![Brokeback Mountain [PAL, Region 2, Import]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51lGJEc-hvL._SL160_.jpg) | |
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MPAA Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
Based on the short story by Pulitzer Prize-winning author E. Annie Proulx, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN is the tragic and moving story of two cowboys who unexpectedly fall in love while working together one summer in 1963. When the film begins, rodeo cowboy Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) and ranch-hand Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) are strangers meeting for the first time. As the more outgoing one, it is Jack who must initiate a friendship with Ennis, a man so tight-lipped and self-consciously macho he refuses all facial expression. From this strained beginning, Jack and Ennis gradually begin to bond on cold lonely nights over a fire in the mountains of Signal, Wyoming. One particularly chilly evening, Jack invites Ennis into his tent, where a sudden awkward embrace sends their relationship in a new direction. Though each man stubbornly defends his heterosexuality, the spark between them cannot help but grow, with that initial summer on Brokeback Mountain becoming their reference point for happiness during the rest of their lives. Spanning 20 years, the film moves at an impressively slow pace that really captures the detailed and unhurried style of Proulx's story. Seeing each other a few times a year at best, Ennis and Jack spend the rest of their time half-heartedly living up to society's expectations by marrying and having kids. When the lovers do meet, there is a sense of love so palpable and frustrating it often manifests itself in physical violence. Gyllenhaal shines as the film's hopeful light, and Ledger gives a powerful performance as the emotionally blocked Ennis. Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee captures the natural beauty of Wyoming and Texas with camerawork that, while beautiful, never feels imposing. Gustavo Santaolalla's simple yet haunting score helps to complete a beautiful portrait of regret and wasted chances.
Brokeback Mountain [PAL, Region 2, Import] Reviews:
Jake Gyllenhaal Performance is Brilliant 
2007-03-02 - Jake Gyllenhaal as Jack Twist is brilliant and gives a very restrained and heartfelt performance. Jake Gyllenhaal brilliantly underplays his role. Unfortunately Heath Ledger seems to have received all the kudos for this film and Gyllenhaal efforts have gone summarily unnoticed. For some reason Ennis Del Mar, Heath Ledger's character gets all the histrionic kudus. Gyllenhaal needed something more from the Ennis character to really bring out Jack Twist's heartbreak. Unfortunately, Heath Ledger curiously did not make this openly apparent in his performance and I found Ledger's character a rather frustrating person to discern. Jake Gyllenhaal as Jack Twist was just waiting. He was left out in the cold. This is true in so many of life's experiences yet still unforgivable. The indelible image of the forlorn looking Gyllenhaal is indelibly etched into one's memory.
The Essence of Truth through Exceptional Storytelling 
2007-03-02 - Rather captivating in its own right this film is thought provoking. The metaphorical juxtaposition of mans' internal struggle with his natural surroundings is a fusion of valiant ideas. The idea of the essence of who we are as human beings and our overall purpose, our loves and heartbreaks, failures and ultimate survival within our environment is addresses ever so fervently.