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After garnering buzz on the festival circuit, the "raw and exquisite" Brokeback Mountain became the hot favourite to win the 2006 Oscar for Best Picture. That didn't happen though, perhaps a hint that the Hollywood establishment weren't ready for an epic love story about a couple of gay cowboys (played by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal). Still, director Ang Lee walked away with Best Director and a restored faith in his own abilities after the travesty that was Hulk...
If It Ain't Broke...
"I can split a log," boasts Ledger in the featurette On Being A Cowboy. He tells us that he grew up on farms in Western Australia so had little need of the one month cowboy camp leading up to the shoot. In the case of Gyllenhaal, the director says the camp was needed to "rough him up" and the actor himself reflects on his time in training, "playing with sheep and that kind of thing". Hey, we knew the film was controversial, but that might be taking it a little too far!
Cast and crew gather round for a bit of a backslapping - but not in a kinky way - in Directing From The Heart. They heap praise upon Lee for being able to transcend the film's attention-grabbing tagline and deliver something that Randy Quaid describes as "quiet" but at the same time "very dynamic". Of course credit must also go to screenwriters Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana who talk a bit about the process of adapting Annie Proulx's short story in From Script To Screen. As producer James Schamus says, "It wasn't just about adding scenes," but a careful interpretation of every sentence to widen the scope of the piece.
Scaling The Mountain
A US TV special Sharing The Story serves as the customary 'Making Of' featurette. It traces the roots of the project back to the time when, as Schamus describes, "It was known as the greatest unproducable screenplay ever written." There's also a smattering of behind-the-scenes footage as the film finally goes before the cameras. Lee talks about having to wrangle some unruly sheep while Ledger and Gyllenhaal reflect on having to wrangle with each other in those much-hyped love scenes. Ledger says simply, it's about "trying to bare my soul" - as opposed to his naked butt.
This DVD could well be a precursor to a Special Edition disc as it's a lean saddlebag of extras overall. Still, cast and crew offer a fair few insights into the themes of film and the struggle to get it off the ground so fans won't be disappointed.
EXTRA FEATURES
