Re: Two sets of Three Trailers
by meryl_88 (Fri Apr 7 2006 07:33:31 ) Thanks for those examples, Casey. I read the "Surf Party" thread recently, and I love that there are some interesting associations that can be made regarding that particular choice of clip, the trailer being the most signficant. It's also a fun fact that the actress's character name in the film is "Junior."
The horses confined in a trailer, perhaps used as a symbol for Ennis's and Jack's constricted affairs, is a topic I hope you'll explore more.
Naun, the phone call denials and affirmations are also a great observation. It's hardly possible to know for sure whether Ossana/Murtry planned them, but they add yet another layer to this thousand-layer cake of a film.
Ennis's 3 fights are a good call, too. In trying to think of a parallel for Jack, I came up with the fact that he has 3 significant rejections: Jimbo's rejection of his overture in the bar; Aguirre's refusal to re-hire him; and Ennis's rejection of his company after the divorce. (Ennis's other rejections of Jack's hopes may blur that, though.)
Jessica and muscla, in the screenplay it notes that the house Ennis moved to after the divorce was "much like the one he and Alma had lived in when his daughters were young," so it most likely does count as a fourth residence for Ennis.
Here are a couple of small three's:
The license plate number on the truck that delivers Ennis to Signal is 33447, so it not only starts with a three, it adds up to a 3 as well.
In the phone call scene, Lureen is wearing 3 rings on her right hand.
Re: Two sets of Three Trailers
by naun (Fri Apr 7 2006 08:22:04 ) the phone call denials and affirmations are also a great observation. It's hardly possible to know for sure whether Ossana/Murtry planned them, but they add yet another layer to this thousand-layer cake of a film.
I think they must be deliberate, because they were a late addition. IIRC the 2003 version of the screenplay does not have the "buddy" and "good friends" lines that begin and end the call with Lureen.
Great thread, keep it going!
Horses
by naun (Sat Apr 8 2006 20:36:10 ) The horses confined in a trailer, perhaps used as a symbol for Ennis's and Jack's constricted affairs, is a topic I hope you'll explore more.
There were the beginnings of a discussion in Casey's "Surf Party" thread, starting about halfway down:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388795/board/nest/37451771?d=37451771#37451771 I hope to see this idea explored further too. One detail I picked up on a recent viewing was that when Ennis unloads the horses at his ranch home, he backs them out of the trailer. This happens at the beginning of his domestic life after his honeymoon. This image prefigures the one of Jack backing his truck away from Ennis after the latter's divorce.
(In an effort to stay on topic, I'm trying to think if there's a third "reversing" scene somewhere in the movie, but am drawing a blank at the moment.)
I mention the horses now because I just saw another wonderful, piercingly memorable film with an equine theme, Bresson's "Au hasard Balthazar". I went eagerly looking for an old thread on this board called "Bressonian Brokeback", but sadly it's gone.
Re: Horses
by meryl_88 (Sat Apr 8 2006 21:33:52 ) UPDATED Sat Apr 8 2006 21:37:23
Incidentally, apropos of Casey's "Ennis/Aeneas" theory, the best-known number from Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas is Dido's lament, "When I am laid in earth".
So sad!
When I am laid, am laid in earth
May my wrongs create no trouble, no trouble in thy breast.
Remember me! Remember me! But ah, forget my fate.
Remember me! But ah, forget my fate.
In an effort to stay on topic, I'm trying to think if there's a third "reversing" scene somewhere in the movie, but am drawing a blank at the moment.
Here's one thought: When Jack drives away from Signal, Ennis is following him in the same direction on foot, and there's a horse trailer to Ennis's left. But when Jack looks back at him in the mirror, the image is reversed, and the horse trailer appears to be on Ennis's right.
The only other backing up images that occur to me are Jack dragging that hapless sheep out of the Chilean herd and Ennis having to reverse directions when the horse and mules run away from the bear at the creek.
I mention the horses now because I just saw another wonderful, piercingly memorable film with an equine theme, Bresson's "Au hasard Balthazar". I went eagerly looking for an old thread on this board called "Bressonian Brokeback", but sadly it's gone.
I remember that thread, too. It was short, but very perceptive. I wish I had saved it.
Re: Horses
by naun (Sun Apr 9 2006 13:02:32 ) The only other backing up images that occur to me are Jack dragging that hapless sheep out of the Chilean herd
That's the one! And like the other two "backing up" images, it occurs soon after a signal (pardon the pun) event in the story, in this case, the beginning of their sexual relationship -- the "loss of innocence" that leads to their expulsion, as one poster described it, from their Garden of Eden.
The same poster (I don't recall who it was, unfortunately) noted that there is a second expulsion when Jack returns to Aguirre's trailer the following year. And there's a third expulsion when Ennis is ejected from Monroe's house after the Thanksgiving dinner. So there's another threesome for you.
Re: Horses
by meryl_88 (Sun Apr 9 2006 21:02:24 ) And there's a third expulsion when Ennis is ejected from Monroe's house after the Thanksgiving dinner.
Well, that does make for three expulsions, but I have to say, as a Garden of Eden stand-in, Brokeback beats the heck out of Monroe's house.
Naun, I noticed on your Lightning Flat thread that you mentioned Ennis being seen afar as a point of light. This makes for another Three: The headlights of the truck carrying Ennis at the top of the movie, the distant campfire that Jack sees on the mountain, and the headlights of Ennis's truck as he returns from Lightning Flat.
Jlilya, the three rejections sound right to me. Good catch.
Points of light
by naun (Mon Apr 10 2006 03:58:58 ) UPDATED Mon Apr 10 2006 04:05:03
I noticed on your Lightning Flat thread that you mentioned Ennis being seen afar as a point of light. This makes for another Three: The headlights of the truck carrying Ennis at the top of the movie, the distant campfire that Jack sees on the mountain, and the headlights of Ennis's truck as he returns from Lightning Flat.
This one may be more than three if you include associated images. For example, there's a scene where Ennis rides a black horse with a white flash on its forehead. And when he leaves Monroe's house, he drives a truck with one working headlight. I mentioned a couple of other analogous images in another thread, but don't remember which one OTTOMH.