Brokeback Mountain

Review by Clint Morris

My wife likes to impertinently remind me of an episode of TV’s 'South Park' every time I go to an Independent movie. In this one episode, the outsized Cartman describes all Independent movies as being all about "gay cowboys eating pudding".

Needless to say, that’s never usually the case, but Mrs Morris gets a kick out of referring to that proclamation anyway.

And boy, did the giggles kick-in when she discovered what Brokeback Mountain was all about.

Gay Lovers. Cowboys. No Pudding.

Set over the span of the '60s and '70s, Brokeback tells of two-men (Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal) who are hired to shepherd in the harsh, high altitude grasslands of contemporary Wyoming. They form a ‘very’ close relationship, and over the course of the next ten years or so - and despite being married to women, and having children of their own - get together in the mountains for their little rendezvous.

Surely that can’t end well though, right?

As Jim Steinman once penned, "Two out of Three ain’t bad," and maybe, Parker and Stone’s in your face toon got it ‘partly’ right. Thing is, Cartman doesn’t follow up that statement with a "But they can be very intriguing movies too," does he?

Maybe he should.

Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain is both a breath of fresh-air in a Summer full of conventional studio pap and fluffy family fare and a tour-de-force for its performers who, knock on wood, might have to start pressing their suits in order for the big night at the Kodak theatre. It’s leads, Heath ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, are as brave as they are brilliant here. Some risks are worth taking.

Brokeback Mountain isn’t a movie for everyone. In many ways, it’s a film for film lovers. With it’s deliberately sluggish pacing, travelogue-ish cinematography and direction-less target, it’s a movie that lovers of 'the art' will indisputably appreciate a lot more than those who perhaps sat front row centre at any of Ledger or Gyllenhaal’s past films.

It’s also a very confronting movie, so if you’re not able to easily extend your views or appreciate love in all of its different forms - buy a ticket for the latest Kate Hudson flick. Still, this is a movie a straight man or woman can still appreciate.

"Of all the gay-themed films I've watched," says Damon Romine of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, "this is the first one I've seen about two men in love, told in a way that straight people can relate to.

"People don't have to be gay to understand loss and longing and unrequited love," says Romine. "Hollywood churns out endless variations on the theme of forbidden love. This is a new take on that genre, a film that has tremendous potential to reach and transform mainstream audiences." And he’s right. Whether you’re into men, women, or, um, animals - the themes of the movie are universal and easily relatable.

Still, and despite its bravura performances, warm thesis and slick direction; Brokeback Mountain isn’t a film without flaws.

It’s first half is rather lethargic and without aim, and even the stencil of the film seems to be relying on a fairly thinly sketched basis at times. It’s as if all the 'good stuff' was saved for the latter half. In toting up, and possibly more conspicuously, the experience of being gay and why these two are ‘right for each other’ isn’t really an issue either. We’re simply forced to swallow that the two pretty-boys are hot for one another.

Ang Lee’s film mightn’t rock the amp so hard that it’ll split a hole through the mesh casing, but it’s still a chance to check out two of the best performances you’re likely to see this year.

But again, sorry, no Pudding.

3.5 out of 5

Brokeback Mountain
Australian release: Thursday the 26th of January, 2006.
Cast: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams, Anne Hathaway, Linda Cardellini, Anna Faris, Randy Quaid, Kate Mara.
Director: Ang Lee.
Website: Click here.

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