Brokeback Mountain

It means nothing intrinsically; its the namof a film based on a story in which a fictional geographic feature named "Brokeback Mountain" plays a part designed to lend an air of "Old West" versimilitude to an altogether otherwis unextraordinary yarn - a movie which serves to prove the old addage "It don't take much to entertain some folks" and thereby validate the truism "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the public".

The factual part of that answer is correct (the origin of "Brokeback Mountain") but the rest is rather subjective. ;-) (I think that the "yarn" [story] it's based on is one of the most extraordinary pieces of short fiction ever.)

Oh, c'mon, Soz ... "one of the most extraordinary pieces of short fiction ever"? Now, that's not only subjective, but partisan. Proulx can't hold a candle to Hemingway or Camus ... nor even Sartre. Brokeback is merely timely exploitive emotionalism. Celebrated now, yes ... but will it have legs? 50 years from now, No Exit will still stand, on its own, as a classic. Will Brokeback be remembered for anything other than notoriety? :wink:

"One of the", sure. I didn't say one of the top 5, or 10, or 100, or a thousand -- dunno where I'd put it. But I've been raving about it here long before the movie ever started filming (you can do a search to confirm).

Not saying my take is not subjective, of course it is -- just an offsetting subjective opinion.

Yeah, I can go with that - besides, what is literature if not subjective? Not much point otherwise.

Thank you!
Thank you for your help.You are very kind.

Thank you for your reply - that's very much appreciated.

Indeed. :-D

Another "Brokeback Mountain" thread? It seems this film has brought out the best and the worst in people. It's all very ordinary -- this stort of thing happens in Wyoming on a weekly basis.

Can anyone imagine Hemingway writing about anyone gay? His last works are inferior or most of Proulx.

Just saw this film for the first time this weekend and really enjoyed it. At first, it was a little slow but finally got better. Was not expecting it to be sooo sad.

Watched Brokeback for the third time last night. I cried my damn fool head off. Since I know the story, I watched for the directoral touches.

This morning the library called and told me that "Brokeback Mountain, Story to Screenplay", which I had put on "hold" was in. Well I read the whole thing in one sitting...................the story, the screenplays, and the essays.

I think that Proulx story is a marvel. There is hardly a wasted word. To develop a story of such power in just a few pages, is simply amazing. Like Soz, I believe that Brokeback will go down in history as a masterpiece.

I don't think there is any question it will become a cinema masterpiece, even more with age -- it's being criticized, after all, by-and-large by a group of people who have never seen the movie let alone read the story. Those who have seen it and it wasn't their cup-of-tea cannot seem to wait make sure everyone around them knows they hated it -- you don't have to ask them. The reasons they hated it are ultimately the same reasons given for any romance-themed film, straight, gay or alien (they probably also hated "ET"). Ang Lee does take his time telling the story but it's a majestic and profound time. It is always going to be a film that just isn't going to connect with some and connect deeply with others. Especially if it is in one's life experience. I've been in a similar kind of relationship at one time and let it go on far too long. I counted it up to youth and inexperience. It began again about ten years ago and I quickly put the kabosh on the situation.

I think Phoenix was talking about Proulx's story -- I certainly was. (They could both [story, movie] go down in history as masterpieces, of course.)

It was already cited many times, in many literary journals as a short story masterpiece before the movie ever hit the screen. A cinema masterpiece will usually take longer to gain that status where it will be judged alongside other films of that genre. This complicates matters in that how to judge this film -- as a Western, as a gay film or as a romance. It's a neo-Western, it's a part of gay life that is not the dominant profile of relationships and it is a tragic romance.

Proulx's story touched me deeply...more than any other story I've read in The New Yorker...haven't seen the movie...might not

Although the film isn't exactly like the story, it is closer to the story than almost any adaptation I can think of. The author herself has given her approval of the film and, in fact, believe it fleshed out the characters even better than in her story. I know in the story, I did not get the impact of the periferal characters like Jack's parents that I did with the film. The last scenes of the film are inspired as if straight out of the paintings by Andrew Wyeth. Whether consciously or not, the two shirts could easily be imagined as painted by that artist.

I need to find The Shipping News...I enjoyed that movie

My Mom just finished the book and wasn't sure she liked it as well as the movie but she is a big Kevin Spacey fan.

me2...just saw The Usual Suspects and The Ref back to back...2 very fine movies.