Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
lovable subtle details
Brown Eyes:
--- Quote from: latjoreme on May 13, 2006, 12:15:24 am ---Ennis' expressions emotions are SO powerful, yet the constraints are SO strong that he is hardly able to reveal any emotion at all. That happens throughout the movie with both Ennis and Jack, but the conflict between emotion and restraint is particularly strong in the Twist ranch scene. We see what Ennis is going through, as does Mrs. Twist, yet John Twist hardly notices. It's amazing to see an actor 1) pretending not to show any emotion, yet somehow 2) actually showing huge depths of emotion and yet all the while 3) never going over the top or seeming the least bit maudlin or false.
I've said it a million times, but Heath was so robbed of that Oscar.
--- End quote ---
Definitely the tension that hiding deep emotion causes, I think, is what makes this movie so intense while at the same time it's so quiet. In this scene, it has been suggested here and there, that Ennis is in part looking to find people he can grieve with over Jack. He knew so few people connected to Jack's life and he wouldn't allow himself to express his grief over Jack's death to anyone in Riverton. So this is yet another level of intense emotion being suppressed here by both Ennis and Jack's Mom. On one of the great old threads about Jack's Mom on imdb someone once noted that part of the reason she might have invited Ennis to go to Jack's room right when she did was because she probably realized that he needed to cry and would probably want privacy (in addition to Mrs. Twist wanting Ennis to find the shirts and to realize that the "other fellow" was really insignificant to Jack compared to him).
BBM was robbed of the other 5 Oscars it didn't win. But, Citizen Kane didn't win best picture either (like our Brokeback, it won best screenplay! ... But it was original screenplay in the case of Kane.). Classics are not determined by the Oscars. I wish that my copy of the BBM DVD didn't have that "3 Oscars" border on it. It should say winner of 64 major film awards and nominated for 51 more (the 64 and 51 include the Oscars). That seems much more impressive and in many ways things like the Golden Lion in Venice means more to hardcore film people anyway. That really is a shockingly huge number of awards.
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: atz75 on May 15, 2006, 08:38:02 pm --- On one of the great old threads about Jack's Mom on imdb someone once noted that part of the reason she might have invited Ennis to go to Jack's room right when she did was because she probably realized that he needed to cry and would probably want privacy (in addition to Mrs. Twist wanting Ennis to find the shirts and to realize that the "other fellow" was really insignificant to Jack compared to him).
BBM was robbed of the other 5 Oscars it didn't win. But, Citizen Kane didn't win best picture either (like our Brokeback, it won best screenplay! ... But it was original screenplay in the case of Kane.). Classics are not determined by the Oscars. I wish that my copy of the BBM DVD didn't have that "3 Oscars" border on it. It should say winner of 64 major film awards and nominated for 51 more (the 64 and 51 include the Oscars). That seems much more impressive and in many ways things like the Golden Lion in Venice means more to hardcore film people anyway. That really is a shockingly huge number of awards.
--- End quote ---
Yes, Ennis is clearly on the verge of tears just when she touches his shoulder. And the two of them exchange several long, meaningful looks throughout that scene and the one that follows, so I am pretty sure he knows that she knows and finds comfort in her sympathy, the only condolences he will ever receive.
As for the Oscar, I agree that BBM is a classic without the validation of an Oscar. In the long run, it won't matter much. What bothers me is how much Heath and everybody else deserve to have "Oscar winner" on their resumes, with all the attendant prestige and earning potential. I thought Ang's bewildered tone in post-Oscar interviews was very sad. Also, the Oscar would have sent a message to people who are skeptical or critical or even just ignorant of the movie, many of whom would know little about the less famous awards or the morning-after backlash against the AMPAS.
Brown Eyes:
OK, new *little* detail... I love that the tractor that Jack rides with his son is called "versatile"- like our Jack. :)
Brown Eyes:
And another detail...
I think it's amazing how much of the movie Ennis spends with furrowed brows. Those worry lines in his forehead are usually pretty intense. So, some of my new favorite moments are when Ennis's face looks relaxed and contented.
My absolute favorite example of this is the 2nd tent scene. When Ennis enters the tent and kneels down all the way through the cuddling while he's lying on top of Jack his forehead is doing some serious furrowing. But, once Jack rolls over on top of him and really starts to kiss him... Ennis's face just looks so different. Soooo much more relaxed. It's honestly hard to think of all that many moments when Ennis's face doesn't look at least sliightly worried or stressed.
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: atz75 on May 24, 2006, 10:49:17 pm ---But, once Jack rolls over on top of him and really starts to kiss him... Ennis's face just looks so different. Soooo much more relaxed.
--- End quote ---
Yes, and the other thing I love about this moment is how into it Ennis suddenly becomes -- much more of an active participant. :-* There's like a sixteenth of a second at the very end of that scene when it looks like they stop kissing and sort of rest their faces on each other's. I really hate how it cuts away right then. (Ang has said in interviews, I think, that the scene was trimmed way down from what they actually filmed -- we can only hope that more will surface in a special edition DVD or director's cut!)
The other time he's notably non-furrowed is throughout most of the reunion segment -- especially during the "sending up a prayer of thanks" moment. :)
Then again, I also love the worry lines, especially at the end of the lakeside argument, when his expression is not so much worry as outright anguish.
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