I just saw Crash on Showtime the other day for the first time. Although I liked it a lot more than I thought I would, I still think Brokeback deserved the Oscar for best film. Crash to me was derivative of lots of other films, I think it won simply because of a last minute Oscar voters’ backlash against a front runner - nothing more, nothing less.
Brokeback is a film with many layers…the first viewing for some is a shock, or just a tragic love story. But on second viewing, the film proves it has captured a very personal story that effects people on many levels. I think once Brokeback starts to hit Showtime and HBO and people see it for the first or second or third time, they will start to discover the many layers and nuances.
Brokeback isn’t a perfect film, but it withstands multiple viewings as a film with a ring of truth and insight into a subject that is totally foreign to many viewers. That alone makes this film a classic.
I think Brokeback Mountain will age well, and will be a sociological reference point in both the time period it represents as well as for the time period people watch it - today, or 10, 15 or 20 years from now. Will I live to see the day an uncut version of the film is shown on NBC in the US, or shown on television in Saudi Arabia?
gooftroopag I’m glad you took a second look and I’m glad you looked at it free from some of the pre-conceptions you were holding the first time through. I still don’t understand how you can look at the laundromat kissing scene and see nothing but lust, but I’m glad that you saw the emotional connection in other scenes.
But how anyone can think that The Music Man is a contender for worst movie ever is and always will be beyond my power to comprehend.
The scene that affected me most, apart from the “sleeping on your feet” flashback, was after the first sexual encounter, after the macho “I ain’t no queer” encounter…
Jack is alone in the tent and Ennis is out by the fire. You can see Ennis is debating with himself, then he goes to Jack, hat literally in hand (Jack has to take it away from him), and that’s where you can see the love begin. Ennis has lived a hard life, brought up by a brother and sister who did what they could for him, but they probably had very little time for affection. We don’t know what Ennis’s relationship with Alma was like before Brokeback, but it seemed to me that Ennis had known very little affection and tenderness in his life. When he went to Jack in the tent, it was for love and tenderness, not just sex.
It’s a very powerful, but touching, scene, and I don’t understand how so many people missed it (including gooftroopag).
And I still haven’t forgiven what’shisname (I don’t even want to say it) who called Jack a “sexual predator.” Except for that very first time when Jack puts Ennis’s arm around him (and that’s all he does), Ennis is the one who always takes the lead. Anyone who would miss THAT is a dolt.
The “Jack without a mustache” scene isn’t a continuity error, but I did notice another one. When Randy Quaid’s character rides up to Jack to tell him that his uncle was in the hospital, Jack had just put a log up on the stump to be split. When Quaid rides away, the log is gone. I’ve seen the movie several times, and that’s the only continuity error I’ve ever noticed.
This error is mentioned on the IMDB too. I’ll watch for it when I see the DVD. There’s also supposed to be an error involving the beer bottles/caps ? in the bar when Ennis and Jack first drink together.
On another note, I’ve completely stopped believing any movie reviews given by one of my colleagues, who dismissed BBM as “a fuck story” and insisted that King Kong and Memoirs of a Geisha were so nicely done that he couldn’t understand why the critics had been so harsh.
(I found them both nice to look at but incredibly tedious and fidget-inducing.)
I know I’m a bit late to the party, but I wanted to chime in and say it was a really good movie…I normally don’t watch drama-type movies but I really loved this one. I’ll be buying it, and putting it right next to my copy of “Lawrence of Arabia.”
