Thursday, May 04, 2006

Aight, so here goes my take on Brokeback Mountain.

Its more than a gay movie. Its a muffled diatribe on how depressing life can be, how unfair things can get. But for me, after much thought and comprehension, I reckon that the signature of Ang Lee on this film, is the fact that there is no clear 'resolution'. I love that. I love the fact that he leaves things bittersweet, unexplained and mysteriously disdainful, even down to the fact that Jake is shown to have been contemplating 'cheating' (?) on Heath, prior to his death (murder).

Its unanswered whether Jake's dad has anything to do with his death - being a hardcore homophobic redneck (also Heath mentions a similar feeling about the incident when he was 9).

But truly, Heath Ledger's character was crafted with the utmost care. During the first sexual encounter, although Heath fights Jake tremendously, he does exhibit some kind of homosexual promiscuity. Basically, he doesn't seem like a novice. An incessant rebel without a cause, Heath seems to be 'angry' with the fact that he is attracted to Jake, and feels this love for him. That's a very curious emotion to portray effectively on screen, and Heath scores (yeah he does).

But more than a gay cowboy movie, BM explores the sinusoidal vagaries of human destiny. It asks some deep moral questions. Sometimes the things that bring you the most happiness, may not be the ones that may be right for you. Does that mean you don't pursue them? Just because the world around you has set these precedents because of prevailing and over-powering stigma, does it mean that you forgo your right to be happy? The best part is, BM doesn't preach gay pride, nor empower gay emotions. Its just a sad on-screen depiction of an unfortunate and bittersweet story, with an ending that, quite like real life, doesn't 'come out of the closet' to explain itself.

In other news, Bush is a jerk.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thoughtprovoking!