A Liar's Guide to the Dreams..

In the dead of the night, the dreams come in one by one. They cling to you with soft acceptance, and they know it all..

These are the dreams which leave a note of remembrance. They cling to our tongues like a bittersweet delight.

They feel familiar, though their flavour melts in the mouth... and taste distinctly unusual.


March 06, 2006

BrokenBack... Mount-ten

And here I was thinking everything was near-perfect in this perfect Romeo-Juliet studded world when suddenly last night, thank you illegal, pirated CD dealers and my Cable Distributors, I saw this am-a-zing flick. Brokeback Mountain. And did it ever break the mould. I was getting pretty sick of the chick flicks people generally have in mind for me, just because I once professed a love for Casablanca, Singin' In the Rain, & Pride and Prejudice (the BBC version with Colin Firth in it). They completely overlooked my love for Polanski's Macbeth, Kurosawa's Rashomon, Renoir's The Rules of the Game and American Beauty. Brokeback Mountain made me feel better after a long time.


The story is simple… boy meets boy, boy loves boy, and then… boy leaves and finds other pleasures of life… like riding of the other kind. For those who wanted the story, go watch it I say. It will, perhaps, induce a better response for those whom you call ‘homos’, or as Dad called it ‘Poduwa’ (that’s Bengali for you-know-what). What did the film signify to me?? It signified the arrival of a new trend, of the be-sympathetic-to-gays-they’re-human trend. It has been going on for the last few years… starting from the response of Boys Don’t Cry, leading to Monster and continuing still to my topic. I can say that the best film I have seen on this particular topic till date is Robin Williams-Nathan Lane film, The Birdcage, adapted from the French La Cage Aux Follies. The screenplay did not sympathize with the subject matter of cross-dressing, homosexual relationships, or drag queens. It made no apologies in being who you were, and showed how to be proud of oneself. In some ways, when in the end, Robin Williams brings Nathan Lane in front of Gene Hackman and says, “This is my wife.” with pride ringing in his voice, that is when I suddenly feel stupid tears in my jaded eyes.

In Brokeback Mountain, what struck me was Heath Ledger. He has matured a LOT since those days of chick flicks like Ten Things I Hate about You, The Patriot and A Knight’s Tale. I realized his capabilities as an actor in Halle Berry Oscared Monster’s Ball where he played Billy Bob Thornton’s gay son. Here, in Brokeback Mountain, he is beautiful. That is the sole expression I have for him. The encounter he has with his partner, Jake Gyllelhaal is short, but notable is the tasteful way Ang Lee handles the passionate and tender scene. Ang Lee is someone whom I respected in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but he is simply too true in his method of handling. There is a scene where Heath Ledger, the ranch hand, is lonely, and miserable… he misses his partner (and yes I forgot the name of Jake Gyllelhaal in the movie cause I was busy looking at Heath’s abs… perfection!!)… He inhales the scent of his partner from this jeans shirt the partner used to wear. What I saw was the way Heath Ledger’s eyes registered the longing and the acknowledgement of the loss simultaneously. I am being poetic, but his expression was priceless. There was something else in there perhaps… a smidgen of angst, maybe?? Or was that my eyes’ mistake??


In the end, I would like to point out two things. Brokeback Mountain got an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Director, which is a great achievement for Ang Lee, as he is probably the first Asian director to get an Oscar for a film (I missed the Academy Awards, and saw only the end of it). I hope it would be Shekhar Kapoor’s turn soon. He was highly underrated for Elizabeth. Incidentally, Crash got the Oscar for Best Film.

CRASH!!

Can you hear the heart break?? CRASH!!!

21 comments:

i dwell in possibility said...

Tui kothai thakis, aar tor cable-wallah ke? BBM'er Cd paowa jabe? I envy you, seriously...keno je Kolkata'te BBM dekhabe na ke jaane? Kal aabi, tor kachche golpo shunbo!

Poorna Banerjee said...

Dereling, ami cheshta korbo jogar korte tomar jonno. Wish me luck.

Dipanjan Das said...

BBM amar kachhe achhe. bhalo bandwidth thakle ami pathate pari.

Anonymous said...

Umm..

I did watch it's few mins....then something crash on my mind & I went to my works...

still i dont hv any idea what's did happnend as I'm out of the world from last 3 days bcoz I'm sleeping 10 hrs a days & listening lots of HINDI songs....nothing extra!!

cheers...
roy

Poorna Banerjee said...

dd-thanz.. you'll be doing Midnight a huuge favour.

Roy- wow!! all this time to sleep 10 hours??? I can't even sleep for more than four hours at a stretch nowadays (course pressure, You Know).

Poorna Banerjee said...

PP- I did'nt see Crash, but I don't think I'll see it... general bias against an all-star cast. Especially Sandra B.

Anonymous said...

Solid review. 'Crash' fans are laughing their brains out in the States as Brokeback considered a lock for the 'best picture' didn't got what it wanted.
Anyway, you should've seen jake Gyllenhaal in the movie 'October Sky'; a true story about few rustic boys trying to build a rocket to get a college scholarship.
Yes, we should be indifferent to gays, not sympathetic. Why they should nee sympathy, I wonder. They just want to f**k guys from their sex, and it's present in most of the mammalian species. lol..another biology lesson.

Poorna Banerjee said...

aragorn- erm, thanks. Plz do NOT remind me of gay animals, coz that reminds me of my friend's dog who was totally gay, and used to find similar gay dogs in his neighborhood.

Apoplexy said...

I agree about Herbert..but onyl partially,,the last EXPLANATIOn of the blast wasnt needed, I feel.But then, I didnt make the film .:-)
Thanks for dropping by.

Poorna Banerjee said...

you're welcome apoplexy

Anonymous said...

Heii..

Howz life?!?!
Just wake up....from a long week sleep!!
thanx thanx thanx to wish on Kiran's Birthday!!
U know I found lot of comments on others comments but when I posted abt my best friend's birthday only 2 wrote comments on that!!!
you know ammar khoob bhalo lagechhe...thanx!!
I'll remember it..
roy

Anonymous said...

Sorry to add..

HAPPY HOLI....wish, all the color you got add so much color in you that all the paints co. may run behind you to make their BRAND AMBASSADOR...

Poorna Banerjee said...

thank you... thank you so much

Poorna Banerjee said...

Sure Patient... will check it out.

Anonymous said...

Hi..

thank thank to give me so many thnks & I should also:)
welcome....welcome...welcome but not to Mumbai bcoz u know it's FLU time...welcome when that flu fly with the birds.....till then fell flying
Roy

Anonymous said...

fly away from here....

Anonymous said...

fly away from here....

Anonymous said...

Heii..

Just noticed that u add my blog in ur "Friends & bloggers"....thanx for being added 1st time!!

ROY-al....ha-ha-ha I dont know how much I'm mucicaly royal but Music is very royal to me..

"And may you always have the courage
To spread your wings and fly!
And if someday you start flying
Please come to Mumbai first.."

thanx!!

Poorna Banerjee said...

i think I will.. if I get away from here... lol

fyn scarlet reed said...

One of my friends also saw it on this cable channel... she says they aired it AGAIN a few days later, which makes me wonder why the hell they won't just release it in theatres. How many homophobic fundies are likely to show up anyway? Then again, almost nothing of the phoren good stuff comes to Cal anymore :[

And I loved The Birdcage.

Poorna Banerjee said...

Brokeback Mountain will be released in kolkata on 31st march.