The mysterious "I love you" and other nearly indiscernible moments

[Front-Ranger]

Okay, I clearly heard him saying, "Muck me." 

[dly64]

Ohhh, why can't I hear it?  I can hear everything else, but not that.   

I DO hear one of them say "F___", but it sounds like Ennis....

At what point do we hear Jack say "F____ me"?

I have listened and watched very closely. The only place that I think I hear it is when Ennis first enters him ... then there are a couple of groans. Jack's face goes to the camera and it looks like he says it there. Can't be sure. It all happens a bit too fast.

[Daphne7661]

I think I finally heard it..  The "Fuck.....Me" by Jack in TS1.

I have to say, however, that had I not been intently looking and listening for it, I would NEVER have noticed...

But Jack is such a beautiful soul that even with him saying those rather crass words, he is absolutely sexy and sensual in that scene.

[Ellemeno]

But Jack is such a beautiful soul that even with him saying those rather crass words, he is absolutely sexy and sensual in that scene.

He doesn't say much there, but he gets his point across.

[JfT]

Damn, this thread is interesting and confusing.
Interesting for obvious reasons.
Confusing because of Jack supposedly saying " Fuck me". Why would such a line be permitted if "Gun's goin' off" was not?

[Tristann]

Guess I'll throw my 2 cents worth in as well. I've only seen the movie 2 times as it has just been released on DVD for hire this past week in South Africa. Unlike many others I therefore haven't seen the scenes countless times - I would just like to mention some initial thoughts.

The scene in the tent (first contact) comes across as an accurate depiction of what many may experience as first time, raw gay sex. Jack's attraction to Ennis seems apparent from their very first encounter - they way he leans on the pick-up, staring at Ennis and his later words of it being a pleasure to meet Ennis Del Mar all suggested to me that he liked what he saw. Ennis had gone through the bear ordeal the afternoon before the tent scene - which must've got his adrenalin pumping. Throw in some whiskey and you have Ennis reacting in a way that he perhaps wouldn't normally. What I am getting at is that I don't really care what was said in the tent. This was a moment where the pent-up feelings came flooding out in a physical, raw way. For Ennis, something which he might not have understood at the time but felt an overwhelming urge to do. Jack, on the other hand might have had a real understanding of what he was doing and from his expression the next morning, perhaps experiencing it not only as a physical thing but emotionally as well. The scene is raw, authentic, and in my mind speaks much louder than any (suspected) words uttered.

So, Ennis finds the two shirts and some say he mutters "I love you". Again, I'm not too sure whether he does or not. When you love somebody, material objects that belong to that person take on a life of it's own - you know, the jersey/t-shirt/cap that makes your heart twinge in a weird, special kind of way... Ennis had just found the two shirts. He saw how the one sleeve was tucked into the other one almost like skin on skin. In my mind the realisation of just how much Jack loved him must've overwhelmed him. Bringing the shirt(s) close to his nose must've released an explosion of so many things in his mind. The realisation that he loved Jack so immensely and that Jack loved him so much that he kept their shirts this way, the realisation that he'll never see Jack again. Regret. Pain. Loss. Love.
The breath that punces itself out of his body at that moment represents for me a physical manifestation of a heart and mind going through so many emotions one can barely phathom its magnitude.

In the last scene the shirts have changed places. It is now Ennis' shirt that lies on the outside. Almost as if he now finally understood and accepted his love for Jack. Like he embraced their bond for the remainder of his life. Is this action of Ennis not perhaps the "I love you" we so desperately wanted him to say...?

[2robots4u]

Ennis does not say "I love you"...what you hear is muffled sobs, what you see is a lip quiver caused when one is on the verge of tears and inhales sharpley.  Nothing more...

[jpwagoneer1964]

Ennis does not say "I love you"...what you hear is muffled sobs, what you see is a lip quiver caused when one is on the verge of tears and inhales sharpley.  Nothing more...

Just as he is exhaling before the scene change he DOES say "I love you". You can see it as well.

[dly64]

Ennis does not say "I love you"...what you hear is muffled sobs, what you see is a lip quiver caused when one is on the verge of tears and inhales sharpley.  Nothing more...

Just as he is exhaling before the scene change he DOES say "I love you". You can see it as well.

You all know I was the biggest disbeliever. I admit when I’m wrong …. you can hear the “I love you”. It is extremely subtle and it takes nothing away from the poignancy of the moment. 

[2robots4u]

Sorry to disillusion the last 2 posters, but there is no verbal communication of any sort in the scene from the time Ennis leaves the kitchen until he returns to the kitchen.  The subtitled version of the movie shows every verbal exchange in quotes, and audible sound, such as horse neighs and bird caws, in parenthesis.  Ennis is struck with emotion at finding these shirts, and as he gets his first whif of the shirt, he inhales (we hear it), then brings it closer and at the same time squeezes the sleeve with the blood.  At that moment he takes 3 quick breaths, as one does in a mild sobbing attack, and as his emotion takes full control, his lip shows a slight quiver. These are normal, but uncontrolled facial movements of anyone in the early throes of expressing the emotion of grief.

I think a lot of you who believe you hear "I love you" do so because that't what you want to hear, and also because of the power of suggestion.  Because this move uses a rural western dialect, with sobbing, chocking up, tears, etc., you fill in the blanks, so to speak.  Unfortunately, there are no blanks here; no "I love you"...