As is the custom of my people (and by my people, I mostly just mean me), I went to the movies instead of to work on Friday, and had a rare Two Movie Day. If you've known me for any length of time, you know that the first Two Movie Day I ever had was in 1997, and it was coincidentally also a a Two Nicolas Cage Movie Day, and was thusly, The Greatest Day Ever. I saw a matinee of Con Air, and then went to see a late show of Face/Off, and walking into the (same) theater for a second time just made me giddy as a school boy.
On Friday, however, I was giddy not so much, on account of the fact that it was on that day that I saw The Saddest Movie in the World. Yes, kids, I finally made it to Brokeback Mountain.
Why is every movie sad this year? The thing is, I knew going into it that it would be sad. Any time the trailer shows someone alone in a room, holding someone else's shirt and weeping, things are not going to end happily. But I could have guessed just by virtue of the fact that every movie lately is sad as hell.
That, however, is beside the point. Brokeback Mountain is a staggeringly beautiful film. It depicts a beautiful place (and make no mistake, the mountain is as much a character in the film as either of its leading men), a place as close to paradise as any place could be, that allows for glimpses of the kind of life these two men could have had if they'd allowed themselves the one thing they really wanted. And it's that right there that makes it so heart-breaking, and so universal of a film. It's about the tragedy of having happiness and satisfaction within reach and not taking it.
This tragedy is excellently played by Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger, in what I suspect were rather tricky roles to play. Both of the characters come from a specific time and place where I think people in general, but men in particular, just did not talk very much. A lot of romances in movies now consist of endless rhetoric and grand speeches, and this movie didn't have that. The performances are subtle and nuanced, and I think very genuine in terms of how people probably were back then.
Ang Lee has directed a true masterpiece in Brokeback Mountain, eclipsing even Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (which my friend Keith suggested, and I agree, has very similar themes) in its beauty and heart.
Moving right along...
Tristan & Isolde was very similarly themed, much to my surprise. Even the posters portray similar imagery, as I discovered in putting this together. While its emotional impact isn't as great as Brokeback Mountain's, it's still effectively done, and far better than the trailers would lead you to believe. Not great, mind you, particularly when watching it immediately on the heels of a movie like Brokeback Mountain, but it was enjoyable and well-done, and from what I've heard, a depiction of the times with a greater attention to realism than most films in the genre convey. James Franco is well on his way to being a fine leading man (the accent may have come and gone at random a la Kevin Costner in Prince of Thieves, but the intensity of his screen presence is undeniable), Sophia Myles was an unexpected treat, and Rufus Sewell was predictably enjoyable. I think it's worth seeing in the theater, but if nothing else, it's definitely worth a rent.
I must also mention the volume of awesome trailers that preceded these movies, most notably Sophia Coppola's Marie Antoinette. Granted, I'm a sucker for trailers that use awesome songs. But the juxtapostion of the (correct me if I'm wrong) late Baroque garb with New Order's "Age of Consent" just left me smitten. And is it just me, or does Jason Schwartzman look exactly like Stanley Tucci when he's got that powdered wig on?
Also with Tristan & Isolde: 16 Blocks (I'm a sucker for Bruce Willis, so you know I'm there), Annapolis (where James Franco, Tyrese, and Jordanna Brewster do military battle to see who the fairest one in the land really is), and Just My Luck and Date Movie (which both look insipid).
And with Brokeback: Match Point (and I do believe that we've covered how very much I want to see this), Freedomland (could go either way), Thank You For Smoking (looks hilarious), and Something New (which, can I just say? Simon Baker's really come along way from being "that guy who gave Ron Rifkin a blowjob in L.A. Confidential." Rock on, Simon Baker! I think he's great, and I'm glad he's getting some good leading roles).
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