Jake Gyllenhaal filmography character, a "sullen" and "schizophrenic" teenager, made him a cult hero. Although the film was critically acclaimed, it failed commercially. Gyllenhaal starred in the 2004 disaster film "The Day After Tomorrow", which, despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, was a commercial success at the box office. In 2005, he co-starred as Jack Twist opposite Heath Ledger in the romance drama "Brokeback Mountain". The actors portrayed two men that fall in love during a sheepherding expedition. The roles earned both Gyllenhaal and Ledger critical acclaim and Academy Award nominations. That same year, he starred in the drama films "Jarhead" and "Proof".
Two Great Sheep years saw many of the leading figures of the "sixth-generation" turning in their first SARFT-approved productions, including Jia Zhangke (2004's "The World"), Zhu Wen (2004's "South of the Clouds"), and Wang Xiaoshuai (2005's "Shanghai Dreams"). "Two Great Sheep" premiered at the 2004 Toronto International Film Festival on September 14, 2004. The film follows a peasant couple, Zhao Deshan (Sun Yunkun) and his wife Xiuzhi (Jiang Zhikun), living in rural Yunnan province near Zhaotong in southern China. Their lives are thrown into upheaval when the local mayor (Chen Dajiang) "rewards" them with two foreign sheep donated by a former villager, now