Brokeback Mountain
by Ang Lee
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams, Randy Quaid, Valerie PlancheDirector: Ang Lee
Cinematographer: Rodrigo Prieto
Editor: Geraldine Peroni
Editor: Dylan Tichenor
Producer: Michael Costigan
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: NTSC
Audience Rating: NC-17
Studio: Focus Features
Movie Reviews of Brokeback Mountain
Movie Review: study in loneliness
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the truly great American films has been made by a Chinese director, an Argentinian composer, and an Australian lead actor.
Ang Lee has captured the loneliness, intolerance, and violence of the American west as no one else has. There may be a few tiny false notes, mostly in plot devices fleshing out the short story, but Mr. Lee has created an intimate, genuine, masterful, epic film which portrays a region, time, and two star-crossed lovers who find each other in 1963.
The film follows their passionate, private, and devoted friendship for 20 years. Jake Gyllenhaal is extraordinary as rodeo cowboy Jack Twist, who begins as a sweet, soft-spoken, sensuous young man, and grows into a loving, self-assured man who knows what he wants. Heath Ledger paints a deeply moving portrait of the taciturn ranch hand Ennis Del Mar, whose still waters run very deep, indeed. Yet he cannot satisfy anyone -- himself least of all. Torment is etched on his face, but can be verbalized only in extreme circumstances. His passive/aggressive character triggers all the major and minor tragedies of this multi-level, heart-breaking story.
The musical score is gorgeous, and perfectly complements the magnificent photography and scenery. Be sure to watch the credits, because Rufus Wainright's beautifully simple accompanying song sums up the entire film with remarkable sentiment and heartfelt aplomb.
Summary of Brokeback Mountain
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
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![Brokeback Mountain [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] Image](/images/Brokeback-Mountain-Original-Motion-Picture-Soundtrack-B000BEZQ18-X.jpg)
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