Hey! A movie I liked!

But I can’t mess with events happening three thousand miles from here, especially not when I’m so close to coming home. Let’s flip over to Side B and explore the good bits that were this weekend. . .

Have I told you about Hildy Johnson yet? I guess I’ve mentioned her a few times, but I have yet to do a full introduction; there really has to be a point on this journal where I pause and fill you in on the entire cast. The young lady in question, though, is a literate and disarming figure, exactly the kind of woman who lives up to her namesake. You have to be, though, if you’re constantly surrounded by the loud witticisms of the Big Game Hunters. All in all, she’s wholly the antithesis of the typical SCULA student, and I’m glad to know her.

So, Hildy and I went out to see Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain this past Saturday. We actually went out to see it on Friday night, but, to make a long story short, I am bad at the game of Los Angeles. Who knew that a man could get so lost going from the 10 Freeway to The Grove? Nevermind; the point is that I eventually found our way there, and a wonderful time was had under the gaudy Christmas decoration and manufactured snow of one of Los Angeles’ many pre-fab adult playgrounds. As Hildy put it, The Grove is “a theme park without the theme. . .and, really, without the park.” What’s left? Shopping and the occasional exclusive movie. Still, I try to go as often as I can, if only to have an excuse to walk around a bit. The City of LA is a bit lacking in safe, comfortable walking environs.

But I digress, as I started this entry to talk about the film. We eventually made it to Brokeback the next day; I was feeling terribly stupid about my navigational incompetence the night before, and it was a bit of a relief to be able to get to the vicinity of the theater in a more direct manner. I would root for the return of the drive-in movie, if only for the fact that everyone and their mother went out to The Grove this past Saturday, and it made parking a chore.

“What about the film?” you say, and I reply that I’m getting there. No, I will not go back and edit what I’ve written, as I steadfastly refuse to trim these entries unless I’ve said something I catch as particularly boneheaded.

Okay, the film. Let’s put it simply: Brokeback Mountain is wonderful. From the trailer, I was expecting an “important” film, one of those movies which you’re required to like when Oscar season comes around. Nothing on the level of, say, Crash, mind you, but still an overly sanctimonious message movie. To my surprise, Brokeback is a subtle film. For all of the hubbub about this movie being a vital piece in the gay rights movement, the homosexuality comes out less like a protesting statement and more like a natural expression of love between two troubled individuals. Kudos to Lee and Larry McMurtry for crafting a film with controversial elements that doesn’t dwell specifically on the fact that the elements are, in and of themselves, controversial. The characters come first, amazingly; most other directors would have stopped to remind us that we’ve never seen any western featuring homosexual leads. Also, other directors might have felt the pull to make the lead characters sympathetic, almost angelic figureheads; Brokeback’s creators luckily realized that not every minority portrayed on film necessarily has to be a pariah, and therefore weren’t afraid to occasionally make the characters total dicks.

The actors were superb as well, each aging convincingly through the nearly twenty years the film covers and managing to work through huge swings in tone with very few false moments. I could gush individually about each of these performers, but it would probably be redundant. Each handles their character as a human being, realistically showing the progression from adolescence into middle age without any startling jumps. There really isn’t any point in the film, at least until the very end, where you’re truly aware of any major jump in their ages. The characters roll by with minor changes as the years progress, just as it should be. There’s no showboating, no big speeches which guarantee awards, and we never once think about the teenybopper fare from which these actors have graduated. The real triumph is that we believe we’re watching the story of Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist, not of Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal.

In case you couldn’t discern my conclusion from the lengthy review, I would heartily recommend that you see Brokeback Mountain. It’s a stunning work of character when movies seem to be interested in anything but. And in case you need a second opinion, I do believe Hildy loved it too.