Brokeback Mountain is a 2005 romantic-drama film that depicts the complex romantic and sexual relationship between two men in the American West from 1963 to 1983.

The film was directed by Taiwanese director Ang Lee from a screenplay by Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry, which they adapted from the short story Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx. The film stars Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, and Michelle Williams.

Brokeback Mountain won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and was honored with Best Picture and Best Director accolades from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, Golden Globe Awards, Critics Choice Awards, and Independent Spirit Awards among many other organizations and festivals. Brokeback Mountain had the most nominations (eight) for the 78th Academy Awards, where it won three: Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Score. The film was widely considered to be a front runner for the Academy Award for Best Picture, but lost to Crash. At the end of its theatrical run, Brokeback Mountain ranked eighth among the highest-grossing romantic dramas of all time.

Plot:

Brokeback Mountain is the story of ranch hand Ennis del Mar (Heath Ledger) and rodeo cowboy Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal), two young men who meet and fall in love on the fictional Brokeback Mountain in Wyoming in 1963. The film documents their complex relationship over the next twenty years.

Cast:

Heath Ledger as Ennis del Mar
Jake Gyllenhaal as Jack Twist
Anne Hathaway as Lureen Newsome
Michelle Williams as Alma Beers
Randy Quaid as Joe Aguirre
Linda Cardellini as Cassie
Anna Faris as Lashawn Malone
David Harbour as Randall Malone
Roberta Maxwell as Mrs. Twist
Peter McRobbie as John Twist
Kate Mara as Alma Jr.

Production notes:

While the movie is set in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming, it was filmed almost entirely in the Canadian Rockies in southern Alberta.

The "Brokeback Mountain" in the movie, named such because the mountain has the same swayback curve as a brokeback horse or mule, which is swaybacked or sagging in the spine, is actually a composite of Mount Lougheed south of the town of Canmore to Fortress and Moose Mountain in Kananaskis Country] The campsites were filmed at Goat Creek, Upper Kananaskis Lake, Elbow Falls and Canyon Creek, also in Alberta. Other movie scenes were also filmed in Cowley and Fort Macleod, Calgary.

The movie was filmed during the summer of 2004.

During filming it was reported Ledger almost broke Gyllenhaal's nose during a kissing scene, as the scene required violent passion.

Commercial success:

Brokeback Mountain cost about U.S.$14 million to produce, excluding its advertising budget of (allegedly) $5 million. According to interviews with the filmmakers, Focus Features was able to recoup its production costs early on by selling overseas rights to the film.

The film saw limited release in the United States on December 9, 2005 (in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco), taking $547,425 in five theaters its first weekend.

Over the Christmas weekend, it posted the highest per-theater gross of any movie and was considered a box office success not only in urban centers such as New York City and Los Angeles, but also in suburban theaters near Portland, Houston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, and Atlanta. On January 6, 2006, the movie expanded into 483 theaters, and on January 13, 2006, Focus Features, the movie's distributor, opened Brokeback in nearly 700 North American cinemas as part of its ongoing expansion strategy for the movie. On January 20, the film opened in 1,194 theaters in North America; it opened in 1,652 theaters on January 27 and in 2,089 theaters on February 3, its widest release.

Reception:

Professional film critics have heaped praise on Brokeback Mountain. The film won four Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture-Drama, and was nominated for seven, leading all other films in the 2005 awards. It won the Golden Lion at the Venice International Film Festival, as well as the title Best Picture from the Boston Society of Film Critics, the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association, the Florida Film Critics Circle, the Las Vegas Film Critics Society, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the New York Film Critics Circle, the San Francisco Film Critics Circle, the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the Utah Film Critics Society, and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (the BAFTAs).

Brokeback Mountain received an 87% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, compiled from 223 reviews, with the consensus that "a beautifully epic Western, Brokeback Mountain's gay love story is embued with heartbreaking universality, helped by the moving performances of Ledger and Gyllenhaal." The film was given a "two thumbs up" rating by Ebert and Roeper, the former granting a four-star review in the Chicago Sun-Times. The film received "circumspect" positive reviews from Christianity Today. Conservative radio host Michael Medved gave the film three and a half stars, stating that while the movie's "agenda" is blatant, it is an artistic work. He did not, however, place the film on his year-end top 5 list.

Awards:

Won
Academy Awards record
1. Best Director, Ang Lee
2. Best Original Score, Gustavo Santaolalla
3. Best Adapted Screenplay, Larry McMurtry, Diana Ossana
Golden Globe Awards record
1. Best Director, Ang Lee
2. Best Motion Picture — Drama
3. Best Original Song, Gustavo Santaolalla, Bernie Taupin
4. Best Screenplay, Larry McMurtry, Diana Ossana
BAFTA Awards record
1. Best Direction, Ang Lee
2. Best Film, Diana Ossana, James Schamus
3. Best Supporting Actor, Jake Gyllenhaal
4. Best Adapted Screenplay, Larry McMurtry, Diana Ossana
78th Academy Awards: Best Director (Ang Lee), Best Adapted Screenplay (Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana), Best Original Score (Gustavo Santaolalla)
59th BAFTA Awards: Best Film (Diana Ossana and James Schamus), Best Supporting Actor (Jake Gyllenhaal), Best Director (Ang Lee), Best Adapted Screenplay (Larry McMurty and Diana Ossana)
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2005: Best Picture (Diana Ossana and James Schamus), Best Director (Ang Lee), Best Supporting Actress--(Tie) (Michelle Williams), Best Original Song (Emmylou Harris, Gustavo Santaolalla, and Bernie Taupin, "A Love That Will Never Grow Old")
Directors Guild of America Awards: Director of the Year Award — Theatrical Motion Picture (Ang Lee)
European Film Awards: Best Director (Ang Lee)
GLAAD Media Awards: Outstanding Film — Wide Release (Ang Lee, Diana Ossana, and James Schamus)
63rd Golden Globe Awards Best Motion Picture — Drama (Diana Ossana and James Schamus), Best Director — Motion Picture (Ang Lee), Best Screenplay (Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana), Best Song (Gustavo Santaolalla and Bernie Taupin, "A Love That Will Never Grow Old")
Independent Spirit Awards: Best Picture (Diana Ossana and James Schamus), Best Director (Ang Lee)[68]
MTV Movie Awards: Best Performance (Jake Gyllenhaal), Best Kiss (Heath Ledger & Jake Gyllenhaal)
Producer's Guild Awards: Producer of the Year Award — Theatrical Motion Picture (Diana Ossana and James Schamus)
Time Magazine: TIME 100: The People Who Shape Our World (2006) (Ang Lee)[69]
Venice International Film Festival: "Golden Lion" for Best Film (Ang Lee)
Writers Guild of America Awards: Best Adapted Screenplay (Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana)
National Gay Pride Association: Best Motion Picture (2006) (Diana Ossana and James Schamus)
Australian Film Institute award for Best actor in an International film Heath Ledger