Ennis, Cassie and the Twists (revised title)

[TJ]

Hi Jude,

   Consumated you mean?     Yeah, he did.    Remember he told Jack he was "Putting the Blocks" to her.

   Now I'm taking a guess, but isn't that a cattle reference?.   Don't they put a cow in blocks so the bull can come up behind and impregnate her?

"Putting the blocks to" is related to inspecting the chassis of a vehicle. It is not a cattle reference.

I have never seen anyone put a cow on blocks to be serviced by a bull. I have known about blocks being put behind a large mare when they wanted her to be serviced by a prize stallion which was much shorter.

I believe the used the name "Cassie" as a word play on "chassis" which is pronounced 'chassie." From the way that I read the Annie Proulx (AP) short story, I seriously doubt that Ennis got much farther than the "block's part. The relationship never went anywhere and the woman had some problems he didn't want.

In my own opinion of the way that I read the story and the fact that AP wrote in the narrative that they told both truth and lies during their last outing together, the bar girl probably did not exist in the first place. It was Ennis' way of trying to claim to himself in Jack's presence that he was still a man.

And, Jack's response to that part-time bar woman in Signal was the claim that he was having an affair with a rancher's wife and he could get shot for doing it. When "Ennis laughed a little" in response, I think that he did not actually believe what Jack said either. More than likely, it was an insecure laugh to begin with.

I don't think either woman existed in the first place; but, I don't have a way to directly ask Ms. Proulx what was supposed to be going on. I just know that I have known, and still know one guy, who makes up similar stories to claim they are not homosexual or bisexual. And they do have sexual contact with guys and enjoy it.

[j.U.d.E.]

Hi Jude,

   Consumated you mean?     Yeah, he did.    Remember he told Jack he was "Putting the Blocks" to her.

   Now I'm taking a guess, but isn't that a cattle reference?.   Don't they put a cow in blocks so the bull can come up behind and impregnate her?

Yes, David! I meant consumated..  Sorry, that's my failing English skills... And I haven't actually heard the 'putting the blocks' line at all in the film, but that's me in denial, for not understanding it, I guess. I will watch that scene again! There is one line from Jack, just after Ennis shoots the elk that I have no clue either what it means.. but anyway..

I kind of agree with what TJ says about the women in Ennis' and Jack's life. Not su much that they are 'made up' entirely, but the fact, that nothing has really happened. I don't think for a minute that Jack had an affair with LaShawn(sp?) and in my mind, Ennis did not get very far with Cassie. He just didn't seem at all interested and the way Cassie is whining about 'girls don't fall in love with fun' tells me, that she would have loved to sleep with Ennis, but that it never actually happened.. I think both Ennis and Jack made a lot of their women-affairs up.

~ j U d E

[David]

Hi Jude,

      I think Ennis may have dated Cassie a while.   Remember that conversation betwen her and Alma jr.?   She was asking Alma jr. if Ennis thought she was marriage worthy or something to that effect.     She knew where he worked and the names of the guys there.   I think they did date long enough for her to fall in love with him.

    Now, that line you don't understand after the Elk gets shot, that is a hard one to hear.     Jack says:" Come on, we don't want Fish and Game to catch us with no Elk".
"Fish and Game" refers to the Officials who go around and make sure nobody hunts and fishes on State or Goverment owned Land.    Often refered to as the "Fish and Game Department", they are like Park Rangers.    They make sure you have a license to hunt or Fish if they find you.   

David

[Ellemeno]

2.) Jack's momentary resolve to end it was broken when Ennis collapsed.  I see his refusing to walk away (when it would've been the PERFECT opportunity) as Ennis shoves him & yells, "Get the f... off me!" and instead holding him & saying "Damn you" - like 'I was almost there...'

Thanks for this, LJ.  I hadn't quite figured that out yet.  Great thread, everyone.  Thanks.

[Jeff Wrangler]

And it must be really icky by then, if it's been sitting open in his fridge since the last time she was over. People who see the movie without reading the story must be surprised -- Ennis doesn't seem the white wine type.

Tell you what, Katherine, this bit about the wine is a nifty if relatively unimportant example of why I'm such an advocate of Story to Screenplay, and turning to it to help me formulate my own interpretations and understanding.

I recognized that stuff for white wine the first time I saw the film, and said to myself, "WTF is Ennis doing with a bottle of white wine? Eeeew."

You don't get the wine from Annie Proulx, but here are some of the stage directions for that scene from Story to Screenplay:

"[Ennis] stands. Goes to the fridge, opens it. Takes out a half-empy bottle of cheap white wine, a legacy of CASSIE."

That's where I got that the wine was a relic of his relationship with Cassie.

[serious crayons]

Oh, I guess you're right! I must have picked it up just hanging around here, because I don't have STS. It's still a little odd, though, because how many viewers are going to read the book and know why it's there, compared to those who, like you at first, will just think WTF?

[Jeff Wrangler]

Oh, I guess you're right! I must have picked it up just hanging around here, because I don't have STS. It's still a little odd, though, because how many viewers are going to read the book and know why it's there, compared to those who, like you at first, will just think WTF?

You should seriously consider adding Story to Screenplay to your library, and I'm not jokin'. No Brokie should be without it. My copy lives next to my PC.

For one thing, it makes a handy reference, with the Annie Proulx story and the screenplay together under one cover (always bearing in mind, however, that we do see and hear things in the film that aren't in the published screenplay).

For another, the essays by Annie Proulx and Diana Ossana are interesting and enlightening. AP discusses the background to the creation of the story, and the section of her essay on earlier attempts to get the story made into a film (aka, "The Wyoming Death Trip") is very funny. As you know from our previous discussion, Diana Ossana's essay has been key for me in fashioning my own understanding of what the screenwriters were trying to convey.

I think perhaps I need to study Larry McMurtry's essay more to do it justice because my initial impression of it was disappointment because of its short length, though interesting for his placing the story of Ennis and Jack within longstanding American literary tradition.

Story to Screenplay wasn't yet available, at least not in Philadelphia, when I first began to see the film. It was a relief to learn that white wine was a Cassie leftover and that Ennis wasn't a secret white-wine drinker!

[Penthesilea]

You should seriously consider adding Story to Screenplay to your library, and I'm not jokin'. No Brokie should be without it.

I second that   

My copy lives next to my PC.

Hey Jeff, how come you're able to look into my room? That's where my copy of StS always is: directly besides the keybord.

I also second your reasons for having the StS. And I also couldn't get much out of Larry McMurtry's essay; whereas I appreciate Proulx's and Ossana's essays much.

[serious crayons]

It was a relief to learn that white wine was a Cassie leftover and that Ennis wasn't a secret white-wine drinker!

LOL. That's hard to picture.

I'm sure you're right about the book, Jeff (though I don't even have the DVD!). But as I've probably mentioned before, I get uncomfortable with so-called real-life commentary on Brokeback (except all of ours, of course). I rarely watch those making-of things. I'm not sure I'm going to watch the special features on my rental DVD. A couple of days ago I happened across a link on this board to an interview with Heath. I called it up and it looked really good, but still -- and despite my crush on Heath! -- I had to close the window before he even started talking.

Yes, I know, I'm very neurotic about this. I should add that somewhere I have read AP's essay, at least in part, and it was good, and I'm sure the others probably would be very enlightening. Maybe my reluctance has to do with destroying the illusion of the film's reality. Or maybe it goes back to our earlier discussion of Diana's comment and my disagreement with it -- maybe I'm afraid I'll hear or read something that will conflict with my understanding of the movie, and I'm pretty happy with my understanding as it is.

[Jeff Wrangler]

I'm sure you're right about the book, Jeff (though I don't even have the DVD!). But as I've probably mentioned before, I get uncomfortable with so-called real-life commentary on Brokeback (except all of ours, of course). I rarely watch those making-of things. I'm not sure I'm going to watch the special features on my rental DVD. A couple of days ago I happened across a link on this board to an interview with Heath. I called it up and it looked really good, but still -- and despite my crush on Heath! -- I had to close the window before he even started talking.

Yes, I know, I'm very neurotic about this. I should add that somewhere I have read AP's essay, at least in part, and it was good, and I'm sure the others probably would be very enlightening. Maybe my reluctance has to do with destroying the illusion of the film's reality. Or maybe it goes back to our earlier discussion of Diana's comment and my disagreement with it -- maybe I'm afraid I'll hear or read something that will conflict with my understanding of the movie, and I'm pretty happy with my understanding as it is.

Well, I haven't watched the special features on the DVD either. In fact, I've only found the time to watch the film once since the DVD came out. Add to that, I'm so technically inept it's a wonder I can play the movie, let alone find the special features.

I hate to sound like a book salesman, but I still find Story to Screenplay useful as a check rather than trusting my memory--though, as I said, there are some differences between the screenplay and what we actually see and hear on screen, and some of them I wouldn't consider minor. So buy the book and don't read the essays.

I understand what you're saying about not destroying the illusion of reality. For me, I'm glad to have every piece of "evidence" relating to this masterpiece that I can get my hands on, including what is known as the 2003 screenplay. I bought that on e-Bay in the mistaken impression that it was actually a "script" for the film as we have it; it isn't. And don't I wish I had a script for the film as we finally have it!

But this is the way I "build" my interpretations and understandings. I look to the story, the screenplay, and the film. Not to reopen an old debate, but, just as an example, this is why I'm so confirmed and content in my understanding of what Ennis and Jack actually did when they had sex, and why I believe they didn't alter their routine in twenty years: I see no "evidence" that convinces me "beyond a reasonable doubt" that they ever did anything other than what they did "the first time" (though I hope they took more time and it wasn't always so rough.  )