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Brokeback Mountain - Ang Lee
No need to do a summary i think, you've all seen it. Don't bother reading if you've not seen it as this "review" ( or rather a collection of thoughts and reflections on the story itself ) will be full of spoilers.
Ok, it was an amazing film, obviously, i've been waiting to see it for some 7 months now, ever since i heard it won Venice ( i love Ang Lee and eagerly await each one of his movies, but a gay cowboy film obviously intrigued me more than usual ). Finally, last night i saw it. I was a bit worried that i built it up too much, but it exceeded all of my expectations. From the very start you could see this was going to be an extraordinary film. It’s setting , Wyoming,( although as i gather it was actually filmed in Canada ) is spectacular, Ang Lee really brought the realistic portrayal of Annie Proulx’s environments to life (the woman has an affinity for rugged forms of living, this couldn’t be more true for Brokeback Mountain ). The hardships of cowboy life ( not at all romantic, but rather an undesirable way of life ), scraping for a living, having kids you can’t really afford, doing odd jobs to support your family, living in crap dwellings. And then a love story born between two men amidst these hardships.
Even though i heard plenty about how it deals with the prejudices the two men faced, i must admit i wasn't expecting such tragic consequences ( if i am correct, when Ennis speaks to Jacks wife about his death, the scene of Jack being killed wasn't Ennis's fears put to screen but rather the truth of what happened ). What made this film so powerful was the lack of explicit affection the two men showed towards each other. At no point in the movie did they confess their true feelings, it was all implied, never spoken out loud.
I was a bit annoyed by Ledger's acting, it was similar to his work in Lords of Dogtown, like he had something in his mouth that made him speak in a slightly annoying way. I thought that made his acting too visible, Gyllenhaal's performance seemed much more believable. Other than that, it was a wonderful, heartbreaking drama. And yet, people laughed at scenes that didn't merit laughter ( Ennis's wife seeing them kiss, also a highly powerful scene that may not have been seen that way by heterosexuals,him making excuses to go fishing with Jack ), the first sex scene also produced a couple of loud protests of shock mixed with laughter and ridicule,which of course annoyed and saddened me.
I can't wait to see Crash so i can compare. It has to be pretty freaking special to top Brokeback Mountain.
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No need to do a summary i think, you've all seen it. Don't bother reading if you've not seen it as this "review" ( or rather a collection of thoughts and reflections on the story itself ) will be full of spoilers.
Ok, it was an amazing film, obviously, i've been waiting to see it for some 7 months now, ever since i heard it won Venice ( i love Ang Lee and eagerly await each one of his movies, but a gay cowboy film obviously intrigued me more than usual ). Finally, last night i saw it. I was a bit worried that i built it up too much, but it exceeded all of my expectations. From the very start you could see this was going to be an extraordinary film. It’s setting , Wyoming,( although as i gather it was actually filmed in Canada ) is spectacular, Ang Lee really brought the realistic portrayal of Annie Proulx’s environments to life (the woman has an affinity for rugged forms of living, this couldn’t be more true for Brokeback Mountain ). The hardships of cowboy life ( not at all romantic, but rather an undesirable way of life ), scraping for a living, having kids you can’t really afford, doing odd jobs to support your family, living in crap dwellings. And then a love story born between two men amidst these hardships.
|
Even though i heard plenty about how it deals with the prejudices the two men faced, i must admit i wasn't expecting such tragic consequences ( if i am correct, when Ennis speaks to Jacks wife about his death, the scene of Jack being killed wasn't Ennis's fears put to screen but rather the truth of what happened ). What made this film so powerful was the lack of explicit affection the two men showed towards each other. At no point in the movie did they confess their true feelings, it was all implied, never spoken out loud.
|
I was a bit annoyed by Ledger's acting, it was similar to his work in Lords of Dogtown, like he had something in his mouth that made him speak in a slightly annoying way. I thought that made his acting too visible, Gyllenhaal's performance seemed much more believable. Other than that, it was a wonderful, heartbreaking drama. And yet, people laughed at scenes that didn't merit laughter ( Ennis's wife seeing them kiss, also a highly powerful scene that may not have been seen that way by heterosexuals,him making excuses to go fishing with Jack ), the first sex scene also produced a couple of loud protests of shock mixed with laughter and ridicule,which of course annoyed and saddened me.
I can't wait to see Crash so i can compare. It has to be pretty freaking special to top Brokeback Mountain.