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Brokeback Mountain (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

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Brokeback Mountain is the tale of two cowboys, Ennis and Jack, who ranch sheep together one summer in the 1960's. One cold night, the two men huddle together in a tent to keep warm, and an explosive physical relationship erupts. They both agree that the night was a "one-shot deal," but somehow the two men keep finding one another again, throughout the summer. After the ranching gig ends, both men nonchalantly tell each other goodbye, but the separation is painful for both. Cut to four years later - the men have gone their separate ways, married, had kids. But when they happen to see each other again, old feelings almost violently assert themselves, leading to a 20-year relationship that is by turns passionate, furtive, and tortured.

First of all, performances by Heath Ledger (Ennis) and Jake Gyllenhaal (Jack) are unbelievable. I cannot adequately describe the performance work in this film. Ledger, who I'd only seen in fairly superficial roles - teen movies, not-so-great romantic comedies - totally transforms himself for this role. Tight-lipped, sun-baked, and shamed, his Ennis provides the tension in the film that powers the plot through to its final, saddening conclusion. Gyllenhaal plays Jack, the more honest, self-accepting of the two men, with an emotion that is strong enough to be real but restrained enough to epitomize the tough guy image of a Western. Both lend a haunting quality to the various ways in which Ennis and Jack try to live their lives, denied of the one thing they truly want.

At the end of the day, Brokeback Mountain is a love story, the tale of two people who love each other but can't be together. This is not untrod territory in Hollywood. However, hanging this familiar storyline on a less-than-mainstream social topic for the movies - homosexuality - proves to be very powerful. The intensity of the two men's feelings for one another, and the delayed gratification that is the bedrock of their relationship, bring their experience into sharp focus for the viewer. Beautiful scenes of mountainous countryside and a strong, simple acoustic guitar accompaniment add to the poignancy. I just cannot recommend it highly enough. It will haunt you. It will make you think. It will move you.

Fair warning - there is one brief sex scene between the two primary characters. If you don't warm to that idea, I recommend getting the film on DVD and fast-forwarding through that part. It is not worth missing the movie over.

This is one of the most beautiful and heart-breaking love stories I have ever watched. It haunted my mind for days after seeing it - really touching and not to be missed.

"Brokeback Mountain" is the story of two all-man cowboys that find love in each other. The film is unique because it is not the typical gay stereo-type; perhaps it is the first mainstream film ever made on this topic?

Ennis Del Mar (played by the very talented Heath Ledger) is a very quiet and rough around the edges kind of man. He doesn't show his feelings very well and is somewhat of a loner. Jack Twist (played by the equally accomplished Jake Gyllenhaal) is more vocal about his feelings and emotions, but can still be pushed around (although I did enoy it when he stood up to his bigoted father-in-law).

What makes this tale so bitter is that their's is a forbidden love. It is reminiscent of "Titanic" or Romeo and Juliet. Please keep in mind that the picture took place during 60's, 70's, and early 80's, in Middle-America where no one was openly homosexual, much less a cowboy. But, despite all their differences and personal demons both men loved each other more than life itself.

Anyone with connected eyeballs can tell that Ennis and Twist were deeply in love (this was not an affair, rather it was a serious relationship that lasted over two decades). It was proof that Twist loved Ennis when they were on the hill getting ready to leave after he playfully lassoed and punched Ennis. Twist looked so sad to have intentionally inflicted pain on his lover. But Ennis holed off and punched him, because no one was gonna make Ennis his fool. And it was evident that Ennis loved Twist when he sobbed like a baby on the street after they departed Brokeback Mountain separately.

The cinematography in this picture was absolutely stunning. The soundtrack is also amazing.

I saw this movie over a month ago and I still can't get it out of my mind. It is a very full-toned and haunting picture. To say that it was the very best film that I have ever seen would simply trivialize it, because it is much more than just a movie.

The last thing I expected to find on a Monday night was a small, indie movie theatre sold out of tickets to see what has been termed the "gay cowboy movie". Yet, when I went to see Brokeback Mountain last night, I found myself one of the last moviegoers to find a seat in a theatre overflowing with people from all walks of life.

Upon first hearing of this movie, I considered it laughable to have an entire film set around two cowboys falling in love, for it seemed, at best, to be a chick-flick with a political agenda. However, my predication's were quickly discarded. This film is much undeserving of it's "gay cowboy" stereotype, as it cannot convey the emotional aspect which will inevitably overcome the most callous of moviegoers. For what this movie provides is a heart wrenching tale of two thoroughly complex men, struggling with societal pressures and their desire to be themselves.

The story told in this film is of two men, who meet while working one summer herding sheep on top of, what else, but Brokeback Moutnain. Ennis Del Marr (played by Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (played by Jake Gyllenhaal) find themselves with idle time and only each other to fill it. They spend days riding around on horses and nights sitting around a campfire, talking and drinking whisky. Ennis rarely speaks, and when he does, his words are simple. Jack, on the other hand, is more outgoing in nature. At this time, his spirit seems playful, yet experienced, making for a sharp contrast with that of Ennis. In a surprising turn, for both the viewers and the characters themselves, Jack and Ennis find themselves filled with a primal urges which fuels their first sexual encounter which is void of seduction. They next morning,they both assert that they are not "queer", yet continue with the relationship, never speaking of their bond, perhaps because they knew no words to define it. When it comes time for them to part, you can see anguish on both character's faces, believing that they will never see the other again. Both characters marry andestablish families before they meet again. When they find each other four years after their work on Brokeback Mountain, they are instantly drawn together again and establish a relationship where they meet a few times a year, for fishing trips where no fish is ever caught. Their story spans 20 years, culminating in a hauntingly tragic ending.

Credit must given to the actors in this film, who truly gave the meaning to each and every character. Much attention should be paid to Heath Ledger, an actor with potential who could never seem to break away from the teen demographic for which his prior films have been marketed. His portrayal of Ennis Del Marr is heartbreaking. With few words, he was able to reveal a array of emotions. With just one look, he could communicate more then words could ever describe. His performance is the reason I cannot get this film out of my mind, a full day since I was present in the theatre. Ledger has found the small intricacies which make this character come to life. The low, rasping voice which seems to come from it's disuse, as well as the slight hunch which hides Ledger's height and conveys his characters venerability. A simple shot of Ledger's soulful eyes can tell the viewers all they need to know about his emotional duress, and will surely leave every onlooker teary-eyed. The way in which he clings to a shirt of Jack's, still upon it's hanger was able to say all that Ennis could not express with words, and was one of the most poignant scenes in the film. In supporting roles, Michelle Williams (as Alma), Anne Hathaway (as Lureen), and Jake Gyllenhaal all do incredible jobs as well, each bringing an intense believability to the roles in which they portrayed. The melancholy nature with which this film concludes, does so, in part because of the exquisite changes each actor brings to their character.

It has been a day since I experianced this movie, yet I can still feel it's ramifications churning in the pit of my stomach. The heartache felt by Ennis Del Marr has yet to leave my being, as my mind reels. This film brings to life a story which will not quickly leave me, one which was so realistic in manner I feel almost as if I had experianced it all myself. Do not be quick to write this movie off as just one of "gay cowboys," or a movie with a political agenda. This is a movie with heart, compassion and lose. This is a movie not to be forgotten

This review might contain spoilers.

This movie is brilliant. The first time I saw Brokeback Mountain, I left the movie theater in a dazed state, trying to digest what I just had seen. Wondering through some crowded streets of NYC on a cold, windy winter night, I never felt more alone. I hurried home. Many movies have left me excited, intrigued and sad. But none have left me as emotionally devastated as Brokeback has. It's as if the movie insinuated itself around my very soul and wrapped its grief around my unsuspecting heart - leaving it heartbroken ever since. The beauty of this movie is that it makes the characters seem so real, so live and their pain so raw, that the sorrow that permeates the story - hinted at first in the display of the most beautiful desolated sceneries, together with a melancholic music score, sneaks in your head, and unknowingly but quite forcefully takes hold of your body and soul and never seems to let them go.

A few weeks later, after countless sleepless nights, unable to shake myself off this stupor, I saw BBM again. This time I left feeling better because it became clear to me that what I had just witnessed was one of the most beautiful love stories ever told. It doesn't matter for me that it happened to be between 2 men. Because there is something so refreshing, so innocent, so lovely about how the story unfolds, that it literally turned this quite jaded, a bit cynical New Yorker, inside out. But I gather that this movie is not meant for everyone. Considering the state of our world today, how we are brought up to fend for ourselves and how we are taught to never let our guards down, we shield our fragile selves from any hint of perceived emotional threats. And we shut down. But I guarantee 100% that if only you could keep the cynicism at bay for the length of this movie, it will transform you. Like I mention before, this movie really makes you hurt, a heartbreaking SOB of a love story that just kills you, but it can be life changing.

Both Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger are phenomenal. Period. This movie wouldn't work if either one of them didn't give his heart and soul completely. What a remarkable screen performance these two give - a performance dug directly from the heart. Amazing. Some criticize that the characters don't develop enough rapport before that first scene in the tent. Nonsense. Haven't you ever heard of something called instant chemistry? And both Heath L. and Jake G. deliver throughout the movie. I bow my head to these guys. Of course the movie wouldn't work either without the great, touching performances from Michelle Williams, Anne Hathaway and Roberta Maxwell.

This was a wonderful work from Ang Lee. To portray this movie in such a delicate, sensitive way merits all ovations it gets. During an interview, Ang Lee said that when casting, he decided to go after young and innocent. That choice has really paid off here because in a way that's why the movie works: because to find love when one is so young, so innocent, that is the purest kind of love. When tragedy hits later on the movie, and somehow we kind of expect that from the start, the only thing that remains out of this now flawed, resentful relationship is a sense of love. But Jack and Ennis' souls have been irremediably broken.

Alas, this is the price these doomed individuals pay for living a life denied and full of lies. The soul dies first before physical death occurs. We see it happen in Jack's case, his soul dying, so touchingly captured in his mournful, dead blank eyes at their last fateful meeting when he watches Ennis' truck speed away. He bitterly tells Ennis: "We could've had a good life together...but YOU didn't want it...so Brokeback is all we got" finally letting all his resentment spill out on their most unsatisfactory relationship. To which Ennis replies, accusingly, angrily: "It's because of you Jack...that I'm like this...I'm nothing...I'm nowhere" before collapsing to the ground as if the weight of this impossible affair suddenly becomes too heavy a burden for him to carry. Jack rushes back to comfort him, and they hug mightily, desperately clinging to one another for they know that they have reached some crossroads in their hearts - their relationship hanging by a thread, they cannot help but watch it slip away.

To his part, Ennis fares no better. When we last see him, alone in that empty, desolated trailer, surveying those shirts that he now tenderly guards, he swears love to a man that no longer exists but in his dreams and memories - a late cry of acknowledgment for what he always had felt but never dared to verbally express during those long 20 years. And like the emptiness of his trailer, Ennis' soul, so long tormented about a crime he saw as a child and so terrified by the notion that the love of his life was another man, cries in despair for a love forever lost, and it is now destined to wither away in solitary confinement.

Thus, the tragedy and paradox of Brokeback Mountain: Love can help save a man from destroying a life that could have been but a man cannot save himself if love is left buried and hidden in the deepest corner of the human heart. Something has to give. So Jack and Ennis: if only I should come to feel a love like that, God help me, but I for one will not hold back. Thank you for showing me the reason why.

Before reviewing Brokeback Mountain, I must dismiss some of the absurd and ridiculous statements circulating about the movie. First, this film does NOT contain a bunch of gay sex scenes! This film is NOT anti-family values (what the hell are "family values," anyway?), and this movie does not promote the "gay agenda!"

I am heterosexual. I am not gay, none of my friends are gay (at least that I know of), and I have no gay family members that I know of either. One should not have to make this disclaimer, but anti-gay activists are accusing those who like this movie of having an agenda. Having said that, I thought Brokeback Mountain was fantastic. This might possibly be the best film I've seen in the theaters so far in 2006, and after watching the film, I spent weeks on end thinking about the content of the film. Great movies have a way of making viewers do that.

Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhall first meet in Wyoming in 1963 when both are in their early 20s looking for summer work. They end up finding employment with a local sheep herder, and in the process, find out a thing or two about themselves. The two develop feelings for one another, but under the anti-gay socialization each has been raised with, quickly attempt to suppress these emotions.

At the end of the summer, each man returns to his hometown to pursue his respective life. Ledger gets married and has two daughters, while Gyllenhall returns to Texas and meets a cowgirl at a tavern. They get married and have a son.

However, Ledger and Gyllenhall end up meeting up again several years later. Emotions are rekindled, leading to complications in their relationships with their respective families and each other.

This movie shows the mental anguish and emotional turmoil that results from being forced to live a double life at the hands of society. The film actually made me rethink and reconsider a lot of the stereotypes that I held towarards homosexuals, and Brokeback Mountain is an important and timely film.

Everyone I know who saw this film in the theater thinks it is phenomenal. There is great acting, and the cinematography is breathtaking: herds of sheep flocking about the screen, the mountains and lakes of the Rocky Mountains, and the rugged terrain and cornfields of Texas. At the end of the day, Brokeback Mountain is as much or even more a Western film (not a "gay film" that its bashers would have us believe) than anything else. The plot is fantastic, and the movie is an overall success. Watch it.

Brokeback Mountain is a unique, brilliant and well acted movie. I wasn't sure if I would like it, but I found myself loving it. How could you not. There was stunning scenery and a fantastic score, amazing script and last but not least, some of the best acting we've seen in many years.
After working together on Brokeback Mountain, these two cowboys find more than just a friendship - they find forbidden love. Their first meeting happend in 1963 where homophobia would have been far worse than it is today. What follows is a moving story of two men trying to come to grips with their feelings for each other and their family life at home with their wives and children.
This is a must see for everyone. You may not think you'll like it, but you will be blown away. It's one of the best movies I've seen in such a long time and this was thoroughly enjoyable.

I skipped this movie at the theatre. Gay cowboys, what a weird idea I thought. Some remarks of friends of mine made me curious, so I gave it a try. What can I say?
Ang Lee did a great job, portraying these two guys in love. He did it so masterfully that I totally forgot that the two leadings are men. It appeared so natural, that I felt, that they were made for each other and no one else. Ang Lee is simply a genius.

The acting is another strength of this movie. Roberta Maxwell as Jake's mother is perfect. Look at her facial expressions when she realizes who Ennis is. You can see her pain, when Ennis leaves, because she knows that another part of her son is gone now forever. Absolutely heartbreaking.
Ledger did most challenging job and he was definitely the right one to do it. Who would have ever thought what a great actor he is? He played this Ennis del Mar so perfectly and nuanced that you actually think he IS Ennis del Mar! Bravo! I will never forget the scene, when he asks his daughter, if her husband loves her. Just for a few seconds you can see all his sorrow and regret in his face. I had tears in my eyes.

Bokeback Mountain is one the saddest but at the same time one the most beautiful movies I have seen in my life. If you see it and like it, I encourage you to watch it twice. There are so many details I missed upon the first viewing that the movie got better the second time I saw it.

I hate films like this. It is very moving and it feels very heavy. I didn't know I was that deep watching until I realized that I was in tears with Ennis in the scene when Jack said to him, "I wish I knew how to quit you." To which he replied, "Why don't you just let me be? It's because of you, Jack, that I am like this." The feeling-- it cannot be described. Love-- it's the force that stops you, sets you free, makes you somebody, makes you a nobody, makes you see things, makes you blind, gives you hope.

I burst into tears again upon seeing "DECEASED" stamped on the returned postcard Ennis sent for Jack. I couldn't stop my tears even after the ending credits of the film. It made me think of the things that I should have done. It made me reflect on what factors should I base my life's big decisions on-- friends? Town folks? Tradition? Family? Happiness? Love? I certainly hope that it's not too late... For a movie that has no "specific message" to convey, Brokeback Mountain gave me lots of thoughts about life and love, and surely, it renewed my hope. "I swear..."
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(Two weeks and a few days later...)
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Brokeback Mountain had me write what I have written above (originally posted on April 12, 2006, unedited, useful to 54/62) right after seeing the movie for the first time. That was my initial reaction. I was greatly moved by the movie and I was inspired to write. Under the influence of such overwhelming emotion, I even wrote some spoilers (my apologies). Brokeback Mountain-a movie about two cowboys who falls in love with each other in the early 60's amidst the conservative, religious and strict society-is such a great film that motivates people. Seeing other people's reviews here makes me shed some tears because I completely understand their feelings in what they have written. It made me feel like doing something about it. I am not a writer so I could not make a good review of the film. But for me, a good film is not about how big the production was. It's not about the monetary budget. It's not about the stunts. It's not about the special effects. It's all about telling a good story and how that story reaches the heart and mind of the audience. How the movie affects people-that's the way I evaluate a film. This "review" basically reveals how the movie left me a lasting impression.

I liked the whole movie but there are others who question some parts of the movie, like, the growing love between Ennis and Jack in the mountains was not evidently shown. I would say that these people missed that part. The conception of the love between Ennis and Jack was clearly developed and was even symbolized by the scenery. The mountains, the sheep, the weather, the rivers, all of these are not just serving as natural background. They are also symbolic. Director Ang Lee used them to symbolize the passage of time and how Ennis and Jack were spending their time together. The grandness of the landscape and the simplicity of the sheep in the area controlled by cowboys also symbolized our big world and the little souls living in it constrained by the society's norms and values.

By the time the guys came down from the mountains, Ennis was (another spoiler?) already deeply in love with Jack. This was shown in the scene when they went on to their own separate ways-when Jack was already gone, Ennis began sobbing in an alley and hitting the wall. This was a perfect illustration of his love left undisclosed to Jack. Why the sobbing? Because of a true love which was "not supposed to be." I should know-I wounded my fist when I was in the same predicament some years ago. I still have the scars on my knuckles.

I had mixed emotions happening at the same time in some parts throughout the movie. Especially when Ennis and Jack was first reunited. While I was deeply sympathetic with Alma looking over the window at Ennis and Jack getting in the pickup, at the same time I was also happy for the two guys being together again. Proving that their love for each other still exist after all those years.

As others mentioned that this movie was slow and too long, I tried to watch it for the nth time on DVD, and I skipped some scenes. It didn't work for me. Ang Lee knows what he was doing. Some scenes were thoughtfully placed here and there to break the tension and the emotion building inside the viewer. That's the reason why some people find this boring. However, as the movie ends, the emotion reaches to its climax. And at the last frame of the film, you would not want it to end. That's how I felt.

This movie is brilliant, if not perfect. However, if I am brutally forced to find something wrong about it, I can think of one scene. That is when Aguirre came over to tell Jack about his sick uncle. Jack was chopping wood into pieces with the axe. He positioned a piece of wood on the chopping table then turned around to face Aguirre. They talked in close up shots. When Aguirre left and Jack turned back to the chopping table, the piece of wood was already gone and so he was picking up another piece of wood instead. Who moved the wood? Irrelevant, but I call it "the vanishing wood" scene. But hey, that's just a needle in the hay.

Not a fan of any of the performers but I think the characters in the movie were all believable. Anne Hathaway-although I didn't believe her appearance, her acting showed that she's grown from being a cute princess to an actress. Michelle Williams-if only her role was a little longer, the best actress award was hers. Jake Gyllenhaal-way, way up higher than I expected. Heath Ledger-he created an unforgettable character whose silent and mostly non-verbal expressions of internal conflict and pain shouts an ocean deep of emotion. My choice for best actor (over the guy who imitated another person who talks a lot and that talking just seemed to cover up what lacked in the acting itself).

A peaceful movie with a more universal theme should have won the best picture at the Oscars (especially if this organization is trying to impress the world as the leading and "international" film award giving body) instead of the one that I find "too American." I find Brokeback Mountain as having a more widespread but ignored theme, more applicable to more people's lives in different societies across the globe. The lead actors did a great, convincing job that if I happen to meet them personally I'm afraid that I would give them a big hug in tears, still believing that they are the doomed Ennis and Jack.

The simple yet powerful music is not to be ignored as it enhanced the dramatic scenes of the movie. And what else can I say? Brokeback Mountain is too good that every time I watch it, it always penetrates into my heart. I hate that. I don't want to be vulnerable. I am a guy, and "it should not be." So what exactly is the message that we are looking for here? Nothing specifically. It's out there in the open. If this movie is not a love story, then what is it? If the theme is not universal enough, then what is? In other words, this movie offers a lot of meaningful interpretation. Have an open mind, see this movie and let your heart find the right answer for you.

I feel duped.

No one told me Brokeback Mountain was about us. It was supposed to be about other people, you know, homosexuals. That's the hype, right, two gay cowboys in love.

So why did I see my friends and I in this story? Adolescent girls who couldn't imagine escaping the narrow confines of our strict upbringing. Young women struggling to find our way in a society which promised to prize independence but, too often, rewarded conformity.

When you're stuck inside the status quo, when it's all you know, you've played a part in this film. And I, for one, have acted, at some point, for some person, rather than risk exposing myself to condemnation and punishment.

Brokeback Mountain, with its vulnerable performances and clear-sighted direction, is about our natural human struggle. Our longing to belong pressed up against our longing to be ourselves. Our desire to live peacefully (and safely) pressed up against our need to live truthfully.

This film reminded me that liberty can be a shared delusion. We enjoy certain freedoms, yes, yes, but that doesn't necessarily make us free.