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TIMESTAMPS
The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/all/20060325185809/http://www.whatbooks.com/store/dvd/B00005JOFQ.html
NTSC Rating:
R (Restricted)
DVD Description:
A sad, melancholy ache pervades Brokeback Mountain, Ang Lee's haunting, moving film that, like his other movies, explores societal constraints and the passions that lurk underneath. This time, however, instead of taking on ancient China, 19th-century England, or '70s suburbia, Lee uses the tableau of the American West in the early '60s to show how two lovers are bound by their expected roles, how they rebel against them, and the repercussions for each of doing so--but the romance here is between two men. Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) are two itinerant ranchers looking for work in Wyoming when they meet and embark on a summer sheepherding job in the shadow of titular Brokeback Mountain. The taciturn Ennis, uncommunicative in the extreme, finds himself opening up around the gregarious Jack, and the two form a bond that surprisingly catches fire one cold night out in the wilderness. Separating at the end of the summer, each goes on to marry and have children, but a reunion years later proves that, if anything, their passion for each other has grown significantly. And while Jack harbors dreams of a life together, the tight-lipped Ennis is unable to bring himself to even consider something so revolutionary.
Its open, unforced depiction of love between two men made Brokeback an instant cultural touchstone, for both good and bad, as it was tagged derisively as the "gay cowboy movie," but also heralded as a breakthrough for mainstream cinema. Amidst all the hoopla of various agendas, though, was a quiet, heartbreaking love story that was both of its time and universal--it was the quintessential tale of star-crossed lovers, but grounded in an ever-changing America that promised both hope and despair. Adapted by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana from Annie Proulx's short story, the movie echoes the sparse bleakness of McMurtry's The Last Picture Show with its fading of the once-glorious West; but with Lee at the helm, it also resembles The Ice Storm, as it showed the ripple effects of a singular event over a number of people. As always, Lee's work with actors is unparalleled, as he elicits graceful, nuanced performances from Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway as the wives affected overtly and subliminally by their husbands' affair, and Gyllenhaal brings surprising dimensions to a character that could have easily just been a puppy dog of a boy. It's Ledger, however, who's the breakthrough in the film, and his portrait of an emotionally repressed man both undone and liberated by his feelings is mesmerizing and devastating. Spare in style but rich with emotion, Brokeback Mountain earns its place as a classic modern love story. --Mark Englehart
Average Customer Rating:
A shot at the heart: a true masterpiece.
Absolutely amazing!
This movie hit me like a shot to the heart.
It's a beautiful story about deep and genuine love, denied by society.
How could some - luckily, very few - critics slap the easy tag of "gay cowboy movie" on this film, I wonder?
"Brokeback Mountain" made me think about my own life, about the force of genuine feelings: those who are lucky enough to find true love in this - short - life should keep it like a treasure because this is ultimately what it counts.
This film also made me think about the cruelty of some people, and the iniquities that homosexual people have suffered in different parts of the world, in different ages.
I don't accept some criticism, according to which the characters are immoral because they are homosexual and cheat on their wives. Who said so didn't understand much of this film.
Ennis has no tools to come to terms with his feelings and sexual attraction to Jack. He was brought up with a sense of horror towards homosexuality, which he considers as an aberrant condition to be ashamed of and repress: this is unfortunately what was taught to him. The social background he comes from doesn't enable him to cope with this situation.
He literally swallows his feelings and hardly ever expresses them (well, he hardly ever speaks). He desperately tries to forget about Jack and Brokeback Mountain and live a "normal" life with his wife.
But, as the movie poster tagline states, love is a force of nature, and you cannot resist to it: why should one's life be hell, just because they received a wrong education, subdued to religious dogmas or social conventions, I wonder?
All the characters, including the two wives, are ultimately unhappy and defeated. But whose fault is it? Ennis's?
I found his character deeply moving and absolutely realistic.
Ang Lee's intent, however, is not to deliver a "J'accuse" movie, but just to recount a tragic and vivid love story between two human beings, like it was in the original Annie Proulx short narrative.
This is Ang Lee's best film by far, and one the best movies I have ever seen; at least, the one which struck me the most.
It may sound pathetic, but I must confess that it's been the very first time I cried for a film...
I can't get out of my head its intense images, the laconic, unforgettable lines, its haunting music.
The pacing is calm: the writer of the original short story, Annie Proulx, and the two screenwriters, McMurtry and Ossana, managed to depict this peculiar and, at the same time, universal American story (which is set in 1963-1983 Wyoming) with few but incisive masterstrokes.
What makes this movie great is its perfect mixture of strong and poetic images (it's hard to believe they gave the Oscar for best cinematography to "Memoirs of a Geisha"!), its melancholic music, the meaningful silence and facial expressions of the characters, the scarce mighty lines...
There are no long dialogues: this would have been unrealistic, since it's ultimately two young (and later mature) uneducated cowboys, grown in the narrow spaces of a provincial rural society.
The actors' performances are absolutely stunning: Heath Ledger is in my opinion the best of all, and it's a real shame he didn't get the awards he deserved! His astounding portrayal of Ennis does smack of loneliness and alienation.
I was very disappointed too when I saw that the Academy Awards didn't give "Brokeback Mountain" the Oscar as best picture: I think this is outrageous and proves that the Academy Awards do not - too often in my humble opinion - mean quality, but, on the contrary, are just the result of unpredictable marketing strategies or old-fashioned "ideologies".
In this case, I think many of the voters acted out their prejudices against a still controversial theme, that is, gay love and homosexuality, in the secret of their voting booths.
Yet, I am glad this masterpiece received dozens of other accolades, among which the "Leone d'Oro" (the golden lion) at the Venice Film Festival, back at the film's world premiere in September 2005: being Italian myself, I'm proud we paved the way for such an amazing and moving piece of art.
A Tale Of Two Souls
Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) is a drifter, Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) is looking for work. The opening sequence of the film signifies a beginning of these mens fate. Ennis and Jack are both at a trailer office of a herder, looking for work for a few months, just enough money to get by, but what unfolds from this fateful meeting is a relationship that effects these two men's lives until the day they die.
When it comes down to it, Brokeback Mountain is a love story, yet what sets is apart from any other romance is the fact that these two cowboys happen to both be men. While on a job watching a sheep herd, Ennis and Jack become more then just coworkers. On their first encounter, the sexual experience seems completely lustful and animalistic. There are no words, just pure unadulterated lust. By the second encounter with these two men, you can see a change. These men are no longer just trying to get through the boredom of a lonely night, these men are in love. The contact is more emotional and sensual. Under normal circumstances, contact such as this between two men would make me queasy. But the way that director Ang Lee goes about it, leads to not nausea, but a genuine care for the characters. While watching, you don't look at these two men as homosexuals. You look at them as two men in love. Just two souls on the same line of fate that matched each other perfect. The end of the movie comes in a rush and moves along to quickly to hold any real emotion, which is my only qualm with the film as a whole.
Heath Ledger as Ennis is amazingly well-cast. He is living the character rather then playing the character. His emotions are genuine and his gestures are natural. Jake Gyllenhaal also does a decent job of holding up his role as Jack Twist, but there are moments during his performance where it seems that he has not matured enough as an actor to hold such a role.
His character seems annoyingly static, while it should be dynamic. Anne Hathaway as Laureen Newsome, Jack's wife, is ravishing as usual. Her beauty is persevered even as the years pass in the story and the times change.
The script adaptation of the novel is transcribed very well from the pages to the big screen. Director Ang Lee does a consistently good job through out the film. The element that captures the touches of Ang Lee are the little things. Such as Ennis' daughter becoming a lot like her father, described as "not saying much but getting her point across". Ang Lee also does a stellar job of showing both mens point of views throughout the movie.
So when all has been said and done, this was not a story about a homosexual relationship, but a tale of true love. Two souls bound for each other that seems not as much taboo as it does unfair. These men are stuck in their love, and are stuck in their on lives. But it just goes to show, love never dies. It only gets put on hold for a while.
4/5
The deception and betrayal of marriages
This film shamelessly promotes the deception and betrayal of marriages. Think about the children---what behind their "passion" is irresponsibility. Yes, taking responsibility is no fun. Don't want the burden? Forget about them in the mountain! Go ahead and be an irresponsible person, at the cost of the others and the society. What is missing in this film is this scenario: "Mom, where is my dad?" "Oh, he didn't like you that much, and ran away."
Don't tell me you haven't taken this account when all of you give this movie a high grade---I am afraid you are just as irresponsible as the director is.
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DVD's
A shot at the heart: a true masterpiece. 
A Tale Of Two Souls 
The deception and betrayal of marriages 
