Brokeback Mountain
So, yeah, I am a little late seeing this movie.
I finally watched it last night. My reason for renting it a year after all the buzz died down and one of the stars actually died was because on Friday someone told me the movie was BAD, really bad, and I decided I needed to see for myself.
We have Brokeback Mountain on DVD at my little library branch and it has been checked out three times in the two months I have been there. In other words, it has been out for six of the seven weeks I have been the branch manager. And every person that has returned it has had something to say about it.
The first was a woman who was shocked by the premise.
"Do you know what this movie is about?" she asked me indignantly.
"Well, yes," I responded. "I haven't actually seen it, but I remember there was quite a bit of talk about it when it was released,"
"Well it was disgusting," she replied. "We didn't even sit through the whole thing. I just turned it off. Who chooses the movies you have here?"
I tried to be as unassuming as possible and put on my diplomat voice. "The movies we have here are usually selected by our collection developer downtown. I am sure we have it here because, regardless of the subject matter, it received a lot of critical acclaim, and some Oscar nominations..." Then I suggested some less incendiary movies that had just come in that I thought she might prefer - The Thomas Crowne Affair and Blast From the Past. She and her husbnd loved them both by the way, giggle.
The next person who returned the movie pointed out to me that nowhere on the box does it mention that the movie is about not just cowboys, but gay cowboys. Oddly enough, when I read all the information on the case, it says the movie is about an "intense relationship between two cowboys in the 1960's" etc, but there really is no mention of homosexuality. That theme doesn't disturb me a bit, but for all the prudish, puritanical people out there who grab Brokeback Mountain expecting a John Wayne kind of western...that is a little unfair to them, lol! I'll bet they are sorely surprised.
Then the third person returned the movie Friday, She was the one who said it was just plain bad. This lady is in her mid-50's, tall and thin and partial to wearing chunky silver jewelery and tight, black, turtleneck sweaters with cat hair on them. Her own hair is long and straight, almost down to her waist and dyed a deep, unnatural red color, except for two platinum blonde streaks, one on each side of her forehead. Regardless of her appearace, she has enjoyed several books I've liked myself, so I was interested in her opinion.
She was like "I knew what the movie was about and I didn't think it was gross or anything, I mean, I was a beautician for 25 years so I was friends with plenty of gays. The movie was just bad. Bad and boring. I watched it but I was falling asleep by the time it was over." Well, the beautician comment made me feel like now she had no excuse for her scary hair but I did believe her when she said she wasn't disturbed by the subject matter. Everyone else had objected based on those grounds so I didn't really listen to them.
Suddenly I was wondering if it really was just a bad movie, so I had to check it out!
I hadn't sought it out before because, with my limited movie watching time, there have just been other things I have wanted to see more. My husband had already told me he had zero interest in watching the movie, imagine that. Last night he fell asleep putting my son to bed so I thought 'This is a perfect time to watch.'
Ennis and Jack were hired to herd sheep for six months on Brokeback Mountain, one staying in the valley while the other went up on the mountain to watch the flock. I'm not going to lie. After all the gay-love-scene-hype, I spent the first thirty minutes thinking "Are they gonna have sex now? Is it now? When are they gonna have sex?" Every time they were in camp together I was like "Is this it? Is this when..." Once they had their first encounter, I felt like I could relax and just enjoy the movie!
Even before that though, I could already see that the movie is absolutely amazing. Anyone who is a fan of Annie Proulx - she also wrote The Shipping News - will appreciate the way director Ang Lee allowed the spareness of her writing to shine in his movie. The way she writes, there are gaps so wide in the things people don't say that they practically echo with meaning. The movie perfectly captured the eloquence of wordless exchange.
The cinematography, the sweeping images of the Canadian Rockies where it was filmed, add more depth to the dialogue and make the moments where the camera cuts in close seem that much more intimate. Even the music is just right, gathering up the loneliness the men feel everywhere but in each other's company.
Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal are amazing - Ledger in particular, as he plays the more repressed and closeted of the two men, clearly uncomfortable with the new direction his heart has taken but unable to tear himself away. It is absolutely a romance, and a tragic one at that, intensely passionate and moving and all the more heartbreaking because you fear from the start that it can't possibly have a happy ending. It is one of few movies I've seen lately that has left me thinking about it for a long time afterwards, still emotionally connected to the characters as if they were people I had actually met.
Bottom line, if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend you rent Brokeback Mountain soon.
I finally watched it last night. My reason for renting it a year after all the buzz died down and one of the stars actually died was because on Friday someone told me the movie was BAD, really bad, and I decided I needed to see for myself.
We have Brokeback Mountain on DVD at my little library branch and it has been checked out three times in the two months I have been there. In other words, it has been out for six of the seven weeks I have been the branch manager. And every person that has returned it has had something to say about it.
The first was a woman who was shocked by the premise.
"Do you know what this movie is about?" she asked me indignantly.
"Well, yes," I responded. "I haven't actually seen it, but I remember there was quite a bit of talk about it when it was released,"
"Well it was disgusting," she replied. "We didn't even sit through the whole thing. I just turned it off. Who chooses the movies you have here?"
I tried to be as unassuming as possible and put on my diplomat voice. "The movies we have here are usually selected by our collection developer downtown. I am sure we have it here because, regardless of the subject matter, it received a lot of critical acclaim, and some Oscar nominations..." Then I suggested some less incendiary movies that had just come in that I thought she might prefer - The Thomas Crowne Affair and Blast From the Past. She and her husbnd loved them both by the way, giggle.
The next person who returned the movie pointed out to me that nowhere on the box does it mention that the movie is about not just cowboys, but gay cowboys. Oddly enough, when I read all the information on the case, it says the movie is about an "intense relationship between two cowboys in the 1960's" etc, but there really is no mention of homosexuality. That theme doesn't disturb me a bit, but for all the prudish, puritanical people out there who grab Brokeback Mountain expecting a John Wayne kind of western...that is a little unfair to them, lol! I'll bet they are sorely surprised.
Then the third person returned the movie Friday, She was the one who said it was just plain bad. This lady is in her mid-50's, tall and thin and partial to wearing chunky silver jewelery and tight, black, turtleneck sweaters with cat hair on them. Her own hair is long and straight, almost down to her waist and dyed a deep, unnatural red color, except for two platinum blonde streaks, one on each side of her forehead. Regardless of her appearace, she has enjoyed several books I've liked myself, so I was interested in her opinion.
She was like "I knew what the movie was about and I didn't think it was gross or anything, I mean, I was a beautician for 25 years so I was friends with plenty of gays. The movie was just bad. Bad and boring. I watched it but I was falling asleep by the time it was over." Well, the beautician comment made me feel like now she had no excuse for her scary hair but I did believe her when she said she wasn't disturbed by the subject matter. Everyone else had objected based on those grounds so I didn't really listen to them.
Suddenly I was wondering if it really was just a bad movie, so I had to check it out!
I hadn't sought it out before because, with my limited movie watching time, there have just been other things I have wanted to see more. My husband had already told me he had zero interest in watching the movie, imagine that. Last night he fell asleep putting my son to bed so I thought 'This is a perfect time to watch.'
Ennis and Jack were hired to herd sheep for six months on Brokeback Mountain, one staying in the valley while the other went up on the mountain to watch the flock. I'm not going to lie. After all the gay-love-scene-hype, I spent the first thirty minutes thinking "Are they gonna have sex now? Is it now? When are they gonna have sex?" Every time they were in camp together I was like "Is this it? Is this when..." Once they had their first encounter, I felt like I could relax and just enjoy the movie!
Even before that though, I could already see that the movie is absolutely amazing. Anyone who is a fan of Annie Proulx - she also wrote The Shipping News - will appreciate the way director Ang Lee allowed the spareness of her writing to shine in his movie. The way she writes, there are gaps so wide in the things people don't say that they practically echo with meaning. The movie perfectly captured the eloquence of wordless exchange.
The cinematography, the sweeping images of the Canadian Rockies where it was filmed, add more depth to the dialogue and make the moments where the camera cuts in close seem that much more intimate. Even the music is just right, gathering up the loneliness the men feel everywhere but in each other's company.
Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal are amazing - Ledger in particular, as he plays the more repressed and closeted of the two men, clearly uncomfortable with the new direction his heart has taken but unable to tear himself away. It is absolutely a romance, and a tragic one at that, intensely passionate and moving and all the more heartbreaking because you fear from the start that it can't possibly have a happy ending. It is one of few movies I've seen lately that has left me thinking about it for a long time afterwards, still emotionally connected to the characters as if they were people I had actually met.
Bottom line, if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend you rent Brokeback Mountain soon.