Brokeback Mountain
Annie Proulx's captivating short story is coming to the screen.
Brokeback Mountain
is set in the beautiful, wild landscape of Wyoming where cowboys live as they have done for generations. Hard, lonely lives in unforgiving country. Jack Twist and Ennis del Mar are two ranch hands – 'drop-out country boys with no prospects, brought up to hard work and privation, both rough-mannered, tough spoken' – glad to have found each other's company where none had been expected. But companionship becomes something else on Brokeback Mountain, something not looked for, something deadly. In twenty years they grab just a few desperate meetings, grace only in the memory of 'that old, cold time on the mountain when they owned the world and nothing seemed wrong.'
The film stars Heath Ledger & Jake Gyllenhaal. The premiere is scheduled for the Toronto International Film Festival in September. Wider release in the US is scheduled for December.
It should be interesting to see how much the gay content is toned down. It may be fine to do that with Alexander, since his sexuality, while important, is not the core of the story. But to do so with Brokeback Mountain would destroy it.
While Ang Lee, the director, was apparently considering major cuts to make it "more acceptable" recent quotes from Ledger indicate it may remain at least partially intact.
Unperturbed about the flack over the gay romance that hit Alexander last year Ledger says Brokeback will push the envelope. Especially one scene with Gyllenhall.
"The great thing was that we decided - well, he grabs me and he slams me up against the wall and kisses me.
"And then I grab him and I slam him up against the wall and I kiss him. And we were doing take after take after take."
Jake remembers it a bit differently. He says that Heath was so rough he nearly got a broken nose.
Of course, the question remains how this will impact the distribution of film. It looks like it will initially do the festival circuit where audiences are much more open-minded, but how will it play in Peoria? My guess is it will end up as a limited release. But then again, an unfortunate truth - no one going into this project could have thought it would be widely-accepted material.
A bit of advice before you see the movie. Buy the book, read it and, if you're the least bit moved by the written word, prepare yourself for a damn good cry.
Brokeback Mountain
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The film stars Heath Ledger & Jake Gyllenhaal. The premiere is scheduled for the Toronto International Film Festival in September. Wider release in the US is scheduled for December.
It should be interesting to see how much the gay content is toned down. It may be fine to do that with Alexander, since his sexuality, while important, is not the core of the story. But to do so with Brokeback Mountain would destroy it.
While Ang Lee, the director, was apparently considering major cuts to make it "more acceptable" recent quotes from Ledger indicate it may remain at least partially intact.
Unperturbed about the flack over the gay romance that hit Alexander last year Ledger says Brokeback will push the envelope. Especially one scene with Gyllenhall.
"The great thing was that we decided - well, he grabs me and he slams me up against the wall and kisses me.
"And then I grab him and I slam him up against the wall and I kiss him. And we were doing take after take after take."
Jake remembers it a bit differently. He says that Heath was so rough he nearly got a broken nose.
Of course, the question remains how this will impact the distribution of film. It looks like it will initially do the festival circuit where audiences are much more open-minded, but how will it play in Peoria? My guess is it will end up as a limited release. But then again, an unfortunate truth - no one going into this project could have thought it would be widely-accepted material.
A bit of advice before you see the movie. Buy the book, read it and, if you're the least bit moved by the written word, prepare yourself for a damn good cry.
Comments
this film:
"could be a contender since Annie Prouix's unorhtodox gay-cowboy love story has landed in the careful hands of director Ang Lee ... Unless ... hardcore fans of the short story complain that the romance between Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal is too tame."
How does that diminish its possibilities? That is, if fans (sorry, "hardcore fans") complain? Do they vote? Do they have anything to do with the nominating process? As if ...
And I'm sure it will continue since it's assured there won't be any explicit sex scenes (although the book has little of those) and apparently the nude scenes may be left on the cutting room floor.
But fans, hardcore or not, should realise that what the film should explore is the men and their relationship, why despite all the odds and its own very real shortcomings, it endures. That's what could make it Oscar potential - well, could, if as you point out, we had a say.