4K UHD Review: Kino Lorber’s Brokeback Mountain (KL Studio Classics) 

The modern masterpiece Brokeback Mountain comes to 4K UHD thanks to Kino Lorber. 

The Film 

It is perfect that one of the greatest American films of the last twenty-five years would be a film directed by a Chinese-American Man, starring an Australian man, about the tragedy that befalls two humans that society will never allow their love to blossom.  To call Brokeback Mountain a masterwork is an understatement.  In the two decades since its release has only become a dyed-in-the-wool classic with not just one of the truly great performances of the 2000s but three equally as great.  

What makes Brokeback Mountain great is how American it is.  In its individual yearning for freedom and its choking hold society has against one’s own wants and needs if they veer even the slights from the morals of the Union. It isn’t just Enis Delmar (Heath Ledger) and Jake Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) that are in this dance of inequity but their wives Alma (Michelle Williams) and Lureen (Anne Hathaway) who have unwittingly pulled into this tragedy.  By no fault of their own, these humans cannot have what they want.  

More than a Western, Brokeback Mountain, is a tale of love unrequited over decades the struggle, frustrations, hurt, and anger over not being able to have what one wants cracks to very soul of not just Enis and Jake but America.  One only had to be human to understand the yearning and ache that the film plays with.  The unexpectedness of life and trauma of the American experience if you’re not the narrow and thin line that society expects you to be.  All played over the expansive American West that’s beauty has always belied its vicious violent pushback. 

Brokeback Mountain is not just a film of uncommon beauty but one of subtle devastation.  One that poetic beauty is made all the more powerful by its four central performances, and the inspired adaptation by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana.  However, it is Ang Lee’s masterfully controlled direction that takes the movie from a good film to an American Classic.  One just needs to watch the final five minutes and the single action to understand everything one needs to know about the yearning for unrequited love and the power of Brokeback Mountain. 

The Transfer

The all-new HDR/Dolby Vision Master – From a 4K Scan of the Original Camera Negative is a masterful vision of a 35mm film.  The film has never looked more refined or accomplished than in 4K.  The Dolby Vision encoding makes the subtle image pop.  The transfer is wonderfully verbose in its color reproduction and sharpness of the image.  There is nary a scratch or blemish on the image.  The HDR mastering also benefited the black levels and contrast with a subtle that ensures there’s no crushing of the blacks and the detail within the contrast is near perfect.  Kino Lorber has delivered a near flawless perfect 4K UHD transfer of the film.  

The Extras

They include the following; 

DISC 1 (4KUHD): 

• NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian/Writer Julie Kirgo 

DISC 2 (BLU-RAY): 

• NEW Audio Commentary by Film Historian/Writer Julie Kirgo 
• Sharing the Story: The Making of Brokeback Mountain 
• From Script to Screen: Interviews with Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana 
• A Groundbreaking Success: Featurette 
• Directing from the Heart: Featurette with Ang Lee 
• On Being a Cowboy: Featurette 
• Music from the Mountain: Featurette with Gustavo Santaolalla
• Impressions from the Film: Photo Slideshow 
• Theatrical Trailer and TV Spots 

The all-new Audio Commentary by Film Historian/Writer Julie Kirgo opens with her nervousness about discussing what she considers a Masterpiece.  Some of the details including the loneliness of the love story and authenticity that brings to the film; a larger discussion of the literary origins beginning with the short story Annie Proulx – including her reasons why she wanted to write the story and how it took shaped; how Larry McMurtry and Dianna Ossana got involved – including Kirgo’s deep connection to McMurtry, where McMurtry was in his life; the work done by, casting here, and personal history of Heath Ledger – discussing not just his personal history but the work he does here in detail; the work done by, casting here, and personal history of Jake Gyllenhaal – coming from Hollywood Royality; the adaptation done by McMurtry and Ossana – the long road to making the film, the additions they made, and how it changed between short to film; the work here, personal history, past films of director Ang Lee – how the director fit into the film and what he brought to the picture; the casting of the various actors and details on how each came to be in the film – Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams, and Anne Hathaway; a discussion of the women of the film and how the romance effects both of them; the various locations used in the film to fill in for Montana; the work of cinematographer Rodrigo Pietro – including a detailed discussion of the visuals, his work with other directors, and More; a larger discussion throughout about the themes and how they are showcased in the film by visuals, performances, editing, and score; a larger discussion, with quotes, of Annie Proulx thougths on the film and the various cast and crew; a larger discussion of the supporting roles and how they fit into the larger picture; the fact the film did not win best picture at the Academy Awards; and much more.  Kirgo’s commentary track is flat-out amazing not just giving us deeply research information about the original text, the production, the social and cultural impact, and the relevance of the film with great quotes from various sources.  This is the commentary track that the film deserves.  

Sharing the Story: The Making of Brokeback Mountain (20:48) – an archival making-of featurette.  This featurette is more of an EPK or TV Special more than traditional DVD making-of – in fact from something called “The Logo Movie Special”.  There are some good things to be culled from this but it is very … TV-centric with some bad musical cues and the sort of nuanced articulation gone.  It isn’t bad just very of the area of when it was made (the early 00s was a weird time).  Featuring interviews with actor Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Williams, Anne Hathaway, director Ang Lee, producer James Shamus, screenwriter/producer Diana Ossana, and others.  

From Script to Screen: Interviews with Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana (10:53) – an archival interview with screenwriters McMurtry and Ossana on how they became involved with the short, eventually writing it as a screenplay, the development, the troubles getting the film a greenlight, the production of the script and the weight and challenge of the material, and eventual success.  Featuring great interviews with the cast and crew.

A Groundbreaking Success: Featurette (17:13) – an archival featurette looking at the success, both box office and critical of the film.  Beginning with the origins of the project, to the production, the release, the critical success, the social and cultural impact – beyond the box office, and more.  Featuring comments by the cast, crew, and film critics.  

Directing from the Heart: Featurette with Ang Lee (7:27) – an archival featurette looking at the cast and crew working/collaborating with director Ang Lee on the making of the film.  The featurette has some great b-roll and behind-the-scenes footage along with interviews with various cast and crew.  

Music from the Mountain: Featurette with Gustavo Santaolalla (11:18) – an archival featurette looking at the composer’s work on the film and how Santaolalla came to work with Ang Lee.  The featurette looks into the instruments, themes, and collaboration that went into the score.  

On Being a Cowboy: Featurette (5:44) – this archival featurette looks at the cast and crew going to “cowboy camp” learning how to do the various actions needed to look like a true cowboy featuring some great behind-the-scenes b-roll footage.  

Impressions from the Film: Photo Slideshow (2:33) – a brief animated slideshow, featuring production stills and behind-the-scenes photos, set to composer Gustavo Santaolalla’s score.  

TV Spots (3:46) – featuring seven 30-second TV spots. 

Rounding out the special features are trailers for Brokeback Mountain (2:23); Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind(2:06); Far from Heaven (1:14); Broken Flowers (2:06); Lust, Caution (1:50) 

The Final Thought 

Brokeback Mountain is an American Classic.  Kino Lorber has treated it as such.  Highest Possible Recommendations!!! 

Kino Lorber’s 4K UHD Edition of Brokeback Mountain is out now