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	Brokeback Mountain
	Ang Lee Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams, Anne Hathaway, Randy Quaid, Linda Cardellini, Anna Faris, Scott Michael Campbell 2005		Chinese director Ang Lee's filmography is decidedly eclectic, ranging from the droll Taiwanese family comedy "Eat Drink Man Woman" to the big-budget, special-effects-laden American comic-book adaptation "Hulk." But his unflinching, visually poetic, heartbreakingly sad interpretation of Annie Proulx's provocative short story "Brokeback Mountain" is as daring as mainstream movies get. In essence, it's the tragic love story of two cowboys — taciturn ranch hand Ennis Del Mar and jocular rodeo rider Jack Twist — who meet in the summer of 1963 when they're hired as sheepherders in the high grasslands of Wyoming. The couple is isolated in the wilderness for the entire season. To their mutual surprise, they find themselves drawn to one another, and eventually, they become physically intimate. Thus begins a lifelong homoerotic relationship that tortures both men, each of whom marries and tries to settle down. Heath Ledger as Ennis and Jake Gyllenhaal as Jack deliver gutsy, wonderfully shaded performances that capture all of the passion, conflict and loyalty in this forbidden liaison. They are well supported by a cast that includes Anne Hathaway as the well-heeled, self-absorbed Texas gal who becomes Jack's wife; Michelle Williams as the long-suffering working-class woman who marries Ennis; and Randy Quaid as the rancher who begins to harbor doubts about Ennis and Jack after he hires them to tend the sheep. And Lee treats the most private moments shared by his two lead actors with great tenderness. "Brokeback Mountain" is beautiful, bleak and quite moving.


	Sunday, November 17, 2024





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