Fridae

Directed by Lee Ang and based on a short story by E Annie Proulx, Brokeback Mountain stars Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as two young Wyoming man - a ranch-hand and a rodeo cowboy - who meet in 1963 herding sheep on a mountain and tells of their love that spans over two decades.

Accepting the Golden Lion award at the 62nd Venice Film Festival in Italy last Saturday, Lee said: "(My film is) a great American love story. I'm so glad it's prevailed here and was received so warmly here."

Ledger and Gyllenhaal's characters fall in love while working on the Brokeback Mountain. At the summer's end, however, they both return to their normal lives, marry and have children. Four years later, they meet again and their relationship is secretly rekindled.

Producer James Schamus told the BBC, "There has never been a homosexual cowboy movie."

"We are using the codes and conventions of romance that have always applied to straight people very unapologetically. We don't care if anyone is upset about it."

"When it comes to love, there is no difference for me between the love I have for my wife and the love a man has for another man," he added.

"What was difficult was pulling down people's preconceptions of the American West, preconceptions that were created by movies."

The material also struck a chord with Ledger and Gyllenhaal - younger sibling of actress Maggie Gyllenhaal of Mona Lisa Smile fame - who are both regarded as Hollywood's hottest stars.

Ledger said the movie was the first "proper" love story he had starred in.

"I find there's not a lot of mystery left in stories between guys and girls; it's all been done or seen before," he said in a quote published by Reuters.

"I felt this was such a refreshing story of love. For me, our characters were also complex, and to... really investigate this form of humanity and expression of love was an opportunity that I hadn't had."

"To me that's what is lacking in most love stories I've seen," Gyllenhaal said, adding that Brokeback Mountain confronts "a real idea of love, not just a cliche."

The actors share on-screen sex scenes that are depicted with a refreshing frankness - though it has been suggested some of their more explicit moments did not make it into the final cut.

At the film's press conference, Lee paid tribute to Proulx's "epic short story - a story that moved all of us."

"The difficulties of their circumstances make it more romantic," he said.

"We all have that urge to be romantic. I hope this love story can penetrate whatever differences of opinion people have."

The Taiwan-born director's martial-arts epic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, that dealt with love, loyalty and loss, swept the Oscar nominations in 2000, eventually winning Best Foreign Language Film, as well as Best Director at the Golden Globes, and became the highest grossing foreign-language film ever released in America.

Brokeback Mountain will hit theatres in the US in December.

For the full list of winners, please click on the link below to visit http://www.labiennale.org.