I also like how you mentioned, JP, that the first tent scene is not just rough sex. I never understand how some people seem to see it as only that. I see the hands on each other's faces and the foreheads touching as being very tender. Jack also looks very deeply into Ennis' eyes as if to ask permission, and Ennis looks deeply back as if to grant it. There's no forcing of anything on anyone. It's just the shape such a lurking passion and lust as theirs takes sometimes when you finally throw caution to the wind and just go for it. Add to that the fact that at least in Ennis' case, this is the general passion he's had and been repressing all his adolescent life, and KA-BOOM. Makes perfect sense to me. But like Katherine said, I do think the second tent scene is imperative, too, to show that what truly underlies the passion and lust in their case is love.
Yup, I agree that the first tent scene is much more than rough sex. I think this is why we're all fixating on the "hand holding" or even the way that Ennis has his arm around Jack's waist... because these things point to a level of intimacy and caring. I think you're right too, that the little things like Ennis stroking Jack's hair and the amount of time they spend looking at each other mean that a kind of unspoken communication is happening.
About the problem of how much time passes between scenes... You're all right, that there really isn't a concrete reason to know how much time goes by, but
I think the urgency of this situation wouldn't allow it to be more than the consecutive day/night scenario. I mean Jack couldn't even wait a whole day to have the conversation with Ennis. No, I think it would have driven them both nuts to try to leave the issue on the "back burner" for even one night. So, here's a tiny, tiny, tiny detail that I've always noticed right at the end of their chat on the hill top. Jack sort of taps his toes together a little bit as he lies there... to me it always looks a bit like a minute sign that some of the tension really has been released.
I have always assumed that, not only did Ennis know Jack would welcome it, but that tacitly they both expected it and knew that each other expected it, too.
Yes, I think they both could read through the lines of that chat on the hill top. They had to get the "pleasantries" behind them and make their excuses and posture a bit for one another, but they still both knew what they wanted for real. I love how this is handled in the book... "without saying anything about it both knew how it would go for the rest of the summer, sheep be damned. As it did go." Even though we see the boys talking about their situation right off the bat in the film, I think the filmmakers do a great job conveying (in some mysterious and subtle way) that they still both knew exactly what would happen that night, what they both wanted, etc.. And, they didn't need to talk about
that aspect of things to know the truth or to know how they would proceed. The abrupt jump from the chat to the SNIT helps show that their silent/ inarticulate actions are quite a bit more frank and honest than their conversation will allow at this point.
The contrast between what happens following FNIT and SNIT is amazing too when you think of it. After the first night, we witness this slow, drawn-out sequence all about tension and confusion. But, after the SNIT we see the happy tussle. I've been convinced on other threads that the happy tussle really does happen some time later than the literal morning after SNIT. But, the way the scenes are edited to appear adjacent to each other certainly helps promote the idea of contrast between the two scenes.
