Tonight at a theater near you, set amongst the scenic mountains of Wyoming comes a cinematic tale of love for a new generation. Brokeback Mountain, adapted from the acclaimed short story by Annie Proulx, speaks of fierce and forbidden love shared by two lonesome cowboys, astutely played by Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger.
At a packed fall screening at the Toronto Film Festival, months before its current pre-release buzz, both actors spoke candidly about their views on accepting such a controversial role. Their hopes are to see the film contribute to tolerance and show a gay couple in an unremarkable, matter-of-fact way, unlike any other major motion picture in history.
Complex and forbidden love–the crux of Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee’s current epic tale–has been a universally accessible theme that has served as a benchmark for social acceptance throughout history. Much like the renowned 16th century romantic tragedy, Romeo and Juliet–that inspired countless works throughout the ages, such as the combustible 1961 Academy Award-winning West Side Story, and, possibly, the 1967 provocative drama about love across imposed barriers, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner–this account represents the social climate of its time, and also urges the masses to open their minds to new possibilities–all without ever asking them directly to do so. It’s an age-old artistic convention in trying to promote the acceptance of difference by appealing emotionally, on-screen, to our commonality.
The complicated, conservative town of Verona, depicted in Shakespeare’s tale of star-crossed lovers, was obsessed with social class and lineage issues, ultimately forcing a wedge between the courageous Romeo and his fair Juliet; no different from current society, wherein these same struggles have been further impacted and complicated by racial and sexual liberation, among other factors. In the late ‘60s, as civil rights movements continued to morph, Hollywood unveiled a film that would not only display, but would also help normalize interracial love in gaining mainstream acceptance. The Academy Award-nominated Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner starring the illustrious Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy and Sydney Poitier presented an unprecedented, fresh approach in demystifying the visual and social misconceptions surrounding interracial love—from both sides of the coin. Hepburn walked off with an Academy statue, but perhaps the audience benefited most from this film that necessitated confrontation with an American-mandated ‘taboo’ scenario, that sooner or later had to move from denial to the foreground of consciousness.
On its poster, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner was billed as: “A Love Story of Today.” In that same vein, 2005’s Brokeback Mountain comes at a time when sexuality is once again quite the hot-button topic. In the age of blue-state ‘vigilante judges’ marrying gays and lesbians on the hush, and constitutional amendments threatening to occupy civil liberties in the bedroom, a fertile stage for awareness is set for a change—unto which, this filmmaking team has unspooled a true narrative tour de force. So when the much Oscar-buzzed film Brokeback Mountain finally hits theaters nationwide on Dec. 9, some newly added stress will test the limits of some of America’s longstanding biased institutions and prejudices.
The conventional Western film, a gritty slice of Americana, has been delivering comfort to down-home Americans for as long as the moving image has existed. That film genre frequently vilified Native Americans, and made brawny, macho men out of those who slaughtered them. It’s so entrenched in white, male mythology that its myriad of themes has inspired modern-day filmmakers to explore many creative paths within the genre, other than the standard shoot-em-ups of yesteryear.
Clint Eastwood, John Wayne and Roy Rogers all became famous for roaming the great frontier, however Brokeback Mountain brings with it a story of love on the range. At the center of the film are Jack Twist (Gyllenhaal) and Ennis Del Mar (Ledger), two penniless, loner cowboys who ultimately get work tending cattle together in the stunningly beautiful feet of Wyoming’s mountain range. The serene setting serves as not only a witness to the subsequent explosive love affair between the two, but allows it to happen with its comforting, idyllic sense of isolation–from both the outside world, and from everything they’ve ever been told to feel. As life eventually brings the two apart, their shared affection is never too far off in the past. It’s the most dangerous brand of love–all encompassing, complicated, and near impossible.
Another idea explored by Ang Lee, is the controversial, and under-examined, fine-line between strong, masculine archetypes and gay coded identity (think: Chris Cooper’s complex, brutal military man in American Beauty). Another case of cinema urging audiences to take a second-look at their own preconceived notions of truth, intolerance and ‘normalcy’ through type.
Audiences in the past have rallied behind other films–across multiple genres– with homosexual protagonists and themes, such as: Philadelphia (1993), The Birdcage (1996) and Monster (2003), but the commercial success of Brokeback Mountain remains to be seen–and, very well, could be a wild card. This is due, in part, to the subject matter, but maybe more so by the manner in which it’s narrative is approached. It’s a movie not so much about being gay, but about yearning and unfulfilled love–a notion that helps audiences relate to the film more than they’d think (or more than they may like to think, in this case).
To be able to see a different side of life, especially from a major Hollywood release, is not something that comes around too often. With comic books, biopics and 70’s sitcoms being adapted all too often for our mindless cinematic pleasure, it’s refreshing to see a socially relevant release, normally relegated to the indie world, that has the mainstream possibility of opening numerous people’s perspective on a still-taboo issue.
While initial box office figures for Brokeback Mountain will have to wait until next week, the one sure shot result of the film’s release will be its ability to capture a special moment in time.
