BACKBROKE MOUNTAIN

single channel video

Sarah Lawrence College, Bronxville NY / 2023

BackBroke is a (mostly) shot-for-shot recreation of the famous “I wish I could quit you” scene from the famous gay-cowboy movie Brokeback Mountain (2005) featuring Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. Using one performer, in ear audio, and multiple shots through the mirror and window, this farcical interpretation explores the performance of queer masculinity. The performer recites the dialogue in a self address in the mirror, shifting between two presentations, eventually culminating in a breakdown fight with themselves. In a blubbering crying pile, we are left with the question, can we ever really quit the hypothetical “you”?

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Directed by RED

Cinematography by RED

Starring Jeremy Kadetsky

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Inspired by the Paramount Picture film Brokeback Mountain (2005) by Annie Proulx