It finally came to West Virginia yesterday, so I went go see it last night, and I can say that I won't be suprised if it wins a slew of Oscars. It's a beautifully made film, and everything in it is so very right for the story, and it all fits together so perfectly that I'll be stunned if Ang Lee doesn't win the best director Oscar for his work in this. There's not one wrong step in the entire picture (though I wouldn't strongly argue with anyone who thought the final section of the film is a tad long).
A few things struck me about it, most of which have already been said, but I'll repeat them. Calling this a "gay cowboy" movie is silly. There's really not all that much that's "gay" on the screen (though one of those moments did provoke a few inappropriate reactions from one or more insecure guys in the audience) and the fact that at one point the two leads are cowboys is rather beside the point. The movie is about wanting something terribly, not having and/or pursuing it, and what that does to the lives of the people involved, and those around them - the consequences of living with what you think you have to have, and being denied what you most dearly want. The emotions the movie deals with are things every human might confront, whether they are gay or not. It's about being torn apart by not being able to possess the intimacy that matters to you most in the world. And the movie does a superb job of showing us that in this story (yes, it's a sad tale).
Every part of the film is very good, and that includes the acting that has been getting so much attention. Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams (who plays his wife) are both great and if they walk away with little gold statues on March 5th I won't mind it one bit - but I'd say that Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway (who plays his wife) are just as good, if not better.
I also found the audience in the theater (I attended a 7:15 Friday evening showing) to be interesting. My impression was that it skewed very young, and while there were certainly a lot of gay people who had come out to see the movie, it also looked to me like there was a not insignificant number of heterosexual couples who'd come to see it as a "date movie". And actually, it makes a lot of sense to see it as that - as this is a movie about love, longing, passion and trying to make relationships work, even in impossible situations.
Posted by armand at January 28, 2006 02:00 PM | TrackBack | Posted to MoviesCensorship in the Bahamas - the government film board has banned it from being shown there.
"On the eve of its scheduled opening, the Bahamian government's Plays and Films Control Board has banned the showing of Brokeback Mountain, touching off protests by gay activists, libertarians, and theater owners in the Caribbean country. Chavasse Turnquest-Liriano, liaison officer for the control board, was quoted by the Associated Press as saying, 'The board chose to ban it because it shows extreme homosexuality, nudity and profanity, and we feel that it has no value for the Bahamian public.'"
Extreme homosexuality and nudity? Wtf? Both seems absurd claims to me. But then short of it leading to violent clashes in the streets, I tend to find any limitation on film distribution absurd. Don't governments have better things to do than decide what movies people may or may not watch?
Posted by: Armand at March 31, 2006 02:03 PM | PERMALINK