Brokeback Bonsai

TreeBay

From Academy Award nominated filmmaker Spike Lee comes an epic story of forbidden love, based on the short story by Pulitzer Prize-winning author and adapted for the screen. Set against the sweeping vistas of Fresno, California, the film tells the story of two young, inner city bonsai apprentices who meet in the summer of 1963, and unexpectedly forge a lifelong connection, one whose complications, joys and tragedies provide a testament to the endurance and power of tree love. Early one morning Dennis del Mar and Jake Twist meet while lining up for employment with the local bonsai farmer. The world which Dennis and Jake have been born into is turned inside out. Both young men seem certain of their set places in the heartland – finding the perfect suiseki, marrying, and building a bonsai collection – and yet they hunger for something beyond what words can articulate. When they're dispatched to work as bonsai collectors, scrounging for California Juniper up on the majestic Brokeback Mountain, they gravitate towards camaraderie and finally explore a deeper intimacy among the high desert cactus. At the end of a summer spent pinching and plucking, the two must come down from Brokeback and part ways. Remaining in Fresno, Dennis weds his highschool sweetheart, with whom he will have two daughters as he ekes out a living selling mallsai in the local Bonsai Emporium. Jake, back in Barstow, catches the eye of a local Feng Shui practitioner. Their courtship and marriage result in a son, as well as jobs in her father's import/export business. Four years pass. One day, Dennis receives a Kodansha Bonsai postcard from Jake, who is en route to the Shohin Seminar in Santa Nella. Dennis waits expectantly for his friend, and when Jake at last arrives, in just one moment it is clear that the passage of time has only strengthened the men's attachment. In the years that follow, Dennis and Jake struggle to keep their secret bond alive. They meet up several times annually at various seminars and collecting jaunts. Even when they are apart, they face the eternal questions of fidelity, commitment the continued struggle of art vs. craft. Ultimately, the one constant in their lives is their mutual affection for dwarf conifers.

-- © Focus Features

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bonsaial1

You been talking to someone Matt? This sounds alot like the true story of Glenn VanWinkle (ripsgreentree) and Al Keppler (bonsaial).

Glenn has Phumononia real bad right now. Coughing up blood last week. I am sure he is still pounding up hard pan while sick though...

Glenn, True bonsai die hard...

Al

PS, Santa Nella soon...

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soonami

Damn you just ruined the movie for me!!

At least you saved me $10.50 though.

Joanie

Reminds me a little of a short story by Ted Sturgeon, about two cowboys repairing fences...

Although that story isn't humorous, and this one is, it makes the point that there are bonds forged in situations of hardship, and stories told during the silences of the night when the soul reaches out for understanding. And that sometimes, what happens outside the normal world is never meant to be shared in any other context.

Joanie

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stephenr

Soonami, spend the $10 and see the movie. Its very good. Brokeback Mountian has just been released her in Oz and its getting greate reviews already. The scenery in the film is WOW!!. Was it shot in the rockies??. Boy are you guys lucky having such wonderful country to explore in the U.S. All we have is desert (lots of that) & rain forests but nothing like the mountains where the film was shot. I loved the film just for the mountain views and all those trees. The story is good too..
Honey, where's my pick & shovel??

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soonami

Yeah, I don't think I'll be spending $10 for the movie. I'm a great fan of Ang Lee, but the price of movies is getting retarded here in the U.S.

Ang Lee does a great job shooting landscapes, see Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, he definitely has a Chinese sense of balance and works often with Christopher Doyle a great cinematographer.

stephenr

$10 in the US for a movie ticket - its $14 here in Oz.
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Ang Lee does a great job shooting landscapes, see Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, he definitely has a Chinese sense of balance and works often with Christopher Doyle a great cinematographer.
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Their collaberation realy shoes in this fim..

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"We grow by attempting that which is difficult, not what is easy"