Brokeback Mountain (2005)

It is not the words that are said, it's the words that are left unsaid

Brokeback Mountain is said to be a "gay-cowboy"-movie. That is not completely true. It is true that the main characters in the movie are cowboys, and that they fall in love with each other, but that is not everything. This story could be of anyone. But it is of two men in love.

Ennis del Mar (Heath Ledger) is a shy young guy who gets a job herding sheep for a summer in Brokeback Mountain, with Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) as a partner. One cold night they end up drunk and in a same tent, and make love. This is where the love story begins. After the summer both men go separate directions, get married and get children, but they never forget each other. Then one day after four years they meet again and there is no turning back.

Brokeback Mountain is emotionally packed, powerful movie. It left me feeling blown up for a day at least. Only few movies do that to me, that they really get into my head and don't let go. Brokeback Mountain did that. It is not so much of the things that are said in the movie, that get you. It is the things that are left unsaid. And it is not only the things that are shown in the movie that get you. It is the things that are left unshown.

It was interesting to notice how big erotic impact a movie like this can have. I have no desire to see real gay sex, but seeing these two strong men hugging each other, kissing each other after many years of separation, I was totally stunned.

Ledger and Gyllenhaal are amazing in this movie. They are brave men who take this kind of role that has the possibility of making them immortal and take them to the top actors' league, but also possibility of marking them with the "gay" stamp forever. Both were just fantastic. Of the minor roles, Michelle Williams as Ennis' wife Alma actually shines in her role. When Alma witnesses his husband kissing a guy, she is heart broken, but keeps everything for herself.
Ang Lee really knows how to make "pretty pictures" (for example Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). Every single frame of the movie was a work of art in itself. The stunning scenery, colours and the people, everything was just perfect.

Directed by Ang Lee
Written by Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana, based on a short story by Annie Proulx
Cast Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Michelle Williams
IMDb http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388795/