Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
The mysterious "I love you" and other nearly indiscernible moments
serious crayons:
JakeTwist, re cylinder, I know you asked this of Ellemeno but while I'm here I'm happy to answer it, hoping she doesn't mind. Some people have suggested that, in the handholding scene, Ennis is holding onto some other part of Jack. "Cylindrical" was Daphne7661's polite way of describing, back on page 4, the object she glimpsed.
Re James Norman's posts, he sounds reasonable enough. But he is very wrong in his assumption that people love BBM because of external pressure. I can speak only for myself, but social pressure (or desire to appear unhomophobic) had nothing to do with my reaction. Before I saw it, I had read the story and the glowing reviews, and realized it would probably be good. Still, I didn't hurry out to see it. I guess I assumed it would be sort of preachy, and (like James Norman, apparently) I already felt like a member of the choir. Or something. Anyway, one night in late January I was going to a movie alone, and chose Brokeback mainly because it best fit my schedule.
I came out of the theater feeling like my life had changed. And it had! At that point, I didn't even understand or fully appreciate all the "beautiful and expensive building blocks" he talks about, nor was I focusing on any particular "message." I just knew I loved it, felt both devastated and enthralled, thought about it constantly, had to keep seeing it. Before that, I had never seen any movie more than a few times -- I've since seen BBM 13 more times. I've never posted on a movie message board before, at imdb or elsewhere. Five months later, I still spend hours here each day. Who in their right mind does that in order to appear PC? (Who in their right mind does it for any reason, I often ask myself, but that's another topic.)
James Norman just doesn't get it.
belbbmfan:
--- Quote from: latjoreme on June 16, 2006, 10:22:09 am ---I can speak only for myself, but social pressure (or desire to appear unhomophobic) had nothing to do with my reaction.
--- End quote ---
Couldn't agree more.
--- Quote ---I came out of the theater feeling like my life had changed. And it had! At that point, I didn't even understand or fully appreciate all the "beautiful and expensive building blocks" he talks about, nor was I focusing on any particular "message." I just knew I loved it, felt both devastated and enthralled, thought about it constantly, had to keep seeing it. Before that, I had never seen any movie more than a few times -- I've since seen BBM 13 more times. I've never posted on a movie message board before, at imdb or elsewhere. Five months later, I still spend hours here each day. Who in their right mind does that in order to appear PC? (Who in their right mind does it for any reason, I often ask myself, but that's another topic.)
--- End quote ---
I wish I could say 'you took the words right out of my mouth'. Thank you for once again putting into beautiful words what this movie means to me.
Mikaela:
--- Quote ---Orignally from James_Norman
I thought was a bit self indulgent, is that it seems to be the opposite of an oil painting... minute examination of the individual components, such as the scenes, the music, the cinematography, the characterization and the acting, reveals brilliant thing after brilliant thing. However, if you take a step back and look at the film as a whole, it doesn't seem to add up to much in my opinion. It's as if Ang Lee and his crew created a very abstract sculpture out of the most incredibly beautiful and expensive building blocks they could find.
--- End quote ---
I found this interesting because it describes the exact opposite of my reaction. It was the whole, the total experience of the film, that blew me away and made me walk around completely and utterly dazed for days. Even though I knew a lot about the film beforehand, even though I had read the short story multiple times, and therefore really didn't expect to be so *completely* devastated by the film.
In order to understand that overwhelming impact of the whole on me, I've since been looking into, discussing in minute detail and trying to understand those various building blocks that James Norman talks about. But however exquisite and perfect each of them is; - the acting, the careful symbolism, the intentional ambiguity, the cinematography etc - I still find that the total, the film's overall impact on me, is so much *more* than can be explained through the mere sum of those impressive parts.
welliwont:
Ok, now I am at work :( and I cannot spend too long on this post, but here goes:
I posted james_norman 1981’s two comments to contrast a difference of opinion about our beloved BBM. The human race is a funny thing, all I can say is his response is the most surprising to me of any I have read so far. Our reactions could not be further apart… are we even the same species? ??? I guess this just re-enforces to me the fact that our reaction to BBM is a function of the nucleus of our soul and of our life experiences.
--- Quote from: latjoreme on June 16, 2006, 10:22:09 am ---JakeTwist, re cylinder, I know you asked this of Ellemeno but while I'm here I'm happy to answer it, hoping she doesn't mind. Some people have suggested that, in the handholding scene, Ennis is holding onto some other part of Jack. "Cylindrical" was Daphne7661's polite way of describing, back on page 4, the object she glimpsed.
--- End quote ---
Hi Katherine, thanks for answering.... ok, I have watched this scene more than anyone else on the planet, but I see my research is not complete! :D I will have to re-visit this scene again when I get home tonight, but if memory serves, IMO it did not look like Ennis' hand reached that far... it looks like Jack grabs Ennis' hand, I did not see what Daphne glimpsed. ... can't wait to see it on the big screen again!!
J
serious crayons:
Well, JakeTwist, all I can say is that I have watched the scene in search of the cylinder and haven't seen it either. But please report back your findings ...
And back to James Norman, I'm glad you posted his opinions. As I said, he seems reasonable enough, and since he's willing to analyze his own response (or lack thereof) the contrast gives us a jumping-off point in analyzing our own. Thanks for your nice comment, belbbmfan, and Mikaela, let me extend the same compliment to you. It's like you have looked inside my head -- that's exactly how I've felt for the past five months. (Oh my god, is it really FIVE MONTHS I've been like this?! I'm nothin and nowhere -- except online discussing a movie for hours each day?)
I implore everybody involved in this discussion (and everybody else, too!) to check out the thread I just started on this topic: "Why are we like this?" I would love to understand more about this issue. Maybe the thread should be called "Why is Brokeback Mountain like this?" The question being, what is it about the movie, or us, that has this effect?
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