12-30-05, 9:37 am
Movie Review: Brokeback Mountain Director: Ang Lee
Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) is a penniless ranch hand looking for summer work to save money for his upcoming wedding to Alma (Michelle Williams). An unscrupulous boss (Randy Quaid) hires him with Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) to herd sheep on Brokeback Mountain. Forced to work long hours and to survive on beans and whiskey, the two young men lose interest in caring for the sheep. As the nights turn cold, a romantic fire is kindled between them.
Initially, Ennis insists that their affair is a one-time thing – after all, he is getting married in a couple of months. But the two men grow attached. Underlying the affair is the subtext of the social rejection of homosexuality: violence, hate, fear, and secrecy quickly become part and parcel of the two men's lives. Suppression of self and self-loathing spark violent episodes, social distance, and constant fear of being found out.
Ennis, who really is the central character of the story, is a committed husband and loving father, but his secret life keeps a part of him separate from those who love him. He is perpetually alienated from those who are closest to him, even from his true self. Throughout, Ennis is incapable of describing his affair with Jack as anything more than 'this thing between us,' let alone imagining the possibility of a gay and lesbian community that might help him understand his feelings and desires and see them as positive and valuable.
After a couple of years of separation, Jack tracks Ennis down and suggests they get together. Soon, Ennis and Jack are meeting every couple of months, ostensibly for fishing trips (and other outdoorsy activities of the masculine variety), in order to carry on a 20-year affair.
Meanwhile, both get married, start families, and live 'ordinary' lives. Jack marries into a well-to-do family in which he quickly becomes adjusted on the outside, even to the point of getting a bit of a paunch.
Ennis' life turns out differently. He sticks with ranching, but doesn't seem to be able to earn enough to buy his own property. Just when he gets good work, he quits to run off into the mountains with Jack on one of their trips. Forced to choose between love and desire and work and promised economic security, Ennis chooses love. Despite his outward gruff and typically masculine appearances, Ennis may be the most romantic character in American film in some time.
Heath Ledger as Ennis Del Mar delivers one of the most memorable performances on film this year. Ennis is a subtly complex character that easily finds his place in the tradition of American film alongside any character Steve McQueen ever played.
Some critics have accused the filmmakers of creating one-dimensional women characters who torment their husbands rather than understanding or caring for them. This is simply an unfortunate misunderstanding. Alma, for instance, is devoted to Ennis until she accidentally discovers that her husband is having an affair with Jack. Betrayed, she keeps his secret in silence, continues to try to win him, and only when she fails does she leave him. Michelle Williams' performance is truly top-notch and deserves consideration from the critics and nabobs of Hollywood awards.
Overall, this is a moving film that you will not be able to stop thinking about. It contains all the elements of our universal struggles to find love, to share a common life with others, to find a place in which we can be truly free of oppressive social judgments and restrictions, to be free of want and loneliness. Though tragic and sad, it is also a bit utopian.
The physical place of Brokeback Mountain is an enormous closet in which gay men hide, ironically a vast and open wilderness. But it is also holds a promise of being the place beyond that closet a place of true liberation. Not a film about escape, or an escapist movie, Brokeback Mountain takes the grit and pain of real life and scratches at it until maybe a peak at beauty, truth, and goodness shines through. It is worth every bit of the price of admission.
--Contact Joel Wendland at jwendland@politicalaffairs.net.
