The film that makes me cry: Brokeback Mountain

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/apr/02/the-film-that-makes-me-cry-brokeback-mountain

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A tale of two men falling in love in 1960s Wyoming, Brokeback Mountain was never going to be your average screen romance; nor did director Ang Lee intend it to be.

Based on the short story by Annie Proulx, the 2006 film adaptation is not afraid to wear its heart on its bloodstained sleeve. Almost every scene packs some kind of emotional punch, largely thanks to the astonishingly raw performances from Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, who play, respectively, the lead roles of Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist so memorably.

Spanning a 20-year period, the story pays careful attention to the trail of deceived wives, bewildered parents and confused kids the pair leave behind as their complex relationship intensifies.

Related: Annie Proulx regrets writing Brokeback Mountain? She needs to let it go | Ryan Gilbey

On release, the film was praised for its intelligence and candour. Although it lost out to Crash for the best picture Oscar, it was recently revealed that many Academy members would now opt for Brokeback Mountain if they could change their vote, which speaks volumes about the film’s lasting impact.

Its most tear-jerking scenes occur on one of Ennis and Jack’s many trips back to Brokeback Mountain, where they first struck up a friendship while working as labourers. I’m sure I’m not alone in wincing as a visibly shaken Ennis recalls being forced by his father to view the mutilated body of a man killed in a suspected homophobic attack. The unbearable savagery of a person being ripped to pieces chills me to the bone.

A more subtle but no less painful moment occurs during a tense argument in which Jack, ever the idealist, reveals his dream to settle down with Ennis, buy some land together and live out the rest of their lives in a peaceful idyll. The depth of Ennis’s self-loathing is fully revealed when he flatly rejects the suggestion, leaving Jack crushed and defeated.

As the futility of the situation sinks in, they hold each other tenderly, desperately trying to fend off the infinite loneliness that awaits them back in the real world. The way Lee treats the stunning Wyoming landscape as a character in itself is most apparent here. The couple relive their first encounters freely and passionately, knowing that beyond the beautiful innocence of Brokeback Mountain lie the ugly judgments that will force them to live a lie.

The supporting characters endure more than their fair share of misery, too: Ennis’s wife, Alma (Michelle Williams), is simultaneously disgusted and devastated when she discovers her husband’s affair. And when Ennis is seduced by a sweet-natured waitress (Linda Cardellini) years later, the waitress is soon frustrated to tears by his cold treatment.

The single most heartbreaking scene for me, though, is when Ennis visits Jack’s childhood home after learning of his death. Inside Jack’s wardrobe he finds a pair of their old shirts, speckled with blood and mud, hanging neatly inside each other. No dialogue is necessary – the sight of a grieving, broken man yearning for his lost love is powerful enough.

Each time I see the film, despite knowing all too well how it ends, my tearful reaction is always the same. I know Jack and Ennis’s love is doomed from the start and that the happiness they seek will elude them, but I still root for them, regardless. Foolish as it may be, I just can’t face up to the reality of two lovers being forced to deny their true feelings and, indeed, their true selves, simply because society demands it of them.