In a 2006 interview, Oscar-winning screenwriters Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana discuss their roles in bringing the Annie Proulx short story to the screen.
On this date in 2005, Brokeback Mountain — the acclaimed and controversial romantic tragedy about two cowboys bound by a love they felt compelled to hide — premiered in New York. The film, which featured Jake Gyllenhaal and the late Heath Ledger in the lead roles, went on to win three Academy Awards: Best Director (Ang Lee), Original Score (Gustavo Santaolalla) — and Best Adapted Screenplay, written by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana. In early 2006, we spoke with McMurtry (who passed away earlier this year) and Ossana, who also won a Golden Globe for their script. Here are some highlights from our conversation.
Cowboys & Indians: What was there about Brokeback Mountain – Annie Proulx’s original short story – that made you want to collaborate on a screenplay adaptation?
Larry McMurtry: I think it was its connection with the West, where I’ve spent 55 years of my life, and Diana has spent 30 of hers. After I was finished reading it, the first thing I thought was that I wished I had written it. It was a story that had been sitting there for years, waiting to be told, and Annie finally wrote it. It is one of the finest short stories I’ve read. The place, the landscape, the men and the way they speak are drawn precisely and convincingly.
Diana Ossana: It’s very raw, very spare. Very severe – yet also very specific. And it’s unsentimental as well. But incredibly moving. I think the thing that startled me the most was the emotions the story made me feel. It affected me as a woman, and I felt it would surely affect anyone else, no matter what their sexual preference. The feelings are universal – love, loss, pain, regret. Through the centuries, people haven’t changed in their wants and needs and desires.
C&I: You wrote the screenplay in 1997. But it took a long time for you to find producers – and actors – brave enough to bring that screenplay to the screen.
Ossana: I never really lost faith, but I didn’t think it would take seven years. I think I was more frustrated by the fact that people wouldn’t truly commit. They’d read it, they’d love it, they’d waver or anguish about it – and then something that paid more money or whatever would come along, and they’d just let it go. And then I’d simply press on, contacting more directors and actors, sending it to people to read and to consider. It was a long, hard, rocky road to get to this point.
C&I: Did Annie ever tell you why she was inspired to write this story about two men forced to hide their love from the world for so many years?
Ossana: Oh, sure. She said she was in a small bar just outside Sheridan, Wyoming. It was a lively evening, with a lot of pretty girls prancing around and dancing. And the fellows were playing pool. But in the back of the bar, she noticed an older gentleman in his late 50s, early 60s, just standing back and watching these young men play pool. And she said she saw, like, a longing in his face that wasn’t sexual.
McMurtry: It wasn’t just lust. It was a kind of regret, or sorrow.
Ossana: And she wondered if he might be “country gay.” So she just counted back the years to when she thought he might have been in his late teens, to about 1963. And that planted the seed for the rest if the story.
C&I: Do you think a lot of people who loved Lonesome Dove – both the novel and the famous miniseries – might be surprised to see Larry’s name attached to a “gay cowboy” movie? I mean, after all, many traditionalists feel Lonesome Dove revived the classic Western myth. They may not be comfortable with this type of story.
Ossana: That’s probably true. But I think when people do go see the movie, whatever misgivings they might have about it will disappear.
McMurtry: And besides, I always thought of Lonesome Dove as anti-mythic. That’s not the way it was received, of course. Authors very rarely have any control over how their books are read or perceived. But I always thought of it as critical rather than celebratory.
C&I: The movie offers a very sympathetic portrait of the two lead characters, Ennis and Jack. But you also give a fair shake to the wives of these men, played by Anne Hathaway and Michelle Williams. In many ways, the movie is their tragedy as well.
Ossana: Yes, it’s a parallel tragedy. Because the relationship between Jack and Ennis didn’t happen in a vacuum. There were other people involved. So it just seemed natural and appropriate that these other stories be told.
C&I: In balancing those stories, do you think it was important that you were able to bring male and female sensibilities to your work?
McMurtry: I think it’s more about skill than gender.
Ossana: That’s true. I don’t describe myself as a “woman writer.” And Larry doesn’t describe himself as a “male writer.” But, certainly, if you look at his work – he’s written some amazing women characters.
McMurtry: I write women better than I write men. Always have.
And thanks to their sensitivity and tenacity, Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana were able to tell a story that moved millions of moviegoers.