Well, I finally saw Brokeback....
I'll cut in case anyone stumbles across this and doesn't want to be spoilt.
I got up and was at the 11:30am showing at my local Cineworld. Funny crowd we got. A couple of gay couples, one middle aged couple and about four or five lone guys. The rest were women, mostly alone of vastly different ages. I kept thinking, “I wonder if anyone from Wranglers is here. Wouldn’t that be strange? Anyone see it in Cardiff this morning? *grins* The cinema was not exactly full, but I was surprised by how many people were there on a weekday morning to be honest. They were all very good, no talking and no inappropriate laughing so that was good. Although people behind me had brought rustley bags of food. Grr. I was so excited about seeing it. I couldn't believe that I was finally there after all the time I'd put in thinking/reading/writing about it.
Anyway, the movie. I loved the first half. Jake and Heath were stunning and they really managed to pull off the fairly sparse script. That is to say for obvious reasons there isn't a whole heap of dialogue and bad actors would have been completely lost but these guys weren't. I was surprised by this part of the movie, actually. I didn't think that I would actively enjoy watching this section, especially before they get together, in the way I did. I knew that there were sweet moments and these were nice to see. But the parts before the first sex scene (my eyes nearly popped out of my head here, my friend kept looking at me and gaping. But more about that a little later) were just lovely. It was partly the cinematography, but, there was something just really enjoyable about watching Ennis and Jack go about their daily routines together. Not at all soppy or annoying but real and interesting and a beautiful way to introduce these characters, and set up what Brokeback is and why it comes to mean so much to them.
The second half of the movie was different, but more like I thought it was going to be. Personally, I feel that there was either too much about Jack and Ennis' lives apart or not enough. I enjoyed that Alma's part was fleshed out and Michele really does play her wonderfully, and same with Anne. It's just that after the boys are back together and start meeting up, to me it felt like the movie was too spilt. It wasn't about Jack and Ennis, if anything the mini sections of them together in the mountains felt intrusive and awkward. I wondered whether this was intentional. The pace was a little off in the middle/middle-end section too. Huge leaps forward and then too long on smaller sections (I could have lived without Ennis and the barmaid, not that she was annoying or anything, it just took up time that could have been made better use of). For me less on the families and more of these trips and how Jack and Ennis can’t capture what they had before and the way they become more desperate to do so with every trip would have made more sense. It’s hard to say whether that’s just because I wanted to see more of Jack and Ennis being together generally (and had the movie had nothing else, I’d still want more ) or whether it really was that there was something off about the family sections.
Ennis and Jack. Oh, boy. Heath and Jake sizzle together, I really believed that they loved each other desperately. Although, one of the other things that surprised me about this was Ennis. The way that I’d read the book and kind of the way that other people have spoken about it, made me think it was more about Jack loving someone who simply couldn’t love him back the way he wanted. Which, was true, I suppose. But, oh, Ennis! The love. The final scene between him and Jack just really blew me away. I’d never really gotten it before, but when he says, “You’re the reason I’m like this. Nobody, going nowhere,” or something along those lines, I was, “Oh, shoot. He’s right.” I didn’t realise that it truly, truly destroyed his life. Jack was the reason that; he and his wife split up (I honestly believe that had and Jack not met then he would have made a much better go of it with Alma), that he didn’t have a job he could hold down, why he couldn’t move on and find someone new. Throughout the movie, in many ways, it was really Ennis that I was seeing the love from. If it weren’t for the way that Jake delivered some of the lines I might have really actively disliked Jack. His actions made it seem like it wasn’t Ennis that he wanted so much as it was men. Mexico and the rancher, the way he was with his wife, some of the stuff he said to Ennis made me feel a lot less sympathetic towards him than I was excepting. Jake really did an amazing job, the way that the lines were delivered made me see that Jack *did* love Ennis, that the rest of the stuff he was doing was about trying to get through the days when they were apart. About trying to stand it because Ennis wouldn’t let them fix it. But, yeah, Jack pissed me off a little. Ennis was so, so clearly in love and really gave up the rest of his life for the little time to could get with Jack. Heath truly deserves all the accolades he’s getting. Simply the way he looks at Jack, the subtle difference in demeanour when they’re together compared to when he’s with his wife, are all just breath-taking. I must take a moment to talk about his crying scenes, too, because, just wow. He managed to still be reserved and not lose his character for a moment, but still the pain was clear. He reduced my friend to tears and she didn’t even like the movie.
The sex scene was another surprise. People had said that it wasn’t graphic and that shadows and camera angles made it that way, and to a certain extent that was true. I mean it certainly wasn’t porn or even Queer as Folk sex, but… oh, my. My mouth just fell open. I thought it was pitch perfect, too. All the passion and inexperience shone through perfectly. Then the second tent scene. I cried it was so beautiful. Ennis was just so sweet and unsure, so open in a way that we never really see him be again. The way that they whisper to each other was so moving, and so *real*. I also liked the Motel scene although not nearly as much as I did in the story. I also missed “little darling” too, it wasn’t a gaping hole or anything, but I still missed it. There was a lot more affection between the guys than I was expecting so that their relationship was more tender, a lot more tender than I imagined it. The scene of their first “fishing trip” where Ennis is looking up at the moon and smiling, no doubt thinking about how he feels he could paw the white right out of it, was so amazing. “What are you doing?”
“Sending a prayer of thanks to heaven.”
I mean how could anyone not think that Ennis is completely besotted with this man? I love that it avoids being too over the top by finishing it with a joke too. Wonderful.
I just thought I’d add a little about what my friend thought. She wasn’t a pre-fan like me. She hadn’t read the book and knew very little about the movie other than that I wanted to see it and that Jake and Heath get it on (the main reason for her wanting to come along). She also didn’t really like the movie. I smiled when she said that and asked why. She said, “Do you know what I learned from this movie?”
“Nope,” I said.
“Men, straight or gay; they’re all complete assholes.”
That made me laugh. Basically she was really unhappy with the way that the men treated their respective wives. Her point was basically that no one made them get married but once they had there was no need to be so blasé about cheating on and hurting them. It was an interesting point and I, too, was a little surprised; mostly by Jack who really did come off as a little selfish about his wife and my friend saw no reason for this treatment. I’m not so sure. One of the points of the screenplay I thought was that they wanted to show how Jack and Ennis’ relationship destroyed many lives. Still, the way Jack just did not care about how Lureen felt, seemingly at all, did cast him in a bad light. It made me doubt a little, the rest of his character. Ennis, although not being the ideal husband really did try with Alma, and clearly would have made much more a go had his heart not been with Jack one hundred percent. Although, as my friend also didn’t really enjoy the beginning section of the movie, thinking it was boring and too slow, I’m not surprised she didn’t enjoy the movie overall. If you don’t like that sort of paced movie then BBM is not for you.
One other thing she said after I mentioned the first sex scene was, “Gay sex. Is it always… well… so *violent*?”
This surprised me in so many ways. I was shocked about the odd question anyway and simply shook my head and told her “No, of course not.” I then went on to talk about how I didn’t really think that the sex was violent. I mean, it obviously sort of was. But, I think a lot of it was Ennis actually really not having much clue as to what he was doing, about him wanting to do it quick, partly out of passion and need and partly not wanting to think about it. Did anyone else think it was violent? It’s not something that would have sprung to my mind.
So, to sum up. I think that the best way to see this movie would have been with no real idea about it other than having read the book. Without the hype there I think you’d been blown away. With all the hype it seems to lack something. It does live up to the hype, but that’s all it can do and I don’t think that there’s much room for anything else. You aren’t simply stunned by the performances as you’re expecting them, the flaws show up starkly as you’re not. It would most certainly be the other way around of there was no hype. If you thought you were going to see a small budget gay love story (and let’s face it, this genre is hardly brimming with joyful cinematic experience) then I think you’d adore this movie. As it was I liked it, I thought it was wonderfully made and at least two people (Ang and Heath) would be deserving of an Oscar but I didn’t love it.
I’m going to see it again, possibly tomorrow and maybe it’s a slow burner. Maybe it’s one of those movies that grows on you until you love it and you stop noticing the things that disappointed you fist time around. I think it might.
I got up and was at the 11:30am showing at my local Cineworld. Funny crowd we got. A couple of gay couples, one middle aged couple and about four or five lone guys. The rest were women, mostly alone of vastly different ages. I kept thinking, “I wonder if anyone from Wranglers is here. Wouldn’t that be strange? Anyone see it in Cardiff this morning? *grins* The cinema was not exactly full, but I was surprised by how many people were there on a weekday morning to be honest. They were all very good, no talking and no inappropriate laughing so that was good. Although people behind me had brought rustley bags of food. Grr. I was so excited about seeing it. I couldn't believe that I was finally there after all the time I'd put in thinking/reading/writing about it.
Anyway, the movie. I loved the first half. Jake and Heath were stunning and they really managed to pull off the fairly sparse script. That is to say for obvious reasons there isn't a whole heap of dialogue and bad actors would have been completely lost but these guys weren't. I was surprised by this part of the movie, actually. I didn't think that I would actively enjoy watching this section, especially before they get together, in the way I did. I knew that there were sweet moments and these were nice to see. But the parts before the first sex scene (my eyes nearly popped out of my head here, my friend kept looking at me and gaping. But more about that a little later) were just lovely. It was partly the cinematography, but, there was something just really enjoyable about watching Ennis and Jack go about their daily routines together. Not at all soppy or annoying but real and interesting and a beautiful way to introduce these characters, and set up what Brokeback is and why it comes to mean so much to them.
The second half of the movie was different, but more like I thought it was going to be. Personally, I feel that there was either too much about Jack and Ennis' lives apart or not enough. I enjoyed that Alma's part was fleshed out and Michele really does play her wonderfully, and same with Anne. It's just that after the boys are back together and start meeting up, to me it felt like the movie was too spilt. It wasn't about Jack and Ennis, if anything the mini sections of them together in the mountains felt intrusive and awkward. I wondered whether this was intentional. The pace was a little off in the middle/middle-end section too. Huge leaps forward and then too long on smaller sections (I could have lived without Ennis and the barmaid, not that she was annoying or anything, it just took up time that could have been made better use of). For me less on the families and more of these trips and how Jack and Ennis can’t capture what they had before and the way they become more desperate to do so with every trip would have made more sense. It’s hard to say whether that’s just because I wanted to see more of Jack and Ennis being together generally (and had the movie had nothing else, I’d still want more ) or whether it really was that there was something off about the family sections.
Ennis and Jack. Oh, boy. Heath and Jake sizzle together, I really believed that they loved each other desperately. Although, one of the other things that surprised me about this was Ennis. The way that I’d read the book and kind of the way that other people have spoken about it, made me think it was more about Jack loving someone who simply couldn’t love him back the way he wanted. Which, was true, I suppose. But, oh, Ennis! The love. The final scene between him and Jack just really blew me away. I’d never really gotten it before, but when he says, “You’re the reason I’m like this. Nobody, going nowhere,” or something along those lines, I was, “Oh, shoot. He’s right.” I didn’t realise that it truly, truly destroyed his life. Jack was the reason that; he and his wife split up (I honestly believe that had and Jack not met then he would have made a much better go of it with Alma), that he didn’t have a job he could hold down, why he couldn’t move on and find someone new. Throughout the movie, in many ways, it was really Ennis that I was seeing the love from. If it weren’t for the way that Jake delivered some of the lines I might have really actively disliked Jack. His actions made it seem like it wasn’t Ennis that he wanted so much as it was men. Mexico and the rancher, the way he was with his wife, some of the stuff he said to Ennis made me feel a lot less sympathetic towards him than I was excepting. Jake really did an amazing job, the way that the lines were delivered made me see that Jack *did* love Ennis, that the rest of the stuff he was doing was about trying to get through the days when they were apart. About trying to stand it because Ennis wouldn’t let them fix it. But, yeah, Jack pissed me off a little. Ennis was so, so clearly in love and really gave up the rest of his life for the little time to could get with Jack. Heath truly deserves all the accolades he’s getting. Simply the way he looks at Jack, the subtle difference in demeanour when they’re together compared to when he’s with his wife, are all just breath-taking. I must take a moment to talk about his crying scenes, too, because, just wow. He managed to still be reserved and not lose his character for a moment, but still the pain was clear. He reduced my friend to tears and she didn’t even like the movie.
The sex scene was another surprise. People had said that it wasn’t graphic and that shadows and camera angles made it that way, and to a certain extent that was true. I mean it certainly wasn’t porn or even Queer as Folk sex, but… oh, my. My mouth just fell open. I thought it was pitch perfect, too. All the passion and inexperience shone through perfectly. Then the second tent scene. I cried it was so beautiful. Ennis was just so sweet and unsure, so open in a way that we never really see him be again. The way that they whisper to each other was so moving, and so *real*. I also liked the Motel scene although not nearly as much as I did in the story. I also missed “little darling” too, it wasn’t a gaping hole or anything, but I still missed it. There was a lot more affection between the guys than I was expecting so that their relationship was more tender, a lot more tender than I imagined it. The scene of their first “fishing trip” where Ennis is looking up at the moon and smiling, no doubt thinking about how he feels he could paw the white right out of it, was so amazing. “What are you doing?”
“Sending a prayer of thanks to heaven.”
I mean how could anyone not think that Ennis is completely besotted with this man? I love that it avoids being too over the top by finishing it with a joke too. Wonderful.
I just thought I’d add a little about what my friend thought. She wasn’t a pre-fan like me. She hadn’t read the book and knew very little about the movie other than that I wanted to see it and that Jake and Heath get it on (the main reason for her wanting to come along). She also didn’t really like the movie. I smiled when she said that and asked why. She said, “Do you know what I learned from this movie?”
“Nope,” I said.
“Men, straight or gay; they’re all complete assholes.”
That made me laugh. Basically she was really unhappy with the way that the men treated their respective wives. Her point was basically that no one made them get married but once they had there was no need to be so blasé about cheating on and hurting them. It was an interesting point and I, too, was a little surprised; mostly by Jack who really did come off as a little selfish about his wife and my friend saw no reason for this treatment. I’m not so sure. One of the points of the screenplay I thought was that they wanted to show how Jack and Ennis’ relationship destroyed many lives. Still, the way Jack just did not care about how Lureen felt, seemingly at all, did cast him in a bad light. It made me doubt a little, the rest of his character. Ennis, although not being the ideal husband really did try with Alma, and clearly would have made much more a go had his heart not been with Jack one hundred percent. Although, as my friend also didn’t really enjoy the beginning section of the movie, thinking it was boring and too slow, I’m not surprised she didn’t enjoy the movie overall. If you don’t like that sort of paced movie then BBM is not for you.
One other thing she said after I mentioned the first sex scene was, “Gay sex. Is it always… well… so *violent*?”
This surprised me in so many ways. I was shocked about the odd question anyway and simply shook my head and told her “No, of course not.” I then went on to talk about how I didn’t really think that the sex was violent. I mean, it obviously sort of was. But, I think a lot of it was Ennis actually really not having much clue as to what he was doing, about him wanting to do it quick, partly out of passion and need and partly not wanting to think about it. Did anyone else think it was violent? It’s not something that would have sprung to my mind.
So, to sum up. I think that the best way to see this movie would have been with no real idea about it other than having read the book. Without the hype there I think you’d been blown away. With all the hype it seems to lack something. It does live up to the hype, but that’s all it can do and I don’t think that there’s much room for anything else. You aren’t simply stunned by the performances as you’re expecting them, the flaws show up starkly as you’re not. It would most certainly be the other way around of there was no hype. If you thought you were going to see a small budget gay love story (and let’s face it, this genre is hardly brimming with joyful cinematic experience) then I think you’d adore this movie. As it was I liked it, I thought it was wonderfully made and at least two people (Ang and Heath) would be deserving of an Oscar but I didn’t love it.
I’m going to see it again, possibly tomorrow and maybe it’s a slow burner. Maybe it’s one of those movies that grows on you until you love it and you stop noticing the things that disappointed you fist time around. I think it might.