BY: Callie Cadorniga
Published 3 hours ago
In 2025, The New York Times published its list of the 100 best films of the 21st century so far. The entries were decided via polls in which more than 500 filmmakers voted for the best 10 movies, and the list was compiled from there. Among the winners are “Black Panther,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” and “Borat.” But among the higher entries on the list is 2005’s “Brokeback Mountain.”
The film was put forward by acclaimed filmmaker Ava DuVernay and managed to break into the list’s Top 20 at No. 17. Though it was widely recognized as “the gay cowboy movie” among the general public, “Brokeback Mountain” remains a landmark film that helped spark more interest in LGBTQIA+ storylines in cinema. As the film approaches its 20th anniversary, let’s take a look back at the iconic movie and its lasting legacy.
“Brokeback Mountain” is a love story of many colors.
Adapted from a 1997 short story by writer Annie Proulx, “Brokeback Mountain” follows the complex love story between cowboys Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal). As the two of them seemingly commit to relationships with the women in their lives, they soon find themselves falling deeper in love with each other instead.
The film was directed by Ang Lee, who nearly passed on the project after experiencing burnout while working on films like “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon“ and the first “Hulk” film. In a 2016 interview with Out, he revealed that he simply couldn’t resist adapting the story.
“Brokeback Mountain nurtured me back to filmmaking and as a person,” he told the outlet. “I’m not the creator of that movie — I’m just a participant. It was meant to come out, to see the world, to affect people.”
And affect people, it certainly did. After an appearance at the 2005 Venice International Film Festival, “Brokeback Mountain” was released in the US in 2006 to universal acclaim. Critics were quick to praise Gyllenhaal’s and Ledger’s performances and the cinematography with respect to the movie’s Wyoming setting. But while the film could have been a great love story on its own, it also represents a turning point for queer representation in entertainment.
‘Brokeback Mountain’ was a milestone in queer storytelling for wide audiences.
Though it’s far from the first film to include an LGBTQIA+ storyline, “Brokeback Mountain” helped to bring the conversation of gay love stories to a wider audience. Film critics and even the main stars have discussed the protagonists’ sexuality at length, with some viewing them as outwardly gay while others consider them bisexual. Others have even opted to eschew the need for labels altogether, simply labeling Brokeback as an intense love story between two men.
In a 2005 interview with Time Magazine, Ledger claimed, “I don’t think Ennis could be labeled as gay. Without Jack Twist, I don’t know that he ever would have come out. I think the whole point was that it was two souls that fell in love with each other.”
The deep and thoughtful conversations around the love story in “Brokeback Mountain” even contributed to controversy during Oscar season. Though the film won two Academy Awards, including Best Director for Ang Lee, it lost Best Picture to Paul Haggis’ “Crash.” Critics accused the Academy of homophobia, claiming that they went with a safer choice. This rings especially true all these years later as critics look back more fondly on “Brokeback” and less so on “Crash.” While critics still celebrate the former as a turning point for LGBTQIA+ media, “Crash” has been heavily criticized in retrospect for its shallow and harmful commentary on race relations in the US.
And it’s still easy to celebrate the impact that “Brokeback” had in its day. highlighted the growing need for more queer-focused narratives that could receive the same care and nuance that heterosexual plots had so often received. In the years following the film’s release, gay-centered like movies like “Milk” and “I Love You Phillip Morris” followed in its footsteps. Though it would still be some time before LGBTQIA+ actors and creators could tell their own stories themselves, “Brokeback” was a step in the right direction.
Over the years, “Brokeback Mountain” has continually made it onto “Best Films” lists of all kinds, and it’s little wonder why. Other than simply being the gay cowboy movie that conservatives warned us about, it was and continues to be an important milestone for queer media. And it achieves this through an honest and thoughtful love story whose messages persist to this day.
Will you check out “Brokeback Mountain” in theaters for its 20th anniversary? Comment below!
