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fullygoldy) wrote2006-01-19 12:10 pm
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN - semi-spoilery, mostly critique
I got to see this last night with a group of women I know, and I really enjoyed it. Damn, I hadn’t realized just how pretty Jake Gyllenhall is – he’s got the freaking eyelashes of doom!! (Sorry Nathan Fillion, you've met your match.) They are preternaturally long, I’m tellin’ ya. And yeah, Heath Ledger is pretty too, and probably more my typical type, looks-wise. The female characters were just the right amount of pretty for their parts, Alma being plainly pretty with no artifice, Lureen being prettily, but not overly made-up in her youth, and then aging in a typically southern way, trying to hold onto that youth by become ever more peroxided and made-up (I’m intrigued by Anne Hathaway now, having only ever seen her in fluff). The daughters resembled each other and their parents enough to be believable. Ennis’ 2nd female partner looked the part of the beer-maid, but as she was an original character (meaning she was added to the story, not part of the written version), I couldn’t really figure out her more than initial attraction to Ennis.
Of course the scenery was gorgeous, how could it not be? But I didn’t think it was as much of a backdrop as it could have been. Lots of the scenes were framed so closely that it didn’t really matter where the tent had been pitched. The look and the feel of the entire film was authentic though.
I may be committing heresy here, but I also think it was a tad too long. Yes, the story encompassed 20 years, but it didn’t have to move so s l o w l y, and it didn’t on the page. They probably could have cut all the 2nd GF’s scenes and it would have been the right length. I understand the pacing probably was meant to mirror the slowness of life on the ranch, rural vs. urban, etc. but I thought it was a bit overdone. OTOH, it was really interesting to finally see a movie that didn’t cut any dialogue from the story. Yes, a couple of things were slightly changed, but all in all, the whole story was here. It wasn’t an artfully summarized version of the original. How often does that really happen in filmdom? And when it does happen, just how successful is it? I’m currently visualizing that horrible string of Dr. Seuss movies. Love the books, but never could understand why anyone thought they’d translate well into feature-length films. Oy!
The interactions. Well. Those were very interesting to see. Of course, everyone is going to talk about the sex. But seriously? Ouch. The first time the guys did it is really the only m/m actual sex, and yikes. I guess that’s how uneducated cowboys will treat each other, but in reality, I would not have wanted to be on the receiving end of Ennis. Then we move on to his “real” life, and sex with his wife isn’t a whole lot nicer. I think maybe Jake was just more comfortable with sex all the way around, not just his own sexuality, so when we see him in the back seat with Lureen, we see two enthusiastic young people, doing what feels good. The m/m kissing even seemed to be more of the variety of “I’m going to hell for doing this, so I’m not going to enjoy it anymore than I have to.” But the embraces, the caresses, made the deeply felt care for each other so freaking apparent. These guys loved each other. They just. They couldn’t love each other openly. But see, Ennis couldn’t love anyone openly. He’s as remote and undemonstrative as you’d expect a true-blue, all male cowboy to be. The closest he came to showing Alma his heart was in the sledding scene. The closest he came to telling Jake was threatening to kill him for straying. Ennis was a terrible romantic partner to everyone he was ever involved with. At least he managed to apologize for it to the 2nd girlfriend. But seriously? Why the hell did she stick around? (Hmmm… maybe I should give the “seriouslys” a break). He wasn’t much better as a father, although you could tell that he did love those girls.
Ennis is old school. He doesn’t speak his mind much, but everything, and I mean everything, he ever did showed his love for and commitment to Alma, the girls and Jake. He didn't have the imagination (nor did the author) to allow him to acknowledge all the loves of his life and try to find a way to keep all of them. Ennis’s world was small. And it was frightening. But the rules were mercifully few: “If you can’t fix it, you gotta stand it,” and “don’t rock the boat,” and maybe even “don’t blame anyone else for your mistakes.” Jake’s world wasn’t much bigger, but it encompassed Mexico, Texas and Wyoming. Ennis just couldn’t imagine a world even the size of Jake’s. Within his small world, those couple “high-altitude fucks” per year were a huge gift. He would never be able to understand why Jake couldn’t be happy with the little space they’d managed to carve out for themselves. Ennis is damaged by his life before the opening scene, and the damage is so complete that nothing or no one is going to heal him. He’s accepted that, it’s just too bad for the people who love him that they can’t accept it too.
I was very moved by the story when I read it. To the point of having tears running down my face. When we got to the reveal in the film, I misted up. But what really got me was the added bit with Jr. at the end. “You’re nineteen” reminds us that she’s now as old as Jake and Ennis when they met. And “does he love you?” I’m teary just thinking about it. Those 4 words are screaming to me “I know I’ve been a terrible father all these years, but I tried my best. I really did, and maybe if things had been different for me, things would have been better and different for you. But I love you, Jr. I just want you to be happy. I want your life to be happier than mine was, and I’m so sorry that I don’t know how to give you that or even tell you that. If you think you’ve got a shot at it, you go ahead and take it. Don’t inherit my regrets.” Maybe he’s even saying, “I hope to hell your guy isn’t going to treat you the way I treated your mom.” And then he promises to come to the wedding. It’s the one thing he’ll ever get right in his life – being there for his baby girl on her day.
I’m truly truly grateful that my world isn’t so small and hard and cold. But I also know that for many people, this is exactly the way of it. It’s a damn shame that people have to inherit this kind of world, especially here in the 21st century. I know for a fact that this is still the case, and if you don’t believe me, ask DH what he was doing while I was at the movie. He was watching American Idol, and one of the hopefuls was a cowboy from a ranching town, population 4. His family was the entire population, and he was very nervous during his audition. Do you know why? It was the first time he’d ever been off the ranch. Anyway, life is too short as it is. Why do we put up with it being hard and unhappy too? Or maybe, if it is so hard, it’s a relief that it’s short. Either way, it’s a sad way to be, and I try to fight my way out of that box every day. I’m also grateful that I can make that choice, that I know it IS a choice. Ennis didn't have that.
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