A Ninth Viewing Observation

[Brown Eyes]

I don't think you're "seeing things"!  It seems like that pair of cowboys must be very deliberate.  It's also interesting that you note that there's another woman sitting at their table.  I hadn't noticed/ thought about her much.

I doubt that Alma Jr. would have gotten so far in her understanding of the situation to think that she should/ could be hanging out with her Dad and his boyfriend.  But, I do think it's meant to communicate to the viewer that this could have been one possible alternative scenario (had things been different in terms of how Ennis and Jack could shape their lives and relationship).

Yeah, these particular people in the background make me do this:
 

too.

[ednbarby]

Wow - excellent call, you two.  I had noticed the two cowboys behind Alma Jr. before, but never the girl with them.

And I have to chime in and say that when I started this topic lo those many months ago, I never thought it would live to see 20 pages.  But that's the beauty of an open-ended Subject line.

Meander away, everyone!  I've enjoyed all the twists and turns this conversation has taken immensely. 

[Front-Ranger]

Interesting point, adia!! I'm seeing more in that "Your friend could come down to Texas" scene all the time

[Penthesilea]

I love the background activity in this film.  One of the best aspects of the cinematography I think.  Almost like little subliminal messages that enhance the understanding of a given scene (all the black hats and white hats, different pairings of figures, nuzzling horses, etc.).

And I have to chime in and say that when I started this topic lo those many months ago, I never thought it would live to see 20 pages.  But that's the beauty of an open-ended Subject line.

Meander away, everyone!  I've enjoyed all the twists and turns this conversation has taken immensely. 

More meandering....

I watched our movie again yesterday evening and indeed saw something new in my approximately 20th viewing. The best thing is that I wondered about a detail in a pic posted by Lee a few days ago, then I noticed something new yesterday and suddenly, the detail in the pic made sense.

Am I talking in riddles? Sorry, I'll explain in a minute. Here's the pic I'm talking about:




Scroll to the right and look closely at the pile of Ennis's clothes on the fence. There's his jacket, his shirt and something denim, which I could not explain what it might be. I thought maybe a pair of jeans, but it doesn't look like a pair of trousers hanging there. And I doubt Ennis had a second pair of jeans in his paper bag.

I won't keep you guessing (and maybe your eyes are sharper than mine and you recognize it right away): the denim detail is the inside of Ennis's jacket.

 

Yes, it is. The jacket Ennis wears on their first summer is blue inside. Denim blue. Jack's blue. You can see it at the very beginning, when Ennis gets out of the truck and puts his jacket on. You can see the denim inside of the jacket only for a split second.
Maybe, maybe it could also be a denim vest or a second (denim) jacket inside his brown one.
That's what I noticed yesterday. I watched the scene 5 or 6 times, in slow-motion and at last frame by frame (bless my husband who bought a new DVD player  ).

I couldn't find any screencap that shows this detail, so you'll have to check the scene yourself, if you want to see it the inside of the jacket.


It's so similar to The Shirts. Jack's inside Ennis's.
From the very beginning on, Ennis has Jack inside him.

[Dagi]

Wow, this thread sure is a treasure. I think I may have to watch the movie again .

Wonderful observation, Penthesilea; whether the blue inside of Ennis´shirt is deliberate or not, it´s a nice notion that Ennis had been "wearing" Jack

even before knowing him. That would mean Jack was his inevitable "fate".

Dagi

[Penthesilea]

Wow, this thread sure is a treasure. I think I may have to watch the movie again .

Wonderful observation, Penthesilea; whether the blue inside of Ennis´shirt is deliberate or not, it´s a nice notion that Ennis had been "wearing" Jack

even before knowing him. That would mean Jack was his inevitable "fate".

Dagi

Thank you Dagi. Call it fate or force of nature, they were meant to be (as if any Brokie would ever have doubted it  ).

It's truly a visual bookend to The Shirts.
Do we have a specific bookend thread here on BM?

[Dagi]

Thank you Dagi. Call it fate or force of nature, they were meant to be (as if any Brokie would ever have doubted it  ).

It's truly a visual bookend to The Shirts.
Do we have a specific bookend thread here on BM?

there was one on IMDb, and I loved it, it opened my eyes to so many things. Perhaps TOoP has saved it?

[belbbmfan]

Thank you Dagi. Call it fate or force of nature, they were meant to be (as if any Brokie would ever have doubted it  ).

It's truly a visual bookend to The Shirts.
Do we have a specific bookend thread here on BM?

I found this Chrissi.

http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php/topic,4631.0.html

[Penthesilea]

I found this Chrissi.

http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php/topic,4631.0.html

Thanks Fabienne. That's not exactly what I meant, but that's a good one too. And meanwhile I found the original bookends thread in the archive.

[Brown Eyes]

Heya,

I was struck with the urge to revive this classic old thread upon viewing BBM again on Friday (I've long-since lost track of how many viewings I've had... certainly way, way more than 9  ).

Anyway, and this will take us full-circle back to the original topic of this thread... the Randall/charity dance scene.

I have not re-read this whole thread prior to posting this... so forgive me if I'm repeating something that's been discussed before.

But, watching Jack in that scene in his really, really dark outfit (dark brown shirt, black hat, black jacket, black pants... and even his dark hair adds to this effect) I began to see him as a metaphorical "black sheep" character.  Most of the men in the background have white hats (we've discussed this significance ad nauseum before of course) and in general, Jack just sticks out as a dark spot in most of the shots where we see him.  In this case it's particularly interesting, because in this case we know he's not the only gay person in the room.  But, in this scene I think we're supposed to see Jack just generally not fitting in to this Childress society at all.  He just seems so unhappy sitting there.  And, he clearly seems only to be tolerating the dance with LaShawn, rather than taking joy in dancing.  The thing that really strikes me about his "black sheep" status in this scene (aside from his costuming) is how it's made abundantly clear that everyone at the dinner table has gone to college except for him.  Sort of rubbing in the class difference between Jack and Lureen that has been a stumbling block to Jack's acceptance into Lureen's social circle (most importantly her parents) from the beginning.