Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum

TOTW 24/08: Extras and small roles in the movie

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Penthesilea:
Howdy BetterMostians,


this week we have the extras and small roles of the movie as topic.

Extras are mostly overlooked and not factored in when interpreting specifics. But boy, how important they are. Imagine Ben Hur without extras ;). Would look pretty empty ;D.

So extras are filler elements.

Another purpose of them is to set a specific surrounding, specific mood or make the circumstances of a scene immediately recognizable.

Since Ang Lee and crew took so many efforts with small details, I believe (some) extras in Brokeback Mountain serve more purpose than just being 'fillers' respectively setting for the main characters.

Take for example the heavily tattooed lady we see when Ennis dances with Cassie for the second time. I know we've talked about her a little, but to many her appearance is still puzzling.

Some of the extras or very small roles are really outstanding and (possibly) carry meaning. Similar to props like containers or the cross in Ma Twist's kitchen.


Here are some characters of extras/very small roles which I find outstanding:


* The tattooed lady when Ennis dances with Cassie for the second time
* Little boy with firecracker; Fourth of July scene
* Old man, sitting, with US flag; also Fourth of July scene
* Saleswoman in Monroe's grocery store
* Bartender suggesting calf roping in the Jimbo scene
* Bartender when Jack is waiting for a maitin' call
* The Basque
* Jack-like guy in Ennis's alley
* Older man in Jack's alley (Mexico)
* Guys with white hats/black hats surrounding E&J


What do you make of them? Are there more examples which come to your mind? Or do you disagree with some of the listed examples as being „outstanding“?

Penthesilea:
OK, this week I'll go first, providing some pictures and thoughts.

The heavily tattooed lady:
She keeps puzzling me. What on earth does such a heavily tattooed lady do in Riverton in the late 70ies/early 80ies? Why did Lee place her so obviously?
We've talked about her previously and the tenor was that she was there to show that being an „outsider“, being outside the beaten track, does not necessarily have bad consequences, like Ennis always fears.

That's one possible interparetation. But I think it could also be more or less the opposite: showing how „underclass“ or even „at the very bottom end of society, bordering on criminal“ people are, meaning the society in which Ennis lives is not much different (therefore similar dangerous) as in his father's time. A slippery slope, that thought, playing with prejudices. Therefore I put the words in quotations.

Another idea came to me just as I was typing this: we have another heavily tattoed character in the movie: one of the bikers Ennis beats up in the Fourth of July scene! Maybe a bookend, connecting the dancing scene to the 4th of July scene?


         




Boy with firecracker and old man with flag at the 4th of July scene:
We discussed those two before; the idea was they could represent a younger and an older version of Ennis. Both are very noticeable, and similar dressed as Ennis.
Alas I couldn't find any pictures of them.

Your thoughts?

Edit: Fran gave me pics of both, the little boy and the old man. Thank you Fran! :-*











Salesgirl in Monroe's grocery:
I don't know why she catches my attention. She seems bored. (And why didn't Monroe go after her instead of Alma? ;))






Bartenders in both scenes when Jack is on the rodeo circuit:
I only have a picture of one of them. What smirk he shows.

Penthesilea:
The Basque:
Aww, somehow all Brokies seem to like him. He's cute. But what else?







Jack-like guy in Ennis's alley:





Older guy in Jack's alley:







Guys with black hats/white heads surrounding our boys:
The theory is that Jack is often surroundend by men in white/light colored hats, reminding him and us of Ennis. Vice versa Ennis is often surrounded by men in dark/black hats.
We already have a thread about this. It's here: http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php/topic,1266.0.html
But I wanted at least to give it a short mention, since it also fits here very nicely.

This pic is only one of many examples. It's a bar scene with Jack, spurrounded by light hats.
 


Two men who vaguely resemble our boys (one with black hat and solid blue shirt, the other one with white hat and light checkered shirt) obviously buying bus tickets together, travelling somewhere together.

Mandy21:
Hey Chrissie, interesting topic.  I like all of your suggestions.  And god help me, in the 200 times I've watched this, I never one single time noticed that tattooed lady at ALL.  I have noticed all the others, though, and wondered the same type of things about Ang's direction as to their placement.

I have to say that my favorite extra/small role in BBM, the one that really stood out to me, for some reason, was the guy sitting behind the two bikers on the 4th of July, and just how quickly he stands up.  Some people might have seen that guy and thought he was getting up because he was scared of one of those big bikers falling on him.  But when I saw him in that scene the first time and every time after, I thought that he was getting up, fully ready to join in on the fight, to defend what Ennis was saying to them.  I always thought 'man, that guy is cute AND brave', and wondered if he even knew Ennis, or if they were neighbors, or if he was just an all-around good guy who could instantly tell right from wrong, and was willing to fight for it.  Or maybe he represented exactly what Jack would have done, had he been sitting there.  Don't know what that actor's name is, but I keep looking for him in every movie I watch:)

retropian:
How about two scenes where guys dressed like Jack appear. 1st as Ennis turns into the lot behind his apartment above the laundry. Jacks postcard waiting for him upstairs, he almost hits a guy dressed like Jack, and 2nd when Alma is leaving to work an extra shift at the grocery store and Ennis is mad because he wants her to serve dinner. Just as she turns the corner out and is out of sight there is a guy dressed like Jjack walking across the street. I think the 1st is letting us know Jack is on his way, and the 2nd is that Jack is affecting Alma and Ennis's marriage.

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