Author Topic: Brokeback and the Number Three -- by Meryl_88  (Read 17599 times)

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Brokeback and the Number Three -- by Meryl_88
« on: June 22, 2007, 06:52:15 pm »
Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by meryl_88     (Wed Apr 5 2006 23:35:54 )   

   
Many posters over the past months have noticed examples of the Number 3 in Brokeback Mountain. One of the most interesting appears in CaseyCornelius's thread about Ennis's (Three) Maledictions.

Occurrences of the Number 3 can be significant or trivial. Here's one from Casey to start it off:

I'd begin with the three telephone poles in the opening shots as Ennis gets dropped off by the truck - too much of a Calvary image for me to ignore.


And I'd begin with the fact that Ennis experiences three harsh visions of death during the film:

The mutilated corpse of Earl the rancher (Witnessed by 3--Ennis, K.E. and their father)

The gutted sheep on the mountain (Witnessed by 3--Ennis, the dog and the horse)

His vision of Jack's violent death (at the hands of 3 thugs wielding a tire iron)

Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by caoilfhionn     (Wed Apr 5 2006 23:46:12 )
   
   
damn. casey is a genius. thanks for reprinting this. i've seen the movie 7 times and each time i try to look for things from the imdb board that others have noticed. what are the three maledictions?

Link to Casey's 'Ennis' Maledictions'   
  by kula17     (Wed Apr 5 2006 23:50:54 )   

   
UPDATED Thu Apr 6 2006 00:00:57
It's nice that they didn't get to delete this one yet. I'm not bumping it though, for fear that a phantom troll might get his claws on it.
Ennis' Maledictions:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388795/board/flat/35009762?d=38353965#35009762
But so far this board has been free of trolls the last couple hours or so, and it would be a "real sweet life" if it was "just like this" always.
Edit: Fixed url link
__________________________________
"Straight" Guide to BBM: http://www.cs.brandeis.edu/~psyc/personal/brokeback.htm

Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by meryl_88     (Wed Apr 5 2006 23:55:49 )   

   
caoilfhionn, look here for the Maledictions thread: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388795/board/flat/35009762

Jessica, thanks, those are all interesting examples of threes. To expand on your theme of children: between them Jack and Ennis father 3 offspring.

Another example:

Jack and Ennis each have three significant sexual relationships:

Jack = Ennis, Lureen and Randall
Ennis = Jack, Alma and Cassie
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Re: Brokeback and the Number Three -- by Meryl_88
« Reply #1 on: June 22, 2007, 06:55:18 pm »
Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by Jessica_Weasfoy     (Wed Apr 5 2006 23:48:24 )   


What about- Ennis had a brother and a sister- that's 3 kids all together.

When him and Alma are about to have intercourse right before the divorce, she stops him and says that about the bills and being careful. Well, if she would have not stopped him, they might have concieved thier 3rd child that night. (okay that one is reaching)

In the film it showed Ennis only living in 3 places. The first home that Alma hates, then the Apt. above the Laundry (then back to the first house but that doesn't count) and the trailer in the end.

OOhh, I just thought about this but I might be wrong. I only remember 3 different scenes with Jack's first (black) truck. 1) When he's putting along in the first scene with him 2) When he is standing there staring at Ennis and when he is shaving 3) when he is leaving after the Brokeback job is done.

Man....I will find more. Now Im very interested.

Do your FREAKIN Rounds or Ima bust a NUT!

Re: Three Full Moons   
  by Ever_Victoria     (Thu Apr 6 2006 00:01:44 )   

   
"Aside from Ennis's wisecrack about sending up a prayer of thanks for Jack forgetting to bring his harmonica, it is SO touching that the reality is that heaven is not above - the two of them have found it in each other's company and embrace. The stars above are ratifying the holiness of their union."


Awww, that made me smile. And I must thank you, my girlfriend has been after me to write a brokeback centric poem (my first poem in over a year, damn that writers block) and I think you just gave me some inspiration. :-)

Re: Three Full Moons   
  by Jessica_Weasfoy     (Thu Apr 6 2006 23:23:40 )   

   
Man I thought we were gonna go more into the 3 thing here. Guess Not. :(

Do your FREAKIN Rounds or Ima bust a NUT!

Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by muscla_1     (Thu Apr 6 2006 23:40:13 )   


n the film it showed Ennis only living in 3 places. The first home that Alma hates, then the Apt. above the Laundry (then back to the first house but that doesn't count) and the trailer in the end.
Not to nitpick, but actually there are four.

You're forgetting the creepy shack Ennis was living in when Jack comes to find him after Ennis' divorce (although we only see the exterior).

"Jack, I swear..."

Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by Jessica_Weasfoy     (Fri Apr 7 2006 00:06:04 )   

   
Well actually I said that. I said back to the first house. Because as I understood it, that was the first house him and Alma lived in. I said that doesn't count though. So...no nitpicking needed.

Do your FREAKIN Rounds or Ima bust a NUT!

Two sets of Three Trailers   
by - CaseyCornelius (Fri Apr 7 2006 00:08:45 )
   

UPDATED Sat May 13 2006 06:48:55
1 The film opens at Aguirre's trailer
2 Closes at Ennis's trailer
3 The 'Surf Party' clip at the drive-in shows a young couple enamored of each other meeting outside an illegally parked trailer on the beach - the significance of which is explored in the 'The Choice of Surf Party' thread --
(reposted)

We see Ennis loading or unloading horses into trailers:
1 At the meagre ranch cabin he and Alma make their first home with the
two children, Ennis arrives and unloads a horse
2 The 'fishing trip' meeting back at the site of their naked jump into
the watering hole/river has him pulling up with two horses held
in a trailer
3 The Lake Scene and final meeting ends with him leaving Jack for
what will be the last time, having loaded up two horses and driven away.
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Re: Brokeback and the Number Three -- by Meryl_88
« Reply #2 on: June 22, 2007, 06:58:11 pm »
Re: Two sets of Three Trailers   
  by meryl_88     (Fri Apr 7 2006 07:33:31 )   

   
Thanks for those examples, Casey. I read the "Surf Party" thread recently, and I love that there are some interesting associations that can be made regarding that particular choice of clip, the trailer being the most signficant. It's also a fun fact that the actress's character name in the film is "Junior."

The horses confined in a trailer, perhaps used as a symbol for Ennis's and Jack's constricted affairs, is a topic I hope you'll explore more.

Naun, the phone call denials and affirmations are also a great observation. It's hardly possible to know for sure whether Ossana/Murtry planned them, but they add yet another layer to this thousand-layer cake of a film.

Ennis's 3 fights are a good call, too. In trying to think of a parallel for Jack, I came up with the fact that he has 3 significant rejections: Jimbo's rejection of his overture in the bar; Aguirre's refusal to re-hire him; and Ennis's rejection of his company after the divorce. (Ennis's other rejections of Jack's hopes may blur that, though.)

Jessica and muscla, in the screenplay it notes that the house Ennis moved to after the divorce was "much like the one he and Alma had lived in when his daughters were young," so it most likely does count as a fourth residence for Ennis.

Here are a couple of small three's:

The license plate number on the truck that delivers Ennis to Signal is 33447, so it not only starts with a three, it adds up to a 3 as well.

In the phone call scene, Lureen is wearing 3 rings on her right hand.

Re: Two sets of Three Trailers   
  by naun     (Fri Apr 7 2006 08:22:04 )   

   
the phone call denials and affirmations are also a great observation. It's hardly possible to know for sure whether Ossana/Murtry planned them, but they add yet another layer to this thousand-layer cake of a film.

I think they must be deliberate, because they were a late addition. IIRC the 2003 version of the screenplay does not have the "buddy" and "good friends" lines that begin and end the call with Lureen.

Great thread, keep it going!

Horses   
  by naun     (Sat Apr 8 2006 20:36:10 )   

   
The horses confined in a trailer, perhaps used as a symbol for Ennis's and Jack's constricted affairs, is a topic I hope you'll explore more.

There were the beginnings of a discussion in Casey's "Surf Party" thread, starting about halfway down:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388795/board/nest/37451771?d=37451771#37451771

I hope to see this idea explored further too. One detail I picked up on a recent viewing was that when Ennis unloads the horses at his ranch home, he backs them out of the trailer. This happens at the beginning of his domestic life after his honeymoon. This image prefigures the one of Jack backing his truck away from Ennis after the latter's divorce.

(In an effort to stay on topic, I'm trying to think if there's a third "reversing" scene somewhere in the movie, but am drawing a blank at the moment.)

I mention the horses now because I just saw another wonderful, piercingly memorable film with an equine theme, Bresson's "Au hasard Balthazar". I went eagerly looking for an old thread on this board called "Bressonian Brokeback", but sadly it's gone.

Re: Horses   
  by meryl_88     (Sat Apr 8 2006 21:33:52 )   

   
UPDATED Sat Apr 8 2006 21:37:23
Incidentally, apropos of Casey's "Ennis/Aeneas" theory, the best-known number from Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas is Dido's lament, "When I am laid in earth".

So sad!

When I am laid, am laid in earth
May my wrongs create no trouble, no trouble in thy breast.
Remember me! Remember me! But ah, forget my fate.
Remember me! But ah, forget my fate.


In an effort to stay on topic, I'm trying to think if there's a third "reversing" scene somewhere in the movie, but am drawing a blank at the moment.

Here's one thought: When Jack drives away from Signal, Ennis is following him in the same direction on foot, and there's a horse trailer to Ennis's left. But when Jack looks back at him in the mirror, the image is reversed, and the horse trailer appears to be on Ennis's right.

The only other backing up images that occur to me are Jack dragging that hapless sheep out of the Chilean herd and Ennis having to reverse directions when the horse and mules run away from the bear at the creek.

I mention the horses now because I just saw another wonderful, piercingly memorable film with an equine theme, Bresson's "Au hasard Balthazar". I went eagerly looking for an old thread on this board called "Bressonian Brokeback", but sadly it's gone.

I remember that thread, too. It was short, but very perceptive. I wish I had saved it.

Re: Horses   
  by naun     (Sun Apr 9 2006 13:02:32 )   

   
The only other backing up images that occur to me are Jack dragging that hapless sheep out of the Chilean herd

That's the one! And like the other two "backing up" images, it occurs soon after a signal (pardon the pun) event in the story, in this case, the beginning of their sexual relationship -- the "loss of innocence" that leads to their expulsion, as one poster described it, from their Garden of Eden.

The same poster (I don't recall who it was, unfortunately) noted that there is a second expulsion when Jack returns to Aguirre's trailer the following year. And there's a third expulsion when Ennis is ejected from Monroe's house after the Thanksgiving dinner. So there's another threesome for you.

Re: Horses   
  by meryl_88     (Sun Apr 9 2006 21:02:24 )   


And there's a third expulsion when Ennis is ejected from Monroe's house after the Thanksgiving dinner.

Well, that does make for three expulsions, but I have to say, as a Garden of Eden stand-in, Brokeback beats the heck out of Monroe's house. 

Naun, I noticed on your Lightning Flat thread that you mentioned Ennis being seen afar as a point of light. This makes for another Three: The headlights of the truck carrying Ennis at the top of the movie, the distant campfire that Jack sees on the mountain, and the headlights of Ennis's truck as he returns from Lightning Flat.

Jlilya, the three rejections sound right to me. Good catch.

Points of light   
  by naun     (Mon Apr 10 2006 03:58:58 )   

   
UPDATED Mon Apr 10 2006 04:05:03
I noticed on your Lightning Flat thread that you mentioned Ennis being seen afar as a point of light. This makes for another Three: The headlights of the truck carrying Ennis at the top of the movie, the distant campfire that Jack sees on the mountain, and the headlights of Ennis's truck as he returns from Lightning Flat.

This one may be more than three if you include associated images. For example, there's a scene where Ennis rides a black horse with a white flash on its forehead. And when he leaves Monroe's house, he drives a truck with one working headlight. I mentioned a couple of other analogous images in another thread, but don't remember which one OTTOMH.
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Re: Brokeback and the Number Three -- by Meryl_88
« Reply #3 on: June 22, 2007, 07:01:02 pm »
Re: Points of light   
  by meryl_88     (Mon Apr 10 2006 15:22:42 )   

   
This one may be more than three if you include associated images. For example, there's a scene where Ennis rides a black horse with a white flash on its forehead. And when he leaves Monroe's house, he drives a truck with one working headlight.

Hmm, I wonder if you could add to those two the image of Ennis lighting a cigarette while looking out the window for Jack to arrive for the reunion. That would make three "closeup" shots with Ennis and a light, and the other three could be "from afar."

When will Casey mention the 3 mountain pictures, I wonder?   
   
      
Three idealized Mountain 'paintings'   
by - CaseyCornelius (Mon Apr 10 2006 18:36:21 )   


UPDATED Sat May 13 2006 07:07:30
meryl:

Thanks for the prod.
I'm cautious about being redundant, but, you're right, no one has mentioned the appearances of three idealized mountain paintings at key points in the film. And in each appearance, the nature of the paintings reveals suggest an increasing dominance of the mountain itself within the painting as a suggestion of Brokeback's increasingly heghtened emotional significiance.

1 In the meagre little ranch cabin in which Alma, Ennis and the two toddlers make their home Ennis brushes past a mountain painting - the first of the many souvenirs or reminsicences which the boys have of each other during the hiatus.
The painting here reveals a mountain viewed in the distance through trees which border the painting on both sides, almost hiding the mountain.

2 A different painting is seen centered in the frame on the living room wall as Ennis passes out of the kitchen scene in Riverton, captivated by the postcard from Jack, following the line "We was fishin' buddies" - the significance of the moment is signalled by the return of the desolate, lonely theme music with which the film opens.
So there is a striking link between the idealized mountain scene on the postcard which Jack has sent and its telegraphed appearance on the wall in the painting which Ennis has had at the centre of his quotidian existence.
Here this second painting shows a brilliantly lit, full mountain-scape closer to the viewer, visually reflecting the memories of Brokeback bursting into the open in the mind of Ennis with the surprise postcard from Jack.

3 Yet another third and much more imposing mountain-scape is seen beside the door as Ennis hurriedly exits the Monroe household following the Thanksgiving blow-up by Alma. Here the painting is almost a mocking touch and pendant to the "Jack Nasty" line as it is a frigid scene with the mountain completely wrapped in snow overwhelming the frame - almost a reminder of the frigid, snow-bound scene which signalled the end of Ennis's idyll on Brokeback with Jack.

It is hugely significant that we see that the Monroe/Alma family home have a mountain painting in so prominent a location given the venomous scene prior in which Alma castigates Ennis for lying to her about the true nature of his relationship with Jack for so many years. For me, in the way the painting is placed close to the main entrance of the house, its an indication of how overwhelming, at an unconscious level, is impact of the Brokeback summer on the lives and the marriage of all of Ennis, Alma, and their daughters.

I am astounded as the care in which Ang Lee and production designer Judy Becker took in designing this immensely subtle detail, one which the viewer is bound to miss upon a first viewing of the film. It's additional proof of Ang Lee's attention to minute detail throughout the film; an indication that this miracle of a film demands multiple viewings in order to fully appreciate its technical artistry; and the reason why it holds any viewer sensitive to its beauty in an almost hypnotic thrall in delivering an overwhelming emotional 'punch'.


Re: Three idealized Mountain 'paintings'   
  by meryl_88     (Mon Apr 10 2006 19:26:59 )   


Thanks, Casey! I'm really glad to have that description on the Three Thread. It's such a great little detail to ponder and enjoy.

Three Full Moons   
by - CaseyCornelius (Wed Apr 5 2006 23:57:05 )   


UPDATED Sat May 13 2006 06:47:07
As stated in numerous previous threads regarding the Chinese symbols in Brokeback, the full moon is indicative of friends or lovers united in either physical proximity or in spirit from a great distance [in that they both view the same moon].

1 Jack up on Brokeback tending the sheep underneath a full moon looks down to the dark face of the mountain to seek out Ennis as night fire in the far distance. I see this as the first distinct visual cue of a desire of one of them for the other - ie. Jack begins to 'fall in love'.

2 The night of the first tent scene - 'nuff said.

3 Following the Riverton reunion Ennis gazes up into the sky lit by stars and the full moon and prompts Jack's query as to whether there is anything interesting up there in heaven. Aside from Ennis's wisecrack about sending up a prayer of thanks for Jack forgetting to bring his harmonica, it is SO touching that the reality is that heaven is not above - the two of them have found it in each other's company and embrace. The stars above are ratifying the holiness of their union.

Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by naun     (Fri Apr 7 2006 05:10:34 )   


Ennis gets into three physical fights: with Jack, with the bikers, and with the driver outside the "Black and Blue Eagle"(!) bar. He does lash out, or come close to doing so, a couple of other times, though.

I've previously also mentioned the telephone calls. In the first of them Aguirre makes three denials ("No. No. Not on your f uckin' life!") and in the second Ennis three times affirms his connection with Jack.
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Re: Brokeback and the Number Three -- by Meryl_88
« Reply #4 on: June 22, 2007, 07:02:33 pm »
Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
by - (name removed by request) (Thu Apr 13 2006 15:39:16 )
   

UPDATED Thu Apr 27 2006 11:47:01
Some of these are probably stretching things a bit, but here goes anyway…

Words and phrases said 3 times:
• “C’mere” and “It’s all right” by Jack to Ennis: during the second tent scene (where he says “it’s all right” 3 times (with respect to those in the “sorry” camp)), after giving Ennis a bloody nose, and at the end of the final lake scene
• “C’mon” by Ennis to the cattle 3 times, while throwing hay off the back of the truck during the montage (out of sequence because Ennis has sideburns before and after this scene, but not during)
• “I’m sorry” by Ennis: to Jack (“I’m sure as hell sorry”), to Cassie (“I’m sorry”) and to Lureen (“I sure am sorry”)
• “Kurt” by Alma Jr. (3 times) and Ennis (3 times); 3 times outside Ennis’s trailer, 3 times inside
• “Lightnin’ Flat” (by Jack, rodeo announcer, and Ennis)
• “Troy”
• “Here I am” by Aguirre, Jack, LaShawn
• “Roundup”
• “Bronc”
• “my old man” (by Jack)
• “please” (by Alma to Ennis twice, to Alma Jr. once)

Other appearances and incidents of 3:
• Alma sits at the Riverton apartment kitchen table.
• Bobby’s scenes
• C&H sugar on the shelf (brown, blue, pink)
• Cross scenes: 3 telephone poles at the beginning, cross in church at Ennis & Alma’s wedding, cross in Twists’ kitchen
• Ennis handles postcards he intends for Jack (the first, the last, and the one in his wardrobe).
• Ennis sends postcards to Jack (although we see just 2--because we only hear about the divorce card)
• Ennis holds his empty palms up to Jack: when rejecting Jack’s offer of money (“I don’t need your money”), at the reunion (“Jack * Twist”), and during the final lake scene (“Jack, I gotta work”).
• Ennis introduces himself to Jack, Cassie, Lureen.
• Ennis mixes it up with roughnecks.
• Ennis punches the wall when throwing up (the fourth time, after the cowboy passes, he merely presses his fist into the wall).
• Ennis pushes his tongue into the side of his mouth (“…nothin’ but $24 dollars in a coffee can”).
• Ennis keeps 3 buttons fastened on his jackets (visible on Brokeback and grey jackets)
• File cabinets behind Aguirre's desk
• If Mr. Lee had included the filmed-but-cut night in Signal, there would be 3 shots of the guys sleeping (although it’s said that Ennis didn’t actually sleep during that scene).
• Ennis tucks his shirt in (once on Brokeback, twice at the reunion).
• Intertwined shirts (in the closet, kitchen, and wardrobe)
• Each rides off alone to the sheep: Jack on the first night, when his horse crowhops, and after “No more beans.”; Ennis after offering to switch, after the first tent scene, and after the dozy embrace.
• Jack is addressed as “cowboy” by Ennis, Jimbo, Lureen.
• Jack blinks after Aguirre mentions “the rose.”
• Jack drives up to Ennis (at the beginning, at the reunion, after the divorce).
• Jack exhales before saying, “Sometimes I miss you so much…”
• Jack has his hat knocked off by Ennis (during the happy tussle and reunion scenes) and snatched off by Lureen (during their car scene).
• Monroe & Alma’s porch is shown.
• Mrs. Twist affirms her regard for Ennis 3 times by inviting him to: have coffee and cake (it won’t be a short visit), go up to Jack's room (roam pretty much freely in their home), and come back again (she doesn't want Ennis's visit to be “a one-shot thing”).
• Pinball games in the bar where Cassie works
• Rings on Lureen’s left hand during the dance
• Snaps on the cuffs of Jack’s Brokeback and Thanksgiving shirts
• The guys are inside the Brokeback Mountain tent together (third time is during the hailstorm).
• “Them camps can be 3, 4 miles from where we pasture the woolies.”
• “Then I pledged Tri Delt at SMU.”
• TV at Jack & Lureen’s switched on/off during dinner
• TV shows (Kojak, football game, ice skating)
• Whiskey bottle in Brokeback scenes
• “…you goin’ up there 2, 3 times a year…”
• “…you gotta stand it.” “…I can hardly stand it.” “I just can’t stand this anymore, Jack.”
• “…and he’s gonna sleep there.” “…but you sleep with the sheep, hunderd percent.” “…your 30-30, you sleep there.”
« Last Edit: January 31, 2008, 04:50:26 pm by TOoP/Bruce »
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Re: Brokeback and the Number Three -- by Meryl_88
« Reply #5 on: June 22, 2007, 07:08:53 pm »
Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by meryl_88     (Fri Apr 7 2006 08:35:34 )   

   
Ooh, lots of great ones, (name removed by request), thanks! (though I did beat you to the 3 offspring one )

Thanks, naun!

Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by meryl_88     (Fri Apr 7 2006 22:29:05 )   


Lots of good ones. I hadn't thought of Jack's looking for work with Aguirre 3 summers in a row.

Ennis refers to Jack as "Jack *beep* Twist" three times: at the reunion; on one of their fishin' trips (after the scene with Alma on Thanksgiving); and in the scene by the lake.

Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by jlee-49     (Fri Apr 7 2006 08:39:41 )
   

In Ennis's first scene holding his little girls, he tells Alma "I would if I had three hands."

Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by naun     (Fri Apr 7 2006 09:37:36 )   


... but curiously, the three thousand dollars that Jack makes rodeoing in the original story gets cut to two thousand in the film.

Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by starboardlight     (Fri Apr 7 2006 11:06:36 )
   
   
and let's not forget, 3 gay men (Ennis, Jack, Randall) with 3 wives (Alma, Lureen, Lashawn).






Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by rickythecat     (Tue Apr 11 2006 10:01:07 )   

   
Jack: "Not 'til he finishes eatin' the meal that his mama spent 3 hours fixin'."



There must be something to using the number three. I know it would of taken at least 5-7 hours to make that big turkey dinner. By time she got up in morning and made the stuffing(and most every body stuffed their turkeys back in the seventies} and made all the "fixen's"that go one the table.
I thought he might say " his mama worked all day on the dinner". So either it was just overlooked how long food takes to prepare or..... the number 3 is a code or symbal of something in this film.

Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by starboardlight     (Tue Apr 11 2006 22:27:52 )   


Jack: "Not 'til he finishes eatin' the meal that his mama spent 3 hours fixin'."



There must be something to using the number three. I know it would of taken at least 5-7 hours to make that big turkey dinner. By time she got up in morning and made the stuffing(and most every body stuffed their turkeys back in the seventies} and made all the "fixen's"that go one the table.
I thought he might say " his mama worked all day on the dinner". So either it was just overlooked how long food takes to prepare or..... the number 3 is a code or symbal of something in this film.



that struck me too. Having prepared a Thanksgiving dinner before, I know it takes longer than 3 hours to cook a Turkey that size, let along all the trimmings. so it just came out odd to me. Now that you point it out, the 3 must be significant.






Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by naun     (Sat Apr 8 2006 03:31:37 )   

   
Not totally sure about this one, but I think we see Coke bottles three times. Alma is holding one at the drive-in, Alma Jr picks at one when she talks to Cassie, and Cassie herself walks by a Coke fridge in the "girls don't fall in love with fun" scene.

Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by naun     (Sat Apr 8 2006 08:09:37 )   

   
UPDATED Sat Apr 8 2006 08:19:47
Three weddings take place during the course of the film: Ennis to Alma, Jack to Lureen, Alma to Monroe.

Then Alma Jr announces her engagement to Kurt. So that makes four weddings and a funeral.

But it occurs to me that Jack, like Melquaides Estrada in that other (excellent: highly recommended) cowboy film of the current season, in a sense has three burials too. Half of his ashes are interred at Childress and half in the family plot at Lightning Flat; but as I suggested in another thread, the visual symbol of the shovel outside Ennis' trailer (foreshadowed when Ennis receives the returned postcard) seems to imply a spiritual resting-place for him there too.

Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by meryl_88     (Sat Apr 8 2006 09:21:05 )   

   
You guys are good.

Love the four weddings and a funeral reference...

Good call on the burials, too. There's also the visual symbol of the shirts being placed in the brown paper bag (earth/Ennis) to convey the idea of Jack's spiritual interment.

(name removed by request), the "Friend" appellation is interesting as a 3-time thing. Three affirmations of their relationship at three significant times.

Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by cody_4343     (Sat Apr 8 2006 10:24:45 )
   
   
Don't forget on the soundtrack there are songs for Brokeback 1, 2 and 3.

Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by naun     (Sat Apr 8 2006 12:21:54 )   

   
There's also the visual symbol of the shirts being placed in the brown paper bag (earth/Ennis) to convey the idea of Jack's spiritual interment.

Three cheers to meryl! And of course this happens at the very moment John Twist is saying, "There's a family plot and he's going in it".

Incidentally, apropos of Casey's "Ennis/Aeneas" theory, the best-known number from Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas is Dido's lament, "When I am laid in earth".




Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by jlilya     (Sun Apr 9 2006 19:03:53 )   

   
I hope this hasn't been mentioned but Ennis rejects Jack three times. First when Jack says "it could be like this , just like this always" after the motel scene. The second time is after the divorce and Jack drive 1400 miles for nothing. The third time is when they are camping by the fast moving river and Ennis is paranoid about people looking at him on the street. Jack says that maybe Ennis should move to Texas. Ennis becomes very hostile at this suggestion and they argue.

Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by gpm497     (Tue Apr 11 2006 05:48:54 )   


I believe that we see (various)horse figurines three times during the movie:

1. the crude one Ennis is carving in the tent on Brokeback
2. On the shelve in Laureen's office when Jack and Laureen have the "blue parka" conversation
3. In Jack's childhood bedroom

Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by meryl_88     (Tue Apr 11 2006 08:44:56 )
   

Good one, gpm!

Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
   
And we see the embrace (front to back, with right arm over right shoulder and head over left shoulder) three times.

Alma embraces Ennis in their bedroom.
Jack and Ennis in bed at the Motel scene, in the same embrace position.
And the flash back, Ennis embracing Jack.







Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by Jessica_Weasfoy     (Tue Apr 11 2006 12:00:51 )
   
   
omg- you are right Starboardlight! Wow...I never saw it. Ugh. Good one.

*....B.M.T.'s "Fix-A-Flat: Cause when you can't fix it, you've gotta stand it"...*

Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by afhickman     (Tue Apr 11 2006 13:57:09 )
   

Somebody started a thread on the number 17 earlier, although it seems now to have been deleted. He came up with the idea that 17 represents the number of letters in Brokeback Mountain. Another poster said his idea wasn't new, and he apparently deleted the thread. Anyway, I've come up with an even stupider idea, but it's kind of neat at the same time. The numbers 1 and 7, when turned upside down, become the letters L and I, which, phonetically, spell Lee! What? Does it have to happen three times in the film before you'll believe it?

"The Mountain Has Wings"

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Re: Brokeback and the Number Three -- by Meryl_88
« Reply #6 on: June 22, 2007, 07:12:00 pm »
Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by jlilya     (Tue Apr 11 2006 14:42:00 )   


UPDATED Tue Apr 11 2006 14:42:46
Wow, I never thought of that. Cool. You made me think. Three front to front embraces by Jack and Ennis.

Jack hugs Ennis when he comes to see him after he hears about the divorce
The guys hug in the reunion scene after the four year abscence.
Jack hugs Ennis, as Ennis crumbles to the ground at the Lake scene before the flashback to brokeback.

Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by meryl_88     (Tue Apr 11 2006 15:22:05 )   


Starboard and jlilya, it does seem that we've got another pair of threes.

As for the front/front embraces, though, there is a fourth "shadow" embrace when Ennis embraces the shirts in Jack's closet. 

I thought he might say " his mama worked all day on the dinner". So either it was just overlooked how long food takes to prepare or..... the number 3 is a code or symbal of something in this film.

arad-3 (an appropriate name for this thread ), I think you may have hit on something! In the corresponding Thanksgiving scene at Monroe's, Ennis mentions being on a bronc for 3 seconds. He and Jack were clearly subliminally connected at that moment. 


Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by jlilya     (Tue Apr 11 2006 15:29:28 )   

   
So does anyone know what all these threes mean? Anybody familiar with numerology? I know that structures with three legs are the most stable, a table or a stool. So I've heard. Father, son and holy ghost is another, the Holy Trinity. Someone mentioned the sheep also being a Christian symbol.
I would really appreciate some discussion on this.

Oh and another three, when Lureen is barrel racing, the announcer says something like "she's got number 3" , meaning the third barrel and then she heads for the finish.

Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by gpm497     (Tue Apr 11 2006 15:49:47 )   


Ennis mentiones jokingly Jack's harmonica total of three times during the movie:

1. while fixing the tent as Jack is lying in the foreground
("Well if I've got lucky that harmonica would have broken too"

2. After untangling the sheep that got mixed up-riding horses, Jack's playing his harmonica
(You’ll run them sheep off, if you don’t quiet down)

3.At their reunion
-I was just sending up a prayer of thanks.
-For what?
-For you forgettin’ to bring that harmonica!

Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by rickythecat     (Tue Apr 11 2006 15:43:13 )   


could it be the Spirit? AS in the Holy Trinity? which is : THE FATHER, THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT. Does anyone know if they were Religious or maybe Catholic? Just trying like you to figure it out.












; oly

Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by jlilya     (Tue Apr 11 2006 15:57:05 )
   
   
I like that!! The third entity is the Holy Spirit. And remember the scene about the Pentecost, someone actually said that the Pentecost is when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles. Maybe we're on to something here?

That's so weird because I was just on another thread called "hot things in the tent to look for" or something and someone said that Jack was an angel sent down to help Ennis get over the traumas in his life. I thought this was beautiful, and it put me in metaphysical frame of mind, and now this. Syncronicity?

Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by rickythecat     (Tue Apr 11 2006 16:09:58 )   
   
Then again have you ever heard the expression "Death comes in Threes" and when there is one plane crash there are usally 2 more, which would be three. And another one, you dont ever want to be the third on a match. Its bad luck. Maybe it was a sign of Jacks demise.

"And remember the scene about the Pentecost, someone actually said that the Pentecost is when the Holy Spirit descended upon the apostles". Wow it is getting weird...Do you think there is some underlying warning to gays by the Director? Just a thought.

Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by rickythecat     (Tue Apr 11 2006 16:58:20 )
   
   
And the theres ..."third time is the charm" Three's a crowd. And there's the TRIPLE CROWN HORSE RACE. Three could represent alot of things. Even the pyramids have three sides. And they represent energy. I'm goona ruin my first thought which was pretty good if I dont stop! I guess that's why Im Arad 3 I know too much about 3s. lol


Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by binbinc     (Mon Apr 24 2006 04:30:08 )
   
   
WOW!!!
I love this thread!
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Re: Brokeback and the Number Three -- by Meryl_88
« Reply #7 on: June 22, 2007, 07:12:51 pm »
Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by naun     (Wed Apr 12 2006 06:57:13 )   
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UPDATED Wed Apr 12 2006 07:04:32
could it be the Spirit? AS in the Holy Trinity? which is : THE FATHER, THE SON AND THE HOLY SPIRIT.

I always thought that was part of the significance of the number three in this movie. But now that you mention it, a lot of this movie really is about fathers and sons, so it is very fitting that you should invoke the Holy Spirit.
Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by naun     (Wed Apr 12 2006 06:54:09 )   
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As for the front/front embraces, though, there is a fourth "shadow" embrace when Ennis embraces the shirts in Jack's closet

Meryl, maybe we're thinking along the same lines here. In another thread I mentioned the shadow that Ennis casts in the closet and suggested another possible interpretation of it -- that it may represent the shade of Jack himself.

Also in another thread, we were talking about skulls. There's one in the bar where Jack and Ennis strike up their first conversation, and another that you spotted in Aguirre's trailer. Well, did you notice the white pickup truck "carapace" thing (must be a word for it, but I don't know what it is) behind Ennis' trailer at the end? To me it looks rather like a skull too.
Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by jlilya     (Wed Apr 12 2006 10:31:48 )   
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UPDATED Wed Apr 12 2006 10:34:21
This probably has no meaning whatsoever, but did anyone notice the Jack-alope in Aguirre's office. If you don't know a Jackalope is a fictional animal, a sort of joke somebody dreamed up back in the 50's, 60's ( i think ). It is supposed to be a cross between an antelope and a jack-rabbit. It has the rabbit head with supposed small antelope horns. Its just kind conincidental that there is also a character name of Jack. Is this the skull you were talking about or is there another?
Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by amandazehnder     (Wed Apr 12 2006 11:01:33 )   
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I don't think this has been mentioned yet... But, doesn't Jack pound his fist 3 times during the first tent scene?
Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by fernly     (Wed Apr 12 2006 11:00:14 )   
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In another thread I mentioned the shadow that Ennis casts in the closet and suggested another possible interpretation of it -- that it may represent the shade of Jack himself.
naun, That shadow has always struck me the same way. I doubt that the lighting Prieto used to create it was by chance. Also, the camera looking from the closet at Ennis when he is at the window, as other threads have discussed, certainly support the idea that Jack's spirit is watching him, and this shadow that we see when Ennis is in the closet, is the manifestation. Once again, forever, Jack is there to hold Ennis.

"on the mountain, flying in the euphoric, bitter air"
Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by naun     (Wed Apr 12 2006 18:39:34 )   
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That shadow has always struck me the same way.

Thank you, fernly. I've always been intrigued by that shadow but it took me an awfully long time to realize that it might mean something. As you say, the idea that it's Jack is consistent with a number of other visual elements in the film, including the dark colours that Jack tends to wear in later scenes.

Jlilya, my DVD hasn't arrived yet (I got by on a rented copy for a while) but I will be very curious to see what a jackalope looks like.
Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by amandazehnder     (Wed Apr 12 2006 19:00:26 )   
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The idea of "shade"- as in shadow and/or ghost has been discussed in the Classical Allusions thread and elsewhere.

I can't resist copying this here...

>"On a very different note, here's something else that I've found in my minor researches into this movie/ story. Parts of it seem to be based on the myth of Aeneas and Dido. Some people hear a similarity between Aeneas and Ennis (I guess his name also means 'island').

Ennis's final words of "Jack, I swear" echo those of Aeneas when confronted with the ghost of Dido who committed suicide after he abandoned her. Aeneas says to Dido's ghost, "I swear by every oath that hell can muster, I swear I left you against my will. The law of God--the law that sends me now through darkness, bramble, rot and profound night--unyielding drove me; nor could I have dreamed that in my leaving I would hurt you so"."<
Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by Jessica_Weasfoy     (Thu Apr 13 2006 06:46:23 )   
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Amanda that's very nice. The names do have some similarities. And I feel that Ennis was thinking more than "I swear" in his head. I posted something a little similar to Jack meaning more than he actually said. When he holds Ennis and says "Damn you Ennis" I really felt like he wanted to say more so I wnet ahead and elabortated what he wanted to say. And I'll post it in here- just for kicks.


*>>>Jack has to give up his pride AGAIN to go catch him. "Damn you Ennis" means so many things. Damn him for being scared. Damn him for holding back. Damn Ennis for making Jack love him so much. Damn his stubborness. Damn his sweet-ass. Damn him for all the heartbreak over the 20 years. And damn him for Jack never letting go and go on hoping that he would finally be able to be with the Man he loves. Ugh...I'm gonna go cry now. <<<*



*....B.M.T.'s "Fix-A-Flat: Cause when you can't fix it, you've gotta stand it"...*
Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by amandazehnder     (Thu Apr 13 2006 08:24:53 )   
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I like your ideas about the "Damn you..." line Jessica. I've always sort of worried about that. It's a little sad to me that that's the last thing we hear Jack saying to Ennis. But, your interpretations of it make it seem quite interesting and complicated.
Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by meryl_88     (Fri Apr 14 2006 13:05:57 )   
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I've been offline for two days, so it was nice to come back and see so many more interesting replies. 

Meryl, maybe we're thinking along the same lines here. In another thread I mentioned the shadow that Ennis casts in the closet and suggested another possible interpretation of it -- that it may represent the shade of Jack himself.

Also in another thread, we were talking about skulls. There's one in the bar where Jack and Ennis strike up their first conversation, and another that you spotted in Aguirre's trailer. Well, did you notice the white pickup truck "carapace" thing (must be a word for it, but I don't know what it is) behind Ennis' trailer at the end? To me it looks rather like a skull too.

naun, as usual you have great observations. I just re-watched the closet scene, and I think your interpretation of Ennis's shadow as Jack's shade is very pertinent to the "shadow" embrace. Even better, I wouldn't have noticed the light bulb above Ennis's head if I hadn't watched it again. Could it also represent a "shadow" image of the full moon that had always been present in the scenes where they made love?

The castoff truck hood as a skull is also a great idea. And again, in re-watching that scene I noticed a piece of what seems to be weathered wood in the bushes to the left of the steps that is very similar to an old cattle skull.

(name removed by request0, I'm in awe of all of those three's! You are the three-meister.  Who knew we would find so many?
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Re: Brokeback and the Number Three -- by Meryl_88
« Reply #8 on: June 22, 2007, 07:13:25 pm »
Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by retropian     (Wed Apr 12 2006 07:09:25 )   
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This I posted on another thread, but I'll put it here too.

3 times Ennis is near or at an open window. Waiting for Jack at their 1st reunion. At Jack's parents home just before finding the shirts. 3rd at the closing scene, the small trailer window overlooking the field.

3? scenes camped by moving water. (I may be wrong here) As far as i can recollect 1st scene at the occasion of their reunion. 2nd when Ennis shows up with horses as Jack is setting up a fire. 3rd when Ennis is cleaning a pot in the stream and it slips away from him (another chance he let go). the last scene together, the confrontation scene, the "I wish I knew how to quit you." scene is by a still lake. The lack of moving water seems to mean their time is up.

There are only 3 fade to black scenes.
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Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by jmmgallagher     (Fri Apr 14 2006 13:10:21 )   
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Bump to find this thread of genius later....






"He's trying really hard, that's who Jack Twist is to me." --Jake Gyllenhaal
Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by meryl_88     (Fri Apr 14 2006 14:35:22 )   
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Hello, jmm! 

Another little one: There are three swings on the swing set that Alma, Jr., and Jenny use in the scene where Ennis and Alma argue.
Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by jmmgallagher     (Sat Apr 15 2006 11:57:16 )   
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Howdy Meryl!

Not clever enough to come up with a group of three (was gonna mention the full moons, but of course I see Casey has that covered very early in the thread), so I'll just duck my head in to say 'Hi!' and Happy Easter, Meryl--hope all is well! Nice to see some sensible discussion on the Old Board....

See ya soon!

John

"He's trying really hard, that's who Jack Twist is to me." --Jake Gyllenhaal
Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by meryl_88     (Sat Apr 15 2006 15:07:00 )   
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Thanks so much, John, and a very Happy Easter to you, too! 
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Re: Brokeback and the Number Three -- by Meryl_88
« Reply #9 on: June 22, 2007, 07:14:09 pm »
Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by sand_lizard_man     (Sun Apr 16 2006 01:00:48 )   
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Nice observations..

There are way to many comments to check, but "The Wings", the song that plays throughout the movie AND in the final trailer scene, is a Waltz. Which means, the beat goes "One, Two, Three, One Two Three." and it basically plays three notes in the begining.






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Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by meryl_88     (Sun Apr 16 2006 09:55:50 )   
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That's a very good point, sand lizard man. Thanks! 
Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by sand_lizard_man     (Sun Apr 16 2006 12:00:13 )   
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The only reason I noticed is because I have this massive playlist on my Lappy that I had running, and it was done at random by the computer. "The Wings" came on, so i went to the BBM forum, where I say this thread, and then realized the music was the same......weird, no?






Stella D'Oro breakfast treats. Snack Time anytime.
Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by Jessica_Weasfoy     (Tue Apr 18 2006 11:22:33 )   
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Oh, I just love thie thread but I seriously think everything was named...hmm.

*Tracy, our skin may be white, but our souls are black*

*I wish I was at a hootenanny in Harlem*
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Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by naun     (Sun Apr 16 2006 12:44:06 )   
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"The Wings", the song that plays throughout the movie AND in the final trailer scene, is a Waltz. Which means, the beat goes "One, Two, Three, One Two Three."

Very good, sand lizard man! And a waltz is, of course, a dance with romantic overtones for two people.

Meryl, about that light bulb -- I'm starting to think that the various full moons, lamps, fires and other points of light are all related motifs. Initially I thought the "point of light" imagery was associated specifically with Ennis, but someone suggested that it was more general and I'm coming round to that view myself. As to what the significance of this imagery may be, I can't be sure, but I did suggest elsewhere a possible connection with the torch in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde and its association with the day/night imagery that is to be found in that opera, and also perhaps not coincidentally in Lee's film as well.

(Incidental detail: has anyone commented on the "anchor" shape of the lamp in Ennis and Alma's bedroom at the ranch and its similarity to the lamp over Jack's bed at Lightning Flat?)

Re the skulls: my DVD still hasn't arrived after more than two weeks! So I haven't been able to check the details you mentioned. But as I recall, there are several other objects in and around Ennis' trailer that link to earlier scenes in the film: the fan, the shirts and postcard of course, the shovel, the battered trash can (or, as we prefer to say where I come from, rubbish bin) that recalls the various pots and buckets that Ennis has stumbled over during the course of the film, and I think there may have been a hose as well (water imagery again?). Any others?

Bonus question for extra points: why does Ennis have so many knives?
Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by sand_lizard_man     (Sun Apr 16 2006 21:31:52 )   
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"why does Ennis have so many knives?"

Because it cuts like a knife....but it feels so right!
Yeah
Na na na na na na na na na na


damn you, Bryan Adams....!






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Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by nonon99_99     (Mon Apr 17 2006 08:42:32 )   
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Only in recent viewings of Tarkovsky's Nostalgia, I start to realize the importance and potential of using light in a film. I think it won't be less significant in BBM.



Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by chefjudy      (Mon Apr 17 2006 09:19:00 )   
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I would like to ask what may be an unanswerable question - do you think all of this is on purpose or just an accidental finding after putting this movie under a microscope - if it is intentional, then Ang Lee is clearly a genius and knew this movie inside and out before he started shooting it - who could remember all of this stuff - he had to make story boards and lists to keep track of it all

does anyone know how to save or archive this thread? would like to save it for future reference??

"...it could be like this, just like this, always..." Jack Twist
Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by nonon99_99     (Mon Apr 17 2006 12:44:05 )   
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UPDATED Mon Apr 17 2006 12:54:28
Ang Lee will have a certain plan, but it won't be so detailed as the result of the film.
I image making a film is a very dynamic process, he can't control some many things in clear mind.

Often the creator himself doesn't know more about his work than us do. Artist who has sufficient traning just creates automatically in a way he feels comfortable with, as Ang Lee said 'I do it from my heart'. But that the artist isn't conscious doesn't mean systematic things in a work do not exist. This phenomena always happenes in classical music. Academic music analysist will figure out the structure, harmornic system, etc of a piece of music in a very meticulous way while the composer himself is more guided by his ears. This is a mystery of all great arts.
To save the tread...   
  by Jessica_Weasfoy     (Mon Apr 17 2006 20:51:03 )   
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Your commenting on this thread already is saving it. But if you want to save it further click on the very first poster and click your favorites file and dave it in there. If you ever go back to it it will just go to that first poaster but you can click anywhere once you have opened the page to find the coments you are looking for. Bla.

*....B.M.T.'s "Fix-A-Flat: Cause when you can't fix it, you've gotta stand it"...*
Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by meryl_88     (Tue Apr 18 2006 19:30:57 )   
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Naun, I hope your DVD has arrived by now and that you are happily noting even more symbology with every rewind. 

I'm starting to think that the various full moons, lamps, fires and other points of light are all related motifs.

This topic could be enormous, and it really deserves its own thread. There are the actual "points of light" generated by lamps, fires and the moon, and there is also the larger subject of the use of light and dark in the movie (night and day, colors of hats, horses, trucks, etc.). I would be glad to see you start a new discussion on this.

I've wondered also about why Ennis has so many knives in his trailer. Has someone answered this in another thread? My only "stab" at an answer would be that they symbolize all the wounds, both self-inflicted and delivered by others, that Ennis (and possibly Jack, too) suffered over the years. Though Ennis certainly never uses the knives (they would most likely be leftovers from a former tenant), they are a mute reminder of pain, both past and present.

Often the creator himself doesn't know more about his work than us do. Artist who has sufficient traning just creates automatically in a way he feels comfortable with, as Ang Lee said 'I do it from my heart'. But that the artist isn't conscious doesn't mean systematic things in a work do not exist. This phenomena always happenes in classical music. Academic music analysist will figure out the structure, harmornic system, etc of a piece of music in a very meticulous way while the composer himself is more guided by his ears. This is a mystery of all great arts.

nonon99, that is a great way to describe what is happening with all of these many, many details coming into play. It doesn't seem humanly possible to plan every single one of them. I like to think that when the artistry is great, at some point the Universe just steps in and lends a hand.

Jessica and chefjudy, regarding saving the thread, I've been saving it to Word. I'm not sure that saving it to Favorites saves any more than the actual link to the thread. If it were deleted, you might get back to the thread, but there would be no posts left to read. 

(name removed by request), O great ThreeMeister, if there are indeed many more, then post on! 
Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by nonon99_99     (Wed Apr 19 2006 17:48:38 )   
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UPDATED Wed Apr 19 2006 17:49:19
I suspect the almost unhumanly precise symmetry structuralism with its imploding is the cause of Brokeback Mountain's nearly physical hurting emotional affectability. Everything there is Ennis, then Jack, then again Ennis, then again Jack, etc.. Suddently at one moment, Jack is no more, the grand structure is destroyed, BROKEN. We audiences suddently woke up from a dream and faced the reality that a part of our viscera is being taken out by violence. In viewing the last twenty minutes of this movie, I would say if some scenes last two seconds more I need to call emergency. But then the unbelievable structural balance works again, those scenes last right to what you can barely bear and the structure gradually rebuilt/extened itself (Jack's Mother, Ennis's daughter, 'I swear').

Hence I think the title, Brokeback, is a precise description of the film in an abstract way.
Re: Brokeback and the Number Three   
  by meryl_88     (Wed Apr 19 2006 19:41:26 )   
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What a beautiful description, nonon, and all the more impressive since it seems that English is not your first language. You're right about how we are "broken" by Jack's violent exit, and the scenes that follow are indeed a slow, painful mending of that break, a coming "back." There's something deeply moving, too, about the Mother and Daughter figures being so important to that healing. They love Jack and Ennis unconditionally, and we can do the same through them. Thank you for that insight.

« Last Edit: January 31, 2008, 04:51:26 pm by TOoP/Bruce »
Former IMDb Name: True Oracle of Phoenix / TOoP (I pronounce it "too - op") / " in fire forged,  from ash reborn" / Currently: GeorgeObliqueStrokeXR40