In the months leading up to its release, Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain has garnered a huge amount of critical buzz care of several high-profile film festival appearances and some celebrity endorsements (for what it’s worth, Madonna was “mesmerized”). However, as expected, a there are two sides to this story. A Wyoming newspaper recently managed national exposure when it featured an interview with a homegrown playwright who exclaimed: “Don’t try and take what we had, which was wonderful. There’s nothing better than plain old cowboys and the plain old history without embellishing it to suit everyone.”

With the film’s release fast approaching, if this is the best the conservative-moralist agenda has up their sleeve (Mr. Falwell, have you lost your edge?), then Lee and Co. shouldn’t be too concerned. This “playwright” probably hasn’t even seen the film, for “embellishing plain old cowboys” is far from its focus.

For those who don’t know, Brokeback Mountain is a gay love story set against the backdrop of the vast Alberta-er, Wyoming-wilderness. Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) meet in 1963 when they are forced to spend an entire summer ranching sheep. The elements work against them, and the two come to rely on each other for survival.

After a night of heavy drinking, this bond takes a carnal turn, and Ennis and Jack begin to blindly fall in love. Once the summer ends, the two are forced to forget and move on with their lives. Ennis marries Alma (a heartbreaking Michelle Williams) and Jack marries Lureen (Anne Hathaway). But the memory of that summer cannot escape them, and Ennis and Jack begin making yearly “fishing trips” to Brokeback Mountain. Their love becomes the core of the film, as the decades that follow their initial meeting constantly challenge their unconditional emotion.

Director Ang Lee takes what could have been a novelty act and turns it into a powerful cinematic achievement that pushes boundaries and challenges its audience. Based on E. Annie Proulx’s award-winning short story, Brokeback Mountain subverts the central conflict of the Hollywood western. The wilderness becomes Ennis and Jack’s Eden, the only place where they can experience their love. Civilization is the threat, creating a barrier between these “trips” and anything that would fulfill the characters.

Lee does not hold back, even in terms of the rather graphic (certainly by Hollywood standards) love scenes. The lead actors play along-Ledger seeps with raw emotion, and Gyllenhaal’s subtler performance complements Ledger’s wonderfully. The belief in their characters’ connection is necessary for the rest of the film to work, and both actors go to great lengths to make that happen.

The film’s style is grand and epic, from its cinematography to its beautiful musical score. Coming off of 2003’s disappointing Hulk, Ang Lee has outdone expectations with Brokeback and created a revolutionary cinematic love story worthy of the truckload of accolades that are sure to come its way in the next few months.

Brokeback Mountain

Directed by Ang Lee

Rating: VVVV

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