Brokeback thoughts
Jan. 16th, 2006 07:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jaunthieI went to see Brokeback Mountain yesterday with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
monkeybard and Humilitas. My short, non-spoiler take: Wow. Gorgeous movie; spare, tight storytelling that is a wonder and a lesson to anyone interested in writing; phenomenal acting performances from the entire cast. Mr. Ledger and Mr. Gyllenhall deserve all the kudoes they're getting, as do Anne Hathaway and Michelle Williams and Randy Quaid. You want to see this on a big screen (for all the fantastic cinematography) with an EXCELLENT sound system; as monkeybard noted, one flaw with this movie is that the dialogue is frequently all in the front channels and mixed quite low, so it can be tough to hear in a theatre with bad sound. A really thought-provoking movie, and one that is smart enough not to be an "issue movie" but instead trust a truly excellent story to do all the talking. Do yourself a favor and go see it; it's truly a work of art. And yes, like most great art, different people will see different things in it, and controversy is likely.
Monkeybard has read the story, and says the movie is a brilliant adaptation and expansion (the original story is a short novella, not enough material for a full-length movie). She also commented on how Ennis is a completely passive protagonist who has no development over the course of the story. His entire arc is one of stifled repression, he's got no place to go. I thought about that a while last night while trying to process the movie, and mostly I agree - but only mostly. I think Ennis does grow just a little, in that in the end he's able to make the decision to quit his job to be there for someone he loves on a special day. It's something he never could do for Jack, but that I think he learned from loving and being loved by Jack. For a character like Ennis, whose whole life has revolved around hard work and ranching as part of (desperately) defining who he is and what he can and cannot do, the decision (or even the announcement of the intention) to quit is huge, momentous, and something the earlier Ennis could never have done. (Having lived my life with workaholics, and having that tendency myself, maybe this is something I'm sensitive to, but I also think I'm right.) So Ennis does grow, at least in that one way. And it makes that final action and bit of dialogue that much more tear-wrenching.
Just my $.02. What do you think?
monkeybard and Humilitas. My short, non-spoiler take: Wow. Gorgeous movie; spare, tight storytelling that is a wonder and a lesson to anyone interested in writing; phenomenal acting performances from the entire cast. Mr. Ledger and Mr. Gyllenhall deserve all the kudoes they're getting, as do Anne Hathaway and Michelle Williams and Randy Quaid. You want to see this on a big screen (for all the fantastic cinematography) with an EXCELLENT sound system; as monkeybard noted, one flaw with this movie is that the dialogue is frequently all in the front channels and mixed quite low, so it can be tough to hear in a theatre with bad sound. A really thought-provoking movie, and one that is smart enough not to be an "issue movie" but instead trust a truly excellent story to do all the talking. Do yourself a favor and go see it; it's truly a work of art. And yes, like most great art, different people will see different things in it, and controversy is likely.Monkeybard has read the story, and says the movie is a brilliant adaptation and expansion (the original story is a short novella, not enough material for a full-length movie). She also commented on how Ennis is a completely passive protagonist who has no development over the course of the story. His entire arc is one of stifled repression, he's got no place to go. I thought about that a while last night while trying to process the movie, and mostly I agree - but only mostly. I think Ennis does grow just a little, in that in the end he's able to make the decision to quit his job to be there for someone he loves on a special day. It's something he never could do for Jack, but that I think he learned from loving and being loved by Jack. For a character like Ennis, whose whole life has revolved around hard work and ranching as part of (desperately) defining who he is and what he can and cannot do, the decision (or even the announcement of the intention) to quit is huge, momentous, and something the earlier Ennis could never have done. (Having lived my life with workaholics, and having that tendency myself, maybe this is something I'm sensitive to, but I also think I'm right.) So Ennis does grow, at least in that one way. And it makes that final action and bit of dialogue that much more tear-wrenching.
Just my $.02. What do you think?
