Brokeback Mountain,In America

I’ve wanted to see Brokeback Mountain for quite sometime but never got to it, finally I visited the local DVD shop today to rent it. The most stunning element of the film is its maturity in dealing with a subject matter that is both taboo and slightly controversial. Furthermore, the many films dealing with sex or homosexuality I’ve seen tend to emphasize on cheap shock values rather than actually telling a story. Between the poignant story and remarkable script, are tiny details that significantly contribute to the film’s stunning emotional resonance and beauty-how Jack, hopelessly clinging to his ambitions and grandeur dreams, seems to find a part of the man he wishes to be in Ennis, and how Ennis in return, a man whose pragmatic life has always depended on perfect compliance and regime, finds his perfect escape in Jack’s frail hold on reality-the film doesn’t just build an incredible love story, but it’s a faultless character study about two heavily-conflicted men living in self-built illusions and dreams of escapism in an attempt to find meaning and freedom,this need for liberty eventually becomes the basis to their love (a word that is never mentioned in the movie,but it's meaning exists in every moment and tragedy that takes place). Ang Lee has a penchant of operating the camera with a harsh directness and conviction, at the same time elegantly managed with a keen eye for gentleness-while at times the shots linger across mountains, slow-moving skies and other beautiful sights, the focus is always brought back to the characters-their faces in particular, with much of the film’s time invested in close-up shots that allow emotions to speak themselves without the characters uttering much. The cast makes it look so effortless and simple-while at times they do shed tears or throw tantrums, a large portion of their feelings are projected subtly with their faces, and with minimal use of music and camera often not moving much, the characters alone carry the story and its infinite weight.A magnificent film.

In America tells the story about a family of four who learn to deal with the loss of a family member.Having just lost their son, both Johnny and Sarah hopelessly try to find different, odd ways to cope with their grief, while they both struggle to survive with not much money in hand. While the chemistry between the two are convincingly portrayed and the family ties seem genuine, the script leaves the story feeling very contrived and unfeeling, and the end result is a movie that is nothing less than mediocre. While some reviewers have ruthlessly called it manipulative, I won’t go as far as to call it manipulative (because I’ve seen manipulative, and I know this doesn’t compare-but In America reminds me a lot about Imaginary Heroes, a film with fantastic performances but an all too weak script), but the film does seem to be lacking in any real heart nor does it actually observe the brutal effect grief can have on people (the director’s primary concern seems to be to try inspire pity from the audience-oh, now calling it ‘manipulative’ would make a bit of sense-,but he does this rather clumsily, both the script and story seem seriously lacking of any solid motivation or sincerity)-rather than relying on a strong script or actual story, the film stumbles here and there until the characters start crying or saying lines like ‘I miss Frankie’ randomly. The two sisters go to their Catholic School’s Halloween Party and the other kids taunt and avoid them, the reason behind this occurrence is never made clear. A new character is introduced, he is given a fatal disease then almost immediately killed. Then a premature baby is brought in. Not too bad, but not too good either-contrived and unfeeling would be the best descriptions.