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Jake and Heath on their daring movie romance | dec92005_853_lg

A first for gay-themed movies

Brokeback Mountain is but one of the numerous fall movies revolving around gay characters. What makes it so potentially groundbreaking, though, is that it has become something of a cinematic oxymoron: an unapologetically sexual love story between two men with a real shot at breaking out of art houses and into the mainstream. A kind of Romeo and Romeo on horseback, this tale of star-crossed love has generated rapturous buzz ever since it snagged the top award at the Venice film festival and took the Toronto film festival by storm. While it's not the first gay-themed Oscar hopeful (Philadelphia racked up a Best Actor award for Tom Hanks), Brokeback defies the familiar stereotypes of what it means to be gay on screen (no one has AIDS or an affinity for interior decorating) and doesn't cheat when it comes to the love scenes.

They kiss. They have sex. They cuddle. Oh my! Not so long ago, it would have been considered career suicide for a major male movie star to get hot and heavy with a man on screen. And in this climate of cultural conservatism, when elections can hinge on the demonization of gay marriage, Brokeback represents a huge gamble for everyone involved. Lee came to the project having cashed in some of his clout after his last project, The Hulk, failed to connect with critics or audiences. And nobody has more on the line than Ledger and Gyllenhaal, who risk alienating a huge portion of their core fan base — young men — by being perceived as soft or, as Ahnuld might say, girlymen.

NEXT PAGE: Gyllenhaal's gamble


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