Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
"I was supposed to control the weather"... Jack and the Wind
starboardlight:
--- Quote from: atz75 on May 29, 2006, 12:04:06 pm ---Heya,
Back to the wind topic and Jack's symbols more generally... I just posted this over in the "I love everything Brokeback" thread last night. And it occurs to me that it would be worthwhile to post it here too.
A discussion came up about the two notes that seem to echo each other at the very beginning of the BBM score as the movie starts. So, this was my reply:
I always hear those two notes as echos... meant to foreshadow the Jack/ Ennis relationship. It's interesting that Ennis enters the picture in a literal way (we see him coming) but Jack enters the situation symbolically before we see him. The echo in ths score, the wind that's really prominent before he arrives, and the little symbol of the rodeo cowboy on the semi-truck's license plate all seem to be clues that Jack is arriving too. I love that license plate by the way. It's how he leaves the film too... he dies but his symbols persist for several important scenes after he's no longer around as a person.
So, here's what I find really interesting about this. It seems to me that Jack is not only a real person/character but, in the form of the symbols that surround him, Jack is the abstract idea of Ennis's sexuality or desire. So before he even meets Jack all of these emotions and ideas and desires are swirling around in Ennis's head but he doesn't quite know what they mean. The wind at the beginning hasn't yet taken on it's full significance, but it does represent something that's already inside Ennis. Symbols like the wind are still abstract and unfocused at this point. Once Jack appears on the scene all of these things inside Ennis that add up to his "awakening" sexuality start to focus on Jack. So that by the time the movie is over and Jack is gone, all of the symbols, like the wind, etc. have taken on huge amounts of meaning and are completely linked to Jack.
--- End quote ---
i love that thought, and so beautifully articulated. don't think I can add much to that, but just take pleasure in reading it again. :)
Brown Eyes:
Thanks starlightboard! :D
I don't know why I keep obsessing about topics like this one. I guess I like to think about these details because they make almost every little aspect of the movie come alive.
cheers!
belbbmfan:
--- Quote from: atz75 on May 29, 2006, 12:31:45 pm ---I don't know why I keep obsessing about topics like this one. I guess I like to think about these details I guess because they make almost every little aspect of the movie come alive.
--- End quote ---
Please, let's never stop obsessing! The symbol of the wind is so powerfull. While I was reading some of these posts, I thought of a song by Lucinda Williams 'I envy the wind'
I envy the wind
That whispers in your ear
That howls through the winter
That freezes your fingers
That moves through your hair
And cracks your lips
And chills you to the bone
I envy the wind
I envy the rain
That falls on your face
That wets your eyelashes
And dampens your skin
And touches your tongue
And soaks through your shirt
And drips down your back
I envy the rain
I envy the sun
That brightens your summer
That warms your body
And holds you in her heat
And makes your days longer
And makes you hot
And makes you sweat
I envy the sun
I envy the wind, I envy the rain, I envy the sun, I envy the wind
bbm_stitchbuffyfan:
--- Quote ---Please, let's never stop obsessing!
--- End quote ---
Seriously! All this brilliant, beautiful symbolism makes me love the movie even more. And it's astonishing how many layers and nuances there are in this film.
nakymaton:
--- Quote from: atz75 on May 29, 2006, 12:04:06 pm ---It's interesting that Ennis enters the picture in a literal way (we see him coming) but Jack enters the situation symbolically before we see him. The echo in ths score, the wind that's really prominent before he arrives, and the little symbol of the rodeo cowboy on the semi-truck's license plate all seem to be clues that Jack is arriving too. I love that license plate by the way.
--- End quote ---
Oh, wow, it had never occurred to me that the cowboy on the Wyoming license plate could be symbolically linked to Jack. (That cowboy has been on Wyoming license plates forever -- it's one of the few license plate symbols that stayed constant when the trend toward multi-colored plates started in... the late 80's? the 90's?)
I love the idea that the guitar in the score symbolizes Ennis, and the other instrument symbolizes Jack. (What's the other instrument? It sounds like a dobro or something, but I think I'm wrong about that.) Someday I'm going to be able to distance myself enough from the characters to really listen to the score (and watch the cinematography). I keep meaning to really listen, or really look at little details, and then I get drawn into the characters and I forget what I meant to be listening for.
Poor Ennis. He'll keep seeing that cowboy on license plates until he dies. :'( I mean, I guess it's great that Jack is everywhere still, but it's sad at the same time, if that makes sense.
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