(Originally written March 4, 2006)

Brokeback Mountain is a great film overshadowed by the controversy. This film is more about the complexity of relationships rather than a celebration of homosexuality. It investigates the difficulty of any relationship and the heartbreak that can tear people apart. All of the different characters are insecure, uncertain about the way they should relate to others. One interesting aspect of the film is the understatement of starting of the attraction between Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar. Their first sexual experience is not an inevitable occurrence as much as an explosion that occurs due to quiet building of sexual tensions. Brokeback Mountain does not answer or even ask any serious questions about the morality of homosexuality. It paints a picture of human struggles in a beautiful way that anyone can relate to or be touched by. It, very realistically, blurs the line between love and lust that barely exists in today’s society. The acting is superb, with every move and word carefully measured and put in the right place. Heath Ledger’s performance is particularly memorable. Someone as rough and rugged as him can still have these desires that our society has deemed wrong and feminine. His words are almost mumbled and rarely spoken with assurance because he is in a position where he does not know what to do. Gustavo Santaolalla’s score beautifully sets the tone for a film that captures the majestic beauty of the green scenery of Brokeback Mountain. The beginning of the film establishes the essence of the natural world, perhaps helping the audience to see that what keeps people apart are the constraints of society. This is a film about desperation, the need to satisfy a thirst for affection. The tragedy comes about because all the characters, both heterosexual and homosexual, ultimately are never able to satisfy their thirsts.