Bookends in the film -- by amandazehnder

[TOoP/Bruce]

Bookends in the film   
  by amandazehnder     (Sat Mar 25 2006 21:04:04 )   
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There seem to be a number of extremely poignant "bookends" in the beginning and the end of this film. Usually, these are small things or symbolic things, but they go a long way towards demonstrating (yet again) just how carefully this film is crafted.

Here are two that I've noticed.

- When Ennis arrives in Signal at the very beginning he's carrying that sad little paper bag, which probably contains all his belongings. When he leaves Lightning Flat at the end he's carrying another paper bag about the same size. It's as if he's walking away from Lightning Flat holding his whole life in that little bag.

- After Ennis watches Jack drive away at the end of the first summer, he collapses against the wall to cry, have stomach cramps, etc. His pose and the way he clings to the wall remind me of how he collapses and clings to Jack at the end of their big argument scene during their last meeting.


Has anyone else noticed any parallels in the beginning and end of bbm?
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by balrog_ressurected_again      (Sat Mar 25 2006 21:25:26 )   
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Ennis arrives to begin his story with Jack driving from right to left at dawn.

Ennis returns to his home carrying the shirts, the final chapter in his and Jack's story, driving from left to right, at dusk.



Then I went and got myself a Colt 45, it's called The Peacemaker but I never knew why...
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by jshane2002      (Sun Mar 26 2006 00:40:04 )   
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When Ennis breaks down at the end and falls to his feet it's Jack who gives him strength ( and the ability to stand up again ).

Then Jack has a flashback to a time when Ennis was holding Jack up. You get the feeling that the love that Jack received from Ennis through the years is what helps Jack give Ennis strength.



"You're staying on your feet cowboy." Cassie ( to Ennis )

"You're sleeping standing up, just like a horse." Ennis ( to Jack )

Re: Bookends in the film   
  by jshane2002      (Sun Mar 26 2006 00:41:56 )   
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UPDATED Sun Mar 26 2006 00:46:46
The lives of Ennis and Alma Jr. bookend each other since each is 19 years old when they meet the person they love the most.


When Ennis is waiting for Jack to show up after four years, he is wearing what looks like his nicest shirt.

When Alma Jr. goes to see her daddy to tell him she is getting married, she is wearing a nice dress shirt.



"I guess when you're 19 you can do what you want." ----- Ennis
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by jshane2002      (Sun Mar 26 2006 00:52:13 )   
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UPDATED Sun Mar 26 2006 02:19:51
Not exactly bookends but one thing I noticed the last time I went was the way Ang Lee photographed the many rows of mountains, one after another, in the horizon. That image suggested how events in life are lined up so that you can't see them but they are there nevertheless. The mountains are like fate that can't be changed or can only be changed in the heart.

The way the vistas are photographed and specially the grey, blue moonlight seem like an Asian way of looking at nature. The moonlit clouds look uncannily like the herds of sheep as if heaven is echoing the earth. It's the haunting beauty of nature ( and much more ) why people watch BBM repeatedly.


"I did once."-- Jack
Bottle label picking bookend   
  by balrog_ressurected_again      (Sun Mar 26 2006 07:48:36 )   
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UPDATED Sun Mar 26 2006 17:07:14
Jack picks on his beer bottle label during the "little cow and calf operation" scene. As he is saying "You know, it could be like this, always". He is essentially making a marriage proposal here. This would be Ennis's first "marriage" to a guy.

Alma picks on her soda bottle label in the bar with Cassie. When she says "Maybe he's not the marrying kind" She is worried Cassie might propose to Ennis. Also Cassie uncharacteristicly picks at her pendant here too. They are both picking here. This would be Ennis's last marriage.

In both bookends the bottle label picking is due to nervousness over a possible marriage commitment.


As a tangent, it looks to me as if Jr knows her father's secret here and is worried he may make the mistake of marrying a woman. She doesn't dislike Cassie, she just knows that any woman would be wrong for her dad.

Then I went and got myself a Colt 45, it's called The Peacemaker but I never knew why...
Re: Bottle label picking bookend   
  by afhickman     (Sun Mar 26 2006 09:05:26 )   
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Two of the more obvious: (1) the shirts and (2) the carved and toy horses.

"The Mountain Has Wings"
A minor bookend   
  by balrog_ressurected_again      (Sun Mar 26 2006 17:51:09 )   
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We all recall that Jack danced with LaShawn, the blond who wouldn't shut up, near the end of the film.

But how about poor Ennis at the beginning where he had to work on the road gang? Remember the chatterbox with his big gut hanging out?



Then I went and got myself a Colt 45, it's called The Peacemaker but I never knew why...
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by meryl_88     (Sun Mar 26 2006 18:12:54 )   
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The first lines and the last lines are delivered in trailers. Jack drives up to find Ennis outside the first; Alma, Jr., drives up to find him outside the second.


Re: Bookends in the film   
  by amandazehnder     (Sun Mar 26 2006 18:26:01 )   
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Ooooo, the trailer one is a good one! Hadn't thought of that. :-)
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by jshane2002      (Sun Mar 26 2006 18:27:47 )   
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UPDATED Sun Mar 26 2006 20:59:56
Not to be taken too seriously ( I don't think it means anything, but ... )


We see a sheep peeing.

Then we see Jack peeing with his back to Ennis while Ennis is finishing his beans.

"Say, isn't that the pissant who used to ride the bulls?"




NOTE: It's an interesting scene actually because Ennis says "mmm" while eating, Jack zips up, goes over to the fire near Ennis, Jack starts flicking his rodeo buckle at Ennis. It's like Jack is show off for Ennis what a cowboy stud he is. A few moments later, while Ennis is talking, Ennis starts saying how his dad always said that rodeo cowboys are mostly f ** kups. It seems like Ennis might be a bit intimidated by Jack ( I think Ennis has pretty serious cowboy fantasy ). When Jack starts hoopin and jumping and falls backward, Ennis gets a big laugh out of that.

"I think my dad was right."



Re: Bookends in the film   
  by jshane2002      (Mon Mar 27 2006 16:53:06 )   
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bump
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by bhall-25     (Tue Mar 28 2006 10:30:27 )   
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This thread is making me tear up!
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[TOoP/Bruce]

Re: Bookends in the film   
  by naun     (Tue Mar 28 2006 22:55:24 )   
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The first lines and the last lines are delivered in trailers. Jack drives up to find Ennis outside the first; Alma, Jr., drives up to find him outside the second.

When Ennis drives to the Twist family home, the angle from which we see the truck and the brilliant blue of the sky above are also very reminiscent of the scene where Jack first arrives at Aguirre's trailer. It's like Ennis is meeting Jack again. I'm even tempted to say that Jack's mother's face seen through the screen door is like a memory of Jack himself.

I really like balrog's observations as well. I hadn't noticed that about the bottles. Given that alcohol functions almost as an aphrodisiac in this film, it seems sadly apt that poor Cassie's prospects are associated only with a soft drink.
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by naun     (Tue Mar 28 2006 22:25:21 )   
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UPDATED Tue Mar 28 2006 22:30:11
There seem to be a number of extremely poignant "bookends" in the beginning and the end of this film.

To coin a phrase, there's a thousand of 'em. Maybe when the current troll infestation is over we can revive some of the other threads where they have been discussed.

Meanwhile, let me mention what I think is a fairly subtle one that I've speculated on elsewhere. There are two telephone conversations in the film, a very perfunctory one near the beginning and a very significant one toward the end. In the first one Joe Aguirre says, "No. No. Not on your f uckin' life!" to an unknown caller. In the second one Ennis, during the course of a conversation with Jack's widow, affirms his connection to Jack three times: he explains that he and Jack were buddies, that they herded sheep together on Brokeback, and that "we was good friends".

Given the pervasiveness of the biblical symbolism that some of us have seen in the film, it seems significant that the only telephone conversations in the film contain three denials, "answered" at the end by three affirmations.
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by muscla_1     (Tue Mar 28 2006 23:14:39 )   
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My personal favorite is the use of the same music at the beginning of the film with the scene leading up to the reunion.

"Jack, I swear..."
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by amandazehnder     (Wed Mar 29 2006 21:29:33 )   
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Thanks naun, awesome ideas!
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Re: Bookends in the film   
  by amandazehnder     (Wed Apr 5 2006 23:01:16 )   
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bump

Re: Bookends in the film   
  by balrog_ressurected_again      (Wed Apr 5 2006 23:14:27 )   
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When the sheep are mixed Ennis says to Jack "What are we supposed to do now?"

When they are laying in bed in the Siesta Motel, Jack says "What do we do now?"

Refering to their mixed up situation.


(I believe the Chilean shepards say the same thing in Spanish)



Then I went and got myself a Colt 45, it's called The Peacemaker but I never knew why...
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by pipedream     (Wed Apr 5 2006 23:30:46 )   
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UPDATED Thu Apr 6 2006 15:04:07
In the first tent scene - their first intimate scene - Ennis grabs onto Jack's shirt in lust and passion.
Later, during lake scene - their last intimate moment - he grabs onto Jack's parka out of desparation.

 

If ever I should tell the moment: Oh, stay! You are so beautiful! Then you may cast me into chains, then shall I smile upon perdition! (Goethe)
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by amandazehnder     (Thu Apr 6 2006 07:22:12 )   
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pipedream, that Goethe quotation is beautiful!
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by pipedream     (Thu Apr 6 2006 11:01:01 )   
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UPDATED Thu Apr 6 2006 11:03:22
that Goethe quotation is beautiful!
Thanks, Amanda! Yeah, being German, I thought I should find something appropriate…
That quotation is one of my favourite passages from Goethe’s Faust tragedy (which is actually brimful with beautiful lines). In German, it rhymes, but this is a very good translation. I found it somewhere on the web. Old Dr. Faust says these words when he makes his contract, or rather his bet, with Mephisto (the devil).

Off topic here, but there is this beautiful silent movie from 1926 with the unbelievable Emil Jannings as Mephisto, directed by F. W. Murnau. A true cinema classic, worth checking out!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0016847/?fr=c2l0ZT1kZnx0dD0xfGZiPXV8cG49MHxxPUZhdXN0fG14PTIwfGxtPTUwMHxodG1sPTE_;fc=3;ft=62;fm=1

And here is the German version:
Werd’ ich zum Augenblicke sagen: verweile doch! Du bist so schön! Dann magst du mich in Fesseln schlagen, dann will ich gern zugrunde gehn! (Goethe)
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by binbinc     (Thu Apr 6 2006 11:06:56 )   
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bump
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by helpbulldogs     (Thu Apr 6 2006 11:05:03 )   
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great post, pipe. i didn't think of that until now.
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by naun     (Thu Apr 6 2006 21:32:01 )   
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If ever I should tell the moment: Oh, stay! You are so beautiful! Then you may cast me into chains, then shall I smile upon perdition! (Goethe)

Reminds me of a Japanese movie I once saw, the title of which escapes me for the moment, where recently deceased people got to choose the single moment of their lives to inhabit for all eternity.
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by oilgun     (Fri Apr 7 2006 13:07:34 )   
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Reminds me of a Japanese movie I once saw

The film is Afterlife, very beautiful and affecting, I loved it.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165078/

They have witnessed a kind of fury in him that they have never seen before-BBM

[TOoP/Bruce]

Re: Bookends in the film   
  by momoro     (Thu Apr 6 2006 07:32:33 )   
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In the first tent scene, Jack draws Ennis's hand over onto himself, making Ennis turn in his sleep to face Jack's back. After their sexual tryst, there is a cutaway shot to the tent's exterior.

In the shots right before the lakeside quarrel, we see Jack and Ennis sleeping in their tent, with Ennis facing Jack's back and his arm around him in a loving embrace--this time, the touch is freely given by Ennis. And there is an immediate cutaway shot to the tent's exterior.

Nothing compares, I think, when thinking right, to a good friend.
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by seaweed727     (Thu Apr 6 2006 11:05:05 )   
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In keeping with momoro's recollection of Jack drawing Ennis' right hand across him and down to his pants in the first tent scene... I mentioned in a previous discussion that I was struck at the similarity when Alma and Ennis are at the Drive in.... she reaches up to Ennis' right hand and draws it down to her swollen belly in much the same manner.

"I got a boy. Eight months old.... Smiles a lot."
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by pipedream     (Thu Apr 6 2006 11:08:59 )   
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I was struck at the similarity when Alma and Ennis are at the Drive in.... she reaches up to Ennis' right hand and draws it down to her swollen belly in much the same manner.
Exactly! Hadn't thought about that yet.

 

Here now I stand, poor fool, and see: I'm just as wise as formerly. (Goethe)
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by afhickman     (Thu Apr 6 2006 11:13:54 )   
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"My mama says a pistol is the devil's right hand"!

"The Mountain Has Wings"
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by balrog_ressurected_again      (Thu Apr 6 2006 20:56:24 )   
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At the beginning Ennis collapses in pain and sickness when he "loses" Jack after their first parting.

At the final lake scene, Ennis again collapses in pain as he loses Jack this time due to his inability to commit.




Then I went and got myself a Colt 45, it's called The Peacemaker but I never knew why...
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by amandazehnder     (Thu Apr 6 2006 21:20:16 )   
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UPDATED Thu Apr 6 2006 21:20:48
momoro - nice observation about the tents and the sleeping positions.

There seems to be a lot of symmetry and reversals of positions in terms of one character embracing the other from behind. Instances of this kind of embrace are too numerous to count as clear bookends to the film. This of course happens between Jack and Ennis at various points, but it also happens between Alma and Ennis. The ultimate expression of one character holding the other seems clearly to be the shirts (and Ennis's ultimate reversal of the embrace that the shirts had held in Jack's closet for 20 years).

thanks for all the nice comments!

Re: Bookends in the film   
  by catglith     (Mon Apr 10 2006 07:59:45 )   
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"At the beginning Ennis collapses in pain and sickness when he "loses" Jack after their first parting.

At the final lake scene, Ennis again collapses in pain as he loses Jack this time due to his inability to commit."

Because i absolutely refuse to believe that Jack would leave Ennis (and thus don't think he meant it when he said he wanted to bring Randall up to Lightning Flat, but that's for another thread) i have another interpretation for this example of a 'bookend'.

When Ennis broke down in the alley, he was alone with no one to reasure him and he believed he'd lost Jack for good. During the final lake scene, Ennis might have believed after the "i wish i knew how to quit you" line he'd lost Jack again, hence his breakdown. However when he broke down this time he had Jack there who rushed to hold him and help him up. Jack's hug and attempts to hold him up show Ennis he still had Jack, he hadn't lost him. This 'bookend' wasn't there to show repetition or a circle of events, it was there to show a progresion or change.

(Besides arguably, Ennis never really lost Jack at all. When Jack and Ennis parted after coming down from the mountain, neither forget the another (Jack kept the shirts) and Jack contacted him again, he came back to Ennis. And even though after the final lake scene thay had parted for 7 months (until November) and Jack's father mentioned Randall, Jack would have kept coming back to see Ennis, because that was the pattern of the story. Ennis would never change, and neither would Jack.)
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Re: Bookends in the film   
  by chefjudy      (Fri Apr 7 2006 12:31:23 )   
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So the next few days, we see Ennis cooking and cleaning and keeping camp and Jack coming "home" from a hard night's work. Husband and wife. I just thought that was an interesting set up for the underlying story.


I could be wrong on this, but if there is a bookend to what you wrote, I would say that Jack and Ennis were starting a new life together at the beginning of the movie and then Alma, jr and her fiancee will be starting a new life together at the end of the movie - life goes on..............


"...it could be like this, just like this, always..." Jack Twist
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by jlilya     (Fri Apr 7 2006 12:49:03 )   
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I thought the same thing about the husband and wife thing, especially after reading the book by annie proulx, where it says " they came together on paper as herder and camp tender" like its a marriage license.
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Re: Bookends in the film   
  by afhickman     (Sat Apr 8 2006 07:43:13 )   
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I watched the DVD again last night (what? you think I have a life?) and I noticed a couple of more bookends. The first one has probably already been noted: the scenes with the characters of Aguirre and Jack's father. Both involve disapproving father figures who question Jack's masculinity. The L.D. Newsome character forms a somewhat less "noisome" bridge between these two (after all, Jack is able to vanguish this dragon, at least in the film). The second is a quickie: When Ennis opens up and tells the story of his life to Jack at the campfire, he mentions that his sister married a "roughneck" (oil rig worker). He's fairly noncommittal, but he seems to have liked his sister. Then, at the end of the movie, he finds out that his daughter, another positive female figure in his life, is going to marry a roughneck. This seems to hint at some kind of closure for Ennis.

I'm also beginning to appreciate Ang Lee's art more and more each time I view the film. The way he juxtaposes scenes makes for a kind of narrative shorthand that allows the story to move forward without any obtrusive moralizing or direct commentary from the characters. My favorite example is when Alma and Ennis are in bed, and he flips her over on his stomach. The camera cuts to Jack riding a bull out of the bullpen at a rodeo. Not only do we get an oblique commentary on Ennis' sexual predilections, we are also reminded that it's Jack he's really thinking of when he turns out the light and shuts his eyes in bed with Alma.

"The Mountain Has Wings"
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by cody_4343     (Sat Apr 8 2006 10:41:41 )   
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A painfully sad bookend: at the beginning of the film, the camera shows a moonlit landscape and sky, while a truck is headed west to drop Ennis off; at the end of the film, it's the same moonlit landscape and sky, but Ennis is driving east from his visit to the Twist home. Symbolically, west represents new beginnings and possibilities(Ennis meeting Jack), and east represents tradition (Ennis driving back to his current life, unhappy and without Jack). It makes me sad everytime I see those two scenes because we know from the beginning what could have been, but left by the end knowing it will never happen. I wish I had a more positive bookend to share...
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by reannawrites     (Sat Apr 8 2006 14:23:14 )   
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bump
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Re: Bookends in the film   
  by amandazehnder     (Sat Apr 8 2006 20:34:01 )   
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>Anyone notice the fan turn on for a second and then stop when Jack comes into Randy Quiads trailor and he says Look what the wind blew in?<

Yes! It's probably the clearest moment revealing Jack's symbol (wind/air). Did you notice at the end when Alma Jr. is seated, talking to Ennis in the trailer, there's an rather large electric fan sitting right next to her? It's actually quite a large fan for the amount of space in the trailer. I feel like this symbol along with things like men in black hats, certain kinds of trucks, etc. that appear in the background of scenes help the audience understand that Jack is constantly on Ennis's mind.
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by naun     (Sun Apr 9 2006 13:07:40 )   
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A slightly, um, uncomfortable one: Jack proposes a "cow and calf operation" to Ennis. Years later, Ennis is "castrating calves".
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by pipedream     (Sun Apr 9 2006 13:30:05 )   
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A slightly, um, uncomfortable one: Jack proposes a "cow and calf operation" to Ennis. Years later, Ennis is "castrating calves".
I've always linked the "castrating calves" dialogue to the supermarket scene where Ennis drops the girls to Alma. There he says his boss called and he has to be there when the cows were going to calve. Cows calving - new life to be born: at this point of the story Ennis' and Jack's reunion and many chances in life are still ahead.
To castrate a calf, on the other hand, means to turn it into a sexless being, just there to grow fat and get eaten one day. When he tells Cassie what he is doing for a living he is pretty much a sexless being himself most of the time: his everyday life more or less consists of eating, drinking, sleeping, working and paying for the kids.
Damn it, I wish that old symbolism thread was still around!

 

If ever I should tell the moment: Oh, stay! You are so beautiful! Then you may cast me into chains, then shall I smile upon perdition! (Goethe)
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by Penthesilea     (Sun Apr 9 2006 13:49:20 )   
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bump

Nothing ended, nothing begun, nothing resolved
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by afhickman     (Sun Apr 9 2006 14:41:34 )   
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Castration, of a crude sort, is what happened to Earl in Ennis' childhood memory of the two men who "ranched together." Later, Ennis is himself castrating calves, at a time when he has been figurtively castrated himself, both by divorce and by his refusal to make a go of it with Jack.

"The Mountain Has Wings"
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Re: Bookends in the film   
  by joat69     (Sun Apr 9 2006 15:57:25 )   
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Bump
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by joat69     (Sun Apr 9 2006 16:00:38 )   
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The fact that Ennis was carving a wooden sheep in the beginning of the film and at Jacks parents home he picked up the carved wooden horse and cowboy. Do you suppose he may have carved that also while on Brokeback?
wooden horse   
  by balrog_ressurected_again      (Sun Apr 9 2006 20:01:51 )   
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***The fact that Ennis was carving a wooden sheep in the beginning of the film and at Jacks parents home he picked up the carved wooden horse and cowboy. Do you suppose he may have carved that also while on Brokeback?***


That wooden horse in Jack's room bothered me. Ennis had a tear in his eye as he handled it, why?




Then I went and got myself a Colt 45, it's called The Peacemaker but I never knew why...

[TOoP/Bruce]

Re: Bookends in the film   
  by jlilya     (Sun Apr 9 2006 19:26:14 )   
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The symbolism of stairs. I'm not sure what stairs represent, they must mean something like taking things to another level, as in a relationship. There are two separate bookends dealing with stairs.


The first example is when Ennis and Jack meet afer four years. They hug mightily and then begin the intense and intimate kissing on one set of stairs and against the backdrop of another. A new level in there relationship begins after both thought is was over. Also this is where Alma enters into the scene, unbeknownst the the men.

The bookend to this is when Jack and Randall set outside the dance on a bench. I found the backdrop very similar to the first with the lap siding all vertical juxtaposing horizontal, similar to the way the laundery apartment building did. Here the stairs are covered in bright red carpet, maybe signifying underlying passion as opposed to the overt passion expressed by Ennis and Jack in the first example. This is where Randall makes his proposition that him and Jack should go fishing, get away for a couple of days.


The second example is when Jack and Ennis first meet at Aguirres trailer they go up the stairs to his office--this is where they are brought together, as herder and camp tender. And so the relationship begins, sheep be damned!

The bookend to this is when Alma Jr comes to see Ennis in the last scenes. Similar trailer, similar stairs. She's nineteen now, an adult, she can do whatever she likes, as Ennis says. This to me gives us a glimmer of hope for Ennis, he is beginning a new relationship with his daughter. He asks her if the Kurt loves her, he'll quit his job to be at her wedding, he folds and smells her sweater in a sweet and nurturing way.
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by yibingxin     (Sun Apr 9 2006 19:29:58 )   
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bump
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by afhickman     (Sun Apr 9 2006 19:35:38 )   
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The first thing I thought of when I read "stairs" were the stairs up to Jack's room at the Twist farm. I think the symbolism is that of height, however, as we tend to associate Jack with wind or air. Elevation in general is symbolic of freedom, as in Brokeback itself.

"The Mountain Has Wings"
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by jlilya     (Sun Apr 9 2006 20:13:43 )   
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Afhickman, I'd like to follow your thought, I could be way off base here, but I'm going to put it out there anyway.

Maybe the bookend to the stairs to Jack's room is the journey up Brokeback mountain. Casey Cornelius, I think, in another thread describes Ennis' ascension of the stairs to Jack's room as a type of epic journey comparable to one made in greek tragedy ( i hope i'm not putting words in his mouth).
I'm thinking specifically about when Ennis is getting supplies at the jump off. Does anyone else see a parallel with the bridge and the rails at the top of the stairs in the Twist house. The next scene shows Ennis ascending the mountain, steep camera angle to accentuate the idea of climbing.

Many of the objects in Jack's room are similar or parallel objects on the mountain. The toy horse cooresponds to Ennis' horse carving, the small stool by the window to the stool in the camp site, the slanted roof over the bed echos the tent, the bb guns = real rifles, could the radiator parallel the fire?, there is also a picture of horses= real horses. Of course the shirts are there and could the hangar echo the shephards hooks of the basques?
In the journey up the mountain, Ennis is delivering something, at which he mostly fails except he does get the Elk. In the Twist house he is going to retrieve something, the ashes , at which he fails , but he does get the shirts.

I don't know , I don't have this all worked out, but I thought I'd write it down while the idea was fresh, now I have to go to bed, 'night.
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by afhickman     (Mon Apr 10 2006 04:29:31 )   
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I think you're right, jlilya. It would be interesting to get input from Ang Lee or someone else who had a hand in assembling the properties for that scene. My thought was simply that the mountain itself represents an enclave, or outpost, from the day to day pressures of society--a place where the boys were free to develop a relationship that might not otherwise have been possible. Not that there aren't perils associated with the mountain (for example, the bear, and other predators), but they are products of the natural order of things. There's that great line from Elliot: "In the mountains, there you feel free." The mountain is thus a magical place, a kind of fairy zone, like the forest of Arden in Shakespeare. When the boys come down from the mountain, their separation is a given. Only Jack, who is identified more closely with nature (Jack-in-the-wild) than Ennis, harbors a dream of preserving their romance in its pristine form. If only they had never had to come down from Brokeback! But that's not the way things work in the "real" world.

"The Mountain Has Wings"
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by n_x     (Mon Apr 10 2006 04:41:16 )   
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someone may have brought this up, but another "bookend" would be:

at the beginning of the film, Jack looks at Ennis through the rearview mirror on his pickup truck--in a way he is introduced to Ennis; when they part for the first time, as Jack drives away, Jack sees Ennis again thru the rearview mirror, the 2 scenes kinda "match", kinda like an antithetical couplet.
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by jlilya     (Mon Apr 10 2006 04:54:00 )   
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I was also thinking there might be some correlation between the mother and the basque. The basque meets Ennis at the bridge, Jacks mother comes out onto the porch to meet Ennis. (Great performance by Roberta Maxwell by the way!) The basque provides Ennis with supplies, Jack's Mom offers him coffee and cherry cake. They both see him off, in a sense, as he goes on his journey upward.

Now Jack's father might represent the bear. The bear prevents Ennis from accomplishing his goal of bringing food up to Jack. John Twist prevents Ennis from retreiving Jack's ashes. Plus, the way that the father is sitting, Ennis has to go past him to go up to Jack's room, like he is a deterrant.

I also think that they serve the same purpose. If Jack's father hadn't prevented Ennis from getting the ashes and been cruel to Ennis concerning the story about Randall, then Jack's mom probably wouldn't have offered up Jack's room to Ennis and he wouldn't have found the shirts, which in my opinion were more significant than the ashes.

Correspondingly, if the bear hadn't caused Ennis to lose most of the food, then they wouldn't have shot the Elk. I feel that Jack's concern for Ennis ( seeing to his wounded head) and the shooting of the Elk were the first real bonding experience for the guys. These experiences were way more significant than any food lost.
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by jshane2002      (Mon Apr 10 2006 11:50:40 )   
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UPDATED Mon Apr 10 2006 11:53:33
Something that just occurred to me while writing in another thread about Lureen:


When Jack was headed out to a fishing trip he asked Lureen if she knew where his blue parka was. Lureen says "The last time I saw that blue parka you were in it."

The last time Ennis sees Jack he is wearing that blue parka.



"Get in touch with his folks to see if Jack's wishes could be carried out, about the ashes, I mean. " -- Lureen
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by afhickman     (Mon Apr 10 2006 11:54:28 )   
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Now, this is news to me. I have looked for that blue parka every time I watched the film, including in Jack's closet at the Twist farm, and I have yet to spot it. I thought Jack was in a cream or beige-colored parka for their last meeting.

"The Mountain Has Wings"
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by jshane2002      (Mon Apr 10 2006 12:08:49 )   
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UPDATED Sat Apr 15 2006 21:43:21
Oops, you're right, it was a beige parka, dark grey-blue shirt. Maybe Ennis took the blue parka.


"I was just thinking out loud." ---- Jack

"That's good thinking there Jack. Jack F ** ing Twist's - got it all figured out." ----- Ennis
He wears the blue parka...   
  by Carol703     (Tue Apr 11 2006 15:18:16 )   
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shortly after the scene where he's looking for it. Where he is breaking up corn cobs and Ennis drives up with the horses.
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by Santinos_Bridesmade     (Thu Jul 13 2006 12:40:30 )   
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Good insight, jilya. I wouldn't have thought of that. Jack's dad and the bear, the shirts and the elk....never would have thought of that. Wow. I love threads like this.

"We celebrate Labor Day by not going to work?"

[TOoP/Bruce]

Re: Bookends in the film   
  by hapuujoy     (Mon Apr 10 2006 12:30:50 )   
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I hope this hasn't been mentioned before but Ennis tells Jack that Jack may be a sinner but he hasn't yet had the opportunity. At the Thanksgiving dinner Ennis strokes Alma Jr.'s cheek and tugs her ear (in the same way Jack did to Ennis earlier in the film) and says that he is not an angel like her and Jenny.
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by gerrysa     (Wed Aug 9 2006 20:33:28 )   
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Excellent point.

Re: Bookends in the film   
  by jlee-49     (Mon Apr 10 2006 12:49:16 )   
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In the first tent scene, when they begin their physical relationship, Jack pounds the ground three times with his right fist. At the end of the summer as Jack drives away and neither expects to see the other again, Ennis breaks down in the alley and pounds the wall three times with his right fist.
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by amandazehnder     (Tue Apr 11 2006 11:17:33 )   
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Wow! What awesome comments! I really appreciate all the thoughtful ideas here.

I love the stairs/mountain parallel. I'm also amazed at the level of detail that people are noticing (the pounding of the fist three times, etc.).

I'm going to restate something that someone else posted in another thread. So, I can't take credit for these observations, but it seems relevant to the bookends idea here.
Notice all the different instances of "buckets" especially surrounding Ennis.
-Jack brings those two buckets overflowing with clean water to the first campsite early in the film and sloshes them down next to Ennis.
-Ennis kicks over some buckets (or maybe pots and pans) when he stumbles into the tent the first time
-Ennis beats up those bikers because of their "slop bucket mouths"
-Ennis kicks the bucket filled with sand when he's arguing with Alma (the sceen with the girls on the swing set)
-When Jack and Ennis quarrel in their 2nd to last camping trip (when Ennis is washing dishes in the river) one of his buckets begins to float away (just as Jack walks away after arguing about the idea of Ennis moving to Texas).

It was also suggested that each of these moments reflects a pivotal moment in Ennis's life and in the idea of time passing.
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by jlilya     (Tue Apr 11 2006 14:08:27 )   
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UPDATED Tue Apr 11 2006 14:15:06
I always thought there was something about the bucket/pail getting away from him on the river. Also, on Brokeback, there was always a coffee pot and a bucket/pail. In the flashback scene of the hug with Ennis behind Jack, the scene begins with a shot of the fire and the coffee pot and bucket are there to. It makes me think that one represents Jack and one Ennis. But I don't know why or what it means. Maybe its that yin yang thang---one is a receptive vessel and one is a , i don't know?, pouring/giving vessel.

After thinking about it, I would say Jack is the bucket/pail/pot (receptive vessel/yin) Maybe the scene by the river represents Ennis being in danger of losing Jack. (Is it shortly after that he hooks up with Randall, i don't remember).

And maybe when he kicks the bucket, it represents his underlying anger at Jack because their relationship is coming between Ennis and Alma (note the strong blast of steam from the laundermatt vent in the same scene)
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Re: Bookends in the film   
  by jlilya     (Tue Apr 11 2006 15:22:35 )   
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Wow, I didn't catch that. I always thought that scene was sweet but that is brilliant.

I also have an addendum to my previous post about the stairs/mountain.
I'm thinking that Lureen's conversation with Ennis is a parallel or bookend to Aguirre's meeting with Jack and Ennis in the trailer in the beginning.

Both Aguire and Lureen (at this point in the film) are brittle, matter of fact people. Both are business people. Both give detailed, matter of fact little speeches. There are the only two times in the film that a telephone is used--this connects the two scenes. The most important parallel I believe; Agguire sends the boys off to Brokeback mountain, Lureen sends Ennis off to the Twist house ("Get in touch with his folks"). In each case a journey begins for Ennis.

Other minor things:

Lureen is the first person Ennis mentions Brokeback to -- ties her to Agguire.
On the phone Agguire yell, "no, no , not on your life" , Ennis and Lureen talk about Jack's death.
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by amandazehnder     (Wed Apr 12 2006 10:06:28 )   
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Thanks for all the good comments jlilya.  I love the receptive vessel vs. pouring vessel idea. And the phone call parallels as well.
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by amandazehnder     (Wed Apr 12 2006 18:35:33 )   
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bump
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by Carol703     (Wed Apr 12 2006 18:40:16 )   
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Jack poses against his pickup truck in the first scene when he meets Ennis.
Jack poses against his pickup truck after he is reunited with Ennis.
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by amandazehnder     (Thu Apr 13 2006 08:20:01 )   
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Hey VirginiaGal,
Good points about Jack "posing" against the pickups... He does this again during the argument scene at the end. It's a little different because he's leaning against the cabin part of the truck/ the open door during this late argument scene, but still... it's a good recurring detail.
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by bobbytwist     (Thu Apr 13 2006 10:15:51 )   
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I wouldn't call this one "bookends", but it certainly supports how well-crafted this film is. Just a little something I noticed.

There are two lines that begin with "Tell you what..."


Jack Twist: "Tell you what.....truth is, sometimes I miss you so bad I can hardly stand it".

John Twist: "Tell you what.....I know where Brokeback Mountain is. He thought he was too goddam special to be buried in the family plot".


"Tell you what" is probably a speech pattern that Jack picked up from his father. Not that it's an unusual phrase, but they are the only two characters in the film to use it.


Re: Bookends in the film   
  by beeplebrain     (Thu Jun 15 2006 10:13:32 )   
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even moreso with the "tell you what"..

"tell you what, truth is, sometimes I miss you so bad.." (last chance, ennis)

"tell you what, jack's going into the family plot.." (going, going, gone.)
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by richardg49     (Sun Jun 18 2006 15:29:53 )   
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And also:

'You know what, they can get themselves another rancher...' (or something like that), Ennis talking to Alma Jr in the last scene.
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Re: Bookends in the film   
  by ailuro      (Fri Jun 23 2006 20:39:55 )   
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How about the flashback scene with Ennis embracing Jack from behind bookending the motel scene with Jack cradling Ennis from behind.

[TOoP/Bruce]

Re: Bookends in the film   
  by kevinmcg     (Wed Apr 12 2006 19:33:25 )   
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Music is used as bookends too...

The opening music (when you first see the truck on the road at dawn) is the same music hear when Alma asks about the first postcard from Jack.

"Wings" is first heard near the end of the scene of their first trip away together; It's then heard as the closing music to the last scene of the movie.

I'm guessing there might be a few more.

Jack n' Ennis forever
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by kevinmcg     (Wed Apr 12 2006 20:53:59 )   
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Music is used as bookends too...

The opening music (when you first see the truck on the road at dawn) is the same music hear when Alma asks about the first postcard from Jack.

"Wings" is first heard near the end of the scene of their first trip away together; It's then heard as the closing music to the last scene of the movie.

I'm guessing there might be a few more.

Jack n' Ennis forever
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by afhickman     (Wed Apr 12 2006 20:58:18 )   
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In case any of these have been overlooked:

Alma asks Ennis to wipe Alma Jr.'s nose; Jack makes a joke about women powdering their noses to Randall.

Jack washing the shirts; Alma washing the girls' things.

Ennis handing off Alma Jr. to Alma before meeting Jack; Ennis refusing to let Alma Jr. come and live with him when she asks.

Ennis at the window waiting anxiously for Jack to arrive; Ennis at the window at the Twist farm looking at nothing (although I'm just certain the view from Jack's room must be of a mountain).

The two trailers.

I've got a million of 'em!

"The Mountain Has Wings"
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by starboardlight     (Thu Apr 13 2006 10:33:13 )   
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I suppose the two kitchen scenes can be Alma's book ends. The first kitchen is when Alma first come to have an awareness of Jack. "Hey Ennis, do you somebody named Jack?" She asks innocently. The second is the Thanksgiving kitchen scene where she finally confronts Ennis about Jack, and perhaps gets her closure for having had the confrontation. In both scenes Ennis and Alma are positioned in the same spots of the kitchen; Alma in the corner of the counter, and Ennis closer to the camera's point of view. Both conversations start out innocuously, and both revolves around Jack and Ennis's secret. Both result in Ennis marching off away from Alma. The first is when Jack comes into Alma's life, and the last is when Alma attempts to (and hopefully is successful at) exorcise Jack from her life.






A visual bookend...Can you stand just one more?   
  by balrog_ressurected_again      (Wed Apr 19 2006 17:19:04 )   
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A couple of pics


http://www.bioscop.cz/_web/_filmy/b_zkrocena_hora/fotografie/051_zkrocena_hora.jpg
http://www.bioscop.cz/_web/_filmy/b_zkrocena_hora/fotografie/055_zkrocena_hora.jpg




No More Trolls!

 
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by binbinc     (Thu Apr 27 2006 05:37:50 )   
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bump
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Re: Bookends in the film   
  by jshane2002      (Sat May 13 2006 01:00:51 )   
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There's a transition in the two scenes where you see a parent with 2 children:



Ennis' dad is taking his 2 sons to see Earl's mutilated corpse.

In the next scene you see Ennis arguing with Alma in front of his 2 daughters.

--------------------------------------------------------

There's a parallel in the way 2 parent figures touch Ennis on the shoulder:


Also when Ennis as a 9 year boy turns to see the corpse, his dad has his hand on little Ennis and squeezes his shoulder.

When Jack's dad has just told Ennis about the rancher that was going to split with his wife and come to Wyoming with Jack, the mom puts her hand on Ennis' shoulder and squeezes down on it.
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Re: Bookends in the film (spoilers)   
  by posworth6     (Wed May 31 2006 11:57:44 )   
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I don't know if this has been mentioned, but when Ennis takes the shirts away from Jack's house, the same music is playing from when Ennis describes the murder of Earl and Rich to Jack. (I think, anyway.)

Whenever I hear this I always feel completely *certain* that Jack died from the gay-bashing, not the exploding tire, because of the linking music.


*step* *step* *step* *hat off* *KISS!*
- Brokeback Mountain
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One of my favorite bookends...   
  by toycoon      (Fri Jun 9 2006 20:06:31 )   
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UPDATED Fri Jun 9 2006 20:07:13
Jacks says in the motel with Ennis the night of the reunion, "I swear... I didn't know we was gonna get into this again...oh yes I did."
And then, of course, Ennis says "I swear..." at the end of the film.
Re: One of my favorite bookends...   
  by ailuro      (Sat Jun 10 2006 00:49:16 )   
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Ennis squatting naked & washing himself before the first tent scene.
Jack squatting naked & washing clothes after the first tent scene.



Jack "I'd love to rope a coyote."
Ennis "I doubt I'll live to see that miracle..."
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Re: bump   
  by afhickman     (Thu Jun 15 2006 10:33:02 )   
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It's been so long, I can't remember which of these have already been posted. But I was watching the film yesterday, and I noticed that when Alma first tells Ennis that he has a postcard from Jack, she is at the sink. When she finally confront Ennis with the truth about "Jack nasty," she is also doing dishes at the sink.

"The Mountain Has Wings"
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Re: Bookends in the film   
  by daphne7661     (Thu Jun 15 2006 13:55:24 )   
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THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU elin evans2002 for confirming my theory that it is definitely Jack who says "I'm Sorry" in tent scene 2.....

Nobody could confirm that for me, but I stand by my assessment and why he says it.
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Re: Bookends in the film   
  by splintered-light     (Sat Jun 17 2006 21:22:49 )   
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I just thought of something I noticed the first time I saw the movie, and didn't really think about it much after until I was thinking about "bookends"...

At the beginning when the boys are introducing themselves, Jack has to prod Ennis for his last name.
When Ennis meets Cassie, she says "I'm Cassie Cartwright." And Ennis says, "I'm Ennis...Del Mar." Almost as an afterthought- like he was thinking back to introducing himself to Jack.

I also think it's interesting that Jack seemed interested enough to prod Ennis further, while it didn't even seem as if Cassie was listening to Ennis say his first name, let alone last name. She was too busy dragging him to the dance floor.
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Re: Bookends in the film   
  by Santinos_Bridesmade     (Sat Jul 8 2006 12:21:09 )   
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Did anyone notice this? When Ennis leaves the post office and the camera follows him from behind, he stops suddenly when he sees DECEASED on the postcard, and the camera pans around him. Did anyone realize that it's the same angle that's in on the movie poster?

 "I wish I knew how to quit you." "Then why don't you?" 
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Re: Bookends in the film   
  by beans1030     (Sat Jul 8 2006 17:06:43 )   
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I don't know if it's been mentioned, but the scene where Jack's mother closes the door after Ennis leaves and the very last scene when Ennis closes his closet door, have the same feeling to me. Like a "woosh" of the door closing. Maybe the aspect of the wind again?
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by Santinos_Bridesmade     (Wed Jul 12 2006 16:11:17 )   
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I just thought of some...

During the lasso scene, when Ennis gets up to leave, we see him tucking in his shirt before Jack manages to lasso him around the ankles. The reunion scene - Ennis tucks in his shirt again before bounding down the stairs to meet him. The first time it's closure; the second time, a new beginning.

When they part ways after their BBM summer, when Jack drives off, he damn near runs Ennis over. When Ennis drives home the day he receives Jack's postcard, he nearly runs over a pedestrian while pulling up in his driveway. This could mean so many things.

"We celebrate Labor Day by not going to work?"
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by Santinos_Bridesmade     (Thu Jul 13 2006 12:10:20 )   
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I just finished watching it now and I noticed more bookends.

The first tent scene: Ennis tried to sleep outside, with his cowboy hat still on. When Jack called him into the tent, Ennis removed the hat before falling asleep next to Jack. The next morning, Ennis makes sure to take his hat before exiting the tent.

The second tent scene: Ennis is sitting by the fire with his hat on as he gathers himself to get into the tent. When he enters the tent, he's holding the hat. When he kneels before Jack, he's sort of hugging it to himself. It seemed to take a lot out of him just to set the hat aside before kissing Jack.

During the reunion scene, we all know how Ennis swiftly removes Jack's hat before laying it on him. It seems like the hats symbolize their false personas. Remember in the beginning, when their first taking each other in, how the shadows of their hats obscure their faces? When Jack is introduced to Alma, he bows his head, and the shadow hides his face. "No, I wasn't just smooching your husband senseless."

"We celebrate Labor Day by not going to work?"
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by coffeecat33     (Fri Jul 14 2006 07:21:57 )   
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The word "lonely." When Alma is seducing Ennis into moving into town she says it will be better in town because it "won't be so lonely like when you were growing up." At which point Ennis thinks of Jack and flips Alma over. When Jack first meets Lureen they go dancing and when the word "lonely" is sung, Jack does look very lonely & sad, thinking of Ennis. I think this triggers Jack getting together with Lureen. And writing this makes me of Dancing as a bookend. When Jack & Lureen meet they dance then have sex. Years later Lureen remarks, "Why is it that husbands never want to dance with their wives?" At this point we can assume they never or rarely have sex because they can "do it over the phone."

“I ain’t jokin” – Ennis Del Mar
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by coffeecat33     (Sat Jul 15 2006 14:27:11 )   
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Both Jack and Ennis are pursued by sexually aggressive women, Lureen and Cassie.
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by Santinos_Bridesmade     (Fri Jul 21 2006 13:24:06 )   
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bump it

My imaginary friend thinks you have serious mental problems.
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Re: Bookends in the film   
  by Santinos_Bridesmade     (Wed Jul 26 2006 10:04:44 )   
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Has this one been said before?

Jack going back to Aguirre's trailer to ask about Ennis bookends Ennis meeting Jack's father. Both Aguirre and Mr. Twist are homophobic jerks who took jabs at them.

My imaginary friend thinks you have serious mental problems.
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by Santinos_Bridesmade     (Tue Aug 1 2006 21:42:00 )   
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UPDATED Tue Aug 1 2006 21:43:56
I just noticed this one today.

During their shirtless romp, when Ennis steals Jack's shirt and they wrestle each other to the ground, Ennis removes his hat and seems to, for lack of a better term, use it as a shield while they kissed. That's when Aguirre was watching them through his binoculars.

Later, when he collapses, he removes his hat to shield his face. When someone walks by, he screams, "What the f'k are you looking at?"

Vote to get this one the top 250! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388795/
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Re: Bookends in the film   
  by ScissorhandsRaineyluv     (Wed Oct 4 2006 17:39:42 )   
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Bump.

"Should he tell her? Should he not tell her? He's torn, Georgie. This is drama." Ed Wood
bump   
  by True_Oracle_of_Phoenix      (Mon Oct 16 2006 10:12:02 )   
      
bump


The correct answer to the wrong question is meant to lead astray.
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Re: Bookends in the film   
  by NewHorizons37     (Mon Oct 16 2006 10:21:30 )   
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I noticed this bookend when I replied on a thread about Ennis' phone call to Lureen.

The first bookend is when Ennis gets the postcard from Jack that (re)starts their relationship, and he lies to Alma rather than tell her they worked on BBM together. The closing bookend is when Ennis gets the postcard that tragically ends the relationship, and he tells Lureen the truth about their working together on BBM. (And she figures out the rest.)
Re: Bookends in the film   
  by eisforemma     (Tue Oct 17 2006 10:56:38 )   
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UPDATED Tue Oct 17 2006 12:08:42
[I'm just expanding on a previous idea.]
Hats seem quite important.
In the second tent scene, Ennis is holding his hat.
Jack meets Lureen, as he returns her hat that falls off.
Ennis knocks Jack's hat off, when they have their reuinion kiss.
I am sure there is countless other times where hats play a part, but I have not watched it enough.

Also cars seem to reflect the character's life.
At the beginning, Jack has a car but Ennis doesn't which must mean something, but I'm not sure what. Perhaps that Jack has more of a future than Ennis, and is looking ahead.
Ennis helps Jack fix his car, and makes it work again which is almost opposite to reality as Jack hasn't fixed Ennis, per say, but helped him.
Jack's car gets better and better, as he gets richer, but Ennis is stuck with the first car he ever had as he is stuck in the same place, with the same prospects, the same people as the start.
And, near the end, Ennis's car is laid in bits by his trailer. Maybe that's because Ennis's life has also fallen apart.


Maybe someone else can explain this better than me.