Brokeback Mountain: Story to Screenplay
by Annie Proulx, Diana Ossana, Larry McMurtry
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Book Summary Information
Author: Annie Proulx, Diana Ossana, Larry McMurtryEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-04-11
ISBN: 0743298152
Number of pages: 176
Publisher: Scribner
Book Reviews of Brokeback Mountain: Story to Screenplay
Book Review: Deepens the experience
Summary: 5 Stars
Brokeback Mountain seems to elicit an extraordinarily strong, often emotional response from audiences everywhere. It is a film easy to become obsessed with, and this book might just be the thing for anyone who wants more - though those with hopes of finding some sort of redemption to ease the pain of the movie's starkly desolate ending will be disappointed. Annie Proulx's original, magnificent short story (reprinted in full, including the italicized intro that was not in the original New Yorker publication) is even sparer and more brutal than the film, and at least as powerful. Her Jack and Ennis are rather less glamorous than Gyllenhaal and Ledger (for one thing, Gyllenhaal's teeth are way too perfect), and somewhat more explicit in their discussions of their predicament. The way Proulx weaves the presence of nature into their story, so that the wind, the mountains, the vast plains become an organic part of the tragedy, is marvellous. It is equally marvellous to see how McMurtry and Ossana took this lump of gold and forged it into a jewel of a screenplay (one that laid around in Hollywood desk drawers quite a while as the best unfilmable script around). In fact, the second part of this book presents us with a somewhat problematic mixture of screenplay and shooting script, dated October 2005 (after completion of the film, that is). The text is very close but not identical to the movie; descriptions also contain several discrepancies to what is seen on screen; and the timeline, especially towards the end, appears to be garbled. On the other hand it does include such elements as Ennis's swapping of the shirts, which was an on set idea of Ledger. Short story and screenplay have much in common, and share large swathes of dialogue. But they also cover different ground, and the whole is more than the sum of its parts. The story fleshes out Jack's history and allows a look inside Ennis's mind; the screenplay makes dramatic characters out of the women and children, who are as much victims of forces beyond their control as the men are. It also turns Ennis into rather more of a conundrum than he is in the story (or, for that matter, in a 2003 version of the screenplay).
On initial viewing, one of the things that makes the film so compelling is the fact that it does not spell out all the answers - it is no coincidence that BBM discussion boards are buzzing with (at times highly outlandish) interpretations. This book is fascinating because it makes you aware that in fact nearly all the answers ARE there, but hidden under the surface. I found its reading enriched my experience of the film considerably (and turned renewed viewing in to some kind of exquisite self-inflicted torture...). By the way, the screenplay is of course also a great help to those who - due to either Ennis's mumbling, the heavy accents, or both - have trouble understanding everything that is being said.
The book is rounded off with three brief essays, from Proulx, McMurtry and Ossana. McMurtry's is cursory, rather pointless, and vaguely unpleasant. The other two however are engrossing and contain enlightening angles on the film and the story. Proulx forcefully slams the notion of the "gay cowboy movie" and points out that the theme of BBM is the destructive force of rural homophobia. As she makes clear, a sexual relationship like that of Jack and Ennis is no far-fetched fantasy but a reality of life in the Mid West (as everywhere). Interestingly, sex between men is not what bothers society; it's love between men that society can't abide. A thought like that allows a whole new take on the scene in which Joe Aguirre confronts Jack with his knowledge of Jack and Ennis's sexual exploits. Aguirre is hardly a paragon of moral indignation - he's seen it all before and even has a cute colloquial phrase for it; he's merely exasperated that his employees weren't doing the work they were paid to do. Ossana poignantly links the story of Jack and Ennis to the killing of Matthew Shephard in Laramie, Wyoming, in 1998: the destructive processes shown in BBM are very much with us still.
Obviously, the eight pages of black-and-white stills are a far cry from the film's visual splendours. Worse, in its avoidance of any scene depicting intimacy between the men (and its eagerness to include a lot of boy-girl images), the selection is simply hypocritical. On the other hand, even in this modest incarnation, the image of the two shirts on their worn hanger next to a postcard of Brokeback Mountain leaves no doubt that it is already a classic cinematic icon, and one of the most inspired endings to any movie ever. For those who have trouble recovering from their devastation after seeing the film, the end of the full credits list that completes the book also contains some helpful information: "The characters and events depicted in this photoplay are fictitious".
Summary of Brokeback Mountain: Story to Screenplay
Annie Proulx has written some of the most original and brilliant short stories in contemporary literature, and for many readers and reviewers, Brokeback Mountain is her masterpiece.Brokeback Mountain was originally published in The New Yorker. It won the National Magazine Award. It also won an O. Henry Prize. Included in this volume is Annie Proulx's haunting story about the difficult, dangerous love affair between a ranch hand and a rodeo cowboy. Also included is the celebrated screenplay for the major motion picture "Brokeback Mountain," written by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana. All three writers have contributed essays on the process of adapting this critically acclaimed story for film.
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