Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
Comparison between '03 to '05 screenplay: would we still be discussing this film
Daniel:
I also miss the second tent scene, but I am enjoying all the extra little bits of personality that Jack and Ennis are showing in the 03 version. I had not read it until very recently, and I was astonished and delighted to find that Jack does indeed buy Ennis's beers for him in the first bar scene (as I had played him on the Performance Thread), and I also liked it when Jack tried to show off for Ennis with the Chilean Sheepherders.... that sounds so much like him, I almost cried while reading that scene. Also the Newsome Thanksgiving scene was quite a bit different.
So its different, I like the final version better, but perhaps we can consider this a different version of the Gospel. Much like in the New Testament of the Bible, there are four different accounts of what happened, here we have the short story and at least two different screenplays, and the final film itself...
nakymaton:
I wouldn't call them "gospels" -- I would call them different works of art, because the way in which events are portrayed changes the dynamic of the story/movie, and develops the characters and themes differently.
--- Quote from: Daniel on September 22, 2006, 05:07:39 am ---I also miss the second tent scene, but I am enjoying all the extra little bits of personality that Jack and Ennis are showing in the 03 version. I had not read it until very recently, and I was astonished and delighted to find that Jack does indeed buy Ennis's beers for him in the first bar scene (as I had played him on the Performance Thread), and I also liked it when Jack tried to show off for Ennis with the Chilean Sheepherders.... that sounds so much like him, I almost cried while reading that scene.
--- End quote ---
It's interesting. There's a lot more dialogue in the beginning of the movie in the older versions of the screenplay, and although it sets up the situation and the place, I think it's better without it. For instance, Ennis talks quite a bit at the beginning of the older screenplays. And that sets up the place, but I think it undermines Ennis's character development. I think the scene where Ennis starts opening up is so good, in part, because it's true that Ennis has said very little up to that point.
Quick quiz. Don't look at your screenplay book. What is Ennis's first spoken line in the movie? And how much development of the character and the place has already happened before he says it?
And I wonder how many of the changes were directly the work of Ang Lee, and how many of them arose through the complete movie-making process -- the way Ang got the actors thinking about their characters, and then stepped back. (I wonder in particular how much input Heath had into the way Ennis is characterized, in part because we know that switching the shirts was Heath's idea. The boy should have gotten a damn Oscar for that suggestion alone.)
dly64:
--- Quote from: nakymaton on September 22, 2006, 08:43:16 am ---Quick quiz. Don't look at your screenplay book. What is Ennis's first spoken line in the movie? And how much development of the character and the place has already happened before he says it?
--- End quote ---
I believe the first word Ennis said was “Ennis.” We have already established the location, Jack’s attraction to Ennis, Ennis sizing up Jack, Aguirre explaining where they’ll be (BBM) and what they’ll be doing (herding sheep), that Jack is more gregarious and that Ennis is quite tight lipped. How accurate am I?
--- Quote ---And I wonder how many of the changes were directly the work of Ang Lee, and how many of them arose through the complete movie-making process -- the way Ang got the actors thinking about their characters, and then stepped back. (I wonder in particular how much input Heath had into the way Ennis is characterized, in part because we know that switching the shirts was Heath's idea. The boy should have gotten a damn Oscar for that suggestion alone.)
--- End quote ---
I do get the sense that it was a collaborative effort between Ang, the actors and the screenwriters (especially Diana since she was on the set everyday).
How many things can you think of that someone fought for, changed and/ or suggested?
Examples:
• Heath – switching the shirts
• Ang – breaking up the motel scene
• Diana – keeping the reunion kissing scene in the story
Can anyone think of anything else?
serious crayons:
Well someone -- Ang, right? -- added TS2. And if you ask me, that's the most significant change of all.
dly64:
--- Quote from: latjoreme on September 22, 2006, 10:01:43 am ---Well someone -- Ang, right? -- added TS2. And if you ask me, that's the most significant change of all.
--- End quote ---
Honestly, I don't know where that came from. Let me snoop around and see if I can find something about it.
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