Heya,
While looking at lots of screne caps with the topic of shirts and closets in mind (for another Open Forum thread) I found myself interested in the details of the "Happy Tussle" that we see through Aguirre's binoculars right after TS2. When you look at that scene shot by shot you begin to see how relatively complicated the "choreography" of the movements between Jack and Ennis are... and there are tons of interesting details. It's interesting to see how the "mood" of the tussle changes from beginning to end.
Great topic Bud!
I definitively agree about the complicated choreography in this short secence.
It seems to start out with Ennis playfully knocking Jack's hat off...
I just watched the scene in slow-mo repeated times. Yes, Ennis starts the happy tussle by knocking Jack's hat off and then running away.
And, then aside from knocking Jack's hat off, Ennis seems to be playing "keep away" with a shirt. To me, this looks like Jack's white undershirt... suggesting that Ennis is trying to prevent Jack from getting dressed (first with the hat and then with the shirt). But, the detail of the shirt is so tiny that it could also be Ennis's light colored shirt that ultimately ends up as one of the paired shirts in Jack's Lightning Flat closet. So, connected to the issue of shirts (and how important shirts are symbolically throughout the film) it's interesting to think about this detail.
It's not Jack's undershirt. It's Ennis's light, longsleeved shirt. Yes, The Shirt, which ends up paired with Jack's in the closet. Ennis has The Shirt in his hand from beginning on, so he doesn't keep Jack from dressing by playing "keeping away" an item of clothing, but by knocking the hat off and then running.
By the end of the tussle when the mood turns from playful to more seriously romantic, it's interesting to see that Ennis uses this shirt to cover the two of them up a bit.
Nope, sorry. By that time, The Shirt is in Jack's left hand. It just happens to cover part of Ennis's back when he turns towards Jack and goes down.
And one, longstanding question about this scene... are we supposed to think this happened immediately after TS2 (as in the following morning)? Or are we supposed to think that this is further into their relationship on the mountain. I think there are good arguments for each scenario. To me Ennis's comfort and confidence is the main thing that suggests it may be a little later in their growing relationship... it seems like a big contrast in mood from his extreme nervousness in TS2.
I agree with you. I think it's some time into their sexual relationship, with Ennis being so uninhibited. But one could also argue that Ennis's decision prior to TS2 (when he sits in front of the fire), and TS2 itself, had such a freeing effect on him that his inhibitions (and walls) fell in one big swoop.
I guess my perception is coloured by the short story here:
"... at first only in the tent at night, then then in the full daylight with the hot sun striking down ... "This paragraph leads to:
"They believed themselves invisible, not knowing Joe Aguirre had watched them through his 10X42 binoculars for ten minutes one day, waiting until they'd buttoned up their jeans, waiting until Ennis rode back to the sheep, before bringing up the message that Jack's people had sent word that his uncle Harold was in the hospital with pneumonia and expected not to make it."Since that's exactly what we see, I think the background (of this scene taking place some time into their sexual relationship) is the same for the movie as for the story.
Another interesting detail I just noticed for the first time, is that Ennis's belt is open!
