by - Ellemeno (Sat Jan 21 2006 15:58:19 )
Another thing is whenever you have the scenes where the wind is blowing like Alma hanging clothes, or the wind kicking up dust, or the wind blows through the grass as the train passes -- it is a prelude to communication between Jack and Ennis. It's as if the wind is carrying the message in the air.
As Aguirre says, "Look what the wind blew in."
Thanks for bringing this thread back.
not so lonely now, is it? hm
by - naun (Sun Dec 25 2005 01:43:11 )
A friend of mine pointed out (and this is so obvious I know, but I just love the way it comes out visually, in the film, when you think back on it) that whenever they are together (except obvious places like Ennis' apt, the hotel etc.) the surroundings are absolutely idyllic, the scenery lush, so much to look at, the air just LOOKS clearer, and fresher.
Very often they're near a body of water, which suggests perhaps a state of purity or guiltlessness.
Somebody mentioned the snow and the cold. I've often thought, watching Lee's earlier film The Ice Storm, that the images of ice and cold sharpened the sense of isolation you feel about the characters and made you more aware of their need for emotional warmth. Something similar is going on here, I think. The scenes in Brokeback of cars or trucks arriving or departing in a cloud of dust serve a similar purpose, I suspect, emphasizing the distance between people.
by - naun (Tue Dec 27 2005 05:28:34 )
The last that Jack sees of Ennis is of him driving away with a horse (or was it two horses?) in a trailer that has a kind of cage over the top. It's not hard to see the caged horse as a symbol of the freedom they have lost.
Speaking of horses, the scene of Jack selling the tractor (the "Versatile"(!) tractor, as a sharp-eyed viewer here noticed) while Lureen does the accounting in the office, years after their rodeo days are over, reminded me of some lines from Yeats' poem "At Galway Races":
We, too, had good attendance once,
Hearers and hearteners of the work;
Aye, horsemen for companions,
Before the merchant and the clerk
Breathed on the world with timid breath.
I wonder if Proulx or the screenwriters were thinking of the same poem? Here's a link to the entire poem:
http://www.poetry-archive.com/y/at_galway_races.html The sheep
by - 3of19 (Tue Dec 27 2005 05:42:26 )
I got an idea today regarding the eviscerated sheep Ennis finds after the first night in the tent with Jack.
The audience doesn't know it yet, but I guess the sheep could remind Ennis of the murdered farmer his father shows to him.
From the PoV of the audience, it looks merely like a reminder of what happens if they skip out on their sheep-herding duties, but for Ennis it means more.
Re: The sheep
by - nictwister (Tue Dec 27 2005 09:38:07 )
When Jack comes to Ennis after learning the divorce is final and Ennis' daughters are in the car. The coversation is obvious very awkward for Ennis but I noticed he look off a truck in the distance and then they showed us the viewer that truck driving by...what was that meant to be?
The general public? Acceptance? Was that society driving by and reminding Ennis that someone would always be watching hence they could never be together despite the divorce?
That whole conversation was weird - why did Ennis take the time to send a card to Jack about the divorce if he didn't even want to entertain the idea of them being together.
Also, what did having the girls for one weekend have to do with them not being together? It just seem like some dialog that didn't communicate much - yet you knew exactly what it meant?
Re: The sheep
by - jyanks (Tue Dec 27 2005 09:49:38 )
I saw symbolism when Anne Hathaway is on the phone with Ennis. If you notice, her Lee Press-on nails are starting to come off....I thought that this was an important, yet minor detail that Ang Lee wanted us to notice.
Fake nails/Fake person = Fake story
Re: Fake nails
by - nictwister (Tue Dec 27 2005 09:53:47 )
I DID NOTICE THAT - and I thought the same exact thing.
Nail polish
by - delalluvia (Tue Dec 27 2005 11:29:10 )
UPDATED Tue Dec 27 2005 11:40:39
I saw symbolism when Anne Hathaway is on the phone with Ennis. If you notice, her Lee Press-on nails are starting to come off....I thought that this was an important, yet minor detail that Ang Lee wanted us to notice.
Fake nails/Fake person = Fake story
You know, I thought the same thing until I read a reviewer who talked about the nail polish stain on Lureen's finger.
So I took a closer look the next time and thought instead of press-on nails, what they look like is just Lureen doing a poor job of polishing her nails.
Those in the know understand what I mean when you go the manicurist and get a bad polish job. It's like they paint a swathe of color down the middle of your nail but don't get the sides covered.
In the end, that's what I decided it looked like to me.
