Brokeback Mountain

Brokeback Mountain is a 2005 romantic drama directed by Ang Lee and adapted by screenwriters Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana from Annie Proulx’s 1997 short story. Set largely in Wyoming and spanning from 1963 into the early 1980s, it follows Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist, two young men hired to herd sheep during a summer on Brokeback Mountain. Heath Ledger plays Ennis, while Jake Gyllenhaal plays Jack. The mountain job begins under rancher Joe Aguirre, who sends them to a remote camp and requires that one man remain with the flock overnight. Their isolation turns companionship into a relationship.

After the summer ends, each man follows a conventional path expected by his community. Ennis marries Alma Beers, portrayed by Michelle Williams, and they have two daughters. Jack marries Lureen Newsome, portrayed by Anne Hathaway, whose family owns a farm-equipment business. When Jack visits Ennis four years later, their reunion makes clear that neither has forgotten the mountain. The story then tracks years of infrequent trips and frustrated attempts to imagine a shared life while marriages and obligations suffer. Ennis’s fear of anti-gay violence remains central to his refusals to leave Wyoming with Jack permanently despite Jack’s pleas and plans.

The film’s later scenes show the cost of that fear. Alma confronts Ennis after witnessing his reunion with Jack, and their marriage ends. Jack and Lureen also become estranged, though Jack continues seeking time with Ennis. After Jack dies, Lureen tells Ennis that a tire exploded while Jack was changing it, but Ennis imagines a violent attack. Visiting Jack’s parents, Ennis finds the two shirts they wore during their first summer, one inside the other. He takes them home and later keeps them beside a postcard of Brokeback Mountain. The final scene has Ennis speak to his daughter Alma Junior,

who visits with her fiancé and invites him to her wedding. Alone afterward, Ennis looks at the shirts and says, “Jack, I swear...” The film premiered at the Venice International Film Festival, where Lee received the Golden Lion. It opened in the United States in December 2005. At the 78th Academy Awards, Brokeback Mountain won three Oscars: Best Director for Lee, Best Adapted Screenplay for McMurtry and Ossana, and Best Original Score for Gustavo Santaolalla. It received eight nominations overall, including Best Picture and acting nominations for Ledger, Gyllenhaal, and Williams. Its cinematography was by Rodrigo Prieto, a Mexican cinematographer.