Closet scene: This is perhaps the most controvertial scene in the movie, as to
what was said/not said. The scene was alalyzed from the time
E starts up the stairs, to the time he reappears in the kitchen.
All sound, except voice prints, were removed and there is nothing
there, as agreed to by all 3 analysts.
A personal comment here on this scene: 1. I can't begin to imagine E saying such a thing when he has never said endearing comments to J before, not commented back to J upon hearing J says something endearing to him. It just simply is not in E character to do something like that. 2. With as much detail to subtitling (crow cawing, crickets chirrping, clink of buckle, among others), how could they have missed "I love you" if it was said? How did they overlook perhaps the most significant line in the movie? This is my sole basis for not believing E said anything in this scene in the first place.
Well, 2robots4u's documentation is nothing if not thorough. But again, I'm willing to believe there's no sound -- as I recall, I lip-read it. True, I haven't watched the movie in 10 years (10 years -- damn!) so take that into account.
But to be blunt (sorry and with all due respect, 2robots4u, if you're lurking) I think his comment No. 1 is lame. Since when are we supposed to take Ennis' external words and behaviors as reflecting his innermost thoughts and feelings? The fact that they don't is practically the whole point of the movie.
Ennis communicates mostly in nonverbal subtleties: His wistful gaze into the distance in the "breaking my back" paving scene, his reaction to Jack's first postcard, his beer guzzling and chain smoking while waiting for Jack to arrive, his nervous glance at the truck going past when Jack drives up from Texas to see him, the very fact that he lets Jack's endearments go unanswered. Or he communicates in metaphorical subtleties: the bear, the cookware floating downriver, the pie in the bus station, the little carved horse, the trailer filled with knives and fans and a coffee pot. When he tells Jack his "sending up a prayer of thanks" is about Jack not bringing his harmonica, are we supposed to take that at face value? "Hunh, I would have thought it had something to do with seeing Jack again, but I guess he just really hates harmonica music."
Of course not. When Jack was alive, Ennis would never, ever say "I love you." He probably wouldn't even let that idea enter his own consciousness. But here we are at the absolute emotional climax of the whole movie -- just after Ennis has told Mr. and Mrs. Twist point blank that he and Jack was good friends, even when it's clear both parents know exactly what kind of friends they was -- and now, with Jack gone forever so it's too late, he finds what is unquestionably the most powerful metaphorical object of the whole movie. In that context, it seems quite possible that he would finally let the thought seep into his brain, that he might even allow himself to silently mumble the words. No, he's not going to shout it from the rooftops or even blurt it out clearly and audibly, or ever ever tell anyone else ever.
If he had -- if he'd said it loud enough for it to be ringingly clear-- the scene would topple into melodrama and sentimentality. It would be like a soap opera scene. It's already pushing the boundaries with the powerful shirts, but Heath mostly undercuts that with a low-key performance that still registers a terrible mixture of grief and regret. In that context, the line could only work if it remained so subtle and ambiguous as to have people still debating it more than 10 years later.
I think if anything this scene should be analyzed by someone extremely skilled in lip reading.
