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Brokeback Mountain showcases a different kind of love story By Timothy M. Bruderek This year’s greatest love story revolves around the most unlikely of subjects: two male ranch hands living in rural Wyoming. Brokeback Mountain goes far beyond the “Gay Cowboy Movie” tag it has unfairly been stuck with. Meet Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Ennis Del Mar (Ledger), two young men hired to herd sheep atop Brokeback Mountain, somewhere out in Wyoming. Twist is a confident yet inept rodeo man, looking to make a few extra bucks during the summer off-season. Del Mar is a down-on-his-luck rancher struggling with financial and emotional woes. A friendship emerges both of out boredom and loneliness, and the two men form a bond the likes of which neither has experienced. Friendship quickly transforms into romance, a both unforeseen and unwarranted transition. Twist and Del Mar find comfort in each other’s arms, an experience that brings solace and apprehension to the men who are reveling in the joy of the unknown. When their stint on Brokeback Mountain ends, the men are forced to settle into the real world, not expecting to ever see each other again. An unexpected visit to Del Mar from Twist brings happiness to the bleak worlds of the now-married cowboys, which initiates a series of private “fishing trips” on which they embark for a number of years. Eventually, their respective marriages fall apart and the men seek consolation in their infrequent get-togethers. Over the next two decades, love blossoms by the rivers of Brokeback, and Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar try to contend with a romance that must stay hidden from their families and the unsympathetic world around them. Director Ang Lee had the incalculable task of bringing Annie Proulx’s original short story to the big screen, and he does it both sensibly and dramatically. Lee did not shy away from the original text, and had the courage to bring the passionate details, sex and all, to life in a tender yet subtle way. Gyllenhaal and Ledger shine in this film, with Ledger especially deserving of any forthcoming praise. This film could have been the make-it-or-break-it point of each young actor’s career, but it created the most memorable roles each has ever played. Both seem comfortable with the possibly controversial subject matter, and will held in high regard for their remarkable performances. Though Brokeback Mountain may be about gay cowboys, this is a film that anyone can relate to. Male, female, gay and straight alike will be moved by the powerful love story that Ang Lee so beautifully illustrates, and will be thankful that a film of this persuasion is good enough to be considered one of the year’s best.
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