Brokeback Mountain

Released: 2005
Drama, Romance
Director: Ang Lee
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger
Running Time: 134 minutes
Rated: R

The breakdown:  A story about two cowboys who fall in love one summer in Wyoming and what comes after their time together on Brokeback mountain is over.

I had heard a LOT about this movie from several different sources before I ever saw it.
It was a "gay cowboy" movie.  "It wasn't gay, it was a bisexual movie."  "It wasn't bisexual, it was about straight men who fell in love with each other."  "It was about two humans, regardless of their gender or sexual preference that fell in love, like 2 souls who bonded."  In all actuality, both main characters sexual preference is completely ambiguous, so it's up to the viewer to decide what their orientation's are, and if that's even important to the story.  To me, it was not.

Usually when I see two actors, or actresses kiss on screen playing gay or lesbian characters, I always wonder what it must be like for the people (who are usually straight) to play those roles.  I must confess, I thought of that for a moment in this film, but then forgot about it.  The story is gripping enough and the acting is good enough to make you forget such personal thoughts and just escape into the story.

You are overwhelmed by the chemistry of the 2 main characters and their troubles, and their love life is all you care about.  You certainly want them to stay together, but life and themselves keep each other at bay.

So, here's the plot.
During 1963 western America, two cowboys are applying for a ranching/herding job in the mountains of Wyoming.  They both get hired and are sent up to Brokeback Mountain, an isolated, but beautiful place, where they will move and watch over a large heard of sheep for the summer.

After a short while together, it's obvious that they get along well and that something extra is brewing.  When one makes an advance on the other, there's a bit of resistance, but eventually acceptance, then finally a strong bond of friendship and love.

When they find that the job has been cut short due to the boss calling them back before severe weather moves in, they are both angry and disappointed.  When they do part ways, both are heartbroken.

They live in different states and each ends up with a wife and kids.  But after 4 years, one finds the other and they agree to meet up again.  This starts a pattern of them getting together and heading off to Brokeback Mountain again every few years.  This also continues the lies to their families and partly for one, the lies to himself that this can't work in that time frame's society.

This was a complicated movie that was done flawlessly.  It certainly struck chords for me with past relationships in my life and regardless of sexual orientation, it is a universal love story that really doesn't need the sexual preference titles.  Love is love, and parting with the one you love, no matter what the cause, is difficult and terrible.
The cinematography was utterly beautiful, the acting was superb, the story was engrossing and just didn't let you go.  You had to know what was going to happen with these two men and if they'd ever be together again permanently.

It's obvious that one character was more accepting of the homosexual relationship then the other.  Although, in the other character's defense it seemed his father told him the story of a homosexual man getting beat to death and then showing him the body that certainly made the little boy afraid of being gay.  They both struggle with finding the time to get together as their separate lives have made it difficult to leave their wives and kids to sneak away with each other.  Society wasn't nearly as open and accepting as they are today back in the 60's and 70's, but we still have a long way to go even from today's viewpoints.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film as it was a great love story and extremely well done.
SEE THIS ONE!
5 out of 5 for being utterly brilliant and beautiful.