Aguirre's exhaust fan
by garycottle (Mon Mar 5 2007 10:49:33 ) I'm sure everyone who has seen the film remembers when Jack returned to Joe Aguirre's office looking for a job, and most espeically Ennis, the summer after he and Ennis worked together on Brokeback Mountain.
When he entered the trailer Aguirre stopped in his tracks as if he couldn't believe who had just walked in, and just at that moment the exhaust fan up on the back wall of the trailer, right above Aguirre's head, stops dead too. I'm sure this was deliberate, and I'm sure it was meant to subliminally underscore the dramatic tension of the moment, so no one can accuse Ang Lee of being inattentive to detail.
This is something you could easily miss on your first viewing. So I was just wondering how many people have noticed after seeing the film a few times. And I'd love to hear what you think of it, both in terms of its symbolism and how it points to Lee's craftsmanship.
Re: Aguirre's exhaust fan
by clixbitch (Mon Mar 5 2007 10:55:59 ) As soon as I read this, being I was currently watching the DVD, i rewound it back to that point and I realised that too. Your very right. Not just about the stopping of the fan, but how it can be missed on your first viewing. Well, this is my 30th odd viewing and I can tell you, it took me even longer.
I think it is very good how Lee showed the tension of the moment. The way it was, I very much doubt it was a goof or whatever you call it and I can 99.99% agree it was done puroposly. I think it shows that, remebering Agguire knew Ennis and Jack were "together" after seeing them on Brokeback before telling Jack about his Uncle or whatever, that wherever they go Jack and Ennis can surprise anything with their feelings for one another. I know I probably sound completely daft so I'll "quit while I'm ahead" as the saying goes.
But lastly, I think it would perhaps show how Ennis would feel if he saw Jack again especially after all that time.
Thanks for pointing this out! Good job! xx
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http://www.myspace.com/xx_silky_spazbo_dreams_xx Re: Aguirre's exhaust fan
by androphile (Mon Mar 5 2007 11:15:43 ) Thanks, garycottle, for bringing up this point. I had noticed the fan stopping before but not really given it much consideration as symbolism. Now that I have, I think it fits in very neatly with the much discussed theme of wind symbolizing Jack Twist (and his free-spiritedness) throughout the film. Jack's free-spirited nature is maximized in wide-open spaces such as Brokeback Mountain, and it is most confined in cramped indoor spaces (Aguirre's trailer most of all) which represent the stifling, suffocating conformity of society. Hence there is an audible/visible gust of wind as he enters the trailer, but as soon as he closes the door and locks eyes with Aguirre ("well, look what the wind blew in"), the fan stops: i.e., Jack immediately feels the pressure to conform. Very telling.
"Tell you what . . . the truth is . . . sometimes I miss you so much I can hardly stand it."
Re: Aguirre's exhaust fan
by littlewing1957 (Mon Mar 5 2007 12:33:44 ) I think it fits in very neatly with the much discussed theme of wind symbolizing Jack Twist (and his free-spiritedness) throughout the film. Jack's free-spirited nature is maximized in wide-open spaces such as Brokeback Mountain, and it is most confined in cramped indoor spaces (Aguirre's trailer most of all) which represent the stifling, suffocating conformity of society. Hence there is an audible/visible gust of wind as he enters the trailer, but as soon as he closes the door and locks eyes with Aguirre ("well, look what the wind blew in"), the fan stops: i.e., Jack immediately feels the pressure to conform. Very telling.
This is certainly my take, androphile.
The wind is in, the free spirit is contained.
Re: Aguirre's exhaust fan
by latjoreme (Mon Mar 5 2007 13:12:06 ) Jack is represented by wind lots of times. When Ennis is sitting on the bed thinking about Jack, just after Alma says, "You don't want it to be so lonesome, do you?" you can hear a howl of wind. In the final scene in Ennis' trailer, there is a large prominent fan in the picture when Ennis and Alma Jr. are talking -- right next to the bed with its two pillows, one used and one unused.
Re: Aguirre's exhaust fan
by garycottle (Mon Mar 5 2007 20:19:10 ) Thanks everybody. I enjoyed reading your posts. I especially liked reading how the fan stopping could relate to Jack being associated with wind, and how his spirt confined in the trailer represents conformity to social norms.
And the Miss Marple prize goes to toycoon. I'll take him at his word if he says he saw the fan on his first viewing. (Even though in another post he claimed he was the "friend" in Jake's room when the hotel caught on fire. ) You can't sneak anything past those toy-makers.
Re: Aguirre's exhaust fan
by tatereviews (Mon Mar 5 2007 22:37:34 ) I noticed this one time, too. A great illustration of "look what the wind blew in"
Re: Aguirre's exhaust fan
by BannerHill (Mon Mar 5 2007 23:14:15 ) I am sure everyone is going to hate my interpretation, but I think it is just a 'goof'.
It is such a small thing that it might actually not have been noticed until the editing process.
Re: Aguirre's exhaust fan
by garycottle (Sat Mar 10 2007 19:27:05 ) Aww, BannerHill! Gosh, if it was just a goof, then the timing couldn't have been more prescient. I mean that fan stopped just when Aguirre notices it's Jack that's walked into this office. It seems to coordinate with the change of Aguirre's expression. If Ang really did intentionally stop the fan I think he didn't mean for us to notice except subliminally.
But maybe we're reading too much into it. I noticed a recent thread chastising some of us for indulging in over analyzing.
Re: Aguirre's exhaust fan
by jaaguir (Sun Mar 11 2007 11:47:38 ) Hi
This board may have seen its share of over-analyzing but I think the link between Jake and the wind has been clearly proved in this board several times by now, like the other examples given in this very thread. There are even quotes from the movie's editing crew about how they used the sound of the wind and other nature sounds to tell the story, although they don't specify more.
The fan in Aguirre's trailer may or may not be a goof (was the scene shot in a real trailer where the wind could move it without the film-crew helping it? or was it a set? etc) but in any case it would be a very appropriate goof.
Re: Aguirre's exhaust fan
by NewHorizons37 4 days ago (Tue Jun 12 2007 08:41:29 ) The fan in Aguirre's trailer may or may not be a goof
Another scene: when Alma and Ennis argue as she heads down the stairs to go to work, steam from a vent of the laundromat below their apartment fills the air. Jack, even though not present, is affecting their relationship.
That apparently was a real laundromat. So was that, if not a goof, just coincidence that steam was being emitted when they shot that scene? Either way, it fits the scene.
Re: bump
by monkandmovies13 (Sun Mar 25 2007 07:54:48 ) You know, I've seen this movie several times, and it's always haunted me for some reason or another. Every time I watch it, I can't keep my mind off of it for at least a week, and I really jsut want to go back and watch it again. I could never figure out why, I jsut thought it was a tragic love story, something that has been done so many times, and I coudln't figure out why this one affected me so deeply. Through reading these boards, I realize that all of the details, touches, and the touching little things that Ang Lee had put into this film must have affected me subconsciously. I now know why I have such a strong reaction to it every time I watch it, and why it's so deep and rich and moving. Thanks!
You stay classy...Planet Earth
Re:Accidental Fan?
by Clyde-B 5 days ago (Mon Jun 11 2007 09:17:54 ) The actual sequence of events:
M.S. Aguirre reading, the fan is almost motionless. There is a knock, the fan starts up.
M.S. Jack opens the door, steps in, closes the door.
M.S. Aguirre, the fan is spinning like crazy. It stops.
AGUIRRE: "Well, look what the wind blew in."
Does anybody really think that was an accident?
