Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
A Ninth Viewing Observation
Marge_Innavera:
--- Quote from: latjoreme on October 12, 2006, 01:14:33 am ---Their youthful exuberance is gone. They're not smiling or joking around, to me their expressions look outright glum. They're still together, still love each other, still feel more relaxed and comfortable together, out in nature, than they do anywhere else. But being together has gone from being an entirely joyful experience to serving as a reminder to both men of the painful trap they're living in.
Actually, in contrast to this I find the next scene, the "high-class entertainment" exchange, somewhat heartening. There, their behavior seems lighter and more affectionate. Even when Ennis asks about Jack's marriage and whether he worries that "people know," they seem close; Ennis is confiding in Jack and sincerely asking for support. It's only after Jack suggests the Texas move that the mood changes.
--- End quote ---
Seems to me like things start sliding downhill after the post-divorce truck scene. Although the love is always there underneath, it's then that the wilderness escape starts to turn into a kind of ghetto.
Mikaela:
--- Quote from: latjoreme on October 12, 2006, 10:06:09 am ---Which do they think it is?
--- End quote ---
Based on my own discussions with first time viewers, they at first believe the film's scene of Jack's death presents what actually happpened, no more and no less. They believe it to be included as the truth, shown deliberately in direct contrast to Lureen's (then, to them, equally obviously) fake story. It's not till afterwards and after giving it some more thought that the realization dawns that the death scene may be taking place in Ennis's mind only, as a consequence of his past traumatic experiences and his enduring fears.
Brown Eyes:
--- Quote from: latjoreme on October 12, 2006, 10:06:09 am ---Which do they think it is?
--- End quote ---
Yup, like Mikaela said... I have two friends who were stunned to realize that we don't know that Jack actually was murdered. Of course, once you point out the subjective points of view (Ennis's imagination and Lureen's story, which could or could not be accurate) they almost immediately get that there's a complexity here. Or a "space" in what we know about the narrative (to use a Proulx-like descriptive word).
I sometimes think that because the filmmakers decided to show us visually Ennis's imaginative projection of what happened to Jack, his version of the story seems more "real" to the viewer or at least more palpable. This doesn't at all make it true... but it makes it powerful. And I would guess that a casual viewer (one not paying close attention or one who is still trying to figure things out) might miss the nuance that the murder scene is an imaginative sequence. We only hear Lureen's verbal description of the accident scenario, so it might not have the same impact on the viewer. It's interesting to consider how we would feel about the question of murder vs. accident if Lee chose to also show us a shot of the death as an accident.
The distinction between seeing and hearing in this exchange between Ennis and Lureen is actually very interesting.
LOL, by the way... I love how the topics on this thread keep evolving. It seems like we've moved on from the horse wading scene and are now back in the murky waters of the "how did Jack die" controversy. And poor ol' Randall is left in the dust of the original posts.
:)
Penthesilea:
--- Quote ---From Amanda:
I sometimes think that because the filmmakers decided to show us visually Ennis's imaginative projection of what happened to Jack, his version of the story seems more "real" to the viewer or at least more palpable. This doesn't at all make it true... but it makes it powerful.
--- End quote ---
Agreed to what you and Mikaela said. To see a scene makes it more poweful than only to hear about an incidence (accident in this case) and therefore it seems more real.
Regarding that the visual sense is the most important to humans it's only logical.
I strolled around at Wikipedia a bit and found interesting details about this: The ability of our senses to process information from the outside differs in quantitiy for the different senses. The visual sense is by far the one who is able to process the most information per second. It's around 10 million Bit per second. In comparison, the audio sense processes around 100 000 Bit per second (however this is measured. And why is the measuring unit Bit?).
And I think this is the exact reason why so many people think at their first viewing that Jack is murdered and don't doubt it. It was my own reaction, too. The moment I saw it, I believed it was the truth. The director's way to show the audience what really happened. Like some omnipotent and omniscient narrator.
But it lasted not long. As soon as I recoverd a bit from being absorbed by the movie, I begun to doubt my impression.
Ang Lee must know this (not necessarily the scientific details, but the fact that the visual sense is the most important). Plus, he said Lureen lied on the phone. Maybe Ang Lee is not totally ambigious about Jack's death? Maybe he let the movie be ambigious about it, but he himself belongs to the "murder-camp"?
Someone once described this question as one of the first symptoms of Brokeback Fever :). Additionally to feeling kind of numb for days it was definately true for me (and for Kerstin, and for my husband, although the latter never evolved Brokeback Fever).
Front-Ranger:
Also, when Ennis goes into the nursery and picks up Jennie, as he is holding her, you can see Alma through two windows--the nursery and the kitchen window.
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