Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
Film-Ennis vs. Story-Ennis and Film-Jack vs. Story-Jack
TJ:
--- Quote from: starboardlight on May 15, 2006, 02:26:07 pm ---i am curious to see how it would work out. I think of Beautiful Thing, where the two boys, though beautiful in their ways, are not "hot" in the conventional sense. Yet the audience still fell in love with the two characters. I do think that Ang Lee could have pulled it off with two less handsome actors, if they were as talented.
--- End quote ---
I had a friend visit yesterday and he looks a whole lot like Annie Proulx described Ennis Del Mar in her original short story. Ron is not handsome at all and he does have an arched nose. He is 6' 3" tall.
I am only 5' 5" tall and I am actually built more like Ms. Proulx described Jack Twist.
Ron had not seen Brokeback Mountain before and we watched it together on my main entertainment center setup yesterday.
I have the leg length of the "average" person who is more like 4' 11" tall. If Ron and I are sitting on the same level surface, I appear to be at least a couple of inches taller than him. He has noticed that, too.
We were discussing how tall Annie Proulx wrote that Jack was and the fact that he was bull rider. Ron said, "Most professional bull riders are about an average of 5' 6" tall."
I told him that I have the documented statistics of the riders who are with the Professional Bull Riders rodeo outfit and what he said is definitely true. I have that information because I am a member of PBR's official fan club, "Team PBR," and I get a regular subscription to the PBR magazine.
I wouldn't know if Ron has any acting ability; but, I do have some amateur theatrical experience and I was a non-speaking extra in two scenes of the TV mega-mini-series,"War and Remembrance." I was a civilian war correspondent.
nakymaton:
Katherine, I think I've got to apologize to you.
So I've been arguing up and down that, while I think that Jack's pretty different in the story and the movie, that Ennis is essentially the same character.
But as I was trying to argue that the story's emotional distance was a way of developing the character, I realized I was wrong about Ennis. In the story, I still think Ennis is disconnected from his feelings, even though he talks about wringing it out and shouldn't a let you out a my sights and stuff like that.
But in the movie... you know, what got me thinking was all those times that we see tears in Ennis's eyes. That doesn't look like a guy who's out of touch with his feelings. Ennis looks like a guy who feels too much, and whose feelings conflict with one another so much that it just hurts. A lot.
So, anyway. Sorry about arguing with you about it.
serious crayons:
Thanks, Mel, although don't think I was secretly seething about that or anything. I think you're right, though. In fact, I believe Movie Ennis is very much aware of his feelings, even though they're often mixed up and he may not always respond to them appropriately and is usually trying desperately to hide them.
One of the best examples is the alley puking scene. Story Ennis claims (and this makes so little sense I wonder if we're even supposed to think he means it) that it took him a year to figure out why. I think Movie Ennis knew why from the get-go. OK, so it may have been a confusing jumble of conflicting feelings that he might not have fully sorted out at the time. But at least he knows approximately what it's about, and it's sure as hell not bad food at the diner.
jpwagoneer1964:
--- Quote from: latjoreme on May 12, 2006, 08:15:34 am ---Wow, J, interesting. I guess I would have liked to see the "I know the feeling" in there, because I am also saddened by Ennis not responding to Jack's touching admission.
But the rest of the stuff on that screeenplay, I'm glad they didn't do.
--- End quote ---
.
Remember the very next scene is in the tent asleep With Ennis's arm around Jack.Very significant I think that makes up for any lack of words on Ennis's part
Brown Eyes:
--- Quote from: jpwagoneer1964 on July 11, 2006, 02:31:05 am ---Remember the very next scene is in the tent asleep With Ennis's arm atound Jack.Very significant I think that makes up for any lack of words on Ennis's part
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I agree that the display of quiet, physical intimacy is lovely here. I also love that the image of Ennis with his arm over Jack like that mirrors the very first moment when Jack pulls Ennis's arm over him in TS1. This time though, Ennis is happy to leave his arm there all night and he probably initiated the hug himself.
But, I think there's a difference here between the physical love that Ennis is showing here and Jack's verbal admission. While the evidence here of their love making is great, it's what's expected. That's why they're there... they have sex all the time and have been doing so for 20 years. And, they would have had sex/ cuddled, etc. whether or not Jack had said what he said. Not to diminish the importance of this continuing aspect of their relationship, of course. But, Jack's verbal "I miss you so much" is something new. He's going out on a limb... He's almost saying "I love you." The kind of statements that I think Jack is almost desparate to hear from Ennis. Having sex with Jack was "going out on a limb" for Ennis in '63, but now it's par for the course for both of them. So, I'm glad there's the cut from Jack's comment to the sweet tent scene... but it still leaves Jack hanging a bit in terms of emotional reassurance. But, to give Ennis lots of credit... He really only is shown expressing his love/emotions physically in the film... so this visual/ physical indication of his love is definitely within his character (as it is shown in the fim... and the story too I guess).
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