“Brokeback Mountain” powerfully presents male love and struggles

Director Ang Lee’s adaptation of Pulitzer Prize writer Annie Proulx’s short story “Brokeback Mountain” will not disappoint anyone who values understatement and careful delineation of emotions and details of the West, including its small towns and small town mentality. Beginning in 1963, Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhall), arrive alone and a bit nervous.

They’re uncomfortable, waiting for the boss to arrive at his office trailer in the open range of Wyoming. Hired to watch sheep over the summer on Brokeback Mountain, slowly but inevitably Ennis and Jack become physically involved and deeply conflicted in this time and place where homosexuality is not accepted. Ennis, in particular, has been warned by his father of dire consequences. Del Mar’s mantra, through the difficult days, is, “If you can’t fix it, Jack, you got to stand it.” But they barely can. Over years, with marriages and children factored in, Ennis and Jack’s relationship will unfold in multifaceted ways.

The beautiful landscapes, shot by cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto, become metaphors for the relationship. The music is equally exceptional and the editing establishes a pleasing, unhurried pace as the years move along revealing country life—lonely, hard, unrelenting, and a struggle financially. Above all, the performances of Jake Gyllenhall and Heath Ledger lift “Brokeback Mountain” above the ordinary study of male-male friendship and love—repressed, resisted, indulged, debated, and analyzed. It pays dividends in its haunting specificity.

Many will find it somewhat elusive, but a second viewing reveals “Brokeback Mountain” as supremely accomplished exactly because it keeps the audience at a distance, trusting our intelligence and asking only that we immerse ourselves in this unique world of two men’s profound love and regrettable mistakes. “Brokeback Mountain” streams on multiple platforms and screens one night only at Landmark’s Plaza Frontenac Cinema, Tuesday, June 4, at 7:00 p.m.