Brokeback Mountain (15)

Dir. Ang Lee, 2005, US, 134 mins

Cast: Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Michelle Williams, Randy Quaid

Thankfully, Ang Lee's latest film sees him returning to what he does best, which is non-fantastical drama. 'Brokeback Mountain' , based on the award winning short story by Anne Proulx and adapted for the screen by Diana Ossana and Pulitzer Prize winner Larry McMurtry, is a slow and painstakingly considered film that tells a love story, on the one hand unusual and yet on the other, deeply familiar. As with many a love story the love here is forbidden, involving two young hired hands who end up forming a romantic bond. However, the emotions in 'Brokeback Mountain' have been deliberately reigned in and the over-sentimentality cut out. This is not only brave (never mind the making of a film about two gay cowboys in Wyoming in the first place), but lends the film an important feel of authenticity and renders the quiet, gentle denouement all more heart-breaking for its subtlety.

The story of 'Brokeback Mountain unfolds very simply: set in Wyoming, two hands-for-hire are sent up the eponymous mountain for the summer to look after the sheep herd of a local rancher. These men are Ennis (Ledger) and Jack (Gyllenhaal). Ennis is reserved and cautious while Jack is ebullient. Over the course of the summer the relationship between the two gravitates from friendship to romance, but when it is time to return both go their separate ways - Ennis remains in Wyoming to wed his sweetheart Alma (Williams) while Jack heads off to Texas , where he meets and marries rodeo-princess Lureen (Hathaway). Four years later the men meet again, and discover their attachment to each other has only been strengthened by the intervening period. Over the course of twenty years Ennis and Jack continue to meet illicitly, living double lives. Unable to openly declare their love for each other, the men are forced to lie to their families and raise the suspicions of those who know them. Nevertheless, they continue to see each other right up until Jack's death, but although their love remains constant they are never to achieve the same freedom and happiness as they did up on the mountain.

Having had an extraordinarily illustrious career (not a single one of his films, save perhaps 'Hulk' , seems to have been badly received) - from the three sisters searching for happiness in 'Eat Drink Man Woman' , the classic and surprisingly successful adaptation of Jane Austen's 'Sense and Sensibility' and the cold dissection of the adult world in 'The Ice Storm' to the emotionally charged epic 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' and subtextual Freudian blockbuster 'Hulk' - expectations are bound to be high for Lee's latest film. Viewers who prefer his more prosaic and adult work will not be disappointed. This is a powerful, understated film that achieves high drama exactly because of - rather than in spite of - its unassuming quality. The style and pace is kept straight forward, which suits the setting of the tale. Meanwhile, the acting is first class all round; especially from the two leads who generate a real sense of passion which is essential to making the love story work. Lee's film does not compromise its subject matter or probe questions of homosexual rights too deeply because what it is ultimately about is the forging of a life-long bond which defies - or rather perhaps disregards - both convention and society. Although this is unlikely to set the box office alight, it is an original and powerful achievement which shows a director and his crew at the height of their game.

Will Davis

• On Being A Cowboy
• Directing From the Heart: Ang Lee
• From Script to Screen: Interviews with Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana
• Sharing the Story: The Making of Brokeback Mountain