http://www.ebar.com/arts/art_article.php?sec=film&article=465----------------------------------------------
Behind the mask of masculinity Film Two-day tribute to Heath Ledger at the Castro TheatrePublished 02/21/2008
by David Lamble
Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal in Brokeback Mountain . Our cinema church is in session for two days as the Castro hosts six screenings of Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain (Feb. 24, 25) while fans of the film grieve the inexplicable demise of its Oscar-nominated lead actor, Heath Ledger.
Perth-born, a man of the West (Western Australia), the lanky one-time teen idol (10 Things I Hate About You) would publicly disavow any serious trajectory to a career that began with a puppy-dog cute 17-year-old crossing the Outback to test the waters of Sydney TV. An early job popped up in the Olympic tryouts series Sweat. Interestingly, Ledger opted to play a gay cyclist, figuring that the role might catch the eye of American casting agents.
Ledger courted critical dismissal with performances that seemed to skate across the surface of his talent, hiding his depth of commitment to his art. The producer of the Revolutionary War epic The Patriot cited his graceful depiction of a young soldier's harrowing transition from adolescence to adulthood: "There's a natural nobility about him, standing toe-to-toe with Mel Gibson."
After Ledger's brief but memorable turn as the suicidal son from a family of racist Southern prison guards in Marc Forster's Monster's Ball, co-star Billy Bob Thornton noted, "Heath and I seem to have exactly the same sadness." In a brilliant touch, father and son are shown, in different scenes, !@#$ the same female prostitute, from the same camera angle, and in the same sleazy Louisiana motel. In just under a half-hour of screen time, Ledger's scarred loner passes through similarly perilous dramatic beats as his emblematic Brokeback character.
Repeated viewings of Ledger's beautifully tortured Ennis Del Mar reveal a man who has no language to express feelings he doesn't know he possesses until saddle buddy Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) makes the first move in their pup tent one cold night. Two years ago, during a phone chat from the Brooklyn flat he was sharing with girlfriend and fellow Brokeback cast member Michelle Williams, Ledger walked me through Ennis' head as he confronts an unspeakable passion.
"The first time Ennis and Jack get together in the tent, I wanted Ennis to be on the verge of just beating Jack up, because violence was pretty much the only form of expression Ennis had allowed himself. So the first time that Jack and Ennis confront each other, I wanted it to be somewhat explosive, when instincts and passions come into play. I wanted for it to be quick, over and done. Then there were more intimate moments where I wanted to flip the coin a little, to show a sliver of kindness, a small moment of Ennis being more vulnerable for the first time in his life, and actually allow himself to be guided deeper into love. It was important to show that for the tragedy of the story, but also to help portray this beautiful love."
"It was one of the most beautiful screenplays I've ever read. I was certainly drawn to Ennis as opposed to Jack. His silent complexities, there's a huge battle within him, and there were so little words to express this, so I knew there would have to be a thorough investigation into his character. There was a brilliant short story from Annie Proulx, incredibly descriptive, essentially it was a biopic. It was clear how we had to play it. It was going to be the most masculine person I'd played, telling a story which hadn't been told before."
"I think innate conservatism is a part of his genetic structure, the beliefs and fears of his father that have been passed on through him. I see this battle within him; the other half of his battle is that he hasn't recognized it as a battle. I had to capture it in his walk, or his inability to express love; I wanted his words to fight their way out; but while I'm playing Ennis in front of the camera, I had to pretend that I didn't know that this is occurring.
"Half the problem with today's society is that we like to label situations and people, and the term gay is just there to segregate a type of people. It has been overused and abused, and our point is that gay people, straight people: there are people at both ends of that title. Ennis and Jack are just two human beings who fall in love, so whether they're gay or not, I really couldn't care. The story is about two souls who connect."
