Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
Brokeback's filmic structure a palindrome ?
Brown Eyes:
--- Quote from: Penthesilea on March 20, 2008, 05:35:20 am ---*bump*
--- End quote ---
Cool old thread! Thanks for bumping. 8)
Brown Eyes:
I apologize if this question has already been brought up at some point. And, who knows why this question popped into my head tonight. It was one of those wacky things where I was doing dishes and all of a sudden an Open Forum- type question popped into my head.
Anyway, so within the palindrome/ bookend/ ink-blot structure theory of BBM there's a pretty clear understanding that most scenes (or concepts or images or props, etc.) from early in the film have and echo or mirror in the later part of the film. And, that the swing-set scene where Ennis and Alma are arguing is the center point.
My question is, what do folks think is the bookend for the "you may be a sinner"/ "opportunity" conversation between Ennis and Jack that happens right before TS1?
The only thing that comes to mind at the moment is that maybe the "what are you waiting for, cowboy, a mating call?" scene might function as the bookend. Both the "you may be a sinner" scene and the "mating call" scene seem to be about people flirting with Jack. This of course hinges on a viewer accepting that Ennis's quip about "ain't yet had the opportunity" and the eye contact with Jack constitutes an Ennis-form of awkward flirting. And, of course both scenes are followed rather quickly by a sexual encounter.
But, I'd be interested to hear what other people think is the bookend for the "you may be a sinner" scene.
:)
Penthesilea:
--- Quote from: atz75 on September 18, 2008, 01:06:09 am ---Anyway, so within the palindrome/ bookend/ ink-blot structure theory of BBM there's a pretty clear understanding that most scenes (or concepts or images or props, etc.) from early in the film have and echo or mirror in the later part of the film. And, that the swing-set scene where Ennis and Alma are arguing is the center point.
--- End quote ---
On the risk of being nit-picking: I wouldn't say it that way. Agreed on the inkblot part, but there are two theories which scene is the center: one is the one you mentioned, the swing-set scene. Others see Ennis in the mirror (when packing for their very first trip) as the center.
This one:
--- Quote ---My question is, what do folks think is the bookend for the "you may be a sinner"/ "opportunity" conversation between Ennis and Jack that happens right before TS1?
--- End quote ---
From the top of my head, the scene with Jack and Randall on the bench (after the charity dance) comes to my mind. At the moment it's just a spontaneous idea, haven't thought it through yet.
Will come back later to this.
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: Penthesilea on September 18, 2008, 02:08:45 am ---From the top of my head, the scene with Jack and Randall on the bench (after the charity dance) comes to my mind. At the moment it's just a spontaneous idea, haven't thought it through yet.
--- End quote ---
I have to give it more thought, too. But right off the bat, this seems like an excellent possibility, Chrissi. It's a very similar scene, only with Jack in the Ennis role. And chronologically, it seems to fall in about the right place.
Brown Eyes:
Thanks Chrissi and K!
Thanks for these suggestions. I think the Randall/ bench scene certainly could be seen as some kind of bookend to the sinner/opportunity scene. I think this one, though, is particularly difficult to figure out because the exact nature of the dynamics in the sinner/opportunity scene is particularly ambiguous, I think.
Chrissi, I love the pic of Ennis in the mirror. It's such a perfect visualization of the idea of palindrome or mirroring. But, I also think that compelling argurments can be made that the swingset scene with the inkblot pattern on the swingset is the center point. Either way, these two scenes (Ennis in the mirror and the swingset) are close enough together in the structure of the film that both come near the center.
And, K, I'm curious about how you see Jack in Ennis's role in the bench scene?
To me both the sinner/opportunity scene and the bench scene are about folks flirting with Jack. And, this is based on my sense that Ennis's "ain't yet had the opportunity" line is his fumbling attempt at flirting (and he may only be semi-aware of it anyway). I think there are lots of other ways to interpret that line, so it's certainly tricky. If the bench scene is the bookend, it's interesting that Randall's activity of flirting is significantly amplified.
One thing I really like about the suggestion of the bench scene as the bookend is Jack's lack of verbal response in each case. Jack does not verbally respond to Ennis's "ain't yet had the opportunity" and he also does not respond verbally to Randall on the bench. Both conversations are sort of left dangling.
But, I still think that the "mating call" scene functions in a similar way to the "opportunity" and bench scenes. Timing-wise it probably comes too early in the film to be a perfect echo to the "opportunity" scene. But, it's interesting here too... in an instance where someone is flirting with Jack, he does not reply verbally. He turns his head and looks, but doesn't immediately respond.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version