The Reel Critic Brokeback Mountain

Author: JUSTINE KATZENBACH



"Brokeback Mountain" tells the tragic story of two cowboys who meet and fall in love while ranching sheep in the mountains of Wyoming during the summer of 1963. Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger), an introverted and simple man, makes every effort to keep to himself. Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal), his companion on the journey, is as outgoing and engaging as Ennis is quiet. Isolated in the wilderness, the differences in their personalities are soon overcome as Ennis and Jack begin a uniquely beautiful relationship framed by the Wyoming backdrop, which echoes their every action.

Filled with whiskey and alone, they fall into their tent one night and only minutes later begin an affair which will last for the next 20 years. What becomes immediately apparent is both cowboys' sense of discomfort and embarrassment. The rather graphic sex scene is awkward and rushed. As they hurry through the act it is as if the faster it is over the quicker they can forget the fact that they have made love. The next afternoon, after a day of avoiding each other and tending to their flock of sheep, Jack finally confronts Ennis, telling him that no one has to know about the occurrences of the previous night. As Ennis looks directly into his lover's eyes, he tells him with conviction that he is "no queer," to which Jack responds "Me neither."

As the summer comes to a close and Ennis and Jack finally leave the quiet of Brokeback Mountain, they are also forced to leave behind the truth of who they are. Ennis returns to his home in Wyoming, where he marries his longstanding girlfriend, Alma (Michelle Williams), and has two daughters. Jack moves back to Texas, attempting to make a living in the rodeo, only to meet and marry the prominent and beautiful Lureen (Anne Hathaway), whose father owns an established farm-equipment store.

Despite the 14-hour drive between them, they are drawn back to each other after four years of separation. For the next 20 years they run off on their wives, telling them they have planned another "fishing trip." They find solace as they escape to the only place that will ever accept their relationship ­ Brokeback Mountain. There, under the purple and green Wyoming sky, they ignore their separate lives and responsibilities and forget all truths except for the love between them.

The affair is self-destructive - the months of separation between them too difficult. As Jack dreams of building a cabin in Texas for himself and Ennis, the world remains completely at odds with the idea of the two lovers ever actually living a life together, and the results are eventually tragic. Despite hopes to unite in the world outside of the forest, they are safe only when hidden by the shadows of the overwhelming mountainside.

To say that "Brokeback Mountain" is a good film would not do it justice. The cowboy in American culture symbolizes all that is masculine. We are defined by this ranching, drinking, rough and dirty figure of a man, who rides horses through Western states, terrorizing all that falls in his way. He is the supposed definition of bravery, unrelenting in his solitary life, seeking only to live in the wild. He epitomizes our nation's dream of the American man. It is therefore truly revolutionary for American viewers to see the emblem of our nation's history portrayed as a homosexual ­- still just as brave and rough, but with a further dimension presented. "Brokeback Mountain" is an historically influential film because it forces Americans to examine the cowboy as a complex and realistic human being. Director Ang Lee aims to show the audience the tortured state of two men who live in a world of unrelenting chauvinism, yet whose love for each other will always be stronger than the hatred and evils with which they are confronted.