Brokeback Mountain, Wyoming, is a beautiful menagerie of vegetation, mountains and wild animals. Among those things is the long and serious love relationship between two cowboys, Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist. Living in a society where the world is afraid of homosexuality, they keep their relationship secret for many years, and treat Brokeback Mountain as their safe haven.

Ang Lee is one of those directors who goes into hiding for a while and then comes out years later with a great film. His most recent film, before “Brokeback Mountain,” was “Hulk,” starring Eric Bana as the big green super hero/monster and Jennifer Connelly. That film was a let down for many audiences. I enjoyed it, but many people are in favor of more action and quick moving plot, rather than a strong back-story and interesting character development. Perhaps Ang Lee wasn’t the right man to direct a Marvel Picture. In “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “Brokeback Mountain” he unleashes his directing skills in his own special fashion of a strong back-story and character development.

The screenplay is adapted from Pulitzer Prize-winning author E. Annie Proulx’s short story by Larry McMurty and Diana Ossana. I have not read the original short story, though from seeing the movie, I know it must really be something special.

In the summer of 1963, two young men, Ennis Del Mar, a ranch hand (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist, a rodeo star (Jake Gyllenhaal) have been hired to work on a mountain taking care of a herd of hundreds of sheep for a man named Joe Aguirre (Randy Quaid). The coyotes are constantly picking off their sheep, he mentions at one point they lost a quarter of the flock.

Ennis is quiet and tends the sheep in a valley while Jack stays on a peak, keeping his eyes pealed most of the night for coyotes. Jack is more outgoing, and always comes down to Ennis’ campsite for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Though barely talkative at all, the two watch each from their own areas.

Due to the cold, the both of them stay at Ennis’ post that on a night. Something unexpected happens for both of them, it’s a cold night and they both spend the night in the tent — but there’s more. The following morning, Ennis is unsure of himself and his sexuality. Later that day, Ennis returns to flock and a sheep has been torn apart, coyotes stalked during the night. The two spend the rest of their nights on Brokeback Mountain together, but when the summer ends, the two are heartbroken. Jack must return to his home in Texas and Ennis must remain, we learn he is engaged to be married in his home of Wyoming. As Jack drives home, he looks back at Ennis in his side window with sad eyes. Ennis stumbles into an alleyway, lovesick and starts sobbing.

Four years pass, Ennis is now married to Alma Del Mar (Michelle Williams), and has two daughters, and Jack has married to Lureen Newsome (Anne Hathaway), a rodeo queen and has a son. On a day like any other, Ennis gets a postcard from Jack and the two soon re-meet each other, apparently more in love with each other than before. They keep their relationship from everyone, because A., they’re both married and B., people in their society are uncomfortable with homosexuals and some people have been known to murder them.

That day when Jack and Ennis re-meet, Alma sees the two kissing near their apartment. She is very insecure of what she and Ennis have been living. She is heartbroken, but because she and Ennis have children and barely enough to take care of the family, she never confronts him.

Jack and Ennis spend their time together on Brokeback Mountain and continue and manage to see each other every couple of months, they tell their wives they are fishing buddies. Alma later questions why he never brought any fish home. Lureen never really questions anything, except why Jack can’t come to visit with them instead of the two going away. They continue their relationship for twenty, heartwarming, years.

Ang Lee has crafted this picture with pure beauty and care; the film creates an atmosphere which puts you, the viewer, in 1963. It is like staring into someone else’s window and you know you aren’t supposed to be, but you don’t know or care if you want to be there or not. Heath Ledger’s performance is like the film, both powerful and emotional, easily another Oscar worthy performance this year. Gyllenhaal’s, Hathaway’s and Williams’ performances are also very valuable.

At this point you’re probably asking yourself, “Is it just lust or is it something more?” There is lust, but the foundation of their relationship is love. The sex is brief and implied. This is how Ang Lee directs, because he keeps it brief, which makes it more meaningful.

There are many scenes where the two are leading the sheep back and forth across a quick moving stream through the mountains where I think Ang Lee intended to have another layer of meaning, representing Ennis questioning his own sexuality.

For example, after their night in the tent, Ennis discovers a dead sheep, mangled by coyotes. He is afraid society will do the same to him. Whether you are against homosexuality for whatever reason or you are not, this film is really important because it will change the way you think about love.

“Brokeback Mountain” is really more than a motion picture. It’s almost like a flip book of paintings on a canvas, potraying beautiful textures and styles of filmmaking — daring and brilliant in design. It is an important film that most of us should see. Ang Lee has done a great service to the film industry, clearing the barrier to homosexuals in movies as well as breaking stereotypes. Gustavo Santaolalla’s score consists mostly of a simple guitar melody, repeated throughout and building slowly the theme of the film. The sparsity of the notes embodies both the psychological and physical isolation of our characters and their setting. Yet in their isolation, the notes are melodically, harmoniously, connected to one another — as are Ennis and Jack.

Rated R for sexuality, nudity, language and some violence. Running time 134 minutes.