Friends,
So, i guess the questions were too old for anybody here who is still around
Nevermind.
I think in the meantime (after lots of re-watching and thinking) i understand #5. Jack is really hurting inside when they pick up their stuff and put it in the truck. Because he knows it's a repeated parting from Ennis. He is sooo sad and party angry already. Then he hears that Ennis cannot make it to their next meeting in August - another blow for him. He is disappointed, crushed and - above all - angry. But he tries not to direct that anger to Ennis directly because i feel he understands that Ennis is doing his best. As pointed out in the short story all further things they say are "no news", so i think Jack knows Ennis' struggling all the way. Nevertheless, he also feels deeply disappointed and angry about the circumstances. While not being able to vent that frustration and anger directly on Ennis, he complains about the weather "Why is it we're always in the friggin' cold?!".
I feel that's the one point of his speech - just to express anger. Like when you're in a bad mood (because of [fill in the gap]) and the scissors you are using at the moment are not cutting right, so you smash them against the wall and shout "Goddamn scissors!" The other one is in the next part of him saying "We ought a go south where it's warm" - i think he's complaining about the fact that their meetings are always on Ennis' terms, that he is controlling where and when they meet leading to Jack having no other choice as to follow and to sustain all that is in-between - which is
a lot (emotionally). He also cannot handle it as good as he used to, therefore his this and further outburst.
Jack's complaints about the weather, that indirect venting, is then repeated by Ennis in this scene. It's as always with these two - Jack is one step ahead and Ennis is following suit. After Jack says "I did once" which now puts Ennis in great pain he uses the same way of indirect venting by addressing that Mexico issue. Again - Ennis is aware of Jack's "adventures", it's "no news". Maybe he also understands Jack's needs (i don't know) and that Jack needs to act upon them, so he cannot blame him directly, in fact he kept silent and never did up to this moment. Therefore his "them things i don't know" and "can get you killed if i get to know them" - it's kind of a lame threat... He could never kill Jack... So, it feels like that acting out on a pair of scissors again.
By the way, for me it is harder to watch Jack's face at this point than his face upon Ennis driving away after the dozy embrace. While in the latter one Jack looks kind of determined and like he had calmed down or has accepted his feelings, in the former he looks like in
real, great, great pain. May i post these two here?
[Put them below now]
He looks like so close to tears... Like he's knowing what Ennis is going to say and that it will hurt as hell - both of them. He wished they could stop hurting each other at this moment, but cannot help his feelings and need for some word of truth spoken either. The acting here is so so great.....
Sorry, this is my thread for trying to understand things, so i need to post all this.
I had some thinking about that lie Jack tells Ennis about having an affair with Lashawn. When he starts his story it's in response (as we all know) to Ennis' story about Cassie. His face expression is so sad when he starts talking. Like as he hates it what he has to say, that he hates that he has to respond with the same
kind of BS, that he has to make things up between them. So sad... But he's laughing as soon as Ennis laughs. It's like "your laughter is like wind in my sails" - a brief moment of reciprocal joy?... And then he says that devastating line about missing Ennis
. I think it shows just how strong their love was even after these crushing 20 years and all what happened. Jack missing Ennis more than ever, Ennis crying and falling on his knees just at the thought Jack could give him up and move on / leave him. I think it is also the only time when Ennis gets angry at the idea of somebody special leaving him.
Then, Ennis at the bus station. I read some discussions about a "dead" expression on Ennis' face, especially after Cassie tells him that she did not fall in love with him for fun. So, i had a thought that maybe that is now Ennis missing Jack so much he can hardly stand it. It's just an idea. Surely, there is quite a lot going on in him at this moment, but i thought it would fit into that pattern of Jack doing / saying something first and then Ennis following suit. So, maybe it is an equivalent to Jack's scene with Randall - both of their face expressions. Ennis was always late with everything, Jack always ahead of him. Maybe Ennis was now coming into the same crushed emotional state as Jack had been in since some time ago already.
I know i wrote in a different thread that i think Jack would leave Ennis out of love, but i think i have to take that back. I don't think so anymore. I feel they would definitely stay together and Ennis would make some changes. For sure!!!
