We Remember: Brokeback Mountain

Originally posted on www.differentscene.co.uk

In the latest instalment of We Remember we are taking a look at probably the most pinnacle moment in movie history when it comes to gay characters on screen, Brokeback Mountain.

Now I myself have a little bit of an issue when it comes to this film, fair enough it is a good film and the lead actors are brilliant in it and it was a huge moment for the gay community to see two very successful actors play gay for a big movie production. But my issue is that I don’t think it deserves the huge amount of praise it gets, yes it is good but I didn’t really think it was Oscar worthy?

Now there are probably a number of people who would like to sit me down now and tell me why this film was Oscar worthy and I would welcome them, but for the time being let’s just discuss the film.

For gay cinema goers this film was a definite stand out as the gay community finally had a huge blockbuster movie that centred around two closeted homosexual characters who were completely in love but because of the times they couldn’t be together, and that is extremely sad and this is heightened by the fact that this sort of thing would have happened to a huge amount of gay men back then, who would have got married, had children and repressed their homosexuality.

The best thing about this film has to be the fact that after a while you stop thinking about the fact that these two men are gay, and just watch it as an up to date love story for the 21^st century, and this is probably why it did get the praise it got and the awards it received.

I mean who would have thought that twenty or thirty years previous to this, that there would be a film with two hugely respected and well known Hollywood actors playing gay characters in a huge film that centred around them? And who would have thought that it would have grossed over $100 million at the box office? Not many that’s for sure, but it was about time it did happen.

All in all this film is a land mark in gay cinema, and I think it may be a long time before another film like this comes along, and the acting from both Jake and the late great Heath Ledger was absolutely brilliant.

So it is a definite watch for anyone who is gay or just enjoys cinema with a gay twist. I think after writing this I must go back and watch it again and see if I still stand by the opinion that it didn’t deserve Oscar glory.