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Timeline for the last scenes
Penthesilea:
Hi,
this topic as been tangent to in the thread called "Black hats, white hats". Since it is ot over there, I opened new topic here :)
--- Quote ---I still see it as Ennis going directly from the bus station/diner to the post office to the phone booth all on the same day. When you watched it again, Katherine, did you get this sense, too? I can see where he'd go to Lightning Flat on a different day - he'd have to look up the Twists and arrange a visit with them beforehand after all. But those three other things seem to take place in succession to me in the movie, anyway.
--- End quote ---
--- Quote ---Barb, I've always assumed they happened on different days. Either of us could be right, I guess (let's check to see if the shirt under the jacket changes to find out for sure!).
--- End quote ---
I think the last scenes happen not only on different days, but they are weeks or even months apart from another. With one exception: receiving the postcard and the phone-call. I'm very sure they both happen on the same day, directly in a row. Ennis went right to the phone box after reading the card. He couldn't believe it (and didn't want to believe it) but was horrified by the feeling it is true. He needed to have certainty that it happened and needed to know what had happened. He could not have waited for days to call Lureen, no way.
I can't think of Ennis reacting otherwise but directly call Lureen as soon as he read the card.
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Editing the above written:
I wanted to know it for sure and checked the screencaps at heathbaby.com
I was right. Ennis wears the same shirt when receiving the postcard and when calling Lureen. He wears a different one in the pie scene (which is shown directly before) and a different one at the Twist home scene (which is shown directly afterwards).
So my personal view of the time-line for the last scenes is:
pie scene - a couple of weeks, maybe more (one or two months) - receiving the postcard - immediately followed by the phone call - couple of days or weeks (not a long time) - Ennis at Twists' home - some months (a longer time now, nearly one year later because it has to be before June 1984) - trailer scene with Alma Jr and "Jack, I swear".
Aussie Chris:
--- Quote from: Penthesilea on May 12, 2006, 05:18:58 am ---So my personal view of the time-line for the last scenes is:
pie scene - a couple of weeks, maybe more (one or two months) - receiving the postcard - immediately followed by the phone call - couple of days or weeks (not a long time) - Ennis at Twists' home - some months (a longer time now, nearly one year later because it has to be before June 1984) - trailer scene with Alma Jr and "Jack, I swear".
--- End quote ---
Ooooh, this is interesting! I confess I never thought about it, so based on this Penthesilea, I think this sounds about right. Is there any contention about this though? Anyone have different ideas that also make sense and can be explained?
Ellemeno:
Here's what I think:
Pie scene: Ennis is very down and depressed. (One poster here suggests it's the day Jack, unbeknownst to Ennis, is killed.)
Pick up the mail scene: enough time has passed that Ennis has a kind of skip in his step as he leaves the post office. He's feeling pretty good - til he reads the postcard.
He goes straight to the phone booth across the street and calls Lureen right away. Soon after (how soon, we don't know) he makes a date by phone or maybe postcard to go see Jack's parents. Mrs. Twist is expecting him when she comes out the door.
David:
The Pie scene to me is set later in the day. Maybe supper time even. It looks like it is geting dark out
Ennis no doubt walked across the street to the phone booth after he got the postcard back. We clearly see the phone booth in the background.
I think Ennis went up to the Twist Ranch as soon as possible. I sure as hell would have.
serious crayons:
Here's mine:
Pie: Some time after the lake argument, maybe a few weeks or a month, because Cassie has been trying for a while to get hold of Ennis. Not multiple months, because if so Cassie's conversation would be slightly different and because Ennis is so depressed, as if still dwelling on the argument. On the other hand, Jack may already be dead, based on Ennis already wearing his gray "mourning" jacket, which I realize is a pretty hypothetical basis for a definitive answer on the timeline. It could just be that Jack is already doomed, but not dead.
Postcard: Could be quite a while after the pie scene, because it must be getting a closer to their November rendezvous if he's ready to set an exact date. Maybe August or September?
Phone booth: The day of the postcard, or the next day. He wouldn't have waited long, but to me, he doesn't seem as intensely shocked or emotional as he would if he'd just finished reading the postcard. And I think it would take him a little while to get up the resolve to call Lureen. Maybe he went through a torturous night and decided that he'd call the next day. Is the phone booth the same one in both scenes?
Twist ranch: A few days or at most a week after the phone call. He wouldn't have waited around long with the fate of the ashes undetermined.
Alma Jr.: Maybe a month or two later. He's had time to move and settle into his trailer, and it looks autumnal outside. But his grief still seems pretty close to the surface. So I'd say it's that same fall, maybe getting close to the rendezvous that never happened.
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