Film for 25 April 2008

BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN

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THE SCHEDULED FILM for 25 April 2008 is Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005). Our focus is on editing.
    The film has several long mood montages (short shots linked together by mood rather than by dialogue or story); while editing throughout is slower than in the average movie.
    The musical score complements (matches) the slow rhythms of the editing. Most of the musical cues (spots or moments when underscore is heard) are scored for an acoustic guitar; only a few are arranged for a small orchestra. These score significant moments in the drama.
   Editing issues to consider: Is the film too long? Are there scenes that could be cut without harm to the film? Is the musical underscore too bland, suggesting the film itself lacks insight into the two main characters, not even distinguished by musical themes?
    Are so many mood montages necessary to the film? Do they advance the film's theme or drama?
    Finally, what is the film's theme? Does it favor homosexual love in itself or simply for these two men (in other words, as a free choice)?
    (Actually, the film suggests that all men wish to escape their wives into a homosexual affair, such as when the two husbands sit on the steps and plan an affair while their wives chatter about social business.)
    In fact, nowhere in the film is there a normal heterosexual relationship. Is the film a critique of all heterosexual relationships?
    Women are dismissed as emasculating monsters and social burdens (the reason why men have to work, pay child support, go to family dinners, go to church functions, and sacrifice their pastoral dreams by mountains and rivers). Even Ennis's daughter decides to marry a husband in the oil fields, as if to show that the future will be just like the past. "Like mother, like daughter."
    Heterosexual men (including fathers) are also shown as emasculating, such as Joe Aguirre or the two rednecks at the fireworks display, whom Ennis beats up.
    By contrast, the two homosexual men represent social freedom; that is, freedom from social duties (child rearing, social functions).
    If so, is the film realistic or a sentimental (homoerotic) fantasy? Students should consider these issues for their week's commentaries.
    Attached are study pictures focused on the film's editing.

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