brokeback mountain
every once in a couple of years a film like that comes up and really has this effect on me. the last one that really moved me was merchant ivory's howard's end. brokeback mountain isn't about gay cowboys, it's actually an epic love story that spans two decades, between two ranch-hands that didn't even have the vocabulary to talk about it. it's also about love and social convention, which interestingly isn't very different from today, when everybody has words to belittle it. and it's also about love and courage, and love and loss, eventually. it's when something slips through your hands that you realise how fragile it is and truely treasure it.
ang lee did a lot to translate annie proulx short story into a universal love story, rich with visual allegories (vast plains, towering mountains, running water). what's amazing was it was done with very few words and without hollywood flourishes. health ledger pulls a complex subtextured performance, and his chemistry with jake gyllenhaal was sizzling. the sex scenes were overrated but the kisses were smouldering. even the support cast was amazing - i especially liked peter mcrobbie and roberta maxwell.
so i sat bleary eyed in a cinema in chelsea as the credits rolled, in 2005. strangely, the world hasn't changed much.
ang lee did a lot to translate annie proulx short story into a universal love story, rich with visual allegories (vast plains, towering mountains, running water). what's amazing was it was done with very few words and without hollywood flourishes. health ledger pulls a complex subtextured performance, and his chemistry with jake gyllenhaal was sizzling. the sex scenes were overrated but the kisses were smouldering. even the support cast was amazing - i especially liked peter mcrobbie and roberta maxwell.
so i sat bleary eyed in a cinema in chelsea as the credits rolled, in 2005. strangely, the world hasn't changed much.