Yin and Yang: Ennis and Jack

[Brown Eyes]

'Nother yin-yang siting in the movie!! Watch carefully behind Jack as he and Ennis are parting after coming down from the mountain. You'll see two pieces of paper--one black, the other white--blowing across the background. I may be reading too much into it, but to me these resemble the slips of paper that Asians write prayers on, then they burn them or affix them to tree branches or statues.

The really wonderful thing is that we see these bits of trash AGAIN. Again, they are behind Jack as he bounds forward in his red jacket to embrace Ennis after four long years apart!! It made my heart leap to see them again!!

Hi Lee!  Great observation!  I've never noticed the white bits of trash before.  I'll have to watch those scenes really carefully next time.  But, I've definitely noticed the darker/ black bits of trash (maybe the darker colors just stand out more).  I've always noticed them as devices that make the wind noticeable and even visible (thinking about the Jack-and-the-wind topic).  It's really neat to be able to relate those details to the yin and yang topic too.  And, I think you're definitely right that they're significant since they do appear (very clearly) at two crucial moments.

[Front-Ranger]

Hi Lee!  Great observation!  I've never noticed the white bits of trash before.  I'll have to watch those scenes really carefully next time.  But, I've definitely noticed the darker/ black bits of trash (maybe the darker colors just stand out more).  I've always noticed them as devices that make the wind noticeable and even visible (thinking about the Jack-and-the-wind topic).  It's really neat to be able to relate those details to the yin and yang topic too.  And, I think you're definitely right that they're significant since they do appear (very clearly) at two crucial moments.

It took me quite a long time to notice the trash behind Jack, because for the first dozen or so screenings, my eyes were affixed on Jack like glue!!

[Front-Ranger]

...we see these bits of trash AGAIN. Again, they are behind Jack as he bounds forward in his red jacket to embrace Ennis after four long years apart!! It made my heart leap to see them again!!

I'm not quite sure about this, but I think that we see the trash in reverse order in the Reunion Scene. First we see the white trash:

[Front-Ranger]

And then the black trash!!

[Front-Ranger]

Final yin/yang symbol in the movie! Do you see it?

[Brown Eyes]

Final yin/yang symbol in the movie! Do you see it?

Heya Sister Mod,

Thanks for reviving this cool old thread!

Well, are you referring to the bright patch of light on the wall contrasted to the dark/shadowy space between the patch of light and the curtain?  (I recall folks in the past discussing that patch of light in depth... but I don't quite recall what the observations about it were).

Or, are you referring to the "dark" of the green grass on top of the "light" of the pale pavement outside the window?

Or is there something else?

[Brown Eyes]

Yay!  Now that I (finally!) know about Striped Wall I can illustrate the point I've always wanted to talk about regarding this shot, but which is really hard to describe with just text in the absence of pictures.

It seems to me that this final shot:



Is interesting to consider in comparison to two of the "introductory" images we get of Jack:

<img src="http://www.divshare.com/img/midsize/4065107-487.jpg" border="0" />

<img src="http://www.divshare.com/img/midsize/4065108-ef8.jpg" border="0" />

The patch of grass/ straight line of pale pavement visible to the upper right in these shots seems so similar to the appearance of the view out of Ennis's trailer window.  In the early shots of Jack... it's so interesting to see how that grass (and distant landscape) are so carefully contained and framed within the geometry of the road, the building and and right edge of the picture frame itself.  It's as if the natural view here is framed via alternative means... but is still framed in much the same way that a window frame contains a view.  The analogies between the two landscapes are not precise and exact... but they've always seemed to be referencing each other (even during the fleeting real-time viewings of the film in progress).


And, clearly, Jack is looming large in both this early scene and the last scene.  In these early shots he's overwhelmingly *physically* present (maybe even suggesting the early sparks of Ennis's physical attraction to Jack almost immediately... whether or not that attraction was sublimated at this point).  In the end, Jack is overwhelmingly present for Ennis in a completely different way. 




On a different, yet also yin and yang related note... While I was looking at Striped Wall to find these Jack images, it occurred to me that when you look at the full page of thumbnails for screencaps 25-50 and then also the full page of thumbnails for caps 50-75... both of these pages in general look like big yin and yang symbols.  The black and white hats just play off of each other so, so strongly when you see all of these shots juxtaposed at one glance.  It's certainly a powerful way of introducing Ennis to Jack and vice versa.  Here are the links to the two thumbnail pages:

http://www.stripedwall.com/gallery.php?page=movies/Brokeback&start=25&p_f=0

http://www.stripedwall.com/gallery.php?page=movies/Brokeback&start=50&p_f=0

 

[Front-Ranger]

Heya Sister Mod,

Thanks for reviving this cool old thread!

Well, are you referring to the bright patch of light on the wall contrasted to the dark/shadowy space between the patch of light and the curtain?  (I recall folks in the past discussing that patch of light in depth... but I don't quite recall what the observations about it were).

Yes, you are right as you always are, friend Amanda! The sunlight bouncing off the blue curtain makes a blue reflection on the side of the closet, while the wall next to it is in deep shadow. I find the "blue light" extremely eerie and ethereal...you should see it on a high-definition DVD of the movie, as was shown at the BBQ. Oh, yes, you did see it there!! The colors were so saturated! Another interesting anecdote about that shot is that in the script, McMurtry and Ossana refer to a "milky cold white light" outside the trailer. I wonder why they described it that way?

Your observations about the view through the trailer window as compared to the early shot of Jack are simply uncanny. I may be wrong, but I believe both shots may have occurred in the same general location, near Beisecker, Alberta. Meryl gave us a fantastic close-up of the grain growing there...it is barley, the grain used in making beer!! The plot thickens!! Stay tuned for more details.

And yes, I see what you mean about the two pages of thumbnails. Yin/yang symbols are everywhere!!

Thanks again for your insights!!

[Front-Ranger]

The picture of the field of barley, actually taken by Phillip, is shown here:

http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php/topic,12091.msg346958.html#msg346958

and Beiseker is the location of Ennis' trailer scene, the Motel Siesta, and the Twist house (further east) but apparently not the opening scene with Jack. I'll track that down next.

[Front-Ranger]

It turns out that the Aguirre's trailer scene at the beginning was shot way down south in Cowley. Here's a link to a photo of the area:

http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php/topic,12064.msg237016.html#msg237016

Looks like common bunchgrass in the photo, sparse in July but may have been taller and more lush during the month when the movie was filmed.