12/05/2005
The Brokeback Juggernaut Continues
Brokeback Mountain opens in limited release this Friday so expect to be bombarded with publicity, beginning with this Entertainment Weekly cover story, part of which seems fascinated by the "icky" aspects of gay sex, culminating in a rather unattractive quote from Heath Ledger:
"And then Lee made them repeat the sex scene 13 times. ''For me it was a little easier than it was for Jake,'' Ledger says, nervously pulling his red cap inside out and back again between his hands. ''Any kind of nerves I had about approaching that scene, I didn't have to hide. We were like, 'F--- it, we took on this story and there's no point in shying away from it.' Neither of us wanted to do it again any time soon. But in the end, it was just like kissing a person.''
In fact, it really was a person.
Anthony Lane offers one his most snarkless reviews to date in The New Yorker:
Rumor had it that “Brokeback Mountain” was an explicit piece of work, and I was surprised by its tameness, although Lee’s helplessly good taste, which has proved both a gift and a curb, was always going to lure him away from sweating limbs and toward the coupling of souls. Not once do our heroes mention the word love, nor does any shame or harshness attach to their desire. Indeed, what will vex some viewers is not the act of sodomy but the suggestion that Ennis and Jack are possessed of an innocence, a virginity of spirit, that the rest of society (which literally exists on a lower plane, below the mountain) will strive to violate and subdue.
Liz Smith weighs in and also focuses on the sex:
The overhyped sex scene between Ledger and Gyllenhaal? Just that, overhyped. There was a great deal of talk about the "bravery" of the actors preparing for this scene. But I tell you — especially as the actors don't even undress — some unsophisticated moviegoer might wonder, "What are those fellas up to — wrasslin'? Playin' leap frog?" Both actors offer nudity elsewhere in the movie, and there is one especially tender love scene, but if you think "Brokeback" approaches the on-screen explicitness of heterosexual couplings, you will be disappointed. And who needs it anyway? The passion these men feel for each other doesn't require a gratuitous display. (Their lovemaking and embraces are full of anger — they push and pull at each other; trying to resist, while giving in.)
For the record, I agree with Ms. Smith here. Had the sex scenes gone any further than they do, I think Lee would have been accused of exploiting the sex at the price of the story (and further alienating a good portion of viewers already ready to accuse the filmmakers of glorifying a so-called "sin"). The sex in Brokeback is appropriately restrained (and more genuinely emotional than plenty of more explicit films). And as for the disrobing, doesn't she know it's chilly up on that there mountain?
On another note, for those interested in discussions about the short story, there's an inaugural book club conversation going on over at Gather...
The Towleroad Guide to Brokeback Mountain [tr]
Posted 11:20 AM EST by Andy Towle in Film & TV | Permalink
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The sex stuff-who really cares, EXCEPT THE PRESS! Boy are they hung up on this now-revealed small portion of the film, and if I have to hear one more mention of 'their bravery' and all that crap I will have to turn my attention to something else. One more article on Jake 'AmBIguos' Gyllenhaal taking one for the Gipper (this time from 'gee, I have a girlfriend now' Heath Ledger) and I will have to ditch my fantasy about the entire movie.
Posted by: Gary | Dec 5, 2005 12:12:06 PM
we have to wait until February to see it in Europe
Posted by: Ben | Dec 5, 2005 12:52:18 PM
Right on.
Posted by: JOE | Dec 5, 2005 12:52:37 PM
I think that people who go to see this movie for what it is will appreciate the fact that we are an ever progressing society and we should believe that as a society that was created out of one that was under a totalitarian rule we can observe out different views and act them out as we desire.
Posted by: Dyonysis | Dec 5, 2005 1:27:00 PM
I just saw a comic called "Boondocks" and it is iner-city balck kids and a grandpa and they are making fun of "Brokeback Mountain" I HATE PEOPLE LIKE THAT
Posted by: dyonysis | Dec 5, 2005 3:57:59 PM
i wonder if heath and jake's comments are being twisted by these magazines.
Posted by: joey t | Dec 5, 2005 4:41:44 PM
Anyone remember 'Making Love'? When Kate Jackson's heart got broken because her husband, the very hot Michael Ontkean, got bizzy with Harry Hamlin? OK, it was cheesy. But there was a nice, ahead-of-its-time take on monogamy within gay life (Hamlin is a man-ho, you see, and CAN'T COMMIT).
My point is: the actors kissed, and rather passionately, in the film. For anyone who knows anything about straight guys, Hollywood straight guys, or guys period, kissing is it. Anal sex with a dude is less of a big deal. And there was no major hoopla about the bravery of the stars, back then. But then, we were a generation with greater expectations. We also knew that the straightest of actors will suck pretty much anything just to get a damn part, a sordid fact no longer in vogue when today's independent, tough stars are discussed.
Posted by: Giacomo | Dec 5, 2005 4:58:57 PM
Here's the Boondocks comic. I'm not sure quite how to take it:
http://www.uclick.com/client/wpc/bo/
Posted by: Mike | Dec 5, 2005 5:25:24 PM
About the "kissing a person"-quote from Heath... I really think the emphasis in that sentence needs to be on "kissing" not "person". He describes his being uncomfortable during the sex scene, but in the end he basically says doing a scene like that is just as awkward as kissing a person, no matter which gender.
At least that's how I interpret it.
Posted by: Vanessa | Dec 5, 2005 5:57:32 PM
Compare and contrast James Marsden's interview in The Advocate. (http://www.advocate.com/currentstory1_w_ektid16394.asp)
Tell me about filming the scene on the rooftop where Isabel catches Jonathan kissing another man.
Before we had this kiss scene, the other actor [Jesse Bradford] and I had a talk and said, “The worst thing we could do is to do it 50%, so let’s just fucking do it and be in the moment and be these guys.” Did I get off on it? No, but you know what? If I kiss a girl in a movie, I don’t really get off on that either, because you’ve got 10,000 people and a camera pointing at you and you’re worried about what your next line is.
Posted by: PeteyP | Dec 5, 2005 6:34:23 PM
TIME magazine's review was particularly offensive in referencing old active/passive stereotypes. Ugh!
Posted by: Peter | Dec 5, 2005 7:44:14 PM
Keep your eyes on the Boondocks cartoon. I get the feeling it's the start of a new storyline this week.
Posted by: Sean in Dallas | Dec 5, 2005 9:27:13 PM
The Boondocks comic, for the most part, seems rather silly. It's just that the grandpa doesn't know it's a gay film, and that's the rather stupid joke. I wouldn't get worked up over it.
Posted by: matthew f. | Dec 5, 2005 9:32:14 PM
Does ANYONE know when this movie will open? Aside from knowing that it will open in NY/LA/SF on Dec 9th, I can find no other info on when its opening where. Here in DC, its all that anyone can talk about! We're dying to see it!!
Posted by: Carmen | Dec 5, 2005 10:31:21 PM
Friends in from Louisiana this week seems to have their awareness of this film filtered in through equal parts rumor and cupped-hand smirk. While certainly not urbane, they're not hicks. And what has trickled down through various channels to them is three words: "Gay. Cowboy. Movie." How to get people to think differently about the work without evangelizing is proving difficult--especially having not seen it yet. But I have read the story. And it represents both an amazingly humanistic love story in the best narrative traditions and a unique opportunity for the macroculture to normalize the view of relationships between men. Read: tell a friend.
Posted by: Bri | Dec 6, 2005 1:01:52 AM
The movie comes out on the 16th of December.
Posted by: dyonysis | Dec 6, 2005 7:45:07 AM
Boondocks is *lame* - best just to ignore it altogether.
Posted by: max | Dec 6, 2005 10:06:54 AM
I happen to have been last night at one screening, where Heath Ledger and Ang Lee were present. It surprises me how Ledger is dealing with this movie. He doesn't want to be labeled as a gay-friend, supporter at all!!! He came across, from the little bit I spoke with him, as an almost homophobe. To say that this love, because is set in a different time, is not gay, is beyond comprehension. Should we start referring to Oscar Wild as an inverted and not gay? He wasn’t considered gay back then, but today he is. The story between Ennis del Mar and Jack Twist wasn’t, maybe, gay for the characters, but today, is. I wish Ledger and Gyllenhaal would not worry about their images with the female teenagers that their prs keep reminding both of, and bravely indorse the possibility of being part of a gay story.
Posted by: martin | Dec 6, 2005 3:49:02 PM
The silly amount of bitching and moaning and wringing of hands over the sex scenes, the actors' comments, and the politics foisted upon this gorgeous film are coming close to destroying its potential as a landmark work of art. The director and two leads took on subject matter that actually could have damaged their careers -- which isn't their fault, were it to happen -- and they did so with grace and honesty. This IS a brave film in that a large chunk of America is still quite uncomfortable, even confrontational and hateful, where homosexuality is concerned. Films like Brokeback Mountain will very likely help to chip away at these long held prejudices -- and anyone with an ounce of intelligence should be thankful that there are directors, writers and actors who care enough about this subject to create such a memorable and moving work that tackles gay love and society's misunderstandings therein. I grew up in an intolerant community and was closeted until I was older and moved away (like many gay men even today) and found this film to be the ONLY film I've seen that understands this type of emotional anguish. What Brokeback Mountain says most clearly, is that people who fall in love - who are not permitted by their communities to do so - are in danger of losing each other and themselves by default. This film has underscored what no film has been brave enough to fully depict - men fall in love with each other and their fear of discovery keeps them from fulfillment. This is a universal tragedy, beautifully rendered and every gay man in America should be buying tickets for themselves, their loved ones, their families. Those who concentrate on 'what Jake said' or 'who got naked' or whathave you are completely missing this sublime and loving work of art. If it gets Best Picture from the Academy, it will be a well earned accolade -- and will change what is 'acceptable' in major motion pictures forever. Get with the program and stop focusing on petty complaints. As the tagline so wisely reads: Love is a Force of Nature.
Posted by: mikeylikesit | Jan 7, 2006 2:24:00 AM