Brokeback Mountain

It was the spit that did it

Lover: Taken from IMDB
“It was a real ordeal to get into the screening. The anticipation was palpable. The film arrived surrounded by a plethora of innuendo. "A gay western" "Heath and Jake's hot scenes" As soon as the film started every imaginable preconception flew out of the auditorium. This is a remarkable, moving and powerful love story. The setting is that of a modern western "The Last Picture Show" comes to mind. Ang Lee's attention to detail verges on science fiction. You can actually smell the place. Extraordinary. I'm not going to reveal anything about the story - Gian Luigi Rondi a legendary Italian film critic, revealed the ending to a television audience, what was he thinking?! - The film will be enjoyed much more allowing the story to unfold without having passages underlined and attention drawn to this or that particular. I felt compelled to write this comment because I'm overwhelmed. It has changed my perception, I must confess, about certain aspect of same sex love because I didn't think of same sex when I was watching it, I saw two human beings (amazing performances by both actors)I have the feeling "Brokeback Mountain" will make history, deservedly so.”

There’s no doubting the bravery and the talent that has gone into this film, from the actors themselves to the director. I have to say however that I was a bit disappointed.

Hater: Taken from IMDB
“The cinematography was fabulous the acting was good. Thats where the praise ends. The opportunity to make a great film was lost after the first act (literally). They failed to deliver any real emotion or sympathy for the characters. Personally, I cannot believe Ang Lee won Best Director. The movie spans 20+ years and the major players never age? The actresses that played the wives still looked twelve years old. That was painful and distracting, but the real deal breaker was the two separate Thanksgiving scenes with the long shots of the obviously cold turkeys being carved. Horrible. Definitely NOT best director material. Plus, the love story was not believable and Jake and Heath had no chemistry. Jakes character was poorly developed. I wish I could quit this movie.”

Overly harsh points I think with the aging of the characters, some people don’t change in 20 years! He comments them on acting and cinematography then slates them for no chemistry and a random comment about thanksgiving scenes? I like the way they ended it though, probably what I would have used had they not used it first.

What I thought:
Like I’ve said I was disappointed by this film, I can’t fault it for acting or indeed the directing. There a few things I can think of why I wasn’t as impressed as I thought I would be and they start with that spitting. It’s not specifically the spitting that gets on my nerves it’s how aggressive the characters seem to thrown themselves at each other. I tried to justify by saying they were men born and bred in Middle America, of course their sexuality is going to confuse them and could explain why they are so aggressive with it. Saying this it didn’t really find in with the characters and despite that still felt forced.

As a love story it is a great tale and heart-breaking too, I just felt that it was quite slow moving and when that ending comes up it seems to just jump up and bite you in the face. Now my third and final point may or may not be relevant depending on what you want to take from the film, is it just a love story or a statement about homosexuality in a homophobic environment? If it’s the latter I feel the film loses an audience, the audience who have come along a lot since those days and it’s no longer an extreme issue. I think there are a lot of different ways of viewing this film and I’m sure a lot of people have different ways of viewing it, whatever yours is, I hope you enjoyed it.