Brokeback Mountain may have been released a decade ago, but new details continue to emerge surrounding the film’s production that add even more depth to the future classic.
Speaking to Variety about the 10-year anniversary, director Ang Lee revealed that Heath Ledger based his performance on a homophobic gay rancher uncle. What are the odds?
Related: Brokeback Mountain Author Wishes She’d Never Written The Story
“Heath came in and wanted to do it right away,” Lee said, adding, “he told me that he learned from one of his uncles, who is also a very macho, homophobic gay, much like Ennis [Del Mar, Heath’s character], and also a rancher.”
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Lee also shed some light on what it was like shooting those unforgettable sex scenes:
“I was pretty shy shooting sex scenes, so I designed a very complicated one-shot deal, with 13 points of focus. I made it technical so that no one would think about anything else except hitting their marks.
Once we got past the first take, nobody was shy anymore. We tried to make it as real and compelling as possible, and they were very professional. Getting into the first take was hard, and it was the 13th take that I ended up using, which was the last take.”
Ultimately, Lee was shocked at how wide an audience the film reached — Brokeback remains the most commercially successful LGBT themed film ever made.
Related: Jake Gyllenhaal Reveals What He Learned From Making “Brokeback Mountain”
“I also thought it would be an arthouse film with a very small audience. I was nervous about the subject matter hitting the shopping mall, and I was surprised at its success,” Lee said.
“I think it has something to do with the fact that it’s a poignant love story.”
Rob Moore
He captured the essence of the story quite beautifully. Straight men made a beautifully tragic gay love story come to life.
russellhm
Jake is so accurate. And since it is simply a love story, it is extremely timely what with SCOTUS decision. Love matters! Love has no gender requirements. And while the film has great sorrow as it unfolds, the proof of their love shines through as getting the shirt from his parents. Not many I know could withhold tears. And Heath’s untimely death, so soon after the film’s release, made it even more poignant.
Terry Purdue
Interesting thought. We all know someone like Ennis
QJ201
Sorry the spit as lube could have been skipped as the realism was laughably unrealistic
JessPH
I still can’t believe that this wonderful film lost to Crash for Oscar Best Pic. That was probably the biggest upset in Oscar history since Brokeback Mountain was heavily predicted to receive the top award after winning the best picture awards from the Golden Globes and various film critics groups. Ugh.
Everybody still knows Brokeback Mountain. No one hardly remembers Crash.
Clearly, Crash winning best pic is a huge blunder from the Academy!
JessPH
@JessPH: I mean Everyone hardly remembers Crash.
Sluggo2007
I can’t imagine what brought voters to choose Crash over Brokeback Mountain.
BJ McFrisky
@Sluggo2007: Political correctness, pure and simple. Race trumps sexual identity in Hollywood’s eyes.
Clark35
Whatever. The characters in the fictional story and film were bisexual, not gay.
jimmycurry01
@Clark35:
I think Jake’s character was gay and doing his best to pass in a world that wasn’t ready to accept himosexuality. Heath’s character seems a bit more complicated. He is possibly bisexual, he is possibly gay and wrestling with some very complicated inner demons.It could be that if he never took that job he never would have had a gay experience in his entire life.
To simply state that both characters are bisexual is to do the film a great disservice. The film is a character study and explores the complexity of human sexuality, and how sex and love effect us, especially when it comes from an unexpected place. That is likely why this film was a success; it genuinely made people think beyond their standard ideas of sexuality and see it from a perspective that they never considered.