I'm Australian and I first started hearing rumours in the media, probably around mid-2005, that Heath, a fellow Australian, was making a controversial "gay cowboy" movie somewhere overseas. Heath had been a teenage heart-throb television soap actor up until that time, leaning towards a "pretty-boy" image, with adoring teenage female fans in abundance. I remember thinking at the time that I would go to see the film when it was released for the subject-matter only, and try to ignore Heath in the process. This strategy had worked for me previously, with "Titanic" and Leonardo Di Caprio. I couldn't have been more wrong about Heath, as it turned out.
I'm not proud to confess that I'd never heard of Annie Proulx, nor her short story, prior to seeing the movie. I had also never heard of Jake prior to the movie. I knew of Ang Lee primarily through "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon," which I loved and saw twice at the cinema.
I virtually forgot about the movie until shortly before its commercial release in Australia, in January 2006. There was a gala premier here in Sydney, not open to the public, attended by Heath and Michelle. As they entered the theatre, Heath and Michelle were squirted with water-pistols. I believe this was done by some journalists in protest at Heath, for his having spat at some of their colleagues at some time. This story got a lot of coverage here in Sydney and it acted as a trigger for me to be sure to see the film when it was commercially released.
It opened in Sydney on the Australia Day public holiday, 26 January 2006. I went along to the very first (morning) screening with my ex-partner. The cinema was packed. I identified several people in the audience as being media personalities and celebrities.
George and I both left the theatre in floods of tears that day and I ended up seeing it another 19 times at the cinema before it closed two months later, this being a very long run for a film in Sydney.
It was only a matter of time before I bought "Close Range" and every other book written by Annie Proulx. I have also bought the screenplay, the CD and the DVD, as well as a couple of music spin-offs of "The Wings" theme. I have subsequently read the original short story and screenplay countless times.
And last but by no means least, I have found my spiritual home here at BetterMost.