Academy Awards, 2006: Brokeback Mountain does not win for Best Picture. Countless stories have been written about one of Oscar's biggest and most notorious upsets. It's hard to believe it was 10 years ago. The Academy is probably not going to apologize for its error. But even as we lament what can never be, let's celebrate what was.
The trailer gave hints of how powerful the film would be:
In Venice and Toronto, the promise was confirmed. The movie premiered in the U.S. in December, 2005, to broad critical acclaim.
The lonesome chill that seeps through Ang Lee's epic western, "Brokeback Mountain," is as bone deep as the movie's heartbreaking story of two cowboys who fall in love almost by accident. It is embedded in the craggy landscape where their idyll begins and ends. It creeps into the farthest corners of the wide-open spaces they share with coyotes, bears and herds of sheep and rises like a stifled cry into the big, empty sky that stretches beyond the horizon.
Brokeback was nominated for all the awards in the 2005-2006 awards season, winning almost all the big ones.
But Oscar is the big one. The day arrived, and everyone looked elegant. And happy.
The show opened with a few Brokeback references:
Jake presented a desperate Oscar pitch to watch moves in the cinema:
Typical of the season, none of the Brokeback actors won:
BBM did win for Director, Screenplay and Score:
And then it all came crashing down. (If you watch the clip, you can see a few shots of Jake and Heath clapping for the winners.)
It was a dispiriting end to a wonderful ride. It stung that night and it stings a little still. But time and tragic reality have only confirmed the film's power and strength.
Jake on Oscar Night 2016, at Adam Levine's house:
It was posted on Behati Prinsloo's Instagram with this caption:
Lock up your daughters and wife's! Oscar night just got so real... 🔞 #sohuman
Jake at the Vanity Fair party:
Photo by Nina Hallworth:
And a new Demolition poster:
