Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
Yin and Yang: Ennis and Jack
Front-Ranger:
I was just rereading the Tao Te Ching this a.m. and the passage that describes the universe as being like a bellows, empty, yet quite full, caught my eye. I thought that describes the movie quite well! I'd love to point that out to people who think the movie is boring or slow or not a big deal. For whomever wants to read this, it's from the fifth sutra.
Brown Eyes:
Wow, that was a really interesting post Celeste!
Do you really think Ennis wasn't giving his whole heart in the second tent scene and the reunion? You're absolutely right that he runs or retreats from those bursts of really intense affection/ love and things get complicated by the time of the reunion. But, I feel like at least in those two instances (that we're allowed to see.... we hope there are more that we're supposed to assume happen) he's giving himself to the relationship completely. In both cases he seems like there'd be little he could do to resist giving himself to Jack/ the relationship... I mean his urge to go to Jack in both of those cases seems to overwhelm everything else (his fears, his sense of caution, his nervousness...).
YaadPyar:
--- Quote from: atz75 on June 21, 2006, 07:32:47 pm ---
Do you really think Ennis wasn't giving his whole heart in the second tent scene and the reunion?
--- End quote ---
I think Ennis gave absolutely everything he could, and maybe most in the second tent scene, where he and Jack were alone and there was no obvious consequence to what he did. But following the reunion kiss, his interaction with Jack is tempered with his certainty that they can never be together.
I'm not offering a definitive answer at all. Just my own feelings about Ennis, 'cause I can see myself being much less than wholehearted as well in certain ways, so I associate my own experience with what looks like his fear and hesitation.
Front-Ranger:
I was just reading an interview with Ang Lee and he mentions Taoism:
--- Quote ---You're very chameleon-like in your choices. What would you say is your essence as a filmmaker?
Ang Lee: I would have to say repression. (Laughs) I always use, but I try not to. I try to be a partygoer. But at some point I don't know why I'm doing it and fall back. I've been using repression, the struggle between behaving as a social animal. You're seeking to be honest with your free will, less conflict. I think that's an important subject with me. That's who I am, how I was brought up. I think I use that a lot. I mistrust everything I think. Things you think you can trust, believe in, or hang on to, changes. That's the essence of life. That's kind of Taoist. At a certain age, many Chinese think that way. When things change, we must adapt to it. That's our faith and belief.
--- End quote ---
Brown Eyes:
Wow Lee! That's great. I think he's certainly right about the "repression" aspect of his filmmaking. BBM is soooo restrained it's painful, as we all know! It's amazing that he's so self-aware.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version