10 Years of Brokeback Mountain: A Love That Will Never Grow Old

Artwork by Ellygator

 

Ten years ago next month, Brokeback Mountain had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival. Based on the acclaimed short story by Annie Proulx, the romantic drama of the secret passion between two ranch hands in rural Wyoming during the 1960s became an iconic, universal depiction of tragic love, gay or straight, and a modern movie classic.

Directed by Ang Lee and featuring heart-breaking, career-making performances by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist, Brokeback was a breakthrough in queer cinema, a "gay movie" (that never uses the word "gay") that was a crossover hit with audiences and a critical darling. It was also a pop culture touchstone, for better or worse. Vaguely homophobic late night talk show jokes about that "gay cowboy movie" and YouTube parody videos of "Brokeback..." versions of other movies were all the tasteless rage for a while after its success. More positively, the film inspired countless coming outs, books and even an opera, and had an influence on the mainstreaming and acceptance of GLBT storytelling in popular entertainment that we are still seeing today.

Artwork by Cataclysm-X

When Awards Season 2005 began, Brokeback Mountain started raking in the gold, from the Independent Spirit Awards to the Golden Globes to the various industry guilds and critics groups. Yes, we all know what happened on Oscar night, but Brokeback did lead the field with ten nominations and won three, including one for director Lee. Looking back at the history of the Academy Awards, one can see that when there was a split between Best Picture and Best Director winners, it is usually the latter that more strongly stands the test of time (for example: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre over Hamlet, The Quiet Man over The Greatest Show on Earth, Giant over Around the World in 80 Days).

Standing the test of time is what the National Film Registry is all about. Established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, the NFR is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. Each year, the NFPB selects 25 "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant films", showcasing the "range and diversity of American film heritage to increase awareness for its preservation". To date, 650 films, from Casablanca and All About Eve to Midnight Cowboy and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, have been selected for the NFR.

Artwork by thegoldentimes

To be eligible for inclusion in the NFR, a film must be at least ten years old. Which brings us back to Brokeback Mountain. Only six films (Raging Bull, Do the Right Thing, Goodfellas, Toy Story, Fargo and the nature documentary 13 Lakes) have been inducted into the NFR the first year they were eligible, and the ten-year-old Brokeback Mountain should be the seventh... and you can help that happen. The NFPB accepts recommendations from the public for movies to be included in the NFR. Public nominations can play a key role when the Film Board is considering their final selections. For example, the selection of the 1986 basketball drama Hoosiers was attributed to a letter-writing campaign from the citizens of Indiana, where the film was set. If Indiana can do it for Hoosiers, we can do it for Brokeback Mountain.

To nominate Brokeback Mountain, just follow the instructions given on the NFR website here. While you're at it, you can also nominate up to 49 other movies you would like to be considered as well; all the information you will need is at that link.

Or, for a quick way to have your voice heard, just cut and paste this statement, "I would like Brokeback Mountain (2005) to be considered for selection into the National Film Registry.", into an email and send it to filmregistry@loc.gov with the subject line "NFR 2015".

A decade later, fans are still finding it hard to quit Brokeback Mountain. With its rightful induction into the National Film Registry, it will be preserved and remembered for decades more.

By Kirby Holt, creator and editor of Movie Dearest, The QuOD: The Queer Online Database and the Out Movie Guide.

Off the Shelf: Holiday Gift Guide 2011

With the holidays fast approaching, here are some new books that would make great gifts for all the cinematically inclined on your list... or yourself!

For the sci-fi fan: Filled with enough facts and figures on the creation of one of the most popular science fiction movies of all time to weigh down the Nostromo, Alien Vault: The Definitive Story of the Making of the Film(Ian Nathan, Voyageur Press) is a must have for all Alien aficiandos. The weighty tome features director Ridley Scott’s own annotated storyboards, Polaroids and script pages; the elegant but disturbing concept artwork of H.R. Giger; costume designs by Moebius; and ten meticulously reproduced artifacts, enclosed in vellum envelopes, for readers to remove and examine more closely.

For the Twi-hard: Blood-suckers on screen are all the rage of late, so it's not surprising that a fourth edition of Alain Silver and James Ursini's The Vampire Film(Limelight Editions) was unearthed earlier this year. Now subtitled "From Nosferatu to True Blood", this newly updated and expanded volume contains an enclycopedic listing of vampire movies and television programs and is chock-full of full color (mostly red) photos. The book is structured thematically, incorporating vampire films of all eras into chapters on vampire lore, male and female vampires, Dracula, and more.

For the aspiring screenwriter: If you think Hollywood films can be formulaic, screenwriter and film fanatic Todd Klick proves it in his new book Something Startling Happens: The 120 Story Beats Every Writer Needs to Know(Michael Wiese Productions). A "how to" guide on how to write the next great screenplay, Klick does a minute-by-minute breakdown of classic and contemporary films to reveal the story telling technique that drives great movies, from Star Wars to Tootsie to The Six Sense to The Godfather. "Good movies do the exact same thing, across the board, in succession, during each and every minute. Doesn't matter if it's minute 1 or minute 101. Even if one movie ends at minute 85 and the next ends at 120, they still abide by this strict, minute-by-minute blueprint," says Klick.

For the classics connoisseur: Chronicling the 50 newest titles added to the National Film Registry in the past two years, Daniel Eagan's Americas Film Legacy: 2009-2010(Continuum Books) shines the spotlight on such favorites as Dog Day Afternoon, Grey Gardens, The Muppet Movie and Pillow Talk, as well as such lesser-known gems as Lonesome, Precious Images and Quasi at the Quackadero.

And speaking of the NFR, their 2012 Movie Poster Wall Calendar(Universe Publishing) is also available. Next year's edition includes poster art for such classics as It's a Wonderful Life, The Invisible Man, The Maltese Falcon, North by Northwest, Singin' in the Rain and The Wizard of Oz.

Click on the links above to order these books from Amazon.com.

Awards Watch: National Film Registry 2009

Under the terms of the National Film Preservation Act, each year since 1989 the Librarian of Congress names 25 films to the National Film Registry that are “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant to be preserved for all time. And this year, they (finally) got a little gayer with the inductions of Dog Day Afternoon (with Al Pacino as a bisexual bank robber) and (to a lesser extent) Pillow Talk (starring Rock Hudson and Doris Day).

Other cinematic classics to make the cut for 2009 include the sci-fi favorite The Incredible Shrinking Man, the melodramas Jezebel and Mrs. Miniver (featuring the Oscar winning performances of, respectively, Bette Davis and Greer Garson), The Mark of Zorro (Tyrone Power), The Muppet Movie (!), Serigio Leone's Once Upon a Time in the West, The Story of G.I. Joe (Robert Mitchum) and Under Western Stars (Roy Rogers).

And it looks like even the Library of Congress can't escape the Michael Jackson fever that has swept the nation since his death earlier this year with the inclusion of Thriller, his groundbreaking music video (a first for the NFR). The remainder of the inductees are mostly obscure shorts and documentaries; click here for a full description (pdf) of all NFR's class of '09, or see the comments section below for a quick look.

Awards Watch: National Film Registry 2008

You may recall back in June, Movie Dearest ran a poll asking for your votes on which gay-themed movie should be inducted into the National Film Registry this year, and Philadelphia was your choice. Well, the Library of Congress announced today this year's 25 inductees, and alas, the Tom Hanks AIDS drama was not on the list.

However, the NFR's Class of 2008 is not without some queer influences. In addition to the screen version of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood and James Whales' The Invisible Man, there's the celluloid closet classic Johnny Guitar, starring Joan Crawford herself and directed by Nicholas Ray. And I suppose you could say Deliverance too ...

Aside from the experimental and amateur works that most people haven't heard of (let alone seen), the NFR's choices for the year (which now brings the total preserved films to an even 500) includes The Asphalt Jungle, A Face in the Crowd, Flower Drum Song, Hallelujah!, The Killers, The Pawnbroker, Sergeant York, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and The Terminator. See the comments section below for a quick look at all of this year's inductees.

MD Poll: Philadelphia Freedom

Jonathan Demme's Philadelphia, the Academy Award winning drama (starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington) that was the first studio release to deal with the subject of AIDS, has been selected by Movie Dearest readers as the GLBT-themed film most worthy of induction into the National Film Preservation Board's National Film Registry (see the comments section below for the complete statistics of the poll).

So, here is where you have to do a little work to make this all worthwhile. Below you will find a short sample letter requesting that Philadelphia be considered for inclusion in the NFR. Simply copy it and go to the NFR's nomination page to email it to them. Feel free to add your own personal thoughts about the film as well (and share them in the comments section below if you wish).

Dear National Film Registry:

Please consider the 1993 motion picture "Philadelphia" for induction into the National Film Registry this year. As a supporter of film history and preservation, I feel that this film fulfills the criteria for inclusion due to its historical significance as the first major studio release to address the subject of AIDS.

As a member of/ally to the GLBT community, I also feel that its inclusion will increase the diversity represented within the National Film Registry.

As it states on the NFR website, nominations by the general public are very important in the board's selection process, so be sure to submit your vote to help increase the presence of GLBT-themed films in the NFR (for more information on the NFR, see my original post). I will also be submitting an email elaborating on this whole project and how the film was selected, but please take a few minutes to send your own email as well.

The announcement of the 25 films selected for this year's induction will take place the last week of December.

Click here to vote in the latest MD Poll.

MD Poll: Preserve This

Since it was founded in 1988, the National Film Preservation Board and the Librarian of Congress have chosen 25 classic American films each year to be inducted into the National Film Registry. Prints of each movie, selected for their cultural and historical significance, are "preserved for all time"; including last year's inductees, the registry now houses 475 films.

A quick scan of the complete list of these films reveals that, for the most part, the movies represented are, well, pretty straight. Sure, there's the two men dancing in the Dickson experimental sound film of 1894, as well as such "celluloid closet" classics as Wings, Rebel Without a Cause and Ben-Hur. Also represented are the works of such revered gay directors as F.W. Murnau, James Whale and George Cukor, plus such all-time gay faves as The Wizard of Oz, All About Eve and Sunset Boulevard. However, the closest we get to actual "gay movies" on the list are Some Like It Hot, Midnight Cowboy, Cabaret and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Not exactly representative of "queer cinema", right?

But there is a way to rectify this situation: the NFR is open to nominations from the general public. Therefore, starting this year, we here at Movie Dearest will spearhead an annual campaign (in "Gay Pride Month", June, naturally) to get more GLBT-themed movies placed on the National Film Registry. Each year, one film will be chosen, and we will submit it for consideration along with testimonials (ours and yours) on why it should receive such an honor. And here's where you come in: you get to pick the movie!

This year's ten nominees range from studio forays into the genre (The Boys in the Band, Making Love, Personal Best, Philadelphia) to indie hits (Desert Hearts, Parting Glances, Tongues Untied, Go Fish) and award winning documentaries (The Times of Harvey Milk, The Celluloid Closet). (If you're wondering where, say, Brokeback or Hedwig are, the films have to be at least ten years old -- and American -- to be eligible.)

So head on over to the sidebar at right to cast your vote in the latest MD Poll, and check back in two weeks to see what movie has been selected by you to be the official Movie Dearest choice for the National Film Registry 2008.

UPDATE: This poll is now closed; click here for the results. Click here to vote in the latest MD Poll.

Awards Watch: National Film Registry 2007

Annually since 1989, the National Film Preservation Board and the Librarian of Congress name 25 classic American films to be inducted into the National Film Registry. Prints of each movie, chosen for their cultural and historical significance, will now be "preserved for all time". With this year's selections, announced today, the number of films in the registry now totals 475.

The 2007 inductees run the gamut of film history, from the 1921 silent drama Tol'able David to 1990's Dances With Wolves, and range from blockbusters like Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Back to the Future to little-known avant-garde, experimental, and even student films, such as Randal Kleiser's Peege.

Also included among this year's honorees are Steve McQueen's Bullitt; Terrence Malick's Days of Heaven; the all-star Grand Hotel; Nicholas Ray's In a Lonely Place; John Ford's The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance; the seminal crime drama The Naked City; Bette Davis' Now, Voyager; Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!; Robert Benchley’s The Sex Life of the Polyp; Harry Langdon's The Strong Man; Walt Disney's Three Little Pigs; Sidney Lumet's 12 Angry Men; George Cukor's The Women and William Wyler's Wuthering Heights.

For a quick look at this year's NFR selections, see the comments section below.

Links via Loc.gov/film.