Do you think Jack realizes that Aguirre has seen

[Kd5000]

what he Ennis were were doing with the binoculars?  Jack seems to notice that Aguirre is looking thru his binoculars at Ennis while conversing with Jack.  This isn't noted in the screenplay, i.e. "Jack looks worried after seeing Aguirre look at Ennis with the binoculars."  The screenplay tends to be detail oriented, i.e. "Jack turns pale after hearing Ennis relaying his story about being taken to witness the aftermath of a gay bashing."

The screenplay does mention that when Jack goes back next year to speak with Aguire about work, he notices Aguirre's binoculars hanging behind him. I didn't see this in the movie, i.e. Jack staring at the binoculars, i.e. a look of recognition.

I thought, given the perspective of the screenplay, Jack would put two and two together (the binoculars) about why he's not welcome back at BBM.  However, I suspect that Jack knew that he and Ennis had already been spotted by Aguirre the previous summer, but that Aguirre pretended not to notice it...

Am I wrong?  A contradiction between what we see on film and what's in the screenplay. 

I apologize if these issues have been addressed in separate posts.

[TJ]

In the original story, in the room at the Riverton Motel Siesta, in 1967, when the guys are on the bed, Jack does mention seeing a pair of binoculars hanging on the rearview mirror in Aguirre's parked vehicle when he goes back to reapply for a job upon Brokeback Mountain in 1964.

As far as the book goes, Jack knew absolutely nothing about the Aguirre binoculars in 1963. Jack did tell Ennis that Aguirre said when Jack went back, see the following from the book, "Got to tell you, friend, maybe somebody seen us that summer. I was back there the next June, thinkin about goin back -- I didn't, lit out for Texas instead -- and Joe Aguirre's in the office and he says to me, he says, 'You boys found a way to make the time pass up there, didn't you,' and I give him a look but when I went out I seen he had a big-ass pair a binoculars hangin off his rearview."

But, Jack neglected to mention what Aguirre said about letting the sheep babysit the sheep while they "stemmed the rose" and that Aguirre had declined to rehire him.

Kd5000, I also see contradictions in the film version of the story, the screenplay version(s) of the story and Annie Proulx's original short story.

 

[serious crayons]

I thought, given the perspective of the screenplay, Jack would put two and two together (the binoculars) about why he's not welcome back at BBM.  However, I suspect that Jack knew that he and Ennis had already been spotted by Aguirre the previous summer, but that Aguirre pretended not to notice it...

Am I wrong?  A contradiction between what we see on film and what's in the screenplay. 

I apologize if these issues have been addressed in separate posts.

Kd, someone brought this up just the other day, but don't apologize -- it had never occurred to me before then that Jack figures out about the binoculars while he's standing there chopping wood. He looks worried when he sees Aguirre peering at Ennis through the binocs, which I always thought was just him being protective of Ennis. But I see now I was probably wrong -- I think that's when he "gets" it. Probably the moviemakers decided it was easier, and actually more dramatic and ominous, to make the point this way than it would be to show Jack noticing the binoculars in Aguirre's office.

[opinionista]

The screenplay does mention that when Jack goes back next year to speak with Aguire about work, he notices Aguirre's binoculars hanging behind him. I didn't see this in the movie, i.e. Jack staring at the binoculars, i.e. a look of recognition.

I think it happens when Agruirre shows up to tell Jack about his uncle Harold. When Aguirre takes a look at Ennis at the mountain herding the sheep through his binoculars, Jack notices them, turns his head to look at where Aguirre is looking at, then looks at the binoculars again. I don't have the DVD yet   , it's not available in Spain yet. But if you have it and happen to see that scene again please, correct me if I'm wrong. But I'm pretty certain, it happens at that scene.

[TJ]

In the movie, when Aguirre uses his binoculars in Jack's presence, Ennis has been higher up on the mountain for quite a while and what Aguirre sees is Ennis hard at work with the sheep.

Looking at the movie from the AP short story point of view up to that point, I would not think that Jack would have even thought about Aguirre watching them. While it is not explicitly stated in the book or story, I think Aguirre had more than one herd of sheep up in the mountains.

If my memory serves me correctly, all of the sheep that went up with Jack and Ennis had blue markings on them. But, in the pens were they were getting ready to load up the sheep on the trucks, some of them had red markings on their backs.

[Kd5000]

So we got three things to work with. The short story, the screenplay and the film. They have variations. 

O/T I used to be a regular on the SOLARIS forum, similar to this layout. PPl compared the book written by LEM (much more sci-fi), the Russian film version in 1972 (philisophical) and the Sodenberg film version (more a love story, I see dead wife in space).  The three had different endings. 

[Ellemeno]

I'm of the "Jack wondered if Aguirre had watched them the moment Aguirre lifted the (10X42) binoculars to his eyes to see Ennis up with the sheep" school.

[TJ]

In the book, Jack did not know about Aguirre having binoculars until the next year when he went back to Aguirre's trailer to look for work again. When Jack  went back outside, he saw the binoculars hanging from Aguirre's rearview mirror. Seeing them and knowing what Aguirred had said to him a few minutes before in the trailer office, Jack knew then that Aguirre had been watching them goofing off (stemming the rose) when they were letting the dogs babysit the sheep.

[Artiste]

To me, this pic shows a lot about this !