I went to see Brokeback Mountain this evening with a lovely group of people, and I think it made an impact on all of us. It really is what the hype says it is – an intelligent and sensitive film about a love that dominates the lives of two people but is frustrated by circumstance, baggage and by a raft of general human failings (some innate and some imposed). It’s beautiful and it’s melacholic and it feels true.
As a film, it caters to a gay sensibility only in accepting that love between two men is as possible and as real as love between a man and a woman. It’s not a cartoon film, it’s not a polemic. There’s a sense of danger around the relationship, but it’s not a dehumanised threat from outside – straight people aren’t evil, nor is the church or the uneducated or the parents. It’s a much more sophisticated film than that. The leads are not saints – there’s deceit and there’s prostitution and seediness and infidelities. And no character is a cypher – Ennis and Jack are complex, different and conflicted (you’d expect that), but so are their wives and the other women they come into contact with. No one gets a particularly easy time, but each has an opportunity to reveal how the situation they find themselves in has affected them, each has their fragilities exposed, each reveals strengths and insight. The wives are real, and as tragic as the leads. Their children are as plucky and remarkable as their parents. Sometimes more so. It’s a narrative in which every character is treated with respect by the film makers, even if they do not treat each other with respect in the film. As a piece of characterwork, as a piece of craftsmanship and as a piece of art, I genuinely think it’s exceptional.
I find it harder to present a personal perspective on it. One of my favourite reviews of the film by Roger Ebert said:
“the filmmakers have focused so intently and with such feeling on Jack and Ennis that the movie is as observant as work by Bergman. Strange but true: The more specific a film is, the more universal, because the more it understands individual characters, the more it applies to everyone. I can imagine someone weeping at this film, identifying with it, because he always wanted to stay in the Marines, or be an artist or a cabinetmaker.”
I think he’s right, but I think there has to be a special resonance for gay people in watching a film in which same-sex love and its complexities are so well represented. It’s a rare occurence at all, let alone at this quality. I’m sure many people believe that gay people are as equal as everyone else and as free to operate in the world and do as they please as straight couples. But it’s not true – while watching the fear on Heath Ledger’s face about being exposed and revealed, I could see the anxiety on the face of an ex-boyfriend about any display of affection in public. He lived in fear of public hassle or approbrium – a fear that I’d like to say was unjustified, but cannot. My own lack of fear is probably more an artifact of years of anger and frustration than it is because I experience no threat. There’s something here that’s still more resonant today than many people understand.
But of course the other side of the personal experience is about remembering the relationships that got away, about the personal Brokebacks. It’s hard to resist recasting one’s failed romances under the influence of the film. It’s too tempting to find a familiar pattern in these epic narratives that stretch across a life, and to wallow in your own tragic arc. But if there’s one thing that Brokeback illustrates, it’s the danger of embracing neither the inevitable nor the desirable, about the paralysis of fear and of ceasing to fight because it’s the simplest short-term option. In our darkest moments and our most difficult relationships, or when it seems like unrequited or frustrated feelings will drag us down and segregate us off from the rest of humanity, it’s worth remembering this point. Because I for one want to resist the tragic conclusion. I want to fight against it and win. So if you’re feeling Brokeback too deeply – as I think maybe I did tonight – then maybe recognise that the ending was not inevitable, and however beautiful it was, there was still somewhere in all the pain a deeply missed and wonderful opportunity.
22 replies on “Some thoughts on Brokeback Mountain…”
I saw it two days ago, and I agree with everything you say. I was actually, briefly, a little disappointed by the ending – it seemed to pull back from the emotional climax it had been building to, going for tasteful understatement that felt a little artificial. Perhaps it was just a function of reading too many reviews that promised you that you’d be in floods of tears, because it’s one of those movies that doesn’t necessarily hit home just before the credits roll; instead it hits you, even more powerfully, fifteen minutes later as you’re walking up Charing Cross Road.
When you remember parts of the film, they feel just like flashbacks in your own life do; that unsettling feeling that can leave you happy and wistful at the memory, but utterly shaken by the realisation that those moments are dead. As you say, it feels true.
Having said all that, Jake Gyllenhaal’s prosthetic fat stomach was apalling. It looked like someone had just shoved a rolled-up jumper under his shirt…
Yours is the first, no doubt, of many other interesting metonymic variants on Brokeback. Unfortunately I doubt I’ll get to see the movie in the cinemas of Kuala Lumpur.
Well written review. Great job!
I read the short story and recognised the angst. I will be viewing it here in Cincinnati, US this Saturday. I expect to be drawn in as you were. Your review hit home on apsects that straight people never recognise. It can be difficult to articulate to the world the gay paradigm. There are assumptions that we are somehow different. And I guess to many that is what is frightening. I look forward to those heart strings being pulled.
I am puzzled by the comment, “Your review hit home on apsects that straight people never recognise.”
The film was directed by a straight man: Ang Lee.
The story was written by a straight woman: Annie Proulx.
It’s leads are Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. Both straight.
So are you saying, these four people have only managed to make a film gives a sensitive depiction of gay love by complete accident? Because, by being straight, they can have no insight into universal human emotions?
AbsTabs – I think you’ve made your point. Perhaps it would be fairer to say that straight people often don’t recognise these things – with the understanding that the straight people blakefox was probably referring to were likely to be the majority of film reviewers. I’m going to take it as a compliment and assume that the universalising aspect was a slip rather than a thought-through political position.
Certainly, I don’t think anyone is going to deny the incredible sensitivity displayed by Ang Lee, Annie Proulx, Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger in their treatment of the narrative. I think they’ve managed the near-impossible – to depict a story about same-sex relationships that doesn’t shy away from the issues, while remaining resolutely not a campaigning film. I’m not sure that many gay film-makers have got close to that ideal either.
Abs Tabs – I’ve yet to see the film, but am looking forward to doing so because of the reviews of people like Tom.
If I understand Tom, then he is at least partly saying that the film does not simplify the experience or taxonomy of emotions and sexuality. It portrays in universalist terms intricacies that have a very particular resonance for the gay world, but which ought to be considered in a broader view than either the ‘gay’ or the ‘straight’.
If, however, it is true that many queers consider straights to be alien and other, lumping them all in together, then it is even more common among (even sympathetic) straights to see queers as alien. If the film succeeds in depicting a sexuality crisis in terms that are not alien and not, ultimately, gay or straight, then it’s done a difficult and important thing.
Tom, that’s a really great review that gets to the heart of the gay-straight paradox in the film. Of all the films that I’ve seen recently it’s easily the best and certainly better than things like the much over-rated Constant Gardener. Let’s hope it gets the success and audiences it deserves.
There’s a good bit more analysis of Brokeback Mountain over on Barbelith. Please do join us.
Great review Tom, well written. Still letting the movie really sink in so I can write my own review.
For some unknown reason I’ve been putting off seeing this one, thinking maybe I’d just wait until I could netflix it. But after the last two reviews I read, yours being the last, I’m going to probably see it this weekend.
mike
I haven’t seen this film and probably won’t. (I tend to make time for old Buster Keaton flicks. What can I say?) It certainly sounds like a film worth seeing, from your review. But what I wanted to comment on was what you said at the end: the ending was not inevitable, … there was still somewhere in all the pain a deeply missed and wonderful opportunity. Painful endings have become the new pat endings, with barely a glimmer of understanding that the pain is based on choices that did NOT have to be made. It’s a relief to hear somebody else mention the “evitability” of pain, and do it more elegantly than I ever have.
Thanks for your thoughts/review re: Brokeback Mountain. I just came back from watching. I took advantage of being on travel to see it. I had read somewhere the movie was deep, powerful and I really thought it best to see it by myself (I’m not sure if it will make it to the homophobic town I live in). I realize now that it is in many/deeper ways more complex then the original comment I read.
I’m a bisexual man, married and have been seeing another married man for a year now. I could draw many parallels between the movie and the lives my friend and I lead (sorry, we don’t fish, we’re not cowboys). From the reviews I read above, I feel to some extent, the straights missed the turmoil, the gays miss the complexity of being a married man who likes other men.
I truly felt myself identified in Jack and Ennis’ lives. The challenges of being married, and yes, I love her dearly, having adorable children (my friend and I both have three each) and leading straight lives is far too complex to describe. I won’t even go into why my friend and I are still married, but the self deprication, the violence against others, the fears of being caught, the barries of not wanting to fall in love with someone you hold dearly are all too real.
Thanks for describing the beauty of the film. Maybe we’re gearing into an age where being bisexual is an acceptable situation and not one a bisexual man should fear; certainly, not one where a bisexual man should loose his life for being in love with another man.
Thanks for your thoughts/review re: Brokeback Mountain. I just came back from watching. I took advantage of being on travel to see it. I had read somewhere the movie was deep, powerful and I really thought it best to see it by myself (I’m not sure if it will make it to the homophobic town I live in). I realize now that it is in many/deeper ways more complex then the original comment I read.
I’m a bisexual man, married and have been seeing another married man for a year now. I could draw many parallels between the movie and the lives my friend and I lead (sorry, we don’t fish, we’re not cowboys). From the reviews I read above, I feel to some extent, the straights missed the turmoil, the gays miss the complexity of being a married man who likes other men.
I truly felt myself identified in Jack and Ennis’ lives. The challenges of being married, and yes, I love her dearly, having adorable children (my friend and I both have three each) and leading straight lives is far too complex to describe. I won’t even go into why my friend and I are still married, but the self deprication, the violence against others, the fears of being caught, the barries of not wanting to fall in love with someone you hold dearly are all too real.
Thanks for describing the beauty of the film. Maybe we’re gearing into an age where being bisexual is an acceptable situation and not one a bisexual man should fear; certainly, not one where a bisexual man should loose his life for being in love with another man.
I saw Brokeback Mountain today, I am a gay man but I am still asking myself- What is so good about this movie? Is it this popular because it’s the first time that such subject matter has been shown to a mainstream audience or because its a good story in its own right- I still dont get it..
The movie has nothing new to say to anyone that hasn’t been previously told by a handfull of other directors ranging from Almodovar to Tom Fontana ( HBO’s Oz). So what is good about the movie?
Every year, many cities around the world have Queer Film Festivals that showcase movies that explore similar issues- What is good about this particular movie??
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN IS DOING VERY WELL IN CITIES THAT HAVE LARGE GAY POPULATIONS. WHETHER IT WILL BE A GOOD MONEY MAKER IS ANOTHER STORY.MOVIES ARE MADE TO MAKE MONEY. IF THEY MAKE A SOCIAL COMMENT ABOUT BISEXUAL SHEEP HERDERS THAT IS ALL THE BETTER.WHEN THE MESSAGE IS POSITIVE THAT IS.
Well, firstly I’d like to say thanks to everyone who helped to make this movie.
Secondly, I’d like to say thanks to everyone who understands that this film is not about homosexuals but about love.
And, Tom, I hope there’re many other people like you in the world – straight but not homophobic.
I’m gay and this fact made an impact on me cause it’s not the same to watch such a film if you’re gay, not because straight men can’t understand gay love but because gay men understand it much better.
Sorry for my English.
Thanks for your kind comments Artyom, but I’m afraid / delighted that I am in fact gay.
I must say that the movie has a strong impact on me, much on how it relates to the present reality in my country. Though the movie was set in the 60’s and 80’s, things have certainly have changed in the states generally, for at least now being gay is not a taboo. Unfortunately it is still a taboo in my country and I agree with what Roger Ebert had to say when you’re watching the movie, it really gets me when i can relate the movie to my life.
I just recentley saw the movie it was ok I think it kind of got a little over praised. I wonder if this movie would of even made it big if it didnt have well known actors in it.
Homophobia : France vs USA
Let’s remember recent history as a tribute to the United States and more than ever to the Americans.
In our times of such speed, it’s quickly forgotten.
In the middle of the 70’s, homosexuality is not established in France, speaking of being able to be visible in regular life and being publicly accepted with tolerance.
Despite the Age of Enlightenment, the Revolutions and the Human Rights, despite may 1968, despite the notoriety of some contemporary public figures, homosexuality is still doomed to darkness. The ones who are able to live it in half-light are protected because they belong to an elite, whatever the kind of. For ordinary fellows : the cellars or the bushes! Everyone remembers the outdated atmosphere of the private Parisian clubs on Ste Anne Street… You can easily understand the 80’s powerful desire of freeing. But where does it come from?
But from the Americans! who, much sooner than the French guys, have conquered their part of freedom.
At that time, for a French guy, young or not, staying in the United States in one of these places of conquest, San Francisco’s Castro, or Provincetown for example, was bringing you to be positively floored by revelation. What a shock to see two women, or two men, taking one’s other hand or kissing each other in a street, for the most sentimental of them, in a noticeable peace of mind! Such a trip was far costless than repeated visits to the shrink. Overwhelming, intellectually and emotionally.
Thanks to our American friends, yesterday and today.
I have seen the movie, but fail to see what it all has to do with being gay,,lust and love go hand in hand , I am living this movie, not by being gay i however am on the other side, only finding out after 17 years with a man i loved and still love, is there any one out there that can direct me to helping my husband to understand being gay is ok and i want to help him in his being ok with it as he is still hiding behind the door of all doors..coming out isn’t going to kill us only to make us stronger by being open and honest with each other, so there in helping him, he will be able to fully understand his inner self and reach his goal at being true to himself and me too..so any information would be an asset to us both thank you for opening my eyes to understanding love comes in all ways and is unending,,I know our marriage is over but i value his friendship more, we just need to be more open with each other and hold nothing back for it only bites us in the end…