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Brokeback Mountain - Maggers - 12-12-2005
I was looking forward to "Brokeback Mountain." The trailer really got me. Unfortunately, the trailer is where the best of the movie lies. I wound up seeing it in Chelsea at a theater showing the film about 3 times more frequently than anywhere else, and all the shows sold out. As the lights came up at the end of the movie, there was not the thunderous approval I had expected, given this was the target audience.
The movie is beautiful to look at. Ang Lee is a painterly director. His images are lovely. But something was missing and I'm not sure what. The burgeoning relationship between the leads takes place on Brokeback Mountain. It's pivotal to the movie and is, in fact, the heart of the film. But the growth and depth of this relationship seemed rushed, not fully formed. Jake Gyllenhaal was not strong enough, and Keith Ledger was terrific. Somehow the whole of it fell short. Too bad.
It's worth a look once it gets to DVD.
Brokeback Mountain - Paige - 12-12-2005
I cannot wait to see it. I absolutely loved the short story when I read it years ago.
Brokeback Mountain - Subadi - 12-19-2005
My wife loves some of E. Annie Proulx's books, esp the shipping news. I've never been able to get more than a couple of pages into any of them. Are there any men who are fans of her writings ? I'm sure she is wonderfully skilled academically, and that most professional critics will love her, so I'm not talking about men critics. I mean men "people" - are there any out there who really enjoy reading her ?
Brokeback Mountain - Tony H - 12-19-2005
Having read the short story on which this movie is based it surprises me that Ang Lee squeezed out 2 and a half hours worth of material form a 48 page large print story.
I have not seen the movie but can say that the short story left a lot to be desired. The relationship was definitely rushed in the book as there was a lot to be said in such a short tale. The story is gritty and though it is indeed a love story the trick is to not make it a love story because of the subject matter and the type of charcters the two leads are.
This movie sat for years in script development due to the fact that no director/producer wanted to touch it because of the difficulty in translating the story to celluloid.
In written form we can forgive the sudden and abrupt joining of the two men and the 20 years that subsequently pass in the span of 40 some pages. My fear though is that the film is going to lose the feel of the book, the gritiness and feeling of loss and confusion the two men felt in the story. A lot was left unsaid in the book and relied on the charcters thoughts.
Not once did the two charcters every say they loved each other though the reader knows they did. The closest we get to confirmation that these two guys do indeed care for each other and love one another is when one says to the other, "Why can't I quit you?"
I will see this, but my expectations are low.
(I doubt it will even play here in Arkansas.)
Brokeback Mountain - Anders Monsen - 12-19-2005
Many years ago I read the collection in which this story appears. I don't think it's the best tale in the book, and not the most memorable one. Proulx's writing style is sparse, much like the country in which it's set. I have not seen the movie, but I do think she's a great writer.
Brokeback Mountain - Maggers - 12-19-2005
AsMoral Wrote:Having read the short story on which this movie is based it surprises me that Ang Lee squeezed out 2 and a half hours worth of material form a 48 page large print story.
I have not seen the movie but can say that the short story left a lot to be desired. The relationship was definitely rushed in the book as there was a lot to be said in such a short tale. The story is gritty and though it is indeed a love story the trick is to not make it a love story because of the subject matter and the type of charcters the two leads are.
This movie sat for years in script development due to the fact that no director/producer wanted to touch it because of the difficulty in translating the story to celluloid.
In written form we can forgive the sudden and abrupt joining of the two men and the 20 years that subsequently pass in the span of 40 some pages. My fear though is that the film is going to lose the feel of the book, the gritiness and feeling of loss and confusion the two men felt in the story. A lot was left unsaid in the book and relied on the charcters thoughts.
Not once did the two charcters every say they loved each other though the reader knows they did. The closest we get to confirmation that these two guys do indeed care for each other and love one another is when one says to the other, "Why can't I quit you?"
I will see this, but my expectations are low.
(I doubt it will even play here in Arkansas.)
Without having seen the film, Tony, you summed it up brilliantly. Apparently Ang Lee got everything there was in the book, plus threw in LOTS of stunningly beautiful scenery. The guys never acknowledged their love as such, it was that "why can't I quit you?" thing.
Everything that you state as problematic in the short story is what is problematic in the film.
I actually think you'll enjoy the movie. It surely is lovely to look at, in terms of both the mountains and the men.
Brokeback Mountain - KRW - 12-19-2005
Maggers Wrote:I was looking forward to "Brokeback Mountain." The trailer really got me. Unfortunately, the trailer is where the best of the movie lies. I wound up seeing it in Chelsea at a theater showing the film about 3 times more frequently than anywhere else, and all the shows sold out. As the lights came up at the end of the movie, there was not the thunderous approval I had expected, given this was the target audience.
The movie is beautiful to look at. Ang Lee is a painterly director. His images are lovely. But something was missing and I'm not sure what. The burgeoning relationship between the leads takes place on Brokeback Mountain. It's pivotal to the movie and is, in fact, the heart of the film. But the growth and depth of this relationship seemed rushed, not fully formed. Jake Gyllenhaal was not strong enough, and Keith Ledger was terrific. Somehow the whole of it fell short. Too bad.
It's worth a look once it gets to DVD.
Also, didn't I see sheep in that trailer? Why did I see them hugging each other? Ewe would think they had better prospects.
KRW
Brokeback Mountain - t4terrific - 12-19-2005
KRW Wrote:Also, didn't I see sheep in that trailer? Why did I see them hugging each other? Ewe would think they had better prospects.
KRW
In the words of Eric Cartman, "just a bunch of gay cowboys eating pudding!".
Brokeback Mountain - Tony H - 12-20-2005
KRW Wrote:Also, didn't I see sheep in that trailer? Why did I see them hugging each other? Ewe would think they had better prospects.
KRW
Women appear in the trailer too. Everyone knows that people turn gay only because they can't find the right woman. Or sheep.
Brokeback Mountain - Maggers - 12-20-2005
KRW Wrote:Also, didn't I see sheep in that trailer? Why did I see them hugging each other? Ewe would think they had better prospects.
KRW
That's kind of crass. The film is about a whole lot more than just sex between men.
What do you do when you love someone and you know you will never have the life with that person that you so desire? Whether your a man or a woman, it's painful and the heartache may be something you never get over.