That's a shock. The only movie I have seen with Heath Ledger is, wouldn't you know it, Brokeback Mountain. I saw it because of all the hoopla surrounding that film, but mostly because of all its Oscar nominations and the glorious review it got in my local newspaper. The film critic particularly cited Heath Ledger's performance as one of the cowboys. So I saw the film, and I was moved. The way the cowboys seemed to belong to each other when they where out in the glorious wilderness looking after sheep(?), but how they couldn't fit into the world of other people in the "Wild West state" where they lived, was moving indeed. And Heath Ledger absolutely shone as one of the cowboys. In Brokeback Mountain, Heath Ledger's character is the one who survives, while Jake Gyllenhaal's cowboy dies rather young. What a sad ironic twist that in real life, Heath Ledger "became the other cowboy" and died before the age of thirty.
Like someone else said, Heath Ledger's fate is somehow reminiscent of River Phoenix'. I have in fact only seen one film with River Phoenix, Stand By Me. I saw it at home on TV, on a commercial-free channel, and I was absolutely engrossed. Particularly by River Phoenix' character, Chris. He shone indeed. Chris was a boy who seemed to be doomed by destiny to grow up bad and criminal because of his criminal family, but who had decided, nevertheless, to cheat fate and grow up a good and useful person. The way young River Phoenix portrayed this character, who seemed so full of a sad and painful wisdom beyond his years, but also so full of determination and hope and kindness, and who, on top of all this, was just a young adventurous thirteen-year-old... wow...it was fantastic. Usually, when I have seen a movie I like, I don't bother to find out what actor played which role, if I don't know the actors already. But here I patiently waited after the movie itself had ended to learn the name of the actor who had played Chris. Oh... River Phoenix. Funny name. But cute. I went to bed smiling that night, thinking of the movie and Roiver Phoenix' performance. Would you believe that the very next day I read in my local paper that River Phoenix was dead?
River Phoenix, Heath Ledger. Two brilliant young actors, both dead of overdoses much too soon. What a sad, sad waste.
Ann
