Brokeback Mountain Firework Scene

That I nourish a burning desire tinged with a sense of obligation to talk about Heath Ledger's firework scene in Brokeback Mountain I decide to defer the book review to tomorrow. The immediate reaction to the fourth viewing is while both Gyllenhaal and Ledger are handsome the casting of these two teens idols might seem somewhat of a gamble in the beginning. Once I was able to regain composure which was inevitably robbed by how inexplicably handsome our two rugged cowboys were, I found both performances to be affectionate. Ledger, as many have said before, is the more effective of the two as the shy closeted Ennis. My friends have argued fairly that Ennis is the easier of the two roles because there is so much more to play. Where Jack is certain about his feelings, Ennis is excruciatingly conflicted. Ledger plays the role quite well with a sense of truancy that his loneliness has caught up to scorn him, even heartbreakingly well as the film closes.

A handful of critics deemed the scene where Ledger faces down a pair of drunk bikers unnecessary because it does no more than a reassurance of Ledger's manhood. I like the compelling visual of Ledger against a night sky background filled with fireworks. Some critics even suggest to relegate the scene in order to edit the film tighter. Well, repetitious viewing of the film confides the significance of this scene. The contumely of the bikers lies not in their impolite rowdiness, but in what they said to him about his sex life with his wife, that squeezes his heart - the random spasm of the bikers' rude remarks hit home for Ennis. For he is more realistic and aware of the social barriers to such a relationship. He realizes that after Jack, who has reinstated their affair after they are married, the danger of their secret affair is on his brow because his out-of-control, flaming passion for another man is forbidden.