Brokeback Mountain (2005)
If Donnie Darko is Gyllenhaal’s early calling card, then Brokeback Mountain is the film that truly delivered on that promise, and brought with it a raft of mainstream accolades – including Gyllenhaal’s first (and, to date, only) Oscar nomination. Directed by Ang Lee, with a screenplay by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, which was adapted from an Annie Proulx story, Brokeback Mountain presents a tale of forbidden love between two cowboys, as their connection plays out over decades of their lives.
The film is widely celebrated as an example of excellence in filmmaking, as its Best Film Oscar nomination demonstrates. But it is the relationship depicted by its stars Heath Ledger and Gyllenhaal that really anchors the project and provides its powerful emotional core. The two characters are very different, but are drawn to each other and share a deep bond, which manifests as a romantic relationship during their months alone together, protecting livestock on the mountain. Despite this growing involvement, they each repeatedly return to their respective lives – featuring wives and children – and attempt to suppress their longing to be together.
[zergpaid]The beauty of Brokeback Mountain lies in the work of Gyllenhaal and Ledger, as they carefully craft their individual performances in such a way that their relationship is instantly and entirely believable – because their characters actually complement each other perfectly. While Ledger delivers a distant, stubborn, self-loathing Ennis Del Mar, Gyllenhaal reveals an open, hopeful dreamer in Jack Twist, who takes a more optimistic view of the world.
As Brokeback Mountain entered into the cultural consciousness, Gyllenhaal cemented his status as a lead performer of vast range and talent.