Why is the "dozy embrace" in the film?

[dly64]

Note: Even though Ruthlessly is no longer active on BetterMost, I am hopeful s/he is lurking. This thread is dedicated to you, Ruthlessly! I miss you terribly (as does everyone else on this board!)  Send me an e-mail if you see this, please!

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Why is the “dozy embrace” in the film?

I have read throughout this forum many POV regarding the “dozy embrace”. I have read that it is an unnecessary plot element; that it is a flaw in Annie’s story. I have also read the exact opposite. Why is this scene viewed so divisively?

The screenplay (which follows the short story almost verbatim) states:

Jack stands by the campfire, warming himself. He stands that way a few moments, alone.

Then we see two arms encircle him from behind: it is Ennis.

They stand that way for a moment, Jack leaning back into Ennis.

Ennis’ breath comes slow and quiet, then he starts to gently rock back and forth a little, lit by the warm fire tossing ruddy chunks of light, the shadows of their bodies a single column against a rock. Ennis hums quietly.

Nothing mars this moment for Jack, even though he knows that Ennis does not embrace him face to face because he does not want to see or feel that it is Jack he holds - - because for now, they are wrapped in a closeness that satisfies some shared and sexless hunger, that is not really sleep but something else drowsy and tranced ….


I, for one, believe this scene to be pivotal.

In reviewing the film, there are a number of themes. One is the freedom that BBM represents. It is a symbol of their love for each other … a time and place where they could be themselves without fear of retribution. On BBM, they are emancipated from societal expectations and mores. It is just the two of them. Nothing else in the world matters. Once they come down from the mountain, their idyllic world is shattered.

A secondary theme is Ennis leaving/ turning Jack away. When they are first on BBM, it is Jack who goes out to the sheep. Ultimately, Ennis takes over the responsibility. From the time they first have sex in the tent onward, it is Ennis who leaves. Examples:
•   After TS1, Ennis leaves Jack without saying anything
•   Post mountain, Ennis walks away from Jack
•   After the reunion, Ennis rejects the idea of having a life with Jack
•   Post divorce, Ennis turns Jack away
•   ETC.
Note: I am not saying Ennis never comes back. He obviously does. What I am saying is that it is Ennis who does the leaving and Jack who does the staying.

A third motif is the toll that rural homophobia takes on Jack and Ennis (as well as those who love them …. Alma, Lureen and Cassie).  It is this element that is the most painful. Ennis is governed by fear. He cannot face the reality that he is gay and that he loves a man. Ennis has been taught to hate everything he feels. Both Jack and Ennis follow societal expectations. They get married and have children. Ultimately, neither Jack nor Ennis are able to give themselves to anyone else because of their love for each other. Tragically, the society in which they live doesn’t allow them a place where they can deal with their feelings.

****

By the time we reach the lake scene, nearly twenty years have passed. Their lives with each other have been punctuated by pain. Their time on BBM has become a distant memory. Jack’s hope for a life together has long died. All of this history … the torment, the anguish … culminated in their argument the last day they were together. The story and screenplay state:

Like vast clouds of steam from thermal springs in winter, the years of things unsaid and now unsayable  - - admissions, declarations, shames, guilts, fears - - rise around them …

After Ennis breaks down ….

….. they hug one another, a fierce desperate  embrace - - managing to torque things almost to where they had been, for what they’ve just said is no news: as always, nothing ended, nothing begun, nothing resolved.


It is after this emotional hammering when Jack recalls the “dozy embrace”. Jack remembers the time when they were young … where it was just the two of them … where they were free to love each other openly. For Jack, it is this closeness he desires.

Again, the story and screenplay state:

… Jack, much older now, watches the pickup truck, and his other half, fade away into the distance, that dozy embrace solidified in his memory as the single moment of artless, charmed happiness in their separate and difficult lives.

****

The controversial element of the “dozy embrace” is the statement, “Nothing mars this moment for Jack, even though he knows that Ennis does not embrace him face to face because he does not want to see or feel that it is Jack he holds.”  Yes, Ennis has embraced Jack face to face. They obviously kiss. IMO, this remark means two things:
1.   Ennis cannot hold Jack face to face in a moment of emotional intimacy. Think back to the motel scene. Jack is holding Ennis. They are not facing each other. Ennis is loving. He caresses Jack’s arms a number of times. However, Ennis is not looking at Jack.
2.   This statement refers to Ennis’ state of mind. He cannot “face” the fact that he is gay and that the love of his life is a man.


Annie Proulx’s essay, “Getting Movied” explains the “dozy embrace”:

The most difficult scene was the paragraph where, on the mountain, Ennis holds Jack and rocks back and forth, humming, the moment mixed with childhood loss and his refusal to admit he was holding a man …. I was trying to write the inchoate feelings of Jack and Ennis, the sad impossibility of their liaison ….

The “dozy embrace” encompasses a number of themes: the freedom of BBM, Ennis’ homophobia, and lastly, Ennis’ leaving. In the “dozy embrace”, Ennis leaves to go back to the sheep. The sheep symbolize the crowd …. Ennis is one who follows societal norms and expectations. Every time Ennis leaves, he is returning to his life of convenience and fear. Beyond all of that, however, the “dozy embrace” illustrates the depth of their love for each other.

It should also be noted the way Ang Lee films this scene. IMO, it is one of the most beautiful scenes in the entire film. It is shot lovingly. There are very few cuts. Much of the scene is shown in close up. It reflects the intimacy of the moment.

[opinionista]

The following is an interpretation written by a former member of the forum. He's no longer here. I think it pretty much explains the dozy embrace. You don't have to agree, but I think his idea is interesting:

"While the following is INSERTED INTO movie's last scene with Jack and Ennis together, Annie Proulx wrote it as being something that happened AFTER the two guys split up in 1983. The first quote is from the trailhead parking lot and it took place with Ennis talking to Jack, who is already in his onw truck ready to drive off. Ennis waited until the last minute to tell Jack that there was a change of plans. 

...Ennis stood as if heart-shot, face grey and deep-lined, grimacing, eyes screwed shut, fists clenched, legs caving, hit the ground on his knees. "Jesus", said Jack. "Ennis?" But before he was out of the truck, trying to guess if it was a heart attack or the overflow of an incendiary rage, Ennis was back on his feet and somehow, as a coat hanger is straightened to open a locked car and then bent again to its original shape, they torqued things to almost to where they had been, for what they'd say there was no news. Nothing ended, nothing begun, nothing resolved."
 
In the text, there is a triple line spacing between the above and the below to show a time lapse and/or a change in location. I say that it is both. 
 
What Jack remembered and craved in a way he could neither help nor understand was the time that distant summer on Brokeback when Ennis had come up behind and pulled him close, the silent embrace satisfying some shared and sexless hunger... Later that dozy embrace solidified in his memory as the sngle moment of artless, charmed happiness in their separate and diffucult lives. Nothing marre it, even the knowledge that Ennis would not then embrace him face to face because he did not want to see nor feel that it was Jack he held. And maybe, he tought, they'd never go much farther than that. Let be, let be."  

IMO, "Let be, let be" is Jack's response to the "Nothing ended, nothing begun, nothing resolved" situation when he was last with Ennis. I just believe that Jack decided to "let Ennis be" and get on with is own life without Ennis. Ennis's setting all the rules for his relationship with Jack made Jack miserable. Because of his fear of being found out that he was 'queer', even at 39 years of age, it was always Ennis who decided when and where the two would meet. Ennis never wanted to do what Jack suggested after they first "fishing trip" in 1967. Jack did not have to stop loving Ennis to let him be and take charge of his own life."

[dly64]

The following is an interpretation written by a former member of the forum. He's no longer here. I think it pretty much explains the dozy embrace. You don't have to agree, but I think his idea is interesting:

It is interesting ... but you are right, I don't agree. Part of what the person said has been discussed in the "Why Jack Quit Ennis" thread. I didn't agree with that, either.

The question that has been posed in previous threads is whether or not the "dozy embrace" scene adds anything to the story ... if it was even necessary. IMO, it is very important to the story. When we see Jack after his recollection, he is watching Ennis drive away. His expression is one of sadness. He is sad because he sees time passing  ... he knows how their life could have been. Instead, he is left with a memory of a time and place where they could be invisible to the outside world. It is just the two of them. It is one of the few times where we, the audience, see the depth of their love. We know their love exists. We are witness to their passion for one another. But it is the non-physical intimacy that is important in this scene. 

[ednbarby]

I think it's absolutely necessary for the same reason Ruthlessly thought it was - because that was the moment when Jack first realized he was in love with Ennis.  Having him remember that as he watches Ennis drive away, as it turns out for the last time, then flash forward to the present of him standing there with all the life and hope drained out of his eyes and his jaw set shows us not exactly that he was resolute in quitting Ennis, like Ruthlessly (and I for a long time) thought, but that he realized he couldn't go on with things the way they were going.  I think this is the moment when, as Jake has said, Jack realizes he can't be with Ennis.  Jake never said when he thought that moment was - for a long time after reading that, I wondered if he thought it was at their meeting in Riverton after the divorce.  But now I think that that moment and all the other moments when he hopes so much for Ennis to be ready to/want to be with him the way he wants him to be and then has those hopes dashed in the blink of an eye are pieces of him falling away.  I think that last shot is when he's been dealt the final blow.  That is the moment Jack dies.  If he were fully able to quit Ennis, all hope would not be lost.  There'd at least be a shred of it left in that if it wasn't going to be Ennis (or Randall, for that matter), he'd get on with it and eventually be with someone who would be able to be with him fully and openly.  But it's because he can't fully quit him, now, that all hope is lost.

I actually think the dozy embrace not only is necessary but is perhaps the most important scene in the whole movie.  Without the flashback, we would never see the sexless hunger they felt for each other which is really what true love is, and thus we would never fully understand all that Jack lost when he knew he couldn't be with Ennis.
 

[Front-Ranger]

I agree with you and I can't understand why anyone would think the scene was unnecessary. It's the climax of the entire film!!

Another thing I love about this scene is the way it ties the imagery together. From the very beginning, when the camera pans over the smoldering campfire with its bucket and coffeepot lined up neatly together, to the boys in their signature shirts, to the horses in the background. And the music is heartbreaking.

[JT]

I think that "dozy embrace" was important and even necessary in the movie.  For one thing, it added to the sadness of that scene, a contrast between then and now.  I think very often when we tried to quit someone or set them free, we often think back to our happiest moment together.  I think that was what Jack was doing.  He was thinking back to his happiest moment with Ennis and even that simple embrace can satisfy Jack.  It was a true time that they both can be themselves and not have to worry about anyone or anything.  It was also a rare occation that Ennis actually expresses his love for Jack, and Jack felt it.  Not very often that we see Ennis holding Jack so closely, rocking him and humming softly to him, and Jack was savoring every minute of it.  It became something that was deeper and more meaningful than just having sex, which they've done more often.  And IMO that was why that dozy embrace became so important because it told us that their relationship is about true love, not those old fishing trips or tent moments.

[ekeby]

that was why that dozy embrace became so important because it told us that their relationship is about true love, not those old fishing trips or tent moments.

Agree completely. It was about true romantic love, and being completely in sync with each other. A subtext might be a paternalistic, caretaking love, something that (in my experience) seems go with romantic love in same sex male relationships . . .

[serious crayons]

The dozy embrace is the point at which I am most likely to burst into tears. That's because it so sharply emphasizes and deepens the tragedy of the scenes surrounding it. Bookending the argument and Jack's grim expression around that naive hopeful wondrous beauty of the dozy embrace (and contrasting the happy embrace with the anguished one we see just before it, in the argument) makes them especially heartbreaking.

That and, as Front-Ranger said, the details. The gently smoldering fire. The bucket and coffee pot, dozily embracing on the grill. The bittersweet music. The beautiful young contented faces. The rare nurturing moment for Ennis. The pure affection. Jack's loving expression as Ennis rides away.

Yet even that beautiful happy moment is laced with subtle foreshadowing of tragedy.

Ennis' confident "see you in the morning" suggests that, at some level, he feels as if there will always be a next morning. Of course, he doesn't REALLY believe that -- if he stops to think about it he knows their idyll can't last. But he's not allowing himself to think about that. Which is why he's so devastated when he comes back to find Jack breaking camp. Ruthlessly theorized that this scene occurs, chronologically, on the night before the Ennis wakes up to snow. I see no evidence of that, but I believe it anyway, because it makes such structural sense. Jack watches Ennis ride off on his horse, and then their relationship ends, this time temporarily. In the parallel later scene, Jack watches Ennis drives off in his truck, and then their relationship ends, this time permanently. Jack's "gonna snow tonight, for sure," underscores that parallel. It didn't actually snow, but it snows metaphorically. (It's cold, in any case. Why couldn't they go someplace warm? Then they'd never have to part).

The line is even more poignant if you think of "see you in the morning" as suggesting something more abstract or metaphysical, like "see you in the afterlife" or "see you in a better world where there's no homophobia."

I can't imagine why anyone would think the scene is unnecessary or expendable, but I am one of those who considers it flawed in the story -- and, I guess, the screenplay -- because of that "Ennis does not embrace him face to face because he does not want to see or feel that it is Jack he holds" line.

Certainly, IMO, it makes no sense in the movie. Movie Ennis shows no reluctance to embrace a man from the front (just the opposite, if anything, judging from his scenes with Alma). In fact, this scene shows the one time in Ennis' life when he COULD embrace a man, and show his affection and love, without hesitation. The other part of the equation -- the shared and sexless hunger -- seems very well conveyed without that unpleasant qualification.

The same applies to the story. At other points in the story, Ennis has no problem embracing Jack from the front. It actually seems even more out of character for Story Ennis to worry about that -- he's less homophobic than Movie Ennis. Somebody argued that perhaps Ennis has progressed by the time of the reunion, but if we're supposed to draw that kind of conclusion I think it requires a bit of explanation.

I think the reason for the line is suggested in the quote of Annie's that Diane posted: "I was trying to write the inchoate feelings of Jack and Ennis, the sad impossibility of their liaison …." I think Annie decided that reluctant embracing was a succinct and concrete way to illustrate those inchoate feelings, with the bonus of undercutting the sentimentality in an otherwise sweet scene. But IMO it doesn't really work. It's distracting and confusing and out of character, it contradicts other parts of the story. It is TOO unsentimental (I once described Annie as zealously unsentimental, a quality that makes some of her other stories hard to read). It mars an otherwise beautiful scene. Sometimes even wonderful writers make less than perfect choices, and I just think this was one of those times.

Could it have some larger symbolic meaning (about homophobia, romantic frustration, etc.), as others have suggested? Sure. But I think an effective metaphor also has to fit neatly into the text of the story. If it doesn't, it's flawed.

By the way, Diane, I love this:

The sheep symbolize the crowd …. Ennis is one who follows societal norms and expectations.

Of all the symbolic meanings of the sheep, for some reason I never thought of that one before. Duh! Sheep often represent a conformist, herdlike mentality even in "real life." And that interpretation adds another dimension to "we're supposed to guard the sheep, not eat em" -- so in addition to "we're supposed to follow the rules, not break them" and "we're supposed to protect our charges, not endanger them" there's also "we're supposed to follow the crowd, not stray from it." And sure enough, look what happened to the one that strayed.

[jpwagoneer1964]

 
 

 
[/quote]Ennis doessa "yup' as he leaves Jack the following morning. Exactly as he did when he left for the sheep his first night with the sheep after Jack said "You wont get much sleep up there, tell you that." Of course it dismissive and he is facing away.

[nakymaton]

Can I just give a standing ovation to Diane for mentioning the other possible symbolism of sheep? When I hear "sheep," I think "conformity" rather than "innocent sacrifice." But I guess they can be both, in some kind of complicated way?

I agree with what everyone else has said about the importance of the dozy embrace at that point in the movie. (I don't know if Jack managed to quit Ennis or not; I'll just stay out of that debate.) I guess I would add that I think it's very important that it seems beautiful and uncomplicated, because the relationship has been so tense and painful since the divorce scene. The physical affection during the "sometimes I miss you so much I can't stand it" is in the story but not in the movie; the movie gives us the memory instead. The contrast is achingly powerful, to me.

I think the reason for the line is suggested in the quote of Annie's that Diane posted: "I was trying to write the inchoate feelings of Jack and Ennis, the sad impossibility of their liaison …." I think Annie chose that phrase because it's a succinct and concrete illustration of those inchoate feelings, with the bonus of undercutting the sentimentality in an otherwise sweet scene. But IMO it doesn't really work. It's distracting and confusing and out of character, it contradicts other parts of the story. It is TOO unsentimental (I once described Annie as zealously unsentimental, a quality that makes some of her other stories hard to read). It mars an otherwise beautiful scene. Sometimes even wonderful writers make less than perfect choices, and I just think this was one of those times.

Hmmm. I think that the line in the story is important because we don't see Ennis's internalized homophobia as clearly in the story... we don't see that deeply into Ennis's feelings in the story as we do in Heath's face in the movie. (*Pauses briefly to contemplate Heath's face.* ) I didn't feel like the line was out of context in the story; I felt like it was a knife to the gut. (As for why I like being knifed in the gut... well, that's what I'm trying to figure out on this board here.) And I think that it's one of the most important lines in the story, because it sums up the essential tragedy.

(I agree that Annie Proulx is zealously unsentimental, and I think that BBM is my favorite of any of her stories that I've read because she unintentionally let herself fall in love with the characters. Not too much; not enough so that most people would notice. But enough so that the story had enough heart for Ang Lee's gentle touch to breath life into it. Ummm, sorry for the crappy mixed metaphor, but maybe you get the picture anyway.)

I think the line was kept in the screenplay for the same reason that so many of Annie's exact words were kept in the stage directions. I think the screenwriters were hesitant to cut them out, and liked the sound of the words. Some of the stage directions were turned almost exactly into silent scenes in the movie (my favorite one is Jack seeing Ennis as a night fire), but others, I think, were abandoned when they didn't fit the way Ang or the actors saw the characters and the story. And that's fine; the end result is really a wonderful work of art. *gushes some more incoherently*