"Desperado"

[ednbarby]

I agree.  Made me cry.  Again.

And reminded me of the reason I keep watching Brokeback Mountain again and again.  And no, it's not because of my intense crush on Jake G. - if that's all it was about, I'd just watch Proof again and again and not have to cry so much.  The reason, really, is Ennis Del Mar.  That Heath Ledger didn't win the Oscar and every other award going for this performance still (and always will) makes me so mad, I could spit.

Thanks for the reminder, whiteout. 

Very nice (and true) version of the song, too, by the way.

[Lynne]

Thanks for posting this...we sang every song we knew the lyrics to in WVa (including this one!) so it's nice to know we weren't too off-base...

That Heath Ledger didn't win the Oscar and every other award going for this performance still (and always will) makes me so mad, I could spit.

nice Barb!  or whip babies, hunh?

You don't say much, but you sure get you're point across.

 

[ednbarby]

Uh, what're you sayin' there, Lynne? 

[Penthesilea]

I agree.  Made me cry.  Again.

And reminded me of the reason I keep watching Brokeback Mountain again and again.  And no, it's not because of my intense crush on Jake G. - if that's all it was about, I'd just watch Proof again and again and not have to cry so much.  The reason, really, is Ennis Del Mar.  That Heath Ledger didn't win the Oscar and every other award going for this performance still (and always will) makes me so mad, I could spit.

Thanks for the reminder, whiteout. 

Very nice (and true) version of the song, too, by the way.

Ditto on everything you said, Barb (except no Jake-crush here  ).

Thanks for posting this, White.

[androphile]

Thank you, whiteout, for this thread and especially for the link to the youtube video. Being around classical music all my life and now a professional classical musician, I've always found 99% of pop/rock music to be far less varied, stimulating, touching, etc. Nevertheless, every once in a great while a pop song has come along that really gets to me and won't let go (not unlike Brokeback Mountain), and Desperado is probably the best example. It came out when I was 9 but due to its going gold or platinum, it got a lot of play for a few years after that. Still, I'm pretty sure it had been well over 20 years since I'd heard it so the nostalgia alone was fairly strong. But the video's creator coupled it with some of my favorite images from Brokeback, and the double-whammy is overwhelming--especially since I now pay full attention to the lyrics of the song! I think it'll be like the film itself: I'll only be able to handle the emotional onslaught of watching it 2 or 3 times a month. And to think, once upon a time I used to consider myself a pretty hard nut to crack. BBM sure changed a lot of things! Thanks again.
--geoff

[Cameron]

I finally was able to watch the video, it took a long time to download,  it was wonderful. Thanks for posting the link.

I was glad to see it including one of my favorites shots that I haven't seen anything mentioned about.  It was  when J and E were resting on the way up the mountain, and you see Ennis looking over the sheep and smoking and then he looks down and he looks so sad, like he is just about to cry.

Then the camera pulls back to show Jack with big sheep in his lap.

I have loved that shot of Ennis/Heath since the first time I saw it, and I wonder why he does look so terribly sad at that moment.......

[Bucky]

Thank you, whiteout, for this thread and especially for the link to the youtube video. Being around classical music all my life and now a professional classical musician, I've always found 99% of pop/rock music to be far less varied, stimulating, touching, etc. Nevertheless, every once in a great while a pop song has come along that really gets to me and won't let go (not unlike Brokeback Mountain), and Desperado is probably the best example. It came out when I was 9 but due to its going gold or platinum, it got a lot of play for a few years after that. Still, I'm pretty sure it had been well over 20 years since I'd heard it so the nostalgia alone was fairly strong. But the video's creator coupled it with some of my favorite images from Brokeback, and the double-whammy is overwhelming--especially since I now pay full attention to the lyrics of the song! I think it'll be like the film itself: I'll only be able to handle the emotional onslaught of watching it 2 or 3 times a month. And to think, once upon a time I used to consider myself a pretty hard nut to crack. BBM sure changed a lot of things! Thanks again.
--geoff   

Good post geoff.  You certainly have some of the same feelings I do about Desperado and Brokeback Mountain.  For so many years I have been like Ennis in the sense that I have been afraid to get too close to people because I have dreaded being rejected.  Still if one wants to be loved they had better go after it because it has come to me only once in my life.  I think it caused me a lot of pain in high school and college.  Now that I am older being rejected just doesn't seem that much of a problem anymore. 

[androphile]

Thanks, Bucky. It's kinda funny, but sometimes in my life I'd identify more with Jack, and at other times more with Ennis. But watching the Desperado video really puts me in the Ennis mode, thinking with regret over things I'd do differently if I had the chance to go back. (That and the fact that I'm just a few years older than Ennis was at the end of the film, and I've had the life experience to really appreciate the song's lyrics fully.) You make a good point that very rarely does your soulmate just show up and sweep you off your feet. If you want to meet him/her, you have to make the effort, go after it and risk possible rejection. Perhaps the single most heartbreaking aspect of the film is that Ennis was one of the lucky few who just happened to meet his soulmate just by showing up for work, but he didn't recognize his opportunity of a lifetime (or shied away from it) until it had slipped away.   
--Geoff

[moremojo]

Really well-done video; very apt indeed. I liked that rendition of the song a lot. The song and Ennis's story go hand-in-hand so neatly, it's almost eerie.

As for this shot, marlb42...

I have loved that shot of Ennis/Heath since the first time I saw it, and I wonder why he does look so terribly sad at that moment.......

I for one don't see Ennis as sad here, but being very much in his element. I get the sense here of accomplishment, purpose, and contentment--this is the world and the life for which Ennis was made. And when Ennis surveys the scene to take in Jack tending the sheep, we get an early sign of the subtle bond already forming between them. The two cowboys not only come to love one another, but they also respect one another, and this is another element that makes their story so rich and beautiful.

[moremojo]

Perhaps the single most heartbreaking aspect of the film is that Ennis was one of the lucky few who just happened to meet his soulmate just by showing up for work, but he didn't recognize his opportunity of a lifetime (or shied away from it) until it had slipped away.   

And yet what a treasure Ennis comes to know due to that happy stroke of fate. It is true that he loses Jack, but he will have some beautiful memories to help sustain him for his remaining portion of life, and he can be secure in the knowledge that he had once been loved totally and unconditionally. How beautiful and blessed he was.