Jake Gyllenhaal and Heath Ledger in 'Brokeback Mountain' (2005) Ang Lee, Director of 'Brokeback Mountain' (2005)

More than just a gay cowboy flick

CTV.ca News
September 11, 2005 8:55 PM ET

You can call Brokeback Mountain what you want, but please, urge the film's stars Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, don't call it a gay western.

It's a love story, they insist. Plain and simple.

"I wouldn't call it a western," Gyllenhaal told reporters at a Toronto Film Festival news conference. "I would call it a love story that happens to take place in the West."

The 25-year-old actor says the movie is about a lifelong connection and love affair that goes beyond sex.

"The relationship between these two characters was one of a deep friendship. They're soul mates. And it doesn't really matter whether they consummate it or not."

Based on a novella by The Shipping News author E. Annie Proulx, the movie tells the story of Ennis and Jack, two ranch hands who are hired in the summer of 1963 to work together high up in the mountains of Wyoming.

Though neither likes to talk much, they develop an uneasy friendship. Then, during a freezing cold night of too much whisky, they fall into each other's arms and their relationship becomes something more. But when the summer ends and they must return to their conventional lives, they go their separate ways.

Four years later, with each married and with children, they meet up again and renew their affair, meeting regularly over the next 15 or so years for achingly brief rendezvous. Though their hearts belong only to each other, they know that they can never be together the way they would want.

Lee has described the movie as a story of love against adversity, a story that is both "unique and so universal."

Ledger, who's earning warm reviews for his portrayal of Ennis, says it was precisely those two qualities that made him fall in love with the script.

"I realized it was one of the most beautiful screenplays that I had ever read," the Australian-born actor told the news conference. "It's a story of love that hadn't been told. That was refreshing to find."

Ledger says he had done other romances before but had grown tired of the same stale and recycled story. "This felt like something that hadn't been done," he explained.

Co-star Gyllenhaal says he had seen the script a few times as it changed hands in Hollywood but became really excited about joining the project when he heard that Lee was set to direct.

"When I heard Ang was involved, I knew it would be a different kind of movie that would go beyond the confines of just sexuality and go into something more difficult," he told the news conference.

"So there was really no hesitation when you know you have someone who can deal with pretty challenging themes with the compassion the way Ang Lee has."

Lee has shown a surprising versatility over the last decade, directing action films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hulk as well as the period classic Sense and Sensibility and the unnerving suburban drama The Ice Storm.

With Brokeback Mountain, he once again demonstrates quiet subtlety with a difficult subject, set against sweeping shots of the stunning Canadian Rockies, which stand in for Wyoming.

This past weekend, Lee's film was rewarded with the coveted Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival. In accepting the award, Lee said he's pleased his movie is being so well received.

"I'm so glad it's prevailed here and was received so warmly," the Taiwanese director told reporters in Italy. "The love story has good vibes. I hope it will penetrate prejudices."

Ledger told reporters in Toronto he was nervous to take on the material, "but that is also what makes it exciting."

When asked whether he hopes the movie will break down barriers on gay love in Hollywood, Ledger says he's not concerned with that.

"We never went into this with political intentions whatsoever," he replied. "If it has positive effects, that's wonderful. But we had none of those intentions."

Brokeback Mountain is set for wide release in Canada in December.