Brokeback Mountain just keeps getting better. The more I look at it the more classically and perfectly structured, shot, acted, and edited it is. Since I'm still reeling from the tragic loss of Heath Ledger, I was looking at the movie this morning. Ang Lee's deliberately quiet and langorously paced drama introduces Ennis Del Mar in longshot as he walks to his destination and waits. And waits some more. He rarely lifts his head up, but stays all stiff and internal. We get our first closeup at the sixth cut to him as Jack Twist's (Jake Gyllenhaal) sputtering vehicle disturbs his peace and quiet. But when Jack gets out of the truck and looks at him, Ennis immediately shrinks back into himself, head bowed, staring at the boots (the bottom right highlighted image, which is the eighth).It isn't until Jack's back is turned that Ennis Del Mar finally allows himself a peek...
Jack, in contrast, isn't so shy about the looking.
And 8th extra: Ennis Del Mar's eighth line in the movie (only one of which -- "I don't eat soup" -- isn't delivered to Jack):
I'm saving for a place myself. Uh, Alma and me, we --we'll be getting married when I come down off this mountain.It's only the second personal thing that Ennis has told Jack. Jack, sympathetic to the first story about Ennis's parents, ignores this one completely and jumps immediately back to his previous griping about their work.
Aside about this new 8th series: Why do I love minutae and lists and numbers so much? 20:07? 08th? top 10s? Who am I, Peter Greenaway?
Um. So... OK I'll just let this out. All navel gazing averse readers please be off to other blogs but I guess I have to get this off my chest...
Having dealt with terrible real grief in my lifetime I am not prone to judge how other people do the same. So I've waffled on whether or not to even mention Heath Ledger's tragic passing again, or rather the media and public reaction to it... because I've felt (surprise!) judgemental. Grief is a personal thing and the aftermath of sudden death, especially, is so beyond the realm of normal human emotional pain that when I hear people talking about Heath Ledger, I try and detach. We all deal with these things differently.
Daniel Day-Lewis's remarks on Oprah (the day after Heath's death) felt extremely genuine and sad to me --the less said about Oprah trying to deal with the sudden disruption of Oscar conversation the better --but his dedication of his own SAG trophy to Ledger @ last weekend's ceremony made me uncomfortable. Even though I feel the same way in regards to Monster's Ball (FB win) and Brokeback (FB win). I understand that this same exact speech really affected others deeply. Which I'm glad for. But the only thing I could think was: again? And 'oh god, no'.Maybe I'm just jaded from so many years of awards show watching but I've seen the way a speech from one ceremony will mirror a speech from the last one and so on and so on, until it's as clichéd as Jamie Foxx's call and response or Hilary Swank's 'girl from a trailer park dream' or as baffling as Jennifer Connelly's inability to memorize the words "thank you" after winning every prize or any number of repetitive awards season thank yous. Is Daniel going to keep tying his awards run for There Will Be Blood to memories of Heath Ledger. And if so, why?
I keep reading about how great he was in I'm Not There but before his death he was barely mentioned in the Blanchett-obsessed reviews and media coverage. I'm distrustful of the sudden great love. I was also reading some annoying bits about John Travolta slobbering over Heath at Out in Hollywood and it felt so distasteful. Why is Heath Ledger suddenly everyone's favorite actor? Was he their favorite actor before his untimely death? I'm skeptical. Where were Hollywood's votes when he lost the Best Actor Oscar two years ago? He lost despite giving a performance that was so obviously going to become legendary. No offense to Phillip Seymour Hoffman (honestly, no offense. He's quite good in Capote) but Ennis Del Mar was a legend-making performance that was pitted against a traditional type of very good performance. Excuse the generic analogy but it's like comparing a Mona Lisa to a fine painting and choosing the latter. Maybe the Mona Lisa is just too hard to really stare at. Too much to see?So I'm sorry to brain vomit but I've been uncomfortable. If we're talking about the 5 stages of grief I guess I'm in my anger phase. But better to let it out than to hold it in like Ennis.
The truth of my discomfort might be simply this: I just don't like to connect Heath Ledger to other actors. I mean, other actors not named Jake Gyllenhaal for obvious reasons. The greatness of movie stars is often intrinsically tied to the way they are only, in the end, themselves --no matter how much people want them to be "the next" ...whomever. I don't want to connect Heath Ledger to James Dean or Marilyn Monroe or any other celebrity lost too soon. I don't want to look at Daniel Day-Lewis and think of Heath Ledger. When I look at Daniel Day-Lewis I am looking at him to see Daniel Day-Lewis. Whom I also love. When I look at John Travolta I don't... well, I don't want to look at John Travolta.
To be fair I can tell you that I relate to the urge to make everything about oneself. I cringe at Mickey Rooney's SAG antics and Travolta's "everyone in Hollywood is my best friend" neediness because I probably see too much of myself in it. But then I also know it's not just me. I think we all have moments of self-absorption but we civilians don't think of it as a character strength and our weaknesses don't get broadcast for the masses. Famous people are playing in a different universe. They are essentially asked to succumb to this urge fully. Everyone wants a piece of them. Everyone wants their picture. Everyone wants to hear their thoughts about everything they feel about themselves and everyone and everything else --even shit they know absolutely nothing about. Who can blame them for disappearing up their own asses?But still... If you didn't know Heath Ledger and you're famous why not say something simple like "our thoughts go out to his family" and leave it at that? The only people I really want to hear from at this point are Heath's family, Michelle Williams, Naomi Watts and Jake Gyllenhaal. And even then, I don't want to hear from them unless they need to speak to work through their emotions. Grief is intimate and important to work through in an honest way. The media always makes it into something generic and public and cheap.
[/therapy session]
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