Jake Gyllenhaal says his experience with Brokeback Mountain taught him something vital. And it has nothing to do with the importance of man-on-man action. (Although he probably learned something about that, too.)
In an interview with The Huffington Postâs Ricky Camilleri, Gyllenhaal not only credited the movie â which he said has âa beautiful storyâ â with boosting his career (âit was a huge turning pointâ) but with teaching him about the political significance that a motion picture can have.
âIt gave me the idea that movies can be important, that they do have some sort of political value,â he said.
Gyllenhaal, whose role as a ranch hand who engages in a secret gay affair earned an Academy Award nomination, said the film now âlives in its own space. Itâs one of those films thatâs really no longer mine, itâs sort of everyoneâs.â
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As for whether or not the actor knew going in that it would have such a huge effect, the actor said, âIt just took off. Itâs become something beyond what any of us could have imagined.â
Certainly itâs the movie that catapulted Gyllenhaal into the fantasies of gay men everywhere. And how does he feel about the movie now? âItâs an honor to be a part of,â he said.
Desert Boy
There was a certain career risk for Gyllenhaal to take the part in ‘Brokeback Mountain’. But he went ahead and I always admired him for this.
aliengod
@Desert Boy: I agree. He and Heath Ledger were great.
QJ201
only power bottoms can be spit f*cked in one thrust?
I swear that scene ruined the entire movie for me.
AnitaMann
Great actor but god that movie was terrible being full of inaccuracies and pathetic stereotypes.
Faulk
I don’t think some people understood the move at all…
For me one of the best movies ever, and it gets me everytime i watch it.
NoCagada
@QJ201: Oh, brother…you must be one of those “OW!, YOU’RE HURTING MY WHOO-WHOO!” kind of boys…
mydude
@Desert Boy: yeah, at that time (my god it was only 2005) it was still a risk for him and Heath to do that film. That said, it had a A-list director and the film did make a lot of money.
Sammy Schlipshit
@QJ201:
I agree.
The inaccurate staging of that scene instantly took the fantasy out of believing in the film.
No way in hell anyone except the most ‘experienced’ bottoms could ever have that happen without a substantial verbal outcry.
It’s inaccuracies such as that make me believe there were no gay men involved in that production….or at least none with any power.
….but still, Brokeback Mountain was the very first love story movie that I really believed….and identified with.
Have seen it twice…first in a theater where at the conclusion I was just sobbing out-loud (much to the consternation of my str8 and lesbian pals I was with)and the second time viewing was my store bought DVD.
The ending crushes me so much I just haven’t been able to bring myself to another viewing.
The snub from the Oscars demonstrates just how old, out of touch and homophobic the Academy voters are still.
Crash was trash….and Annie Proulx so eloquently stated.
Larry
@AnitaMann: Are you a gay man? Tell me what pathetic stereotypes are in the movie? It was their story so how can it be inaccurate? Did they forget to acquire your permission to be themselves?
MarionPaige
Gyllenhaal looked like he could hardly keep a “straight” face at having to answer yet another Brokeback question. When I finally did see the movie (on Hulu) years after all of the hype and bullshit PR, I was shocked at how UN-gay the movie is. Both guys are married (in the beginning) and having them isolated, away from women, (in the beginning) plays out like men who turn to having sex with other men in prison or in the military. It is established that MOST MEN who are denied access to women long enough will likely turn to having sex with other men. Gyllenhaal’s character is married throughout the movie and his behavior is probably typical behavior of heterosexual men in rural areas. Heath Ledger’s character comes off as being infected by Gay and he has no control over it. As I recall, the character actually refers to “this THING taking control of us” – it’s hardly a gay affirming movie.
As is with almost everything embraced by The Modern Gay Movement, Brokeback Moustain was more about hyper, PR and marketing. Brokeback is to gay cinema what WORLD WAR Z is to zombie movies.
The producers behind World War Z recognized that you would make a very profitable zombie movie if you just DE-EMPHASIZIED THE ZOMBIES. BrokeBack Mountain is the gay movie that de-emphasized GAY.
I’m not going to run down the list of gay themed movies that are better than Brokeback (however, Burnt Money and Parting Glances immediately come to mind) but, I find it curious and interesting that someone can actually say that Gyllenhaal WAS BRAVE to do Brokeback in fucking 2005. What then was Al Pacino to do Cruising in 1980?
Sammy Schlipshit
@MarionPaige:
You have some valid points.
Unlike a lot of folks, I don’t put the burden of any movie being the end-all for any character portrayals.
Humans are just too varied to try and do that.
With that said, I know of guys like those two characters. Had some for part time, temporary lovers.
Very common even these days.
Sure those two may have started their relationship because of their isolation but the need and desire that made them continue on for years pretty much negates that their desire to just being one of convenience.
Didn’t see World War Z. I can’t handle zombies in any fashion. Can’t even watch the previews for The Walking Dead. Unnerving.
You were absolutely spot on about Dog Day Afternoon portrayals even though that was hardly typical or common story of gay men either.
Look back at the very dated but still topical Making Love. I recall the controversy over those two guys kissing.
How about Sunday, Bloody Sunday?…..Deathtrap? All were good but certainly didn’t attempt to show all of us in our glory.
All early movies didn’t necessarily show my people in the best light and yet, there we were…..smack on the big screen for all to see.
My biggest concern these days is not necessarily how we are portrayed (still a way to go) but how do we slow down or stop all this assimilation going on?
We are not like everyone else. I, for one, never want to ‘fit in’.
We are special.
Celebrate it.
Paco
@QJ201: I was thinking more along the lines of the mythical spontaneous bottom with a magical, no prep anus, when I saw that scene. The realities of unprepared anal sex isn’t very sexy though, so I cut the director some slack and still enjoyed the film.
Sammy Schlipshit
@Paco:
” spontaneous bottom with a magical, no prep anus, ” …..now, that’s funny. Wonderful wordsmithery going on.
MarionPaige
I think, for gay men of a certain age, Steve Buscemi is what the Queens are trying to turn Jake Gyllenhaal into. And, again
If Gyllenhaal was “brave” to do Brokeback in fucking 2005, what was Buscemi to do “Parting Glances” in 1986?
Wooly
So if Broke bakc was so good, how come there hasn’t been anything else to follow? Why not take a gay character and put him in a role where his gayness is not the story line but only a characteristic.
Sammy Schlipshit
@Wooly:
Homos are still considered to be too hot and unprofitable for Hollyweird.
Regarding you second statement….one big money film would be KissKissBangBang. Check it out.
Wilberforce
The men and the scenery and the cinematography were all beautiful. But it was another gay tragedy, which are easy to write, since we’ve been through so many bad times.
I prefer gay rom-coms, like Trick, or All Over the Guy, or Circuit, or Adam and Steve. I don’t need to go to Hollywood to know we’ve had it rough.
stranded
@Wilberforce: I completely agree. Any LGBT movie that gains any kind of recognition or is given the A treatment in terms of actors, directors and script is always going to be a tragedy. It’s always the same story. One is either straight or a hooker and will die in the end. While the lovesick shy gay guy survives to live a sad life. I don’t like Brokeback Mountain, if I want to see a tragedy or drama there are better out there. Marco Berger’s Hawaii or Plan B are great, or Pedro AlmodĂłvar’s films, Xavier Dolan makes great films
blackberry finn
@NoCagada: lol
blackberry finn
@MarionPaige: The story/film is set in the 1960s, pre-Gay Lib and culturally/spatially as far from urban gay culture as one could possibly get on the North American continent. So the fact of their lack of “gay” identity or gender expression makes abs perfect sense, as does the fact of their being married. Not given an opportunity for “situational homosexuality” neither one may have ever pursued it, given their backgrounds.
Besides, the story was written by a woman, as you know, and women authors often have a different “take” on male-male sexuality than gay men (Are there differences between gay fiction written by men and women? Some might say so.). All in all, it may not be the politicized “authenticity” that you look for in a queer film, but it is authentic to its own, non-LGBT context.
MarionPaige
You say 60’s like it was prehistoric times. I also don’t think the 60’s actually qualify as “pre-gay lib” (even if you consider only the US).
Brokeback was an interesting movie to see free on Hulu, I’m glad I didn’t waste time and money to see it in a theater.
Maybe I’m alone but there is something particularly insulting to me about “the women and gay men demographic” manta. And, as YOU know, Brokeback was the test of this mythical “women and gay men demographic”. Women and White Queens I can see but, “women and gay men (all gay men)? I don’t think so.
Kangol
I thought Brokeback Mountain was an excellent film, and exceeded my expectations. It should have won the Academy Award the year it was up for Best Picture.
NJjoe
BBM is one of the most beautiful films ever made. It was a risk for both Jake and Heath to take on these two parts and I can’t of any two actors that could play these characters with brilliance. Al Pacino taking on “Crusing” was also a risk in 1980. Great actors take on roles that some others wouldn’t think of doing. I (still) applaude Pacino for doing that role- He’s not afraid and he may not give a s*it what others think. Both films are very important with three outstanding actors bar none.
TomMc
What I learned from Brokeback Mountain is that straight people are okay with a guy sobbing uncontrollably in a theatre.
Sammy Schlipshit
Oh, I know what you mean.
I went with some lesbians and str8 folks. They were patient with me but really didn’t understand why the film affected me so much.
Sebizzar
I believe this was the first gay romance movie I ever saw, I cried as well. It’s even more sad now that Heath is gone đ
salex
IS IT JUST POSSIBLE THAT IT ASSISTED IN OPENING THE EYES OF STRAIGHTS WHO PERHAPS WERE AWAKEN WITH THE INSIGHT THAT WE, AS GAY, ARE NO DIFFERENT THAN THEY. Love is love, and as someone in the Northeastern community said, “what’s the difference”.
martinbakman
@Kangol: I agree. A great film. The kitchen scenes were all remarkable, but especially the one at Jack’s parents ranch, where Jack’s mom wraps the shirt up….
I still get choked up thinking about it.
Ang Le made all those kitchen scenes happen. He’s awesome.