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The great bleakness of the vast Northern plains

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chowhound:
Yesterday, I had occasion to consult the script of the movie, the last line of which is this:

He [Ennis] looks out the window, at the great bleakness of the vast northern plains..."

Using StripedWall - that very useful site which gives stills from every two seconds of the movie - I've checked back to what we actually see out of that window and, as far as I can ascertain, it has nothing to suggest "..the great bleakness of the vast Northrn plains". Indeed, it is a rather attractive shot of the countryside in the early summer. Beyond a strip of road, there is a dense mass of green growing plants - young corn, maybe? - and in the distance an attractive splash of very bright yellow which maybe what used to be called "rape". There's nothing bleak here at all. So why did Ang Lee shoot it this way? Some possible answers are:

(i) Ang Lee was shooting in Alberta during the summer and couldn't find a suitably "bleak" shot. (Possible but unlikely).

(ii) That he limited the "bleakness" to Ennis and was contrasting this "bleakness" with the growth and renewal of the natural world. (A possible connection to Alma Jr's upcoming wedding here)?

(iii). In the penultimate shot on Striped wall, the closet door intersects the frame and on one half we see the picture of the soaring peaks of Brokeback Mountain and on the other this depiction of a very flat and ordinary, day-to-day world. Was Ang Lee establishing a subtle contrast between the two?

Any suggestions?

Jeff Wrangler:
To me something that's green and growing, like whatever that is seen through the window, is a symbol of hope. At the risk of insulting the Ang Lee fans, I'm afraid I've always more or less dismissed that final shot as simply a movie-ish decision not to end the film on too "down" a note. The swelling music coupled with the image of the waving grain I see as "uplifting." Coupled with the change we've just witnessed in Ennis--his decision to say to hell with the roundup, he was going to his daughter's wedding--he was being there for Alma, Jr., in a way he was not when she asked to move in with him--the waving grain and the swelling music sends us out of the theater on an uplifting note. We might be weeping for Ennis's loss, but we're not completely crushed.

(Of course, that's provided we don't sit for the credits and the evocation of Jack's death provided by Willie Nelson's rendition of "He Was a Friend of Mine.")

southendmd:
Nice topic, chowhound.

Of course, the phrase comes from the story, when Ennis realizes Jack is dead:  "The huge sadness of the northern plains rolled down on him."

The script is full of lines taken directly from the story; however, some are changed in wording and placement, like this one. 

I recall that Ang had said he wanted there to be something "redemptive" about the ending. 

I think the last shot is another brilliant bit of Ang-ambiguity (Angbiguity?).  It can be "bleak" in that it's endless, featureless, and on the plains, therefore away from the mountains. (Having actually been there, I can attest to this.)  But, it can also be hopeful, verdant, a symbol of growth and renewal.

southendmd:
Here's the "penultimate" photo--yes, a nice, subtle contrast between the mountains and the plains. 

Clyde-B:
That's a really interesting question!  I can only tell you how it affected me.  I checked the Striped Wall pic just to be sure.

The bleakness came for me because we are looking at a flat plain.  Flat as far as the eye can see, not a tree, not a house, not a mountain, not a barn.  To me an empty plane is like solitary confinement that stretches for miles and miles with only the wind for walls.  The only visible sign of life is the wind blowing through the tall grass.  The wind was used throughout the movie as a symbol for Jack, and the wind through the grass just reminded me that Jack is gone.

In the country, the grass is always greener on the other side of the road and we can see that what beauty the plain has is on the opposite side of the road from where Ennis is.  The road stands there, cold and desolate, like a wall.  Symbolically, unless life sends Ennis another miracle like Jack, I don't think he'll ever cross that road.  A visual representation of so near, yet so far away.

It worked as a physical metaphor for me, because it seemed to be saying to Ennis, the one thing that made your life bearable, you had, but you didn't appreciate it and now it's gone, forever beyond your reach.

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