I finally watched the movie and I'm still trying to figure out what I really think of it. So much of deliberation and debate (with myself) can only mean one thing - I definitely don't think it was great. Or else I would have been able to admit it instantly!

I guess it's just a case of not being able to identify with the story, the characters, the situations. (Not that it's necessary to appreciate a movie, in which case Shrek and Ice Age wouldn't be in my list of favourite movies!)
At the risk of sounding politically incorrect and hurting the sensibilities of the gay community, I would have to say Brokeback Mountain really wasn't as great I hoped it would be. I mean the way I see it, it's just a story of two men cheating on their wives for almost 20 years! I bet we wouldn't be calling it a touching, beautiful and poignant love story if these men were cheating on their wives with other women, now would we? So why is it okay if they're closet homosexuals trapped in marriages with women they cannot love? Marriages that they chose and were not forced into, as is often the case here in India.

Then again I detach myself and try and look at just the love story... But still nothing. It just lacked definition and a certain believable quality. It actually seemed contrived. And I've read reviews by gay people who say they identify with the dilemmas of the characters. I guess the point of the film is really to portray the anguish of homosexual men surrounded by hostility towards their kind. I wonder...do you have to be gay to really appreciate this movie? Or maybe it's just not my kind of movie...

The film has been shot well but not spectacularly. As for the pace, I thought it dragged a bit in the first half. Frankly, I don't even think Ang Lee deserved the Oscar for direction. Crash was actually far better. I've yet to watch Capote and Good Night and Good Luck. I did watch a bit of Munich though. One film that didn't get nominated in the Best Direction category but I think deserved to win anyway would be Memoirs of a Geisha. I've read the book and loved it. I've watched the movie and loved it too. Now that rarely happens.

By the way, I even read the short story that Brokeback Mountain is based on...it was worse than the film!