Brokeback Mountain
Brokeback Mountain | |
---|---|
Directed by | Ang Lee |
Written by | Annie Proulx Diana Ossana Larry McMurtry |
Produced by | Diana Ossana James Schamus |
Starring | Heath Ledger Jake Gyllenhaal Anne Hathaway Michelle Williams Randy Quaid |
Music by | Gustavo Santaolalla |
Distributed by | Focus Features |
Release dates | December 9 2005 (North America) |
Running time | 130 min. |
Language | English |
Budget | $14,000,000 (estimated) |
Brokeback Mountain is a BAFTA, Golden Globe, and Academy Award-winning film directed by Ang Lee. The 2005 film, a commercial and critical success, stars Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, and Michelle Williams. The drama depicts a sexual and emotional relationship between two star-crossed lovers living in the American West in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. The film led the nominations with eight categories at the 78th Academy Awards and was widely seen as a front runner for Best Picture[1], but was ultimately upset by Crash. The film did, however win three Oscars, including Best Director.
The screenplay was written by Diana Ossana and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larry McMurtry, and is based on a short story of the same name by American novelist Annie Proulx, also a Pulitzer Prize-winner. The short story first appeared in The New Yorker in October 1997 and was subsequently included in a published anthology entitled Close Range: Wyoming Stories (1999).
Plot
Brokeback Mountain is the story of Ennis del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal), two young men who meet and fall in love on a sheep-herding job on Brokeback Mountain in Wyoming. The film documents their complex relationship over the twenty years that follow.
Template:Spoiler After the two part ways at the end of their job, Ennis marries Alma Beers (Michelle Williams) and starts a family. Jack moves to Texas where he meets Lureen Newsome (Anne Hathaway), whom he subsequently marries.
Four years later, Ennis receives a postcard from Jack saying that he will soon be in town and he hopes Ennis will want to see him again. Ennis replies back with a card reading "You bet." The two men reunite and find their passion is as strong as ever. Jack broaches the subject of creating a life together operating a small ranch. Ennis, haunted by a childhood memory of the murder of a man suspected of being homosexual, fears that such an arrangement could only end in tragedy. He is also unwilling to leave his family.
As the years pass, Ennis's marriage deteriorates. Alma eventually divorces him and takes custody of their children. Jack hopes that Ennis's divorce will allow them to live together at last, but Ennis refuses to move away from his daughters. Unable to be open about their relationship, Ennis and Jack settle for infrequent meetings on camping trips in the mountains over the next years.
Several months after their last meeting, Ennis learns that Jack has died when a postcard Ennis sent to him is returned, stamped "deceased." In a strained telephone conversation, Jack's wife Lureen tells Ennis that Jack died in an accident. As she explains, a brief scene of Jack being murdered illustrates Ennis's fears that Jack's death was not truly accidental. At the end of their conversation, Lureen tells Ennis that Jack wished to have his ashes scattered on Brokeback Mountain. She suggests that Ennis contact Jack's parents about this.
Ennis visits Jack's parents and offers to take Jack's ashes to Brokeback Mountain. Jack's father refuses, insisting that Jack's remains be buried in the family plot. Jack's mother is more welcoming, and allows Ennis to see Jack's boyhood bedroom. Ennis discovers two old shirts hidden in the back of the bedroom closet. The shirts, hung on the same hanger, are the ones the two men were wearing on their last day on Brokeback Mountain in 1963. Ennis had believed he left his shirt on the mountain, but Jack had actually taken it home with him. Jack's mother gives Ennis both shirts to keep.
At the film's end, Ennis reconciles with his estranged oldest daughter and promises to attend her upcoming wedding. After she leaves, he opens his closet door to reveal that he has hung the two shirts together, alongside a postcard of Brokeback Mountain.
Filming locations
The film was shot primarily in Alberta, Canada. Ang Lee usually shoots his films in the exact locations in which they are set (another notable exception was Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, in which the scenes set in the Wudangshan monastery were actually filmed at another Taoist monastery), but he decided that Alberta would be an ideal place to shoot Brokeback Mountain because of its lush landscapes broadly similar to those in Wyoming, the lower production costs in Canada, and the willingness of the Alberta Film Development Corporation, an instrumentality of the Alberta provincial government, to assist with funding.
The movie was filmed during the summer of 2004.
Commercial success
Brokeback Mountain cost about U.S.$14 million to produce, excluding its advertising budget.[1]
The film saw limited release in the United States on December 9, 2005 (in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco), taking $547,425 in five theaters its first weekend. This was the highest per-showing average for any drama in film history.[2]
Over the Christmas weekend, it posted the highest per theater gross of any movie and was considered a box office success not only in urban centers such as New York City and Los Angeles, but also in suburban theaters near Portland, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, and Atlanta. On January 6, 2006, the movie expanded into 483 theaters, and, on January 13, 2006 Focus Features, the movie's distributor, opened Brokeback in nearly 700 North American cinemas as part of its ongoing expansion strategy for the movie. On January 20, the film opened in 1,194 theaters in North America; it opened in 1,652 theaters on January 27 and in 2,089 theaters on February 3, its widest release yet.
As of March 5, 2006, Brokeback Mountain had grossed more than $78 million in North America and $51 million elsewhere, adding up to a worldwide gross of more than $129 million [2]. It is already the top grossing release of Focus Features [3].
The film was released in London, UK on December 30, 2005 in only one cinema, and was widely released in UK on January 6, 2006. On January 11, Time Out London magazine reported that Brokeback was the number one movie in the city, a position it held for three weeks.[4]
The movie was released in France on January 18, 2006 in 155 cinemas (expanding into 258 cinemas in the second week and into 290 in the third week). In its first week of release, Brokeback Mountain was in third place at the French box office, with 277,000 people viewing the movie, or an average of 1,787 people by cinema per week, the highest such figure for any film in France that week. One month later, it has reached more than one million viewers, with still 255 cinemas (6th week). Released in Italy on January 20, the film grossed more than 890,000 euros in only three days, and was the fourth highest-grossing film in the country in its first week of release. In the second week, in 224 theatres, the film's gross increased to €1,986,000, and is at €4,626,271 for its fifth week (second only to Match Point at its sixth week).
Brokeback Mountain was released in Australia on January 26, 2006 where it landed in fourth place at the box office and earned an average per-screen gross three times higher than its nearest competitor during its first weekend, despite being released in only 48 cinemas nationwide, most Australian critics praised the film. [5] Brokeback is being released in many other countries during the first three months of 2006 [6]. The film was released in the Netherlands on 16 February, and will open in Germany on 9 March. It premiered in Brazil on February 3 and quickly topped the charts with over 100.000 viewers. The movie is set for release in India on March 10.
Brokeback Mountain was the highest-grossing movie in the U.S. from Tuesday, January 17 through Thursday, January 19, 2006, perhaps due primarily to its wins at the Golden Globes on January 16. Indeed, the movie was one of the top five highest-grossing films in the U.S. every day from January 17 until January 28, including over the weekend (when more people go to the movies and big-budget films usually crowd out independent films from the top-grossing list) of January 20-22. [7] On Saturday, January 28, the movie fell out of the top five and into sixth place at the box office during that weekend before entering the top five again on Monday, January 30, and remaining there until Friday, February 10.
According to interviews with the filmmakers, Focus Features was able to recoup their production costs by selling overseas rights to the film so, from the outset, the film was not in danger of losing very much money.
Critical reception
Professional film critics have heaped praise on Brokeback Mountain. [8] The film won four Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture-Drama, and was nominated for seven, leading all other films in the 2005 awards. It has won the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival, as well as the title Best Picture from the Boston Society of Film Critics, the Dallas Fort Worth Film Critics Association, the Florida Film Critics Circle, the Las Vegas Film Critics Society, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the New York Film Critics Circle, the San Francisco Film Critics Circle, the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the Utah Film Critics Society, and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (the BAFTAs).
Brokeback Mountain was given two thumbs up by Ebert & Roeper, the former granting a four-star review in the Chicago Sun-Times. Currently, the film holds an 85% rating of "Fresh" from 203 reviews on RottenTomatoes.com and received 'circumspect' positive reviews from the Catholic News Service and Christianity Today. Conservative movie critic Michael Medved gave the film three and a half stars, stating that while the movie's agenda is blatant, it is an artistic work. He did not, however place the film on his year end top 10 list.
Most gay and lesbian cultural commentators have praised the film, although a few critics, such as David Ehrenstein, believe that the film's cultural impact is being overplayed at the expense of other groundbreaking films and the challenges that openly gay and lesbian actors still face. A few other gay commentators and bloggers have written disapprovingly about the fact that, in what has been widely hailed as a "breakthrough" film for gay cinema, neither the film's two lead actors, nor its director, nor its screenwriters are gay.
The film significance is attributed to its portraying of a same-sex relationship without any reference to the history of the civil rights movement [9]. This emphasizes the tragic love story aspect, which leads many commentators to effectively compare Ennis and Jack drama to classic and modern romances like Romeo and Juliet or Titanic, often using the term Star-crossed lovers. [10] [11] [12].
This link to classic romances is no coincidence, but actively sought by the film authors. An example of this is that the poster for the film was inspired by that of James Cameron's Titanic, after Ang Lee's collaborator James Schamus looked at the posters of "the 50 most romantic movies ever made".[13]
On January 3, 2006, Focus Features' parent company, Universal, announced that Brokeback Mountain was the most honored film of 2005. The independent website criticstop10.net[14] backed that assertion, reporting that Brokeback Mountain was the most frequently-selected movie on reviewers' year-end "Top Ten" lists of 2005.
On January 31 2006, Brokeback Mountain received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Lead Actor (Heath Ledger), Best Supporting Actor (Jake Gyllenhaal), Best Supporting Actress (Michelle Williams), Best Cinematography, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Original Score.
On March 5, 2006, Brokeback Mountain scored three awards at the 78th Annual Academy Awards for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Score. The film did not however pick up the highly expected Best Picture award. When asked about the lose, Larry McMurtry, the screenplays co-writer responded by saying "Perhaps the truth really is, Americans don't want cowboys to be gay."[15] The upset is considered to be one of the biggest in Academy Award history.[16]
Controversy
Roman Catholic Church
The warm review by the Catholic News Service caused a controversy in itself when it labeled the movie "L" for "appropriate for limited adult audiences". A few days after the original post praising the film, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' Office for Film and Broadcasting changed the rating to "O" for "morally offensive," in part due to the reaction of conservative Catholic organizations, such as LifeSite. [17] On December 29, 2005 the review was completely removed and replaced with a review that praised the film and its actors as "superb" but also stated that the actions of Ennis and Jack could not be condoned as they went against Catholic teachings. Nevertheless, the review stated, "the universal themes of love and loss ring true".
Journalist and political pundit Andrew Sullivan, a practising Roman Catholic who is openly gay, speculates that the Catholic Church now sees the power of the film as a threat that may change the perspective of Catholics, and that Catholic officials fear that the film might lead Catholics to rethink whether homosexuality is truly an "affliction". Further, Sullivan suggests that perhaps Catholic officials fear that the film may encourage Catholics to view homosexual love as emanating from "deep-seated human love" rather than being a love based purely on sexual acts.
- See also: Roman Catholic views on homosexuality
Utah theater cancellation
On January 6, 2006, Utah Jazz owner and Latter-day Saint Larry H. Miller pulled the film from his Jordan Commons entertainment complex in Sandy, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City, at the last minute after entering into a contract to show it and heavily advertising for it. He reneged on his obligations approximately two hours before the first scheduled showing upon learning that the plot concerned a same-sex romance.
On January 9, 2006, he also canceled his agreement to show Transamerica, a comedy-drama about the life of a transgendered person, which had been scheduled to open on January 20. However, on January 20 he did not interfere with the screening of another film with gay themes, Capote. [18]
Miller was heavily criticized by Equality Utah, Focus Features, and local residents who had arrived to purchase tickets only to find it had been canceled without notice. The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Community Center of Utah has called their fellow Utahns to "vote with your hard-earned dollars" and "avoid" Miller’s holdings in response, including the Delta Center, his two theaters and several car dealerships. Focus Features has threatened to sue him and announced it will no longer do business with him. In a statement it added, "You can't do business with people who break their word."
Gayle Ruzicka, of the Utah chapter of the conservative national organization, the Eagle Forum, commended Miller's decision: "I just think [pulling the show] tells the young people especially that maybe there is something wrong with this show," she said.
Brokeback actor Heath Ledger called the cancellation "unnecessary", noting: "Personally I don't think the movie is controversial, but I think maybe the Mormons in Utah do. I think it's hilarious and very immature of a society." Comedian Jay Leno and MSNBC news anchor Keith Olbermann both made jokes about the decision. Utah talk-show host Doug Wright, who reviews movies for KSL Radio, which is owned by the LDS Church, has said that if he were Miller he would not have pulled the movie.
Brokeback Mountain has been successful at other Salt Lake City-area theaters. The Broadway Theater placed it the tenth highest per-screen average nationwide during the New Years holiday, and in terms of total grosses it ranked number one while only showing on one screen at the Century 16. A poll aired on KSL television found 40% of all Utahns disagreed with Miller's move, as did a majority of Salt Lake County residents, where his complex is located. KSL found that the 60% who agreed with the film's removal had larger families and less disposable income compared with those who disagreed. A spokesperson for Focus Features added, "Given the gigantic grosses already being posted in Salt Lake City for Brokeback Mountain, this is their loss." [19]
Fox News
Several political pundits on Fox News, including commentators Bill O'Reilly, John Gibson, and Cal Thomas, accused Hollywood of pushing an agenda and told their viewers that the Christian-themed Chronicles of Narnia has more merit for "best picture of the year." On December 23, 2005, the network reported that Brokeback Mountain was facing "Brokeback Burnout," citing a fall in revenues from Sunday, December 18, 2005, to Monday, as well as subsequent falls during the week as evidence.[20] Others have pointed out that nearly every movie faces declining business during the transition from weekend to weekdays. O'Reilly has persisted in his criticism, bringing up the movie as a subject of intense criticism on over 9 different occasions thus far on his cable show, and a half dozen times on his radio program.[21]
The actual dollar values for the film's daily revenues can be found here [22]. Currently, it is the highest grossing Oscar nominee and the film has already topped $129.9 million worldwide.[23], [24]
On December 29, however, the news organization reported that the movie was a box-office success, leading all other movies in terms of per-theater gross during the Christmas weekend, [25] while Narnia was top in overall weekend gross (showing on 3,636 more screens than Brokeback Mountain at the time) [26].
Gene Shalit and The Today Show
The film critic for the U.S. morning show The Today Show, Gene Shalit, called Jake Gyllenhaal's character, Jack Twist, a "sexual predator" who "tracks Ennis down and coaxes him into sporadic trysts." This triggered complaints, particularly from gay media watchdog group GLAAD, who argued that Shalit's characterization of "Jack" would be akin to calling Leonardo DiCaprio's character in Titanic a sexual predator because he is romantically interested in the character played by Kate Winslet. Shalit later apologized, saying: [27]
In describing the behavior of "Jack" I used words ("sexual predator") that I now discover have angered, agitated, and hurt many people. I did not intend to use a word that many in the gay community consider incendiary... I certainly had no intention of casting aspersions on anyone in the gay community or on the community itself. I regret any emotional hurt that may have resulted from my review of "Brokeback Mountain."
In a letter to GLAAD, Shalit's gay son Peter said, "He may have had an unpopular opinion of a movie that is important to the gay community, but he defamed no one, and he is not a homophobe." He went on to say that GLAAD had defamed his father by "falsely accusing him of a repellent form of bigotry." [28]
U.S. social conservatives
Several Christian fundamentalist groups, such as Concerned Women for America and Focus on the Family, lambasted the film before it was released. Following wins by Brokeback Mountain, Capote, and Transamerica at the 2006 Golden Globes, Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse, a Concerned Women for America Senior Fellow, said on January 17:[29]:
"Once again, the media elites are proving that their pet projects are more important than profit."
"...none of the three movies, Capote, Transamerica or Brokeback Mountain, is a box office hit. Brokeback Mountain has barely topped $25 million [at the time] in ticket sales. While it has recouped all the production costs, it is doubtful that receipts have covered the massive PR costs."
"If America isn't watching these films, why are they winning the awards?"
Several conservative commentators predicted, erroneously, that the movie would be a commercial failure. On his program The O'Reilly Factor, Bill O'Reilly said on December 20, 2005: "But I don't care about the movie. I'm going to make the prediction. The movie will get a lot of Academy Awards, because again Hollywood is very sympathetic to the gay movement ... But I will submit to you this movie does not do big box office outside the big cities. It won't. They're not going to go see the gay cowboys in Montana. I'm sorry. They're not going to do it." Yet, in February 2006, the film became a hit in Montana [30]. On January 2, 2006, Charles Krauthammer stated on the Fox News Channel that "Brokeback Mountain will have been seen in the theaters by 18 people, but the right 18 and will win the Academy Award." On December 7, 2005, Robert Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute at Concerned Women for America, opined that "people don't want to see that. They don't want to see two guys going at it. It's that simple ... I think Ang Lee is off his rocker if he thinks he can have the same commercial success with two cowboys instead of a cowboy and a cowgirl, as other movies do." [31]
Some anti-gay groups have explicitly dissuaded their supporters from protesting the movie, in an attempt to avoid additional publicity for the film.
This talk has even made its way up to the White House, as Rolling Stone reports:[32]
Fielding questions from a Kansas State University audience on January 23rd, President Bush got sandbagged when a student asked him what he thought of Brokeback Mountain, the R-rated gay-cowboy flick. "You'd love it!" the student urged. "You should check it out." As the crowd tittered, Bush insisted, "I haven't seen it," and then reiterated his point: "I haven't seen it." (This despite the fact that weeks earlier, the White House requested, and received, a copy of the film for screening.) Like it or not, Bush had stumbled into the debate swirling around Brokeback Mountain, a movie that appeared to repulse much of his core constituency.
Liberal groups controversy
Conversely, gay and liberal commentators and bloggers have raised their concerns about the treatment given to the coverage of the movie's same-sex theme in the mass media, both in advertising and in public exhibitions like press conferences and award ceremonies. Some bloggers and commentators have noted their disappointment that expressions of love between two men have been carefully avoided in certain representations of the film in the media[33], even though same-sex love is Brokeback Mountain's main theme.
Several journalists including New York Daily News writer Wayman Wong and Dave Cullen [34] have complained that the movie's director, lead actors and publicity team avoid using the word gay to describe the story, and that the movie trailer does not show the two male leads kissing each other even as it includes a heterosexual bedroom scene, evidently in an attempt to avoid alienating the potential heterosexual audience.
Trivia
- The film is one of several highly acclaimed LGBT-related movies of 2005 to be nominated for critical awards, others being: Breakfast on Pluto, Capote, and Transamerica. It is also the second LGBT work for director Ang Lee, his first being The Wedding Banquet.
- Filmakers Gus Van Sant and Joel Schumacher, who are both gay, considered directing Brokeback Mountain before Ang Lee (who is heterosexual) signed on to the project.
- During filming Michelle Williams and Heath Ledger began dating and conceived their first child.
- During filming it was reported Ledger almost broke Gyllenhaal's nose during a kissing scene, as the scene required that they pull each other close very quickly.
- On seeing a pre-release screening, Madonna called the movie "shocking [and] surprising" and commended Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger on their bravery in taking on the challenging material of the film when many actors turned the film down. [35]
- Heath Ledger had a nude scene in which he jumped into a lake. The director intended to edit any actual frontal nudity out of the film, but a paparazzo photographer took photos of both Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal's stunt double with a digital camera. The photos have appeared on the internet and in some press publications.
- Some reports have it that Ang Lee barred screenwriter Larry McMurtry from the set of the movie. A spokeswoman for Focus Features commented: "Larry McMurtry can never go on sets because he's got very severe allergies." No one barred Larry McMurtry from the set—he was in the midst of writing a novel when filming began and ended. Diana Ossana, co-writer of the screenplay and a producer, was on set during the entire filming.
- It has been reported that several major actors declined to audition for the film because of its frank depiction of a strong and sexual relationship between two men.[36]
- When Ledger and Gyllenhaal were asked about any fear of being cast in such controversial roles, Ledger responded that he was not afraid of the role, but rather he was concerned that he would not be mature enough as an actor to do the story justice.
- The quote by Jake Gyllenhaal's character, Jack Twist, "I wish I knew how to quit you," has become a catch phrase from this movie. [37] [38]
- According to news reports, the film has been banned in mainland China, where censors still consider same-sex sexual relationships to be a taboo topic. [39] [40]. Brokeback Mountain is, however, playing in Lee's native Taiwan and opened in Hong Kong on February 23 2006. [41]
- Willie Nelson, who appears on the movie soundtrack, released "Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other", which was written by Ned Sublette long before the movie's popularity but recorded by Nelson only last year. [42]
- The shirts that Ennis finds hanging one inside the other in Jack's closet sold on Ebay on February 21, 2006, for over $100,000[43]. The buyer, a collector of movie memorabilia, called the shirts “the ruby slippers of our time,”[44] and intends never to separate them. The proceeds will benefit California children's charity Variety [45], which has long been associated with the movie industry.
- In South Park episode 209, Chef's Salty Chocolate Balls (written and aired after Proulx's story had already been published and the McMurtry/Ossana screenplay adaptation was circulating in Hollywood), Cartman made a statement about independent movies: "They're always about gay cowboys eating pudding." In a 2005 interview with the Associated Press, the authors of the episode were asked about Cartman's statement in relation to then-forthcoming Brokeback Mountain. Trey Parker's reply was "if there’s pudding eating in there, we’re going to sue!" [46]
- There are more than 30 spoofs and parodies of Brokeback Mountain making the rounds on the internet. [47] The widespread viewing of the clips brought mainstream attention to re-cut trailers.
- The story has been translated into Spanish under the title Brokeback Mountain: En Terreno Vedado and the different title Brokeback Mountain: Secreto en la Montaña for the Latin American market.
- In February 2006, the entire student body at Henrico High School in Richmond, VA, was barred from attending a basketball game when, during a previous game against a rival high school, the crowd repeatedly called the opposing captain "Brokeback Bobby!" [3]
Awards
The movie has won many awards, including three Academy Awards for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Score as well as four Golden Globe awards for Best Motion Picture-Drama, Best Director, Best Song, and Best Screenplay. It has also received four Screen Actors Guild nominations for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Ensemble, more than any other movie released in 2005.
List of notable awards
- 78th Academy Awards:
- Best Director - Ang Lee
- Best Adapted Screenplay (Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana)
- Best Original Score - (Gustavo Santaolalla)
- 59th BAFTA Awards:
- Best Film
- Best Supporting Actor (Jake Gyllenhaal)
- Best Director (Ang Lee)
- Best Adapted Screenplay (Larry McMurty and Diana Ossana)
- Boston Society of Film Critics:
- Best Picture
- Best Director (Ang Lee)
- Box Office Mojo: The Ten Most Impressive Box Office Performances of 2005: first one [48].
- Central Ohio Film Critics Association: Top 10 Films, Best Lead Performance (Heath Ledger), Best Screenplay
- Chicago Film Critics Association:
- Best Screenplay (Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana)
- Best Score (Gustavo Santaolalla)
- Critics' Choice Award:
- Best Picture
- Best Director (Ang Lee)
- Best Supporting Actress (Michelle Williams)
- Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association:
- Top 10 Films
- Best Picture
- Best Director (Ang Lee)
- Best Screenplay (Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana)
- Best Cinematography (Roberto Prieto)
- Directors Guild of America Awards: Director of the Year Award - Theatrical Motion Picture (Ang Lee)
- European Film Awards: Best Director (Ang Lee)
- Florida Film Critics Circle: [49]
- Best Picture
- Best Director (Ang Lee)
- Best Screenplay (Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana)
- Cinematography (Roberto Prieto)
- 63rd Golden Globe Awards
- Best Motion Picture - Drama
- Best Director - Motion Picture (Ang Lee)
- Best Screenplay (Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana)
- Best Song (Gustavo Santaolalla and Bernie Taupin, "A Love That Will Never Grow Old")
- Independent Spirit Awards:[50]
- Best Picture
- Best Director (Ang Lee)
- Iowa Film Critics: Best Picture, Best Director (Ang Lee)
- Las Vegas Film Critics Society:
- Best Picture
- Best Actor (Heath Ledger)
- Best Director (Ang Lee)
- London Film Critics Circle: [51]
- Best Film
- Best Director of the Year
- Los Angeles Film Critics Association: [52]
- Best Picture
- Best Director (Ang Lee)
- National Board of Review:
- Top 10 Films,
- Best Director (Ang Lee)
- Best Supporting Actor (Jake Gyllenhaal)
- National Public Radio:
- Bob Mondello's Top Films for 2005 [53]
- New York Film Critics Circle:
- Best Picture
- Best Director (Ang Lee)
- Best Actor (Heath Ledger)
- Online Film Critics Society:[54]
- Best Adapted Screenplay (Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana)
- Best Score (Gustavo Santaolalla)
- Phoenix Film Critics Society:
- Top Ten Films
- Best Performance by an Actor in a Lead Role (Heath Ledger)
- Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Jake Gyllenhaal)
- Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Michelle Williams)
- Best Screenplay adapted from another medium
- Best Cinematography
- Producer's Guild Awards: Producer of the Year Award - Theatrical Motion Picture
- Satellite Awards:
- Outstanding Motion Picture, Drama
- Outstanding Director (Ang Lee)
- Outstanding Film Editing (Geraldine Peroni and Dylan Tichenor)
- Outstanding Original Song (Gustavo Santaolalla and Bernie Taupin, for the song "A Love That Will Never Grow Old")
- Southeastern Film Critics Association:
- Top 10 Films
- Best Picture
- Best Director (Ang Lee)
- Best Adapted Screenplay (Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana)
- St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association:
- Best Picture
- Best Actor (Heath Ledger)
- Best Director (Ang Lee)
- Best Screenplay (Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana)
- Utah Film Critics:
- Best Film
- Best Director (Ang Lee)
- 62nd Venice International Film Festival: "Golden Lion" for Best Film
- Writers Guild of America Awards: Best Adapted Screenplay (Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana)
Nominations
- 78th Academy Awards:
- Best Picture
- Best Actor in a Leading Role (Heath Ledger)
- Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Jake Gyllenhaal)
- Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Michelle Williams)
- Best Cinematography (Rodrigo Prieto)
- American Cinema Editors: Best Edited Feature Film - Drama
- 58th BAFTA Awards:
- Best Actor (Heath Ledger)
- Best Supporting Actress (Michelle Williams)
- Best Cinematography (Rodrigo Prieto)
- Best Score (Gustavo Santaolalla)
- Best Editing (Geraldine Peroni and Dylan Tichenor)
- Broadcast Film Critics Association:
- Best Actor (Heath Ledger)
- Best Supporting Actor (Jake Gyllenhaal)
- Best Writer (Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana)
- Best Song (Emmylou Harris, for the song "A Love That Will Never Grow Old")
- Best Composer (Gustavo Santaolalla)
- Central Ohio Film Critics Association:
- (1st Runner-up) Best Picture
- Best Director (Ang Lee)
- Best Ensemble Cast
- Best Formal Design
- Chicago Film Critics Association:
- Best Picture
- Best Director (Ang Lee)
- Best Actor (Heath Ledger)
- Best Supporting Actor (Jake Gyllenhaal)
- Best Supporting Actress (Michelle Williams)
- Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association
- (1st Runner-up) Best Actor (Heath Ledger)
- (2nd Runner-up) Best Supporting Actor (Jake Gyllenhaal)
- (1st Runner-up) Best Supporting Actress (Michelle Williams)
- European Film Awards: Screen International Award (Ang Lee)
- GLAAD Media Awards:** Outstanding Film - Wide Release
- 63rd Golden Globe Awards:
- Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama (Heath Ledger)
- Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture (Michelle Williams)
- Best Original Score
- Gotham Awards:
- Best Picture
- Best Ensemble Cast
- Independent Spirit Awards:
- Best Male Lead (Heath Ledger)
- Best Supporting Female (Michelle Williams)
- Los Angeles Film Critics Association:(1st Runner-up) Best Actor (Heath Ledger)
- National Board of Review:
- (1st Runner-up) Best Picture
- Best Actor (Heath Ledger)
- National Society of Film Critics:(2nd Runner-up) Best Actor (Heath Ledger)
- Online Film Critics Society:
- Best Picture
- Best Actor (Heath Ledger)
- Best Supporting Actor (Jake Gyllenhaal)
- Best Supporting Actress (Michelle Williams)
- Best Director (Ang Lee)
- Screen Actors Guild:
- Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role (Heath Ledger)
- Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role (Jake Gyllenhaal)
- Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role (Michelle Williams)
- Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
- Southeastern Film Critics Association:
- (1st Runner-up) Best Actor (Heath Ledger)
- (1st Runner-up) Best Supporting Actress (Michelle Williams)
Note: **: yet to be awarded.
DVD release date
See also
Footnotes
- ^ Box Office Mojo (2006). "Brokeback Mountain." Retrieved Mar. 5, 2006.
- ^ Ben Katner (2006). "Brokeback Mountain." TV Guide, Feb. 27, 2006.
- ^ Arthur Utley (2006). "Freeman students draw ban for chant." Richmond Times-Dispatch. Feb. 14, 2006.
Further reading
- Proulx, Annie (1997, 1999, 2006). Close Range: Brokeback Mountain and Other Stories. London, New York, Toronto and Sydney: Harper Perennial. ISBN-10 0-00-720558-9; ISBN-13 978-0-00-720558-5
- Proulx, Annie; McMurtry, Larry; Ossana, Diana (2005, 2006). Brokeback Mountain: Story to the Screenplay. London, New York, Toronto and Sydney: Harper Perennial. ISBN-10 0-00-723430-9; ISBN-13 978-0-00-723430-1
External links
Reviews
- Template:Rogerebert
- Reviews of Brokeback Mountain at Rottentomatoes.com
- Reviews of Brokeback Mountain at Metacritic.com
Discussion forums
- "The Ultimate Brokeback Guide" at DaveCullen.com
- Brokeback Mountain Discussion Forum
- All news related to Brokeback Mountain.
News articles
- Why 'Crash' won, why 'Brokeback' lost and how the Academy chose to play it safe. (Los Angeles Times, March 6, 2006)
- DGA Makes 'Brokeback' Director Ang Lee Official Odds-On Favorite for Oscar
- An interview with Heath Ledger on the film
- Author Annie Proulx discusses the origins of her 'Brokeback Mountain' (Associated Press, December 15, 2005)
- 'Gay cowboy movie' a cultural sensation (San Jose Mercury News, December 16, 2005)
- 'It's very brave of them' - A gay radio host's critical look at the press surrounding the making and showing of the film (The Advocate, December 13, 2005)
- "Chick-Flick Cowboys" - Article on Brokeback's success in mainstream America. (Newsweek.com, January 20, 2006)
- "A Picture of Two Americas in Brokeback Mountain" - (Washington Post February 2, 2006)
- "An Affair to Remember" - analysis of the short story and movie. (The New York Review of Books, February 2006)
- Cowboy Controversy: The battle over Oscar front-runner "Brokeback Mountain" - (Rolling Stone, February 10, 2006)
- Brokeback Hillock: Is Brokeback Mountain completely over-rated?
- 2005 films
- Best Director Oscar (film)
- Best Soundtrack Oscar Winner
- Writing Adapted Screenplay Oscar
- Best Picture Oscar Nominee
- Best Actor Oscar Nominee (film)
- Best Supporting Actor Oscar Nominee (film)
- Best Supporting Actress Oscar Nominee (film)
- Best Director Golden Globe
- Best Drama Actor Golden Globe Nominee (film)
- Best Drama Picture Golden Globe
- Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe Nominee (film)
- LGBT-related films
- Romance films
- Western films
- Films based on short fiction
- English language films
- American films