Issue Date: May 21, 2006
Range of emotions
A Wyoming politico on epic love story "Brokeback Mountain"
By Frappa Stout
The "Brokeback Mountain" DVD, out now, includes a featurette on how stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger became cowboys.
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THE PLOT: Two ranch hands meet and fall in love while herding sheep in 1963 Wyoming. The heartbreaking drama, based on a short story, traces the nearly 20-year secret gay relationship between Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal).
Insider's credentials: Guy Padgett became the first openly gay mayor of Casper, Wyo., in 2005, and he is currently a member of the city council. Padgett attended high school with Matthew Shepard, the young gay man from Wyoming whose violent murder in 1998 made national headlines.
OVERVIEW: "The movie talks about what happens when people aren't allowed to be themselves, when they're forced into roles that society thrusts upon them. There was no one 'bad guy.' They all seemed like good people stuck in a difficult situation. Maybe that's the ultimate tragedy of the film."
Scene 4: Trading Places -- After tending the sheep, Ennis returns to camp and washes up while Jack prepares a meal.
"This stuck out for me. In a way, those are the special times you spend with loved ones -- cooking and washing clothes, those banal, everyday tasks. It got me thinking of my partner and me. ... Jason would laugh if he heard me say laundry time was special!"
Scene 11: Drop Me a Line -- Four years after their tryst, Jack, now married and living in Texas, visits Ennis, and the two men ravish one another on sight. Ennis' wife (Michelle Williams) is stunned to catch them kissing.
"She doesn't know how to react. She just represses it. There's a lot of that happening in the movie -- repressing emotions. It would have been healthier to deal with them in the open."
Scene 12: What Now? -- Jack tells Ennis they should move away together and start a cattle ranch.
"That still happens -- young gay men and women feel they need to leave [small-town settings] to be themselves. I certainly understand the feeling, but I've been lucky enough to find a community that's accepting of me, of who I am. Wyoming, especially since Matt Shepard was killed, has done some soul-searching."
Scene 19: The Power of Love -- Ennis promises to come to his daughter's (Kate Mara) wedding, although it may cost him his job.
"Ennis agrees to be there for her in a way he couldn't for Jack. It's terribly sad. They sacrificed so much because it wasn't safe for them to be together."
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