Brokeback Mountain (2005) or, That Place That Wasn't Possible

11/27/2013

Brokeback Mountain (2005) or, That Place That Wasn't Possible

♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best Western of the Year + Best LGBT Movie of the Year + Comeback Actor of the Year: Jake Gyllenhaal

Denim-dressed stars with sweetly secretive expressions stand forth against spectacular natural beauty on this poster for Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain

The summer of 1963: Two young cowboys herd sheep on Brokeback Mountain, and get a taste for each other. Both marry women and have children, but their love doesn't fade away.
Life is complicated. SPOILER For Jack and Ennis, it becomes too complicated, until one of them dies.

Brokeback Mountain is written by Larry McMurtry (Falling from Grace (1992)) and Diana Ossana (Joe Bell (2020)), based on the same-titled 1997 short story by Annie Proulx (Postcards (1992)), and directed by Taiwanese master filmmaker Ang Lee (Pushing Hands/Tui shou (1991)), whose 9th feature it is.
When I first saw Brokeback in 2008, I thought it a bit strange to see one of my teenage idols, Jake Gyllenhaal (Donnie Darko (2001)) make love to Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight (2008)), but in retrospect, I don't think Gyllenhaal has done anything better than or even as good as Brokeback since it came out, (although Nightcrawler (2014) may be the exception.) But really, their romance in the film is beautiful and hot.
Brokeback Mountain is a really good film about unresolved, romantic and sexual dreams all related in a no-nonsense fashion. It is obviously an issue film, because the secret, same-sex couple's love doesn't pan out due to societal prejudice and sexual taboo, but it is not a pushy issue film. - It is first of all a tragic love story, just as so many straight tragic love stories through the years. And a really fine film with no real villains it is.
Anna Farris (Observe and Report (2009)) has a wonderful supporting role in it.

Related posts:

Ang Lee: 2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]

2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
Top 10: The best big hit movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
Life of Pi (2012) - Lee's triumphant, stunning faith-builder

Top 10: Best erotic movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

The 2000s in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess
2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Lust, Caution/色，戒/Sè, Jiè/Sik1Gaai3 (2007) - Lee's erotic spy thriller is an exquisite, complex masterpiece

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

Hulk (2003) - Lee's fantastic comics adaptation drama

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 14 mil. $
Box office: 178 mil. $
= Mega-hit (returned 12.71 times its cost)

[Brokeback Mountain premiered 2 September (Venice Film Festival) and runs 134 minutes. Anne Hathaway (Interstellar (2014)) was paid 800k $ for her performance in the film. Shooting took place from June - August 2004 in Wyoming, New Mexico and in Alberta. The film opened #15 to a 547k $ first weekend in 5 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #4 and in 2,089 theaters, grossing 83 mil. $ (46.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 17.9 mil. $ (10.1 %) and Germany with 11.1 mil. $ (6.2 %). The film was banned in most Muslim countries and in China it was denied a release, despite Lee getting hailed for his achievement as a 'Chinese', (he is Taiwanese.) The film was nominated for 8 Oscars, winning 3: For Best Director, Adapted Screenplay and Score (Gustavo Santaolalla (Narcos: Mexico (2018-21))). It lost Best Picture to Crash, Actor (Ledger) to Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master (2012)) in Capote, Supporting Actor (Gyllenhaal) to George Clooney (The Descendants (2011)) in Syriana, Supporting Actress (Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine (2010))) to Rachel Weisz (The Lobster (2015)) in The Constant Gardner and Cinematography (Rodrigo Prieto (Barbie (2023)) to Dion Beebe (The Little Mermaid (2023) for Memoirs of a Geisha. It also won 4/9 BAFTA nominations, was nominated for a César, a David di Donatello, a European Film award, won 4/7 Golden Globe nominations, was nominated for a Grammy, won 2/4 Independent Spirit awards, 3 National Board of Review awards, the Golden Lion in Venice and an AFI award, among many other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. Lee returned with Lust, Caution/Se, jie (2007). Ledger returned in Casanova (2005); Gyllenhaal in Proof (2005); Williams in The Hawk Is Dying (2006); and Hathaway with a voice performance in Hoodwinked! (2005) and physically in The Devil Wears Prada (2006). Brokeback Mountain is certified fresh at 88 % with an 8.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Brokeback Mountain?

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William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

William Hurt has passed away

Born in Washington D.C., Hurt's first film role was the lead in Altered States (1980). Later credits include Body Heat (1981), The Big Chill (1983), Gorky Park (1983), Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985), for which he earned his only Oscar as Best Actor; Chilrdren of a Lesser God (1986), for which he was also Oscar-nominated; Broadcast News (1987), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; Smoke (1995), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), A History of Violence (2005), for which he was again Oscar-nominated; The Good Shepherd (2006), Into the Wild (2007), Robin Hood (2010) and many more. Hurt passed away at age 71. R.I.P.

Ivan Reitman has passed away

Born in Chechoslovakia, now Slovakia, Reitman's family fled the Soviet regime to Austria, then Toronto, when he was 4 years old. Reitman broke into movies as a director with Foxy Lady (1971). Later credits include Cannibal Girls (1973), Meatballs (1979), Stripes (1981), Ghostbusters (1984), Twins (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Kindergarten Cop (1990), Junior (1994), Father's Day (1997), Evolution (1998), No Strings Attached (2011), Draft Day (2014) and more. Reitman's son Jason Reitman is also a great filmmaker. Reitman passed away at age 75. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (5-24)

11/27/2013