BROKEBACK - THE MOVIE

Yup, watched it; courtesy of a friend. Of course it's a bootlegged version! I think with a little bit of know how it's possible to get just about anything in Malaysia, despite the "ban".

As expected, the panaromic scenes were nothing less than breath taking (even on a 14 inch TV). Watching the scenery, I could almost imagine what's in John Denver's mind when he sang "Wild Montana Sky". Never mind that you have no idea which song I am alluding to.

And what about the show? I think the thespians in the movie did a great job portraying their characters. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal acted very well in portraying gay cowboys, slowly drawn to each other in the solitude of Brokeback Mountain while herding sheep. Of course Heath Ledger just had to speak in a kind of drawl which I felt sometimes was a little irritating. Bad subtitle in the DVD made things worst! He might as well have spoken Sanskrit and I wouldn't have noticed or understood! I reckon it would have been tough for straight guys to play not-so-straight roles. But I think the one who takes the cake was the actress (I don't even know her name!) who played Ennis' wife, Alma, in the show. And the scene that most struck me was when Alma caught her husband smooching passionately with Jack! No words were uttered, but you can "feel" the shock, the disbelief, the hurt and anger all at once in the expression on Alma's face! I feel that she should have been nominated for an Oscar!

But what about the SHOW? Yeah, what about it? I don't know really. The tagline of the show was "Love is a force of Nature" (what ever that meant). To summarise (for the sake of people who don't have an inkling what the show is all about...and I realised there are such people), it's a cowboy movie set in the early 1960s somewhere between Wyoming and Texas where 2 ranch hands, Ennis and Jack, met while herding sheep in Brokeback Mountain. Somewhere along the line, they "fell in love". And yes, they DID IT, over and over again.

Their stint on the mountain ended, and they went on their separate ways. Ennis married Alma and had 2 girls. Jack married into a wealthy family and had a brat of a son. Four years down the road, Ennis and Jack met up again and they arranged for "fishing" trips to Brokeback 2 or 3 times a year just so they could relive those Brokeback days. In essence, they were caught in their now heterosexual relations while secretly burning in desire for each other. This was in the 60s mind you, where homosexuality was not so well tolerated.

The ending was tragic. I don't think I am spoiling the story by saying Jack died and left Ennis heart broken and full of regret. That is the gist of the story.

Much as I feel for the characters and the story, I could see, as far as the movie goes, that the relationship between Ennis and Jack was merely confined to the physical. They needed each other to satisfy their sexual needs (I hope non of my readers are below...well, 6 years old). So, I really couldn't see where all the "love is a force of nature" hype comes in. Is love just physical intimacy? I reckon not. I certainly hope not! And that is where, in my opinion, the movie failed. It failed to show that these men truly "loved" each other, beyond the obvious physical.

I know some of us would cringe at the idea. How can a man truly "love" another? I guess in Hollywood, sex equals love. Even in Titanic, there has to be a sex scene (remember them making out in the back seat of a car....how convenient that a car has to be present on the doomed ship!). So, if you show sex, you have shown love.

I think Brokeback wouldn't have caused any ripples if the story was about a cowboy who fell in love witha cowgirl high up in the mountains and then they go back to their respective husband/wife! It's the gay relationship that is causing the ripples. It's a novelty. It's new. Three months down the road it will be forgotten. I am sure of it. It's like KFC's fish sandwich.

In the end, I came away feeling a little disappointed with the movie. I truly believe that a man can love another, truly and deeply. I also believe that sex does not equal love. But I also accept that in the fallen world we live in, that's probably how far "true love" goes, which is sad, really.

True love is when one loves another, to the point of being willing to die on his behalf, just so that the other can be liberated to live life fully, abundantly. True love is found in one Man, Jesus.