A Review Of Ang Lees Film

'Compare the movie version of 'Brokeback Mountain ' with Proulx 's narrative, explicating to what extent you feel Ang Lee 's movie represents its subjects and thoughts.

This essay will take to compare the movie version of 'Brokeback Mountain ' with Annie Proulx 's short narrative. It will explicate, discourse every bit good as measure the ways in which Ang Lee represented cardinal subjects and thoughts through-out the movie. Many subjects and thoughts were dealt with in the movie, some of which will be looked at such as, relationships, love, desire and the Gothic.

Ang Lee was able to show Jack and Ennis 's maleness through their physical characteristics, the occupations that they undertook, every bit good as through their vesture, throughout the film. The two work forces were seen to be working on the land, making strenuous physical labor and played out the masculine roles in society. In both the film and the short narrative Jack and Ennis ' relationship with nature was masculine in the manner that they spent a great trade of clip in the unfastened countryside at work. Their relationship with the land strengthened through the word picture of their love devising on Brokeback Mountain which showed their deep connexion and assurance with their milieus. Even though the work forces were portrayed as masculine figures throughout both the movie and the narrative, there was besides a really outstanding displacement in the gender functions, as Jack and Ennis both alternated between the traditional functions of male & A ; female. 'Central to Proulx 's thought is non merely the subjectiveness of people shaped by geographical restraints, bounds and chances, but besides that the societal universes produced reveal personal narrations of battle which frequently question determined societal functions. ' [ 1 ] It could be argued that the short narrative was entirely about the love of two work forces for each other and how this impacted on the lives they were expected to take. However the film focused more on their place life and domestic functions, such as Ennis neglecting to supply and care for his kids. The short narrative merely briefly mentioned Ennis ' household life. In the film, there was great insight into the work forces 's married life whereas in the book there is non much accent on this. This would hold helped the spectator to dig more profoundly into their personal lives and hence have a better apprehension of them.

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The adult females in the movie version of Brokeback Mountain were more seeable, referred to more and had a significantly active function in the narrative in relation to Jack and Ennis. The spectator was able to see life from the adult females 's points of position and into the adversities of their lives. Whereas in the short narrative they were simply portrayed as obstructions that stopped Jack and Ennis from prosecuting their romantic relationship. It could be argued that Ang Lee did non desire adult females to simply be on the border in this movie, he likely wanted to convey the adult females to the foreground of the narrative since conventional relationships are between work forces and adult females, unlike Proulx whose version was more closely focused around the relationship between Jack and Ennis. In both versions the adult females were powerless to impact what was traveling on, particularly after they finally discovered that Jack and Ennis were more than merely friends. There was nil that they could make, as they were unable to efficaciously act upon the state of affairs in their favor, . ' ... and the door gap and Alma looking out for a few seconds at Ennis 's straining shoulders... .She had seen what she had seen. ' [ 2 ] In add-on, this narrative was set at a clip when adult females were seen to be more dominant in the private domestic domain, therefore they seemed to be naA?ve of about the departures on in the outside universe and possibly did non hold a loud adequate voice to stand up to work forces.

One of the chief subjects in Ang Lee 's movie version of 'Brokeback Mountain ' was the added dimension of nature and the milieus of the West in which the movie was set. Proulx ' mentions to the landscape to put the scenes were really descriptive throughout the narrative. 'The mountain boiled with diabolic energy, glazed with wavering broken-cloud visible radiation ; the air current combed the grass and Drew from the damaged krummholz and slit stone a beastly drone. ' [ 3 ] The astonishing amazing shootings of the landscape in Ang Lee 's film, gave a new dimension to the movie as the shootings of nature became merely every bit much a portion of the movie as the narrative line. `` The beauty of the shootings about every bit of import as duologue '' [ 4 ] The impact that nature had on people who already felt comfy in the unfastened state were given more depth and significance.

Spending clip together on Brokeback Mountain was like a retreat or a safe oasis from society in which Jack and Ennis would hold been judged because of the nature of their relationship. Whilst on Brokeback Mountain the accent on nature meant that they felt free and at peace off from society and were able to be themselves without the hazard of being ridiculed or judged.

The image of the dead sheep on the mountain, in the movie, acted as a metaphor for the thought that even though the work forces felt safe and free on the mountain they were still vulnerable in the eyes of society.

The chief subjects that ran through the movie were that of love, relationships and desire.

There were great similarities in the short narrative and the film in the ways in which the characters related to each other, their emotion and concern. The manner that Jack was so caring towards Ennis, was expressed absolutely through both mediums. The manner their relationship was portrayed was so painful as they could ne'er be together was shown in different ways in both the short narrative and the film. '' They have to privatize their feelings '' [ 5 ] . The original duologue from the narrative added another dimension to Ang Lee 's movie. As a batch of the clip the characters whispered or spoke in a quiet mode, it gives the feeling that what they were stating was non to be shared with others.

The scene in the film where Ennis became hysterical after Jack 's going from Brokeback Mountain, was really much more dear and emotional than in the short narrative, 'within a stat mi Ennis felt like person was drawing his backbones out... ' [ 6 ] . The emotion was non felt whilst reading the book, it was better conveyed in the film. The ground for this may hold been as a consequence of the musical soundtrack and the stopping point up camera shootings which showed Ennis as wholly overwrought. This was evident besides near the terminal of the movie by the lines, `` 'I wish I knew how to discontinue you ' '' [ 7 ] , which were spoken, the tone and volume of which this short line was spoken displayed the hurting that Ennis and Jack were digesting by being apart.

In add-on, in the concluding scene at Jack 's house with the two shirts, one inside the other ; the scene was portrayed better visually than in the book due to the impact that the music had over the scene, which was non achieved in the short narrative. However, it the words used in the short narrative were powerful in their simpleness. 'The shirt seemed heavy until he saw there was another inside it... the brace like two teguments, one inside the other, two in one. ' [ 8 ] On a actual degree this scene added shaped to the narrative, as the narrative ended where it started, both with dreams, both with shirts.

Both the film and the short narrative expressed cardinal elements of the Gothic. Two of the most outstanding elements were force and enigma. Proulx 's short narrative had an equivocal stoping in which the reader was unsure of how Jack died and who killed him. His household and Ennis were left inquiring if it was an accident or if it was on intent as a consequence of person happening out about his secret relationship with Ennis. The stoping was left for the spectator to make up one's mind and to utilize their imaginativeness as to who killed Jack and how he was killed, rather like a slaying enigma. `` Not merely did I want to be loyal to [ Proulx 's ] authorship, but I needed to make extra scenes to corroborate her authorship, because we do n't hold the internal word pictures which she did most brightly. `` ' [ 9 ] This was true systematically throughout the movie.

There were many subdivisions in the movie that did non look in the narrative, such as the statement between Jack and his father-in-law on Thanksgiving, and the scenes where Jack went to Mexico to research his gender and the greater deepness and penetration into their household lives and the people closest to them. Scenes even appeared in a different order. However things that were losing from the movie were filled with drawn-out scenes that were besides non in the short narrative. These drawn-out scenes gave the spectator a greater penetration into the lives of Jack and Ennis every bit good as those that they interacted with.

Futhermore in the film Ang Lee used flashbacks every bit good as cartridge holders which gave the spectator a greater penetration into the unknown, and to things that were below the surface of the characters initial ideas. The spectator ever had the Fuller image drawn out for them, which was pieced together by the existent plot line. This was present in the manner that Ang Lee used a flashback to demo how Ennis ' male parent showed him what happened to a adult male who lived with another male nevertheless this was non presented in the same manner in the short narrative.

The film was rather direct and ocular and the narrative had a unequivocal stoping and the audience knew precisely what happened to Jack even if the other characters in movie did non. The usage of the film as a ocular assistance meant that there was more freedom in the thought of the Gothic with the ghastly scenes of the adult male who was castrated every bit good as the slaying of Jack. The book ended as it stated that the love felt by Ennis was endured, but it was merely an terminal to the physical but non emotional love. It was as if the narrative still continued beyond the text, and would go on to make so every bit long as society failed to travel on. 'There was some unfastened infinite between what he knew and what he tried to believe, but nil could be done about it, and if you ca n't repair it you 've got to stand it ' . [ 10 ]

The long silences and deep stares that were exchanged between Jack and Ennis throughout the movie expressed their mute love, this was more efficaciously displayed in the movie than the short narrative. 'Because of their Stoic characters, the narrative has much to make with what is mute, with the shame and guilt that fills them ' [ 11 ] This made the movie a batch more powerful than the narrative as a consequence of these silences. ' ... narrative item is echoed by Ang Lee cinematically. The beauty and pureness of the emotions is matched by the countrified stateliness of the landscape ; in cut downing the narrative to a existence of simpleness of scenery and emotion, Lee was seeking to make a new deepness for a love narrative ' . [ 12 ] As a consequence of the shame and guilt that would hold been forced upon them whilst in society Brokeback Mountain gave them a sense of freedom to make things that would non hold been acceptable in society at the clip.

'Ang Lee tells us that the focal point on emotion can non be articulated in words, and employs the imagined iconic purdah of the cowpuncher... ' [ 13 ] The usage of camera shootings such as panning and close ups helped to covey the emotion through the screen to the spectator, this therefore enabled the spectator to hold a better emotional connexion with the characters.

One of the chief versions that Ang Lee made to the movie version of Brokeback Mountain was his choice of his dramatis personae, particularly the chief characters. Whereas in the short narrative Jack and Ennis were non described as excessively good looking work forces, nevertheless Ang Lee 's dramatis personae did non portray this.

Bibliography

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• Intertexts ( 2006 ) Conversing Brokeback Mountain 's varied infinites and contested desires. . [ Online ] . Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-7044583/Conversing-Brokeback-Mountain-s-varied.html Date of entree ( 12/12/09 ) .
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• Prefontaine, C. ( 2008 ) Heath Ledger in Ang Lee 's Brokeback Mountain, Suite 101. [ Online ] . Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //filmdramas.suite101.com/article.cfm/review_brokeback_mountain Date of Access: ( 21/12/09 ) .
• Testa, M. ( 2005 ) Exclusive PJH Interview: At near scope with Annie Proulx, JH Weekly. [ Online ] . Available at: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.planetjh.com//music_arts_culture/A_100138.aspx Date of entree: ( 20/12/09 ) .

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