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[THIS POST CONTAINS MAJOR SPOILERS, AND UNLESS YOU LIKE SPOILAGE YOU'D BETTER NOT READ IT, OR STUFF WILL BE SPOILED. YOU HAVE BEEN FOREWARNED.]

So, Brokeback Mountain. It's a damn good film. I'd really recommend it to anyone. Except for one thing.

Do NOT go and see it in a packed cinema. While everyone might want to feel like they're perfectly okay with their sexuality, and everything, there's still a mass of pent-up tension every time there's anything remotely like a gay scene, and subsequently anything that's not gay but rather poignant gets greeted with a nervous laugh from everyone in the room, and completely kills the moment. For example - the two characters. Ennis and Jack, meet up after a four-year gap of seeing each other, after their first meeting, friendship, and romance. Ennis is married, but as soon as he sees Jack arrive on his doorstep they hug, and eventually begin to make out - out of view of the whole street, but in view of the front door of Ennis' house. His wife emerges, and sees the two of them. Her face is a picture of shock, terror, and mistrust - and the audience burst out laughing.

I mean, whoa, wait, what?! The woman's just found out that her husband is cheating on her with a man. Not only that, but it means that the protagonist now will have to deal with her being distant and unloving. His future isn't too pretty if he stays with this woman, which we know he will do because of the comunity's negative stance on being gay.

How exactly is this amusing?! Answer: It's not. People need to stop thinking they're modern and whatever by doing stuff like this. At the bottom line, it would not nearly have been as popular if it was about a straight relationship, because it would have been written off as just another romance (albeit with a nicely-done ending). Hell, even if it were a lesbian couple there would have been fewer viewers, because that's somewhat accepted. But shove in a couple of blokes - oh, here we go, this is new and arty, I'm going to go and see this because it assures me greater social status - no. Just no. Appreciate it because it stirs something inside you, not because it says something about you. The same kind of people who refer to Memoirs of a Geisha to describe Japan today, for example (and yes, that was a Lost reference).


Amnyway, rant over. It's actually a very dark movie, about society's constraints on people who just want to live their life how they see fit. There's a constant strain on these two guys - both felt themselves forced into marriage because they felt they had to hide their homosexuality, and both were ultimately forced into not having a happy life because of that. They sneak around for the few precious moments they can have together, peacefully and without interruption, and actually be themselves. I don't know how accurate a portrayal this is of homosexual life back then, but it certainly felt that way.

What's interesting is that I seemed to feel the exact opposite of the rest of the audience when watching it. The times I felt tense was when Ennis and Jack were apart, and relaxed when they were together. You can really empathise with these characters and understand what they're going through, which is very bizarre - for a heterosexual man to feel what a homosexual feels is something that doesn't happen very often.


It's well worth seeing. If you're easily depressed, then well, it's not quite the movie for you, as there's no happy endings for anyone. But the experience you'll have is excellent. Jake Gyllenhaal gives a stunning performance in the argument by the lake, and there's not a casting I can fault (except perhaps Christina Ricci, but she does a sterling job of being as annoying as ever). Not only that, but the film contains roughly two thousand sheep in the opening hour or so, so Siân should be kept happy.

Again. Go. See. It. Unless you're one of those pretentious bastards I metnioned earlier.