mountain and an AMC theater near you.