Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
lovable subtle details
inwooder:
Hi Everyone, sorta new here. Just saw BBM for the FIRST time two months ago. Several questions if you could help me answer:
What did Ang mean by the following "back ground clips"? I am assuming they all have some meaning and were choosen for a reason-
1. When Ennis and Alma are at the drive through-why did Ang pick that movie and that scene? What did it mean?
2. When Ennis and Alma are watching TV with the girls, why did Ang pick that scene to show playing on the TV? And what did it mean?
3. Next scene-(this is right after we see Jack ask Lureen where is blue parka is) Ennis is getting ready to go fishing with Jack, he is packing his bag in his bedroom and there is, off camera, a man talking. He is describing someone, "construction worker...etc" What is that supposed to mean or symbolize?
I think thats all. I apologize if these were all discussed at length some time ago.
Front-Ranger:
Hi, inwooder, and welcome! Thanks for reviving this thread! These are hard questions, so I will tackle them one by one, starting with the third one. As Ennis is packing to meet Jack for a "fishing" trip, we hear the radio in the background, where a joke is being told about a big guy, a construction worker, and a little guy. There seems to be a subtext to the joke, hidden meanings that are not expressed but only implied. My feeling is that this background dialogue was chosen for two reasons: it shows the homophobia that is just under the surface in daily life of people in those times (as well as now) and, secondly, it hints at the duplicity of Ennis, the fact that he was leading a double life.
Another thing that happens in this scene is that Ennis gropes in the kitchen cupboard to get his canister (what does he keep in it, coffee or whiskey?) and then heads out the door. Alma, without looking up, says, "Forgettin something?" He has almost left without his fishing creel and net! Later we find out that Alma, through stealthy means, has found out that Ennis doesn't use his fishing gear on these trips. She has ceased to care, though, and casually reads a newspaper. Maybe she is reading the grocery specials for the week that Monroe is offering! It's a good transition scene that illustrates the "slow corrosion" between Alma and Ennis, and the enduring spark between Ennis and Jack.
--- Quote from: inwooder on December 30, 2009, 11:11:49 pm ---3. Next scene-(this is right after we see Jack ask Lureen where is blue parka is) Ennis is getting ready to go fishing with Jack, he is packing his bag in his bedroom and there is, off camera, a man talking. He is describing someone, "construction worker...etc" What is that supposed to mean or symbolize?
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: inwooder on December 30, 2009, 11:11:49 pm ---I think thats all. I apologize if these were all discussed at length some time ago.
--- End quote ---
They may have been discussed before, but never resolved certainly. Such is the nature of Ang Lee's work, always leaving that "open space" between what we know and what we believe!
inwooder:
Hey Front Ranger,
Thanks for responding. I have posted this/these questions on others sites, but with no response. I agree with what you've described and why. It seems Ang wanted us to see the constant fear that Ennis lived under. He is going to see Jack while having to listen to a homophobic joke on the radio/tv. Hope you can make heads or tails of the other two examples!
inwooder:
And another one!
Jack says "Shit" three times in the beginning of the movie, then, when Jack is ministering to the cut on Ennis' head, Ennis says "shit" under his breath. And, I think, Jack doesn't really say it anymore and Ennis is the one who says it for the rest of the movie. What do y'all make of that?
Front-Ranger:
That's very interesting about the "shit" inwooder! I had not noticed that. There are some corrolaries, though. One is that Ennis is facing a certain way during the early scenes of the movie, and then the opposite way (most of the time) during the rest of the movie. Some of us theorized that Jack and Ennis sort of traded roles halfway through their relationship, not just the sheep herder/camp tender roles.
I wonder if there's something that Ennis does or says during the early part of the movie that he trades with Jack. Jack certainly does become more close-mouthed during the latter part of the movie.
Since Ang Lee is a follower of the Tao te Ching, this is a logical expression of the concept that everything contains its opposite and that complementary aspects of nature are in balance and in flux.
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