Poignant cowboy love and cinematic magic

Ever since I watched Brokeback Mountain yesterday, I have been thinking about it.

There is something about Brokeback Mountain, which makes it linger in your memory, in your subconscious. It is the story of two cowboys Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist who meet while looking for work and are required to herd sheep together in the loneliness of the Wyoming countryside. Through monotonous dinners and forlorn horse rides, they gradually develop intimacy and camaraderie. A night of biting cold leads to sexual passion in a scene resounding with the looming threat of violence and comic intimacy.

Jack and Ennis go their separate ways, get married and lead blissful domestic lives until a postcard arrives. It is from Jack who plans to drop by on his way. This meeting leads to a resurrection of all the emotion that had been bolted inside. It leads to short, sporadic and spontaneous fishing trips to Brokeback Mountain where no fish are caught. It is a relationship that can only be built in isolation, beyond societal and familial alienation.

Brokeback has the rare quality of great art that relies on portrayal rather than elucidation. In fact, I felt momentarily that the movie would have done without dialogue at all, minimal as it is (apart from the now famous line I wish I knew how to quit you). Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal are simply stunning, so is the score by Gustavo Santaolalla, along with Ang Lee’s commanding and sensitive direction.

All the hype surrounding the movie seems justified. It is portrayed as a pathbreaking tale about homosexual relations, a coming-of-age gay cowboy movie. But more than anything, the movie is about love. About two people Jack and Ennis, who feel, who laugh, who cry like we do and this indistinguishable perception makes Brokeback believable, real and heartbreakingly poignant.

Stirring performances, haunting score and gripping images make the movie a masterpiece. Though a certain Academy might have given Best Picture to Crash (or was it Trash?), it is Brokeback Mountain that will stand the test of time.