Ang Lee’s latest film, Brokeback Mountain, a stunning piece of work about the unlikely and long-lasting intimate relationship between a pair of Wyoming ranch hands played by Heath Ledger (Ennis) and Jake Gyllenhaal (Jack), is one of the most anticipated movies of the year. In my recent interview with Lee in Chicago, I was impressed with the remarkable enthusiasm and sensitivity he brought to the project.

AfterElton.com:  Brokeback Mountain combines two themes that you have dealt with in earlier films – same sex relationships in The Wedding Banquet and the West in Ride with the Devil.  What made you want to revisit them in Brokeback Mountain?
Ang Lee:  Well, Annie Proulx’s writing…it’s a great story.  Purely, I was moved by it.  I was introduced to the material by James  Schamus, and he said to take a look.  I got choked up when I read the short story, and I then I read the script; it sounded reasonable.  Of course, the realistic western was still not quite familiar to me.  The idea of the illusion of love that is Brokeback Mountain was very evoking for me, it felt existential. When the emotion lands, when they take off their shirts. So to me, it’s a great story, a great piece of American West writing.  And it haunted me. I went ahead and did The Hulk and didn’t even do (Brokeback Mountain), and it just stuck with me and refused to leave.  And I felt bad about missing that, like Ennis missed his love (laughs). 

Gay ranch hands in Wyoming: that’s very far away from me! (laughs) Why does it wrench my guts?  I’ve got a lot of curiosity. It haunted me, and I felt bad I missed it. Fortunately enough, after The Hulk, still nobody could make it. When I realized that, I jumped into it. It was that simple.  In terms of the gay theme, these two movies (The Wedding Banquet and Brokeback Mountain), are very different to me. One is a family drama (The Wedding Banquet); a mainstream Chinese family drama, something I grew up with. So the same sex love affair presents a problem in the family. It’s a territory (family drama) I’m very familiar with. This one (Brokeback Mountain), the romantic love story is at the center. It’s a lot deeper for me. Luckily, I’m a more experienced filmmaker, and as a person I just know a lot more.

AE:  Right, because The Wedding Banquet was just your second film.
AL: Yes. It feels quite different. In terms of Westerns, I did a pre-Western actually (Ride With The Devil) and this is a post-Western.  Actually, I want to avoid a Western (laughs).  Because they sort of work against us, in terms of movie conventions.  The masculine part overlaps each other, and the geography certainly does.  But, this film has a very different aura. 

AE: Like the main characters in The Wedding Banquet, Jack and Ennis in Brokeback Mountain have to keep their relationship a secret.  For example, Ennis says late in the movie that his is “nothing and nowhere” because of Jack, because of the secret keeping.  What effect do you think keeping secrets has on people?
AL: Well, they’re doing what their senses tell them. They’re not being totally honest and brave to their sensibility.  At some point they are going to regret that they missed life; when they realize they are a bit too old to turn things around.  The things you have missed, you missed.  You only live once.  The poignant part is that people do their best.  They did their best.  It’s not like if time goes back they would do something different; they’d probably do the same thing.  But, the regret is the same. 

AE:  There is a wonderful scene where Ennis has been chasing after the startled horse that ran off with the supplies, and Jack shows up at the camp before him.  When Ennis gets there, Jack says something like “Where have you been?  I come here hungry after herding sheep all day and all that’s here is beans!” 
AL: (Laughs)

AE: It’s like a wife talking to a husband in the 1960s.  It’s a great scene.  Do you think that that sort of lays the groundwork for their relationship? 
AL: Yeah.  You have to do it very subtly.  Scene after scene, it gradually aims toward sex.  It’s just a matter of time before they tip over (laughs) to the other side.  I’m glad you noticed.  It’s like, who is doing the cooking and who is doing…

AE:  It’s all about the delineation of their roles.    
AL: They live together for Christ’s sake (laughs). They’re partners.

warning: major spoilers on page 2