Sunday, December 18, 2005

Brokeback Mountain - A Love Story

After trying several times last weekend and this, Elizabeth and I finally got to see the film, Brokeback Mountain. It’s only opened in limited release – New York, DC and L.A. – and even here it is only in 3 or 4 theaters. But we finally saw it.

We got our ticket in advance and there was a long, long line waiting to get in. When we did get in, the theater was packed. The movie started, with the hollow haunting strums of a guitar from the film’s soundtrack, and the theater feel silent and everyone was taken in by it.

The film was…

Amazing.

Beautiful.

Perfect.

As I was walking to the bus stop with Elizabeth after the movie let out, I tried to find the right words to describe it. I don’t think I ever did.

I thought back to several of the many glowing reviews that I’ve read. So many honest reviewers have acknowledged that the film really is a gay love story. It is just a love story. It just happens to be a love story between to men. It isn’t the first or the only honest love story between two men – it is, however, the first mainstream, big-budget Hollywood motion picture to be released and praised internationally.

That’s what it is…a love story.

As I’ve written before, I read the novella on the train down to Richmond, VA. The film completely embodied the spirit and work of the novella. There were several moments where my breath was taken away while reading – it was a pleasant surprise to be swept away again at those same points in the movie.


I can’t want to be swept away again.

Visit: www.brokenbackmountainmovie.com