Brokeback Mountain Forum @ ennisjack.com
The Movie & Story => AP Short Story & Screenplay => Topic started by: Hubcap on Jan 24, 2006, 09:13 PM
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(edited by Administrator)
Wrote a review for the original story by Annie Proulx,
"Before the cinematic masterpiece there was Annie Proulx's original short story of Brokeback Mountain. Simply crafted, the tale of Brokeback Mountain begins in the sweeping vistas of Wyoming and takes us from the innocent stirrings of an unspoken, forbidden passion between two young, male ranchers in the summer of 1963 and weaves an hypnotic, captivating and engrossing fable over the course of 20 years until we are laid before us a tapestry of raw, tragic and anguished emotion. In a time and a place where the two protagonists, Ennis del Mar and Jack twist, can neither understand nor scarcely comprehend what it is they feel for one another, each is forced to camouflage their true affections by living separate lives in separate states, cloaking their stifled desires in equally beguiling and deficient marriages. But soon they will learn, even four years after that first summer on Brokeback Mountain, time cannot annihilate nor extinguish the one true and constant certainty in their lives, their unrelenting and pure longing for one another and the desire to be together. Through all too brief and sporadic encounters disguised as fishing trips, Annie Proulx takes us on a lifelong journey between these two extraordinary men as they continue to be drawn to one another through two decades of passion, turmoil and confusion. Nothing is ever easy in this tale and Proulx never allows her two heroes to come right out and declare their love for the other, and yet she permits us to know the unspoken truth that lies deep within them. Slowly, with heartbreaking honesty, we become painfully aware that these two men are trapped in a world where their doomed desires for a life together cannot and must not ever be. The story is a contradiction of emotions, for it is at times both tender and gentle and then devastatingly wrenching in its finality. But life can be a painful journey and, with Brokeback Mountain, Annie Proulx holds nothing back in beckoning us to witness a rapturous, gripping love story as it slowly, gently and meticulously winds its way across our hearts until subsequently reaching its ultimate, haunting and aching conclusion."
Patrick
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Great review! Thanks! Reading your well-crafted words enhances my understanding.
I am reminded of the story/movie "Damage"; Jeremy Iron's affair with his son's fiancee. He offers to divorce his wife and marry her, whereupon she asks, "You mean, you want to live with me, get up each morning, sit at the breakfast table with me reading your paper?" He replies, expectantly but puzzled, "Yes!" She explains, "But you already have that with your wife, and it is boring. What we have is exciting and forbidden."
My point is that Jack dreams of such a normal daily life with Ennis, yet what they have, ironically, is seasoned and spiced precisely by its very infrequency and lawlessness.
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Patrick
thanks for the great review. You've captured the essence beautifully and intriguingly. Would love to hear more of your thoughts.
Jim
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Beautifully worded, Patrick. You have captured the heart of the story. I have read the short story 7 times since my daughter bought it for me last weekend. I think every one of us longs for someone to look at us the way Jack looks at Ennis......Oh, for a love like that