‘Jack, I swear...': 20 years of ‘Brokeback Mountain'
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To me, being shocked by a gay Western was akin to being shocked by a Black version of 'The Wiz.' Because westerns have always been homoerotic as hell. Take
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How about 'Johnny Guitar,' with Joan Crawford and Mercedes McCambridge? Even Doris Day's Calamity Jane sent signals on a gay audience's wavelength. Lest we forget Robin Williams'
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But I digress.
Heath Ledger, left, and Jake Gyllenhaal, in a scene from "Brokeback Mountain."
Kimberly French/Focus Features
Despite its boffo box office numbers ($178 million worldwide), this film really brought out the homophobia in people. Accusation of homophobia were also leveled at the Academy Awards a few months later when, to the shock and awe of critics and Oscar night pundits everywhere, 'Brokeback Mountain' lost the best picture award to 'Crash.' Even Jack Nicholson, who
It was widely considered that 'Brokeback Mountain' had best picture in the bag. It had been critically acclaimed. Audiences fell hard for the bittersweet love story between the stoic Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and the more comfortable in his skin Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal). Set in 1963 and covering 20 years of clandestine meetups, the movie focused on the fears and joys of these two men, and the repercussions being on the down low can have on the women they marry. Michelle Williams showed her talents early with her Oscar-nominated performance as Ennis' wife, Alma, who discovers what her husband and Jack are up to in a scene that elicited gasps from my audience.
Actress Michelle Williams in "Brokeback Mountain."
HO/AFP/Getty Images
Ledger and Gyllenhaal also received deserved Oscar nods, as did Rodrigo Prieto's gorgeous Alberta landscape cinematography. The plaintive score by Gustavo Santaolalla, Ang Lee's direction, and the screenplay by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana won Oscars. McMurtry was a perfect choice for this adaptation, as the 'Lonesome Dove' author was an expert at writing lonely and lost men.
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I'm not so sure that voter homophobia was the exact reason 'Brokeback' lost best picture—the same group gave Philip Seymour Hoffman best actor that year for his portrayal of gay author Truman Capote in 'Capote.' I'm inclined to think that the first officially out Western was no match for the white liberal back-patting racial harmony nonsense of 'Crash.' I mean, Paul Haggis's movie featured a racism-curing staircase, for Pete's sake! How could the same Academy that awarded the hideous 'Driving Miss Daisy' before 'Crash,' and the borderline offensive '
No matter the reasons it lost, 'Brokeback Mountain' didn't deserve to be bested by 'Crash.' Had I a ballot, I would have voted for 'Munich' or 'Good Night and Good Luck' for best picture, but I certainly wasn't going to argue with my film critic brethren who thought Lee's movie got robbed. I was actually more irritated by Philip Seymour Hoffman's win over Heath Ledger. Hoffman did a fine imitation of Capote, and the Academy loves imitations, but Ledger found the darkest corner in Ennis Del Mar's soul and took up residence in it.
Heath Ledger in "Brokeback Mountain."
Kimberly French/Focus Features
The power of Ledger's performance had precedent; you can see the genesis in his small but pivotal role in 'Monster's Ball,' a movie just as ridiculous about race as 'Crash.' In just a few minutes of screen time, Ledger burns a hole in the screen as the confused son of Billy Bob Thornton's racist corrections officer. Prior to this, Ledger was best known for lighter fare like 'A Knight's Tale' and '10 Things I Hate About You.'
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The role of Ennis Del Mar and how Ledger played him recalled Marlon Brando's daring turn in 1967's 'Reflections in a Golden Eye.' I still can't believe that this cinematic slice of intense gay longing sprinkled with Southern-fried camp was directed by macho man John Huston. Brando played Army Sgt. Pendleton, a married man who falls in lust with Robert Forster. Forster entices him while riding butt naked on a horse, which he does for about 75 percent of his screen time.
Brando plays Pendleton like a tightened coil of confusion, unable to put into words the desires that are driving him mad. Much like Ennis, who can only refer to his love of Jack as 'this thing we got goin' on here,' Pendleton is a man of few words driven by a similar fear of being discovered. And like Ledger's performance, this is one of Brando's best.
Jake Gyllenhaal, left, and Heath Ledger in a scene from "Brokeback Mountain."
Kimberly French/Focus Features
When the 'Crash' Oscars debacle happened, I'd just started my career as a professional film critic. I'd also been officially out as bisexual for about 2 years. So, I felt incredibly guilty for not loving 'Brokeback Mountain' like many of my gay friends and fellow critics did. As a member of the LGBTQ community, I felt I should have lifted up the movie more than I did.
But I'm an honest critic, so I gave the movie only three out of four stars. It's a bit too polished and austere, and a tad fearful of scaring off straight people. Despite its technical proficiency, the chemistry between the two leads, and Ledger's amazing acting, the movie ultimately harkened back to the old studio system days, where if you were gay, you had to either die horribly or suffer for your 'depraved' sins. That irritated the hell out of me. The last scene destroys everyone I know, yet I couldn't surrender to it.
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I thought about that the other day when I revisited the movie. 'Brokeback Mountain' still holds up, and people are far less surprised by its content nowadays. It seems quaint by comparison with gay-themed films like
Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe's film critic.
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