Brokeback Mountain (Two-Disc Collector's Edition)

Buy This Item Brokeback Mountain (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) by Focus Features  Available from Amazon  $15.99  on 11-17-2008     A sad, melancholy ache pervades <i>Brokeback Mountain</i>, Ang Lee's haunting, moving film that, like his other movies, explores societal constraints and the passions that lurk underneath. This time, however, instead of taking on ancient China, 19th-century England, or '70s suburbia, Lee uses the tableau of the American West in the early '60s to show how two lovers are bound by their expected roles, how they rebel against them, and the repercussions for each of doing so--but the romance here is between two men. Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) are two itinerant ranchers looking for work in Wyoming when they meet and embark on a summer sheepherding job in the shadow of titular Brokeback Mountain. The taciturn Ennis, uncommunicative in the extreme, finds himself opening up around the gregarious Jack, and the two form a bond that surprisingly catches fire one cold night out in the wilderness. Separating at the end of the summer, each goes on to marry and have children, but a reunion years later proves that, if anything, their passion for each other has grown significantly. And while Jack harbors dreams of a life together, the tight-lipped Ennis is unable to bring himself to even consider something so revolutionary. <br/><br/> Its open, unforced depiction of love between two men made <i>Brokeback</i> an instant cultural touchstone, for both good and bad, as it was tagged derisively as the "gay cowboy movie," but also heralded as a breakthrough for mainstream cinema. Amidst all the hoopla of various agendas, though, was a quiet, heartbreaking love story that was both of its time and universal--it was the quintessential tale of star-crossed lovers, but grounded in an ever-changing America that promised both hope and despair. Adapted by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana from Annie Proulx's short story, the movie echoes the sparse bleakness of McMurtry's <i>The Last Picture Show</i> with its fading of the once-glorious West; but with Lee at the helm, it also resembles <i>The Ice Storm</i>, as it showed the ripple effects of a singular event over a number of people. As always, Lee's work with actors is unparalleled, as he elicits graceful, nuanced performances from Michelle Williams and Anne Hathaway as the wives affected overtly and subliminally by their husbands' affair, and Gyllenhaal brings surprising dimensions to a character that could have easily just been a puppy dog of a boy. It's Ledger, however, who's the breakthrough in the film, and his portrait of an emotionally repressed man both undone and liberated by his feelings is mesmerizing and devastating. Spare in style but rich with emotion, <i>Brokeback Mountain</i> earns its place as a classic modern love story. <i>--Mark Englehart</i> Reader Reviews Quite frankly, I only saw excerpts from this movie. Larry King described Heath Ledger as a "brilliant" actor. On imdb.com, one reviewer described the movie as "powerful, numbing." When I discovered the plot about two ferries with cowboy hats, I just about lost my lunch. I prefer to describe the quality of acting as absurd: the movie itself as, revolting, vomiting. Why does Johnny Depp, Russell Crowe, Julian Sands, Macaulay Culkin, James Spader, Heath Ledger and almost every male actor feel compelled to give tribute to homosexual characters at least once in their movie making career? Is the casting couch that indiscriminate? Is Hollywood that tyrannical in pushing the jewish agenda? Is Isaiah Washington the only normal one in Hollywood? How can anybody in their right mind endorse this madness? It's sick. Are people that blind? Or are they that cowardly not to take a stance against lunatics? It appears we live in a country that extorts sympathy and political support by holding a man's career hostage. That is a far greater threat to our lives than the mafia. It's time to apply the RICO Act to the jewish community and its minions.

Brokeback Mountain (Two-Disc Collector's Edition) Available from Amazon Price: $15.99 Updated on 11-17-2008.

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