As Brokeback Mountain returns to theaters for its 20th anniversary, a writer behind the 2005 gay neo-Western romance recently recalled its Oscars snub.
Co-writer Diana Ossana recently recalled Crash director Paul Haggis introducing her to Clint Eastwood at a party for the Academy Award nominees after voting had ended, several weeks before the awards show.
“Paul started walking me over and he goes, ‘Diana, I have to tell you, he hasn’t seen your movie,’” recalled Ossana to The New York Times. “And it was like somebody kicked me in the stomach. That’s when I knew we would not win Best Picture.”
Despite winning a record number of Best Picture prizes during the awards season, including the Golden Globe, BAFTA, Critics’ Choice Award and Independent Spirit Award, Brokeback Mountain infamously lost the Oscar to Crash.
Ossana is still convinced homophobia in Hollywood played a part in the defeat. “People want to deny that, but what else could it have been? We’d won everything up until then,” she said.
(L-R) Director Ang Lee, Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal on the set of ‘Brokeback Mountain’
Focus Films/Everett Collection
After legendary Academy voters like Ernest Borgnine and Tony Curtis publicly stated they would not watch the Ang Lee-helmed film, Ossana told The Times, “I absolutely think that block of voters kept this movie from winning Best Picture.”
Lee previously reflected on the snub to Deadline. “Your guess is as good as mine,” he said last month. “There are times when I feel like there’s an unlimited willingness to watch the movie. There’s so much love for it. Generally, you feel like it’s a breakthrough, that it broke all barriers. People seem to melt down. And you cannot even define it as gay cinema. It’s not gay cinema, right? It’s a love story.”
“I’m nothing but grateful. I have no bitterness. It never occurred to me,” added Lee, who won Best Director for the film.
Brokeback Mountain also won Best Adapted Screenplay for Ossana and Larry McMurtry. The film earned nominations for Best Actor for Heath Ledger, Best Supporting Actor for Jake Gyllenhaal, Best Supporting Actress for Michelle Williams, Best Cinematography for Rodrigo Prieto and Best Original Score for Gustavo Santaolalla.
