and then something happens ~

[lookingland]

just finished watching Brokeback Mountain.

i would first like to qualify my response by saying:

1. i really like ang lee's work in general.

2. i think heath ledger is a good actor.

3. i had no biases going into this movie. the mind was so open my brains were spilling out.

all that said:

1. what a crashing bore.

2. what ennis does to his wife was despicable to the point that i coulda cared less about his travails later down the road. i mean, character-wise it's interesting, but nothing ever redeems him for me. he's worse than jack in that he never takes any action for anything he wants and then he blames jack and whines to him and we're supposed to be feel sorry for him? bleh. boring. dumb.

3. pretty scenery.

other than that, i have no idea what i just watched. i guess i liked the scene where jack tells his father-in-law off and that one almost-good moment where jack's mother gives ennis a paper bag for the shirt, but otherwise i was mostly bored and irritated and felt like i was wasting my time. and was that supposed to be Juarez? because, er, there's a big freaking mountain in Juarez. the landscape looks nothing like that on the border (okay, that's really nit-picky).

i didn't hate this, but i did feel like it was a short story dragged (and dragged) out to make a full-length movie. the interminable opening sequences (actually the whole first half of the movie) was just insanely dull.

eh.



i really like the final image of the hanging shirt.
just wish i actually cared about it, or them, or
what it all meant.
[/end review]

Comments

[geckobird.livejournal.com]

For me, it was Jack's story and the wives that really brought out the tears for me. Ennis was very confusing, and I agree with that girl who tried to pick him up after he left his wife ~ He is a frustrating mystery. Obviously he was struggling with who he was in a place that was hostile to his true self. Yet, he didn't seem to change. It wasn't until Jack was dead, and he was holding Jack's shirt, that he started to show some empathy, which was toward his daughter. I mean, really, I was way shocked to see him smile at her, and actually look a little proud of her. He didn't really show any other emotion in the rest of the film.

It was Jack that really made the movie, I think. He was a tortured soul, also struggling with who he was, and his feelings for Ennis. He kept trying to push Ennis into action, but Ennis just dragged his feet. In a way, Ennis's lack of action increased Jack's own pain, and I felt far more sympathy toward Jack than I ever will toward Ennis. The two wives especially had some amazing scenes. Ennis's wife in particular had a spectacular performance ~ and the scenery itself was beautiful. I really don't know if I liked it or not ~ I cried at the end of course, since I always am quite into movies no matter how good or bad. (The only one I couldn't get into was Legend, that ancient movie about some sort of fairy tale...)

Well, that was kinda a long ramble...

[lookingland.livejournal.com]

that's inneresting. i actually had no empathy for jack whatsoever. i felt like he took responsibility for his choices at least to some degree moreso than ennis and so i sorta felt he did things the way he wanted to and so what's to feel sorry for?

i agree with you that heath ledger's performance was pretty amazing. even if i didn't like the character i thought he did well with it.

: D

[geckobird.livejournal.com]

Aw, that's an interpretation I didn't consider. He did seem to take more responsibility than Ennis did. I think what stirred sympathy for the character is when he comes all the way from Texas to visit Ennis, and Ennis just drags his feet and doesn't say much of anything when Jack yells at him, crying. When Jack drives back in tears, I felt bad for him, for he can't seem to just let go and accept the fact that he and Ennis can't be together. He just couldn't see to move on, and in that scene, it was obvious that he really wanted to move on, but just didn't seem to know how.

Haha, Maybe I saw too much into that collection of scenes.

And Yes! Heath Ledger was absolutely amazing, even if his character was a tad frustrating. ^_^