Last Friday, I went to see Brokeback Mountain with Shannon, Wendy, and Amy.

The buzz obviously had preceeded the movie's arrival here in Bend (which in itself is a remarkable event in a town with such conservative, and at the same time deeply Western, roots), but just to make one thing clear once and for all: I didn't go because it was plugged as "the gay cowboy movie" you had to go see, because it broke new ground (which it does). I went and saw it because I love Ang Lee's work.

But frankly, I couldn't have written this review Saturday morning - I needed a few days to properly digest it all, let the images steep in my conscious mind for a while. Only then was I able to truly and fully appreciate the depth of this remarkable movie.
I think everybody's by now heard the basic story-line: Two young cowboys go up on Brokeback Mountain to herd sheep for the summer, and come back down, forever tied to eachother by a love that transcends gender, time, their macho profession, and both their marriages.

But what you don't read much about are the absolutely amazing jobs both the actors, Heath Ledger and Jack Gyllenhaal, have done, and the incredible courage they have shown by taking on those roles in the first place. For Ennis and Jack are difficult characters, and a single second of hesitation or insincerity on either of Heath or Jake's faces, and the whole movie would have fallen apart.

But they never trip up. Not once. The embraces, the glances, the words they exchange are true and powerful in their sparsity. Their story allows the viewer a raw look at what it's like to crave a different and forbidden life - especially in a society where proving your manhood is a daily requirement - the emotional pain and all-consuming fear their characters suffer for it, and the misery of knowing that they are causing the people around them, especially their wives, insufferable heartbreak.

Heath Ledger, whose previous big-screen performances have largely relied on his pretty face and engaging smile, is nothing short of remarkable as Ennis - a character who despite his shy, tight-lipped demeanor and desperately closed-off emotions, makes you deeply care for him.

Ultimately, it's a sad and painful story, but a powerful and important one, and one that Ang Lee tells with tenderness, compassion, and an utter lack of judgement. Forbidden love is a universal theme, and one everybody who has ever been discriminated against, or has loved someone outside of the socially-accepted norm, can fully connect to.


Dancing Cowboys, at San Francisco GayPride Parade 1997.