I think one of the reasons why some films go beyond our minds and enter our hearts is the fact that we identify with one or more of the characters, or the situations. Since my first days on the BBM board at IMDB I heard (well, read...) some people mentioning that they identified with Ennis or Jack. We have all dissected and analyzed this beautiful film and his characters enough to realize the difference between Jack and Ennis.
So, here's my question again:
With which one have you identified more, Jack or Ennis; and why? Mind you, I don't mean which one have you empathised with/felt for, although I would like to hear about that too. I mean which one of them reminded you more of yourself today, or at siome point(s) in your life?
As for myself, I realized I have identified with Ennis for one period in my life, and with Jack for another. Like Ennis I once was afraid to take that leap of faith and defy my circumstances. Then, later I played Jack to an Ennis, daring to give everything for someone who was afraid of losing before he even tried playing. Nothing new, you'll say, and I agree. We all have our hardhsips, but do they they affect us differently?
Funny, even though the second period was the one that hurt the most, it's the first one, when I was like Ennis, that I regret the most. I wonder if it's human nature - do we have more regrets for lost opportunities than for the consequences of the things we did?
So, I guess, in my case, I identified more with Ennis.
Now, empathy wise, my heart went to Jack, maybe because he was, like Annie Proulx put it (paraphrasing a bit), "quicksilver, beautiful, hungry, bitterly disappointed over and over, and still able to give so much love and electricity". Who could not love that? Jack's soul is what I wanted mine to be.
moni