Brokeback Mountain

Ok, so I finally went to see Brokeback Mountain today.......

I loved this movie and as part of my midterm assignment for contemporary film theory, I have to write a review on a movie in the theaters now. I chose this one. I'm going to be frantically typing here while it is fresh in my mind. Excuse me if I don't make sense and jump around a lot. This movie was pretty slow paced, but I liked that. Unfortunately, I heard a major plot point to the end of this movie before I saw it and I wished that I hadn't. In the beginning there is little character development. There are lots of long takes with very little dialogue. Jack was the louder of the two and the one most comfortable in his skin. He is the one who initiates the relationship. Ennis is the quiet one, with a lot of anger and self hatred about his sexual orientation. While neither character ever refers to themselves or each other as gay, it's very clear that's what they are. They both got into the relationship and enjoyed each other's company. Ennis and Jack slowly begin to bond and get to know each other over their campfire meals and evenings drinking whiskey. One night of drunken sex turns into a love affair.



Their job is cut short and they are forced to go separate ways earlier than expected. Jack is clear that he wants to continue the relationship, while Ennis is either too shy or too scared to move forward. A memorable line from this part of the film is when one of them, I think Jack, states, "If you can't fix it, you have to stand it."



Fast forward four years when they meet up again and resume their relationship, despite the fact that they are both married with children. The marriages aren't the only barrier, they are separated by distance too. Ennis lives in Wyoming and Jack lives in Texas. Both are unhappy in their marriage and frustrated at living a lie. Although, Ennis makes it clear he feels they have to keep up their "fake" lives and expresses a sense of paranoia that strangers in the street look at him like they know about his relationship with Jack. Which I think partially explains his aggression and why he will get into violent altercations with total strangers at the drop of a hat. They begin meeting once a month and slowly the time between each visit grows into longer periods of time as Ennis begins to put the brakes on. Ennis' wife learns early on of the nature of their relationship, but keeps quiet about it and pretends not to know. However, to the audience it is clear that Ennis misses Jack and his marriage is a sham. One of Ennis and his wife's sexual encounters starts off sweet and romantic and progresses to Ennis turning out the lights and turning his wife over and becoming rough and agressive, a sight we saw during his sexual experiences with Jack. At first she's very emotional and upset, she soon realizes that she can't change things and they drift apart and divorce. Jack is very happy with the news of Ennis' divorce thinking that now is their chance to try their relationship for real. He wants them to get a farm together and live happily ever after. However, Ennis is haunted by a memory from his childhood of his father taking him to see a dead neighbor who was violently murdered and known to be a gay man living with another man. Ennis' father wanted to scare his sons into believing that that is what someone deserved when they were gay. It works because Ennis appears to believe that they can never make their relationship as open as Jack would like. After Jack's disappointment upon realizing that things aren't going to change and Ennis' resistance to their relationship will always be there, Jack starts to vent his frustrations by beginning casual sexual relationships with other men. He also gets involved with a neighbor.



On their final trip to Brokeback Mountain, they are both very frustrated. Jack by his realization that the relationship will remain with meeting a few times every year and they will never consummate their relationship with an actual union and Ennis by his discovery that Jack is fooling around with other men. One of the more memorable lines in the film is when during a heated exchange Jack says to Ennis, "I wish I knew how to quit you." The end is very sad with Ennis ending up alone with only his memories of Jack and one of his shirts. It's clear he's going to live alone and be lonely for the rest of his life. The saddest part is it seems that if Ennis had the courage, they could have been together and happy. Which made me think of something Jack said earlier on in the film, "You know, it could be like this, forever." It could have. Life is too short to live a charade that you makes you unhappy. Jack's parents seem to have known about the nature of their relationship. While his father seemed unhappy about it, it seems that his mother was open. We need more tolerance in this world, because people should be free to love who they want to love. As a friend of mine told me this week, "everybody has the right to be happy". I loved this movie.
Brokeback Mountain
10/10 Highly Recommend
See this movie because...you love a heartbreakingly beautiful love story, you love a very technically and artistically well-made story, you enjoy top notch acting performances, and you are happy to see more films featuring gay themes.
Best line..."I wish I knew how to quit you."
Cheesiest line...none in this film, loved every minute of it.

More ramblings to come..........