Film Analysis of Brokeback Mountain – Directed by Ang Lee

Warning ladies and gentlemen, this is a long one!

This is a beautiful film about the love that grows between two men in a time when same sex relationships just didn't happen. This is not an action movie, so do not expect thrilling climaxes or high speed racing. This is great movie to sit down in a quiet moment and see the world through a different perspective. It gives you the opportunity to question why people have to be miserable in order to conform to society. 

*Spoiler Alert ON*

Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) are two cowboys looking for work in the early sixties. They are hired to look after sheep on Brokeback Mountain and after a night of heavy drinking discover a new side to themselves. But things, especially in movies, can never be that simple. Ennis has a fiancée waiting for him and marries her when he makes it home. Jack moves to Texas and marries the beautiful and rich Lureen Newsome. Both of them have children but years later Jack Twist visits Ennis and tries to convince him to leave everything behind.

Ennis admits to a childhood incident which involves the torture and murder of a man suspected of homosexuality and refuses Jack’s offer. The two see each other during infrequent fishing trips.

Both their marriages fall apart and Ennis eventually gets a divorce. When Jack hears of the news he returns with the hope of a new life with Ennis but is refused once more. Jack comforts himself with male prostitutes and Ennis attempts another relationship with a waitress.

A while later Ennis is returned a postcard he sent to Jack with the word “Deceased” stamped on it. Ennis is informed by Lureen that Jack was killed by an exploding tire and the viewer sees images of Jack being beaten by several men.

Ennis goes to Jack’s family to complete Jack’s wish of his ashes being scattered on Brokeback Mountain but is refused. Jack’s mother allows Ennis to take two shirts, one is his own which he believed he’d lost on the mountain and is covered by the shirt Jack took with him. A while later his daughter comes to him to ask for his blessing for her marriage. He asks whether her fiancé loves her and she says that he does. When she leaves Ennis opens the door of his closet to show the two shirts, Jack’s now covered by Ennis’ shirt, and a postcard of Brokeback Mountain. He says “Jack I swear...” but is unable to finish the sentence.

The film opens to an image of a vast mountain area, through this dark image, a truck passes. We then follow the truck as it stops and one man, Ennis Del Mar, jumps out. This image not only introduces the main character but the scenery which is in, itself, a character. The emptiness of land symbolizes the loneliness of the main characters and is the place where this loneliness will only continue. The picture is dark and cold from the early morning and this represents the background from which our characters immerge. 

The opening sequence is of our two main characters meeting, even if they do not immediately talk to each other, and of their application to a job. Their boss in unkind, obnoxious and is forcing them to do something illegal. During this opening sequence we understand more of the world this film is set in which is unfriendly, vast, cruel and lonely. During the exposition, this only becomes more apparent as our characters begin to tell us of their pasts. Jack Twist comes from a cold family with an overbearing father and Ennis Del Mar is an orphan who was brought up by his older brother and sister who kicked him out when they got married.

We see the two set up camp and then part for their jobs, the only time they have human contact is when Jack returns for food. The rest of their days are spent in boring isolation with the presence of the ever present overbearing mountain. The point of first attack can be disputed as during the opening sequence we see Jack stealing glances at Ennis and his desire to talk to him but Ennis is oblivious. From this the audience can understand that there will be more behind their story but it is when Ennis smiles slightly at Jack’s determination to stay on the horse that is trying to throw him off and when the two stare at camp or the mountain depending on where they are stationed that we feel that the point of first attack has occurred. In my opinion this point in the film cannot be singled to one event but must include the entire opening sequence and exposition and then later their discussion where we understand the problem of their relationship when Ennis says that it was only a one time occurrence.

The inciting incident can also not be pinpointed to one event. The two experience incredible loneliness and have felt pressured throughout their entire lives. They make attempts to keep the only human contact they have pleasant which causes them to grow founder for each other. The night of heavy drinking and then Jack’s advances can be shown or determined as the inciting incident but I see it more as a catalyst and a conclusion of factors that include: childhood traumas, pressure, boredom, loneliness and a growing familiarity. Before the change in their relationship they move the campsite. This is a metaphor and a clue about the change to come and it is from this campsite that they will return to their former lives.

The morning after their first night together is filled with symbolism. Ennis returns to the mountain to find one of the sheep has been killed by a coyote, this he sees as the price for his actions and the “lamb” or sheep is often associated with innocence which is apt as it was Ennis’ first intimate relationship with anyone. This can also be interoperated as the evilness he’s sees in what he has done and the physical representation of the of Ennis’ inner conflict. Jack washes his clothes in the freezing water as though trying to wash the memories away but in his reaction we do not pay as much attention to his conflicts but that he washes himself clean and that he submits to the feelings his holds for Ennis.

Our main character, Ennis Del Mar makes his decision to continue the relationship with Jack Twist by returning to the tent and spending the night with Jack instead of going back to the mountain and looking after the sheep which is the plot point one in the film structure. He has pushed his original plan, to make money and to marry his fiancée Alma from thought and has decided to risk his job in order to spend the night with Jack. The next morning provides the first pinch point which is their boss calling in on them to bring news of Jack’s sick uncle and discovering them. From his conversation with Jack we understand that, though they have found seclusion from the rest of the world in the mountain that one day they will have to return to it.

The film quickly meets the midpoint when they find out that they must bring the sheep down from the mountain. Ennis refuses to accept that they can be together in the real world because of a traumatic event in his childhood and decides to return to his original plan of marrying Alma.

The second pinch point occurs when after the two have set up separate lives and created families, Jack visits Ennis and they rekindle their romance. We are led to believe that the two can continue with their normal lives but live a secret one with each other through their fishing trips. We are filled with a false sense of security in their relationship and in their lives. It is throughout this time frame that both their marriages deteriorate and Ennis gets a divorce. He sees Jack as the cause of all his problems and through his internal conflicts he works the courage to confront Jack which is the plot point two in the film structure.

The fight scene continues to become the climax of the film with both characters pushed to the breaking points by their relationship. Jack is no longer satisfied by their trips and continues to want to create a new life with Ennis but comforts himself with male prostitutes when he is refused. Ennis believes that Jack has caused all of his problems and “made him this way” instead of accepting that it that it was his feelings towards Jack that pushed Ennis’ wife away. Neither character is able to finish their relationship with the other despite their needs and inner conflicts which then gives way to the resolution. Ennis continues his confrontation when he sees the waitress he attempted to have a relationship with in a cafe. She represents the new life he could have had and a salvation from the pressure brought on by his relationship with Jack. He shies away from admitting to any emotions he might have had for her and says that he “Was probably no fun anyway”.

The resolution is Jack’s death; with this Ennis is freed of his conflicting feelings and desires and Jack is free of the torment of not being able to see Ennis. Through losing him, Ennis is able to come to terms with his emotions towards Jack.

In the ending, Ennis’ daughter Alma, comes to him to ask for his blessing to get married. Through asking whether her fiancé loves her, we recognize his desire is for her to be loved and be with the one she loves. When she departs he looks at the shirts he retrieved from Jack’s house and says “Jack, I swear...” but is unable to finish the sentence. From this we understand that he has accepted the fact that he loved Jack, even if he is unable to voice it and that he has moved on from his inner conflicts. The shirts are a symbol of this. When he first found them in Jack’s house, his shirt was inside Jack’s but in the ending scene Jack’s shirt is inside Ennis’; this is a representation of their love. Up until this point the instigator and the one more open with his desires had always been Jack but through his loss Ennis has accepted that he too had feelings and now his love is protecting the memory of Jack.

The film ends with Ennis’ final confession of his love for Jack and with the closing of his wardrobe. The shot consists of half of Ennis’ wardrobe and a view of his window. This then fades to black. Within this shot the viewer is left in the world that Ennis now has and will continue to live and in a sense brings closure to the film without there being much action or a complete sense of catharsis because we have come to understand how Ennis will survive with the loss of Jack and that he is no longer tormented by his inner conflicts. 

Jack Twist’s death is left ambiguous. When Ennis talks to Lureen on the phone the viewer sees images of Jack being beaten to death by several men. This and Lureen’s emotionless retail of the event lead the watcher to immediately assume that she found out about their relationship and she had Jack killed but Jack points out during one of their fishing trips that Lureen had completely detached from him and was emotionless. From this statement and the fact that she told Ennis of Jack’s last wishes, the watcher to wonders if she had any knowledge of Jack being beaten up. We then remember the uneasy relationship between Jack and Lureen’s father and begin to believe that her father found out about his relationship with Ennis and other men and had Jack killed. But we then remember Ennis’ traumatic childhood event, which was the torture and murder of a man suspected of homosexuality and the idea that Ennis’ father killed the man and the audience wonders whether Ennis created the whole scenario in his head and that Jack really did die in the fashion that his wife explained to him. The resolution is open to interoperation and it is through this that it is most memorable but after much deliberation I have decided that Ennis’ imagination got the better of him. 

The film is mostly in Ennis’ POV but there are constant intervals of Jack’s POV and occasionally other sub characters. We see the story through Ennis’ POV but it is through Jack’s that we understand Jack’s motivation and his own inner struggles. We see how he is unhappy with his marriage and unable to lose the memory of Ennis. We see how he attempts to get rid of his needs by going to Mexico and finding male prostitutes and we understand that the relationship has its toll on both characters. If we were to only see through Ennis’ POV then we would assume that Jack was not struggling with his own needs and feelings and that the entire situation was easy for him to handle.

Both characters are motivated by unhappy childhoods and marriages. Jack is motivated by the need to feel loved by a male figure because of the coldness of his father and Ennis is motivated by his need to belong somewhere which stems from a childhood of being orphaned, his sister moving out to get married and then his brother kicking him out when he got married. They struggle to find a place where they can satisfy these needs and become happy.

The main obstacle for the two of them is the society they live in which does not accept homosexuality. It would not be appropriate for them to live in the same house and this fear is narrated over and over again by Ennis’ speech and actions. We first understand it when he tells us of the event in his childhood and then when he asks Jack if he ever felt that the people on the streets were looking at him like “they knew”. This then causes him to hide within another relationship with a waitress but he is unsuccessful and they drift apart. This is also retold when Jack’s father explains to Ennis that Jack had always told them that he would come back to the ranch with his friend Ennis and that they would help his father run it, he then tells Ennis that Jack changed his mind and started talking about another fellow who was going to come and help. It is the emotion on his face and the look in his eyes that tell the audience that Jack’s father knew about his son’s relationship and did not approve to the extent that he does not allow Ennis to scatter Jack’s ashes on Brokeback Mountain. We also see it when Jack tries to get the same job on the mountain a year later but the owner of the sheep refuses him and then goes on the explain that he knew what they were doing up there and that he would not hire him.

The obstacle of homophobia caused great tension within the watchers when it was first released. Hollywood was accused of “pushing an agenda” and was attacked by the media. On Fox News Radio jokes were made about it hours after the announcement of Heath Ledger’s death and I believe that puts the film into context. It is a film about pushing boundaries and creating awareness and to say that it Hollywood was “pushing an agenda” would have to be said about more recent films which include 12 Years a Slave. Both topics, racism and homophobia, continue to be an issue to this day and we can understand the motivation for the film mainly through the reactions it received. It not only addressed the topic but showed a wider audience the general opinion of the public on the issue and brought awareness of it.