Ah, there must be something about the fresh Wyoming mountain air that makes a young man’s thoughts turn to love. However, for Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) they end up falling in love with each other.
Nothing wrong with that, of course, but a same-sex relationship is tough to maintain among the more traditionally minded farming community at the best of times, let alone in 1963, when this film is set.
This is a simple drama about wilderness folk pushed to their emotional limits, seen through the modern and sympathetic eye of Oscar-winning director Ang Lee. Based on a short story by Annie Proulx (that’s just 55 pages long), this is a million miles away from Lee’s previous cinematic spectacles of The Hulk and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon and closer to his earlier Taiwanese family drama, The Wedding Banquet, with just a dash of his western, Ride with the Devil.
The film is graced with superb performances and lush cinematography but its reputation precedes it so much that, if you’ve not seen it by now, you’ll feel like you already have; and there’s not much substance in the film’s subtle storyline that won’t come as a complete surprise.
Related story: Jake Gyllenhaal can also be seen in Jarhead.
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