Unless it's besieged by some unexpected backlash in the next couple of months, Oscar voters are likely going to go for broke with "Brokeback Mountain" -- director Ang Lee's acclaimed film about a two-decade-long forbidden romance between two men.

If industry and critical response to the film is any indication, there's a happy trail ahead. The film has already been honored as the film of the year by the Producers Guild of America and is a top nominee for the Independent Spirit Awards and the British Academy Awards.

Before that, it won the top prize from the Golden Globes, the Broadcast Film Critics Association and slew of local groups, including the New York Film Critics Circle and Los Angeles Film Critics Association.

Prior to the avalanche of awards that stared to reign down upon "Brokeback Mountain," Lee told me that he's been taken aback by all the attention his independent film is getting.

"It's a good surprise," Lee told me in an @ The Movies interview, the morning of the film's leading seven Golden Globe nominations. "I didn't expect this at all."

Without question, "Brokeback Mountain" is a groundbreaking film in that its main characters -- Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) -- are two gay ranch hands: a sort of pairing moviegoers don't see every day.

Not surprisingly, the film automatically became fodder for the late night talk show circuit, Comedy Central and the like. For example, the night before I talked with Lee, David Letterman poked fun at "the gay cowboy movie."

The 51-year-old was Lee clearly not bothered by the jokes -- in fact, he saw them coming.

"It's not like they're not cowboys or not gay. It's just culturally it has a funny connotation, like we're doing 'Blazing Saddles' -- that sort of thing," Lee said with a laugh. "It sounds like a parody -- but we're doing a serious love story."

Jokes notwithstanding, Lee said, the film isn't so much a gay movie as it is a love story where the two main characters happen to be gay.

"There's certainly something unique about this material," Lee said. "But at the end of the day, it's really about a universal search for love."

Lee said despite the gay theme and the inevitable mixed responses from audience members, there was no risk in making "Brokeback Mountain."

First, he said, Focus Features, the independent filmmaking arm of Universal Studios, "has been nothing but supportive," and financially, the film was not a risk because it had a low budget of $14 million.

But what sealed the deal was the fact that Focus co-president James Schamus, the one who brought the material to Lee's attention four years ago, also was Lee's collaborator on all of his films.

"The whole production was filled with love," Lee said. "When you're possessed by a love like this, you just go try to make it work. That occupied all of our time. While we were doing it, there was nothing but love for the material."

Although the film is a success awards-and box office-wise (the film as of this printing has earned $42 million), the question still remains open -- should a intimate relationship between two members of the same sex even be an issue in this day and age?

"Well it is what it is, for the material and society," Lee said. "And because it is still an issue, that makes the material all the more interesting to me, because all great love stories have great obstacles -- and that's what the story builds on. In life, I wish it wouldn't be an issue."

If anything, Lee is glad that the film has sparked a dialogue.

"How people react to it is something very interesting to watch -- particularly Americans," the Taiwanese director observed. "The film is a provocation. It asks the questions and you're search for the answer in your response to it. That to me is the real interesting part."

Lee's passion for filmmaking has touched several different areas of the filmmaking canvas; from the moral drama "The Ice Storm" and the action-adventure fantasy "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" (which earned Lee a Best Foreign Film Oscar), to the superhero movie "The Hulk."

Lee said the continual change of scenery for him is definitely by design.

"I'd like to think I'm forever a film student," Lee said. "Different genres and different material frees me from stereotyping myself. Constant stretch is needed if you want to do something fresh. I feel fortunate I can do that."

But while the material and the challenges are fresh to Lee, the director does admit that it can take a toll. Prior to our interview, Lee was quoted as saying that "The Hulk" almost finished his career. I asked him why.

"I was thinking of retirement -- I though I had enough," Lee said, laughing. "It was exhausting. It was a culmination of everything I did, particularly "The Hulk" and 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.' I'm not talking about how successful or not successful they were, it's just that the filmmaking was something big and unconventional. I was twisting the genre (with the films), at the same time was I was trying to make them dramatic and intimate, so that kind of killed me. It was pure exhaustion."

On the flip side, that's why making "Brokeback Mountain" was such a relief for the veteran filmmaker.

"This one was quite relaxing for me," Lee said. "I thought I was doing something smaller and I just wanted to finish the day and make sure the acting is secure. Actually, it was a healing process for me -- (a chance) to recover from the exhaustion."

Lee certainly doesn't regret the energy he poured into "Crouching Tiger" and "The Hulk" -- in the end, he's a firm believer that one experience always informs another.

"It's all a learning process -- if your body can take it, if your nerves can take it -- if you can keep your sanity, there's always the next level to reach," Lee said. "It's like athletes: they get good when they have injuries. They have to keep on going and learn from the injuries. You have to accept pain if you can keep on taking it."