Brokeback Mountain

Director: Ang Lee

Overview

Ang Lee's adaptation of E. Annie Proulx's story Brokeback Mountain stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger as young cowboys named Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar. Each of them is hired to corral sheep on the title location and they soon bond very closely. Their platonic relationship explodes into a physical one, but eventually the two are separated when their job comes to an end. Although the two follow different life paths -- one becoming a father of two and the other marrying into a successful business -- they have a reunion years later. Each is affected profoundly by the rekindling of their old feelings for each other. Those feelings lead each to consider what continuing their hidden relationship would cost them. The screenplay was written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/04/2006
UPC:	0025192631528
Original Release:	2005
Rating:	R
Source:	Focus Features
Region Code:	1
Time:	2:15:00
Sales rank:	7,456

Special Features

Directing from the heart: Ang Lee; Sharing the story: the making of Brokeback Mountain; From script to screen: interviews with Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana; And more!

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Heath Ledger	Ennis Del Mar
Jake Gyllenhaal	Jack Twist
Michelle Williams	Alma
Anne Hathaway	Lureen Newsome
Linda Cardellini	Cassie
Randy Quaid	Joe Aguirre
Kate Mara	Alma Jr. Age 19
Anna Faris	Lashawn Malone
Valerie Planche	Waitress
David Trimble	Basque
Victor Reyes	Chilean Sheepherder
Lachlan Mackintosh	Chilean Sheepherder
Larry Reese	Jolly Minister
Marty Antonini	Timmy
Tom Carey	Rodeo Clown
Dan McDougall	Bartender 1
Steven Cree Molison	Bikers
Duval Lang	Announcer
Dean Barrett	Bartender 2
Hannah Stewart	Alma Jr. Age 3
Scott Michael Campbell	Monroe
Mary Liboiron	Fayette Newsome
Graham Beckel	L.B. Newsome
Kade Philips	Ennis, Age 9
Steffen Cole Moster	K.E. Del Mar, Age 11
Brooklyn Proulx	Jenny, Age 4
Keanna Dubé	Alma Jr. Age 5
James Baker	Farmer
Pete Seadon	Farmer
Sarah Hyslop	Alma Jr. Age 9-12
Jacey Kenny	Jenny, Age 7-8
Jerry Callaghan	Judge
Cayla Wolever	Jenny, Age 11
Cheyenne Hill	Alma Jr. Age 13
Jake Church	Bobby, Age 10
Ken Zilka	Roughneck
John Tench	Roughneck
David Harbour	Randall Monroe
Will Martin	Carl
Gary Lauder	Killer Mechanic
Christian Fraser	Grease Monkey
Cam A. Sutherland	Assailant
Roberta Maxwell	Jack's Mother
Peter McRobbie	John Twist
Chyanne Hodgson	Barrel Racer
David Leader	Bull Fighter
Jory Vine	Bull Fighter
Mark Van Tienhoven	Bull Fighter
Greg Schlosser	Bull Rider
Dwayne Wiley	Bull Rider
Shane Pollitt	Bull Dogger 1
T.J. Bews	Rodeo Hazer
Lynn Ivall	Rodeo Hazer
Richard Emerson	Conductor

Technical Credits

Ang Lee	Director
Marit Allen	Costumes/Costume Designer
Tracey Baryski	Art Director
Judy Becker	Production Designer
Alic Chehade	Camera Operator
Michael Costigan	Executive Producer
Alberta Film Entertainment	Executive Producer
Scott Ferguson	Co-producer
Laura Ballinger-Gardner	Art Director
Deb Green	Casting
Michael Hausman	Asst. Director,Executive Producer
Avy Kaufman	Casting
Drew Kunin	Sound/Sound Designer
Larry McMurtry	Executive Producer,Screenwriter
Damon Moreau	Camera Operator
Kathy Nelson	Musical Direction/Supervision
Diana Ossana	Producer,Screenwriter
Geraldine Peroni	Editor
William Pohlad	Executive Producer
Rodrigo Prieto	Cinematographer
Trish Robinson	Casting
Gustavo Santaolalla	Score Composer
James Schamus	Producer
Dylan Tichenor	Editor
Pierre Tremblay	Asst. Director
Peter Wunstorf	Camera Operator
E. Annie Proulx	Source Author

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Brokeback Mountain
1. Looking for Work [6:51]
2. Herding Sheep [4:42]
3. Against the Rules [6:00]
4. Trading Places [5:25]
5. Forty Winks [5:45]
6. First Light [5:47]
7. Bad News [6:35]
8. Seperate Ways [3:53]
9. Tough Times [8:26]
10. Roped In [6:52]
11. Drop Me a Line [4:52]
12. What Now? [7:56]
13. Divorce Granted [6:25]
14. Don't Fool Me [5:22]
15. Suspicious Minds [4:30]
16. Let Me Be [10:55]
17. Return to Sender [9:22]
18. Crazy Notions [5:32]
19. The Power of Love [7:21]
20. End Titles [5:07]

Menu

Disc #1 -- Brokeback Mountain
   Play
   Scenes
   Bonus Features
      On Being A Cowboy
      Directing From The Heart: Ang Lee
      From Script To Screen: Interviews With Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana
      Sharing The Story: The Making Of Brokeback Mountain
   Languages
      Spoken Languages
         English 5.1
         Français 5.1
      Subtitles
         English
         Español
         Français
         Off

Editorial Reviews

For all the fuss whipped up by the media about this "gay cowboy movie," the fact is, Brokeback Mountain is nothing more or less than a star-crossed romance -- a romance that just happens to involve two men. Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal play young cowboys Ennis and Jack, who meet in the summer of 1963 while tending sheep in a remote Wyoming mountain range. Their initially awkward relationship blossoms into a torrid physical affair, and while the job comes to an end, their romance perseveres. Both men marry and raise families, but at periodic intervals over the next 20 years they slip away to join each other in fleeting attempts to recapture the bliss they felt all those years ago on Brokeback Mountain. The basis of this yarn is Annie Proulx's wistful short story, which has been brilliantly adapted by screenwriters Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana and translated to celluloid with unusual sensitivity by director Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), who won this year's Best Director Oscar for his marvelous work. Contrary to the hoopla generated by the film's attackers and defenders alike, Brokeback is neither a deconstruction of the "macho cowboy" myth nor an endorsement of the gay lifestyle. It does dwell on the secret sorrow that all too often accompanies closeted same-sex romances, and it doesn't shy away from depicting the damage done to the lovers' families. Michelle Williams, Ledger's real-life significant other, delivers a tightly controlled, heartbreakingly poignant portrayal as Ennis's wife, who is devastated by her accidental discovery of her husband's secret love life. Anne Hathaway is nearly as good as the pampered, willful daddy's girl who marries down-and-out rodeo rider Jack and takes him into the family business. In fact, there isn't a weak performance in the film, and even such supporting players as Randy Quaid and Anna Faris make significant contributions in their limited screen time. An insightful drama that never descends to the tawdry or sensational, Brokeback Mountain richly deserves the plaudits it has received.

Barnes & Noble - Ed Hulse

Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain is an effective and affecting psychological study of a man so afraid of revealing emotions that he nearly implodes due to his inability to express himself. Heath Ledger gives a beautifully nuanced performance as Ennis Del Mar, a man of the land who for a number of reasons is unable to share himself in a real way with anyone other than the love of his life -- and even then he is unable to open up fully. The fact that his great love is another man provides yet another reason why he feels he must keep his emotions inside himself. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Jack Twist, the more outgoing of the pair. His gregariousness wins over the taciturn Ennis, but it also is the character trait that will eventually cause the two to have their biggest fight. The film smartly observes the men's relationships with their wives. One realizes that Ennis' inability to communicate would have caused trouble in his marriage even without his affair. Jack, being the more outgoing of the two, actually attempts to find ways to satisfy his closeted impulses even though emotionally he is drawn totally to Ennis. The pair are more than ably supported by Michelle Williams playing a simple but very smart woman, Randy Quaid, and Linda Cardellini, who gives Ennis a piece of advice about love that rings remarkably true in a film that seeks nothing more than to show what is inside the heart of a man trapped by inarticulateness. The film's final scene is so small it plays at the time like an anticlimax, but when a viewer takes stock of everything the character has gone through, one realizes how profoundly the character has changed.

All Movie Guide - Perry Seibert

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