beautifully broken

Much to Salud’s prodding eh pinanood ko ang Brokeback Mountain kagabi. Ganda nga talaga. Worth naman pala and justified yong gaga ng Hollywood over this film.

Sa opening scenes pa lang alam mo nang maganda ang pelikula. The breathtaking view of the Wyoming mountain ranges instantly sweeping you off your feet. Beautiful scenery. Nature at it’s purest. Just like the story about to be told. Because against this serenely beautiful background unravels a story equally beautiful and as pure as the mountains and the grasslands itself.

Nagkakilala ang dalawang ranch hands, had a couple of weeks together in the wilderness, nag-inuman isang gabi, and boom! Umpisa na.

Ano ba ang kinaganda ng pelikulang yon. It is quite a simple story – walang twists, walang mga complex subplots like most films have nowadays, walang mga eksena that will bring you to the edge of your seat. It is just plain and simple story telling. Pero kung hindi ka nya dadalhin at the edge of your seat, dadalhin ka naman niya, in many many occasions on the verge of shedding a tear or two. Simple yet very effective. And indeed very powerful.

For me, the strongest points of the entire film are the well-defined, well-developed characters noong apat na major roles. Taong-tao sila. Hindi mga karakter na ginawa lang ng scripwriter.

Ennis, the main character, is just an ordinary hardworking southern guy who is suddenly confronted with the fact that he is gay. “I ain’t queer” sabi nya. Ako rin sabi ni Jack. Very typical of a person who is in denial. But what they can not deny is the fact that they are totally, uncontrollably in love with each other. Totally heart wrenching yong iyak nya (Ennis) nong una silang mag-hiwalay ni Jack.

And so we were taken through waves after waves of emotion with Ennis, being the deeper character who keeps most things to himself and the emotionally weaker Jack who is just like any other gay I knew – may minamahal pero hindi limited ang options when it comes to sex partners. Ergo, simple pero talandi.

Then along came the wives – the silent and martyr type Elma who definitely Carmina Villaroel can identify with and the coldly ruthless wife of Jack (ano ba’ng name nya) who, after confirming her long-time suspicion, arranged for Jack’s murder (or was it her obnoxious, rich and powerful father who did it).

Kahit nga yong pagka-patay ni Jack, hindi in-exaggerate eh. A few seconds lang on screen and yet ang lakas ng impact. Yon ding unang encounter nila in bed sa Brokeback, madilim, but all the sound and the noises made up for all the absence of visuals.

Even the music was kept to a minimum, just a few strums of guitar sa mga emotional scenes. Hindi agaw eksena. Basta pang-hagod lang ng emotions.

So it was the honestly real characters. Plus the simple yet emotionally complex story line. Plus the simple yet breathtaking cinematography. And the other simple aspects of the production which altogether added to the grandness of the whole thing.

Ganda. Galing. Bravo to Ang Lee!

I just have a couple of concerns. Personally, hirap akong intindihin ang heavy drawl ni Ennis. Heath said his characterization of Ennis was a “clenched fist”. Fine. So clenched na tipong halos ayaw magsalita, mumbling to himself in most parts. Eh hirap na nga ako sa heavy southern accent, mina-mumble pa nya yong lines kaya kahit anong gawin kong rewind eh hindi ko talaga maintindihan. Siguro mas makaka-empathize ako sa character nya kung naintindihan ko sya all the time. How I wish it was sub-titled. Hmmm, an English film subtitled in English? Weird no…

Na sya namang kabaligtaran ni Jake. Na dapat si Jack, coming from Texas, should have an accent as heavy as Ennis’s. Pero hindi sya nabantayan and was inconsistent in some scenes where he spoke just like a New Yorker. Pero mabuti na rin lang. Dahil kung heavy accent din sya, wala na akong naintindihan sa dialogue nila.

Another thing that bothered me was the fact that the physical aspect – yong hitsura mismo ni Jack at ni Ennis ay hindi nagbago from the day they met in Brokeback Mountain to the end of the film where twenty-odd years has passed. Maybe there was an effort pero hindi ganon ka-effective. Kung pinatanda man sila, halos walang 5 years ang inilagay sa kanilang make-up. In fact, the penultimate scene didn’t looke like a daughter telling her father na mag-aasawa na sya. Kung walang audio, it looked to me more like a boyfriend-girlfriend having a serious talk.

Nevertheless it is a poignant story about love, relationships, marriage, betrayal, infidelity and all the things that go with it. Ganon man ka-simple yong story, the film brought about a whole gamut of emotions that will engulf you. In the end, you will forget na dalawang lalaki yong involve sa love affair. You will simply look at it as a love story between two persons. And in the end, the message is just as simple and beautiful as the film itself: Love.