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movie review - Brokeback Mountain

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

This is a movie about two fellows from different backgrounds who hire on as shepherds, tending a flock that's grazing in a high-altitude summer pasture. They become lovers, and the story follows their romance through its span. And then it follows the rest of their lives. In a time and place when homosexuals could easily be beaten to death (I grew up in such an environment, a gay kid was knifed in my high school) their occasional affair is as dangerous as it is trying for them both.

This movie had two strong elements in its favor: the scenes, cinematography, and attention to era was one; the other was the excellent acting. These weren't enough, though, to keep the whole thing together. I just didn't buy it, for some reason.

There was just something about the love story I didn't believe. I think that it was the unsympathetic nature of the two "protagonists" that put me off. One is an emotional cripple whose only fully-realized relationship is with his (lesser-) estranged daughter. The other is a guy who never seems comfortable in his own skin. I could find neither attractive or sympathetic, I suppose. In the end, this was highly distracting.

The scenery was something. I wouldn't have guessed that a movie would make me feel homesick for southern Alberta.

Not recommended.