Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Brokeback Mountain: Directed by Ang Lee. With Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Randy Quaid, Valerie Planche. Ennis and Jack are two shepherds who develop a sexual and emotional relationship. Their relationship becomes complicated when both of them get married to their respective girlfriends.

“Iu0026#39;ve always admired this film to a certain extent, but I think the thing that always kept me from loving it was that it never resonated with me emotionally. I would get attached while watching it, but all of those feelings would leave me fairly soon afterward. It had been about five years since Iu0026#39;d seen the film, and in that time I have grown up a lot, fallen in love, had my heart ripped to shreds and fallen back in love again and I think this growth personally has really opened me up to a place in my mind and heart to embrace this film more than most other screen romances that exist. Almost immediately it hit me harder than it had before and after a day since I watched it, the pain and heartache I experienced during it still remains at my core.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eItu0026#39;s a love film told non-traditionally, but not because itu0026#39;s two men, that doesnu0026#39;t even factor into the depiction of it. Itu0026#39;s nontraditional because itu0026#39;s two people fighting against the love and itu0026#39;s accuracy in this is startling. How there are times where you can hate the person you love, hate so many things about them and hate that you are in love with them, but you canu0026#39;t give it up at all. You canu0026#39;t walk away from it because itu0026#39;s like an addiction and I think this film more than any before it captures that remarkably.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eA lot of this lies in the writing, but of course the performances from Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal certainly play a key factor in capturing it. Their characters take the love in different forms, Ennis fighting himself over it and Jack fighting the world because of it, but both actors capture exactly what they need to and bring this magnetism that really sparks. Gyllenhaalu0026#39;s openness is beautiful, his determination to make the love work and to just exist the way he wants to, he definitely provides the emotional anchor for the film and gives a heartbreaking portrayal.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eItu0026#39;s Ledger, of course, who steals the show though, with a kind of transcendent performance that weu0026#39;re treated to maybe once a decade. He becomes this character in such a vivid way that you donu0026#39;t even recognize the actor inside the role anymore. Gyllenhaal is Jack and hits the surface notes expertly, but you can still see Jake Gyllenhaal in there. Heath Ledger is completely gone and from the very beginning of the film we have Ennis and we have him until the very end. This character is an incredibly difficult one to take on, he could have easily been someone who was hard to like or sympathize with due to his internalizing and his refusal to fully embrace the relationship and who he is, but thatu0026#39;s what makes it hit even harder, thanks to Ledgeru0026#39;s brutal work.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eYou see the pain in this person living a lie in every moment we have with him, with that turned in mouth and speech pattern that always sounds like itu0026#39;s hurting him to let anything out because heu0026#39;s afraid of how people are going to react. Itu0026#39;s a performance unlike any other out there and in the end itu0026#39;s one that brings me to my knees. u0026quot;Jack, I swear,u0026quot; was always a line that floored me when I was watching it but now itu0026#39;s at a point where just thinking of the line and the way that Ledger delivers it brings some water to my eyes.”