Brokeback Mountain

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Ang Lee had just returned to his home in New York Tuesday after taking his children to school and hoped to steal a few moments of sleep.

That plan was foiled when the news broke about 8:35 EST that his "Brokeback Mountain" led the Oscar pack with eight nominations, including his citation for best director.

Although "Brokeback's" string of guild nominations had positioned it for Oscar glory, Lee admitted, "we were hopeful, but there was a little anxiety, so this is very good."

As the movie -- which skeptics initially warned might play only to a narrow demographic -- has slowly spread across the U.S., Lee said: "It gives me lots of hope and has taught me a big lesson -- that I should never categorize people. Certainly, I've come to realize that there are more gay people out there than I realized. And I also think the movie speaks to people who are very thirsty and hungry to see something with true emotion and some complexity."

Lee was particularly gratified when "Brokeback" recently opened in his homeland, Taiwan, where it was rated as suitable for moviegoers 12 and older. It opened as the No. 1 film, he noted, and "all kinds of people have gone to see it."

The film's star, Heath Ledger, was in a Los Angeles hotel bed with new wife and "Brokeback Mountain" co-star Michele Williams and their baby daughter, Mathilda, when they heard the news of their Oscar nominations.

"Supporting my partner and enjoying this awards season for her makes it so much more bearable," said Ledger as Williams made calls from another room in their suite. "It means you're not wrapped up in your own nomination. It's exciting, and I'm extremely proud of her. It's sweet. I'm also excited for Jake (Gyllenhaal) and Ang (Lee) and the movie, which is really beautiful, and Annie Proulx, the creator of this story. The biggest reward of this movie was my two girls: I was given a family, which is bizarre."

Williams, meanwhile, said the couple "might get a baby-sitter and go on a date."

Speaking from the set of "Zodiac," supporting actor nominee Gyllenhaal said he was asleep when his agent called him with the news.

"I try not to have expectations. I had given up expectations in the past little while, and it's done me a lot of good. I think it's good to leave your expectations at the door. I feel that way about my birthday, I feel that about Christmas, and I feel that way about this."

One of the first calls "Brokeback Mountain" cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto received after the Oscar nominations was from a popular radio station in Mexico City, his hometown. "It's an exciting day -- we have two Mexican cinematographers nominated," Prieto said of his colleague Emmanuel Lubezki, nominated for "The New World."

Prieto started work on "Brokeback Mountain" right after shooting Oliver Stone's "Alexander."

"I'd say the camera and lighting packages were 10 times smaller on 'Brokeback,"' the first-time nominee said. "That didn't make shooting 'Brokeback' less challenging. We worked on a short schedule, the weather was not cooperating, and (we had) so many locations and time periods. I just never imagined that it would get the attention it's getting. I didn't think it was the kind of cinematography that would get noticed -- we tried to be as organic and unnoticeable as possible -- so it's very exciting."

When the nominations were announced, "Brokeback Mountain" composer Gustavo Santaolalla was in London, readying himself for a Tuesday evening Barbican Hall performance of "Ayre," a collaborative work with Argentinean composer Oswaldo Golijov; Santaolalla appears Friday and Saturday in New York at Lincoln Center with Bajofondo and the Kronos Quartet. Santaolalla, whose Golden Globe-winning song "A Love That Will Never Grow Old" was ineligible for an Oscar nomination because of its brief screen time, received his first Oscar nomination for just his fifth film score after a long career as a performer, songwriter, producer and label operator.

"I started in the music business when I was 16," he said. "I've been at it since I was a kid. I'm totally aware of the speed in which things moved in this new phase. I'm excited and in a state of awe."

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter