Sneaking up on the dead: Time of th Gypsies, 1988

I had planned to go check out one of the Brooklyn Bridge Park movies with my friend Maryanna this week, but when I checked the schedule I saw that they were playing Brokeback Mountain–one of my least favorite movies of all time. Usually when I tell people how much I don’t like this movie they look at me with horror and distrust.

I agree that Brokeback Mountain is visually beautiful and the acting is great and the subject matter is important and maybe even groundbreaking–but all that isn’t enough because the movie plays one brutal, mournful, high-pitch the whole time, without acknowledging any layers, variance or contradiction of feeling. No matter how hopeless or terrifying artistic subject matter is, I never believe that it’s truthful to force and force and force the despair of it all on your audience for the duration of the piece–which I believe this movie does. That type of subject matter can speak for itself. It needs to be left to breathe once in a while. Read more »