I’m just back from seeing Brokeback Mountain.
*spoiler alert – if you haven’t seen the movie skip this post*
First off, it is a fan-fucking-tastic movie! The movie cuts to the heart of the gay movement w/it’s simplistic focus on two men deeply in love w/each other. Two men trapped by expectations of society that they lead a totally different, albeit miserable, life. All the gay stereotypes are completely stripped away. On a side note, I was overwhelmed by several aspects that reminded me of my own childhood environment. If you grew up in any sort of country environment you’ll know what I mean after you see it. The movie starts out a bit slow while plot builds. While a bit borish, I much prefer a slow build to rushing thru it.
Second, the hype surrounding it as an artistic masterpiece is well deserved. That said, from all the rants just flooding the blogosphere, I expected way more sex and nudity. There is only one male/male sex scene where you actually see them in the act so to speak. A bit rushed but Jake takes it like a man! (He is my favorite of the two and I got a chub seeing him take it. hehehe) The only cock scene is a very brief one when they go skinny-dipping together. Several nice butt shots though. There are also several kiss scenes but again only one scene with all out passionate man to man kissing.
Artistically, the movie is great. I only say great because the scenery is complete in it’s believability but it rarely becomes the focus. I think this was deliberate to keep your interest completely on the actors and the story. Coming the heart of the sticks in East TX, it brought back so many memories. The director did a very good job of making you believe they really were a couple roughneck cowboys. From the way he put his boot heel in the fire (a common attempt to keep your feet warm in very cold weather), all the way down to the way Jake checks his 30-30. (rifle) Jake (aka Jack) and Keith (aka Innis) deserve some major credit too. Keith Ledger has never really been on my list of favorite actors. IMO, this was the best performance of his career. As for Jake, I haven’t seen him in many movies but he also played a very believable character. When he dies in the end I started crying. You see a brief flash on how he really dies even though his wife lies about it to Keith.
The end made me very sad. Sad that we still live in a culture where not all human beings can express themselves freely w/o oppression. Even sadder, that gays still face the threat of physical harm in many places in this country just for being born gay.
While I was leaving the theatre, I overheard a gay guy and his female friend in front of me discussing the movie. She was blathering on about how she didn’t see why people said it was so sad. His response, “Bitch! were you watching the same movie I was? Maybe you need to go back and watch it again.” After which, he promptly stormed a little of a head of her.
If you haven’t seen it, sorry for spoiling it but I left out plenty of juicy info. Gay or straight, I highly recommend you see it.
My next big flick to see is Underwold:Evolution. Which just happens to be coming out on my birthday!
