Member review

The film that won 3 Oscars and many other awards tells a story of forbidden love between tow cowboys. The film Brokeback mountain directed by Ang lee follows the lives of two men as they struggle to come to terms with their sexuality. This film still resonates today as the issues of homophobia and their consequences are explored sensitively (in some parts).

The story follows two men who are in need of a job for the summer. They both end up meeting at this summer job tending sheep on Brokeback mountain. Throughout the whole summer they develop this love for one another. At the end of the job they head their separate ways to marriage and fatherhood. However, their love endures and yearly “fishing trips” satisfy their needs. Nevertheless, throughout the movie we see these “fishing trips” do more damage to the characters than good, as we see families being broken and lives being torn apart. Towards the end of the movie we then see how this one trip to Brokeback mountain has affected their lives and their destiny.

Whilst this isn’t the typical type of movie I would choose to watch, I can appreciate the micro aspects of the movie to make it the pneumonia it is still to this day. The use of cinematography throughout the movie makes us connect with the two main characters Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal). The framing of the characters with the mountains as a back drop make the characters seem inconsequential. However, their love is connoted through this lovely back drop being as deep as the valleys and lasting as long as the mountains themselves.

Personally, I would say this film has characteristics of Romeo and Juliet created by Shakespeare in the years 1594-96. The reason I say this is because, it’s a forbidden love story made more modern, due to their sexuality. They are forbidden to show their true love with one another because of the time period and place they live in. The cowboy lifestyle in movies is shown to be very macho and tough being very stereotypical with being personified mainly as heterosexual, beer swigging and women chasing males.

One way that Ang lee really creates an effect throughout the film is the use of continuous soundtrack. The non-diegetic sound of the plucking of the guitar strings connotes the plucking of heart strings, as the camerawork highlights the raw emotions shown on the faces of all involved.

The performance throughout the whole is typically very strong. The fact that it is such a sensitive subject to target in a movie it needs to be portrayed through robust acting. The likes of Heath ledgers performance show the conflict within his character. In the scene where they are in the tent Ennis begins to fight off Jacks advances but then ends up succumbing to a violent sexual act. This also linked with the colour of the tent being white suggests to the audience that he has surrendered to his sexuality and had broken down the barriers he had set up as the colour white is renowned as the colour of surrender.

Furthermore, the performance of the wives of Ennis and Jack who were Alma (Michelle Williams) and Lureen Newsome (Anna Hathaway) showcase the views of society with regards to homosexuality. The performance of Alma is significantly stronger than that of Lureen, as we see Alma catching Ennis and Jack kissing. This means she has to deal with the fact that they are living a lie, its almost as he is using the marriage as a cover story to protect his real love for Jack. The scene that illustrated the sickening society of that time the most was the scene when Ennis called to see where Jack was but Lureen answered the phone and explained the tragic incident that occurred to Jack. However, she wasn’t at all emotional about this as she had a very monotone voice with little expression on her face, showing her lack of care of what just occurred.

The scene where Ennis is explaining one of his childhood memories, where his father shows his brother and him a dead body and explaining what happened to him. This highlights their knowledge of what could happen if they end up being discovered. The dream that is repeated throughout the movie of Jack and Ennis being together owning a house, is a similar to dream to what Steinbeck presented in his book Of Mice and Men with Lennie and George hoping to obtain the American dream.