Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > Brokeback Mountain Open Forum
"Jack, I swear..." What do you think Ennis meant by that?
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: bbm_stitchbuffyfan on April 07, 2006, 09:06:23 am ---My personal interpretation of the line:
"Jack, I swear... [I will always love you, and I will never forget you.]"
--- End quote ---
Mine, too. Something open-ended but overflowing with emotion. I don't think Ennis was mentally filling in any specific words after the "I swear" and just not voicing them. I think that his "Jack, I swear" nebulously represents the huge jumble of feelings -- love, grief, regret, affection, sorrow, loneliness, devotion, despair, etc. -- that constantly threaten to overwhelm him at this point.
It's kind of like "Jack, I will always love you" -- except saying "Jack, I swear" is way better, because 1) we have never heard the phrase before, so it doesn't sound the least bit trite and 2) it encompasses more potential meanings than simple love and 3) it draws viewers in, like so many things in this movie, and forces them to figure out for themselves what's going on in Ennis' mind, which makes us more involved and empathetic.
serious crayons:
Oh, and another reason it's better than "Jack, I love you" is because he kind of said that already, albeit indirectly, when asking Alma Jr. if her fiance loved her and then gazing out the window, overwhelmed with emotion, thinking of Jack.
silkncense:
Latjoreme -
That is one of my favorite scenes. I also think that scene shows that Alma Jr. knows there was someone when she sees that her father is having difficulty speaking.
Brown Eyes:
I just posted this over on imdb (in a post that got a little long-winded for the I love everything Ennis thread) so I thought I'd re-post here. Latjoreme (you'll see that we're in agreement once again). :)
"During the chat with Alma Jr. in the trailer. When she replies "yea Daddy, he loves me..." Ennis turns his head and seems to be a million miles away lost in thought. It seems clear to me that he's finally articulated to himself (by asking the question, 'does he love you') the most important thing that should have guided him throughout his relationship with Jack. I more and more convinced that it is this pause coupled with the content of this conversation that leads to the "Jack, I swear..." He's realizing that he never explicitly said "i love you" to Jack, as he should have done. The fact that the sentence is still incomplete is just brilliant... the audience and the ghost of Jack are still left yearning to hear the words come out of Ennis's mouth."
So I definitely think he's saying "I swear I love you" and/or "I swear I would do it all differently if I had the chance." He's performing a ritual along the lines of a marriage ceremony... He's making a commitment in a formal way (that's how I interpret the rather formal choice of word 'swear')
I also think this is Ennis coming out a bit. It's taken him 20 years to take back the idea that he isn't gay. In order to swear himself to Jack he has to admit that he IS in love with a man and that it's real and a part of him. I think all of this was made crystal clear to him in the Lightning Flat, shirt scene. This is my favorite line from Mendelsohn's essay on BBM from the NY Review of Books- "Made aware too late of how greatly he was loved, of the extent of his loss, Ennis stands in the tiny windowless space, caressing the shirts and weeping wordlessly." Jack has taught him soooo much about this aspect of love and about regret simultaneously.
RouxB:
I agree-it isn't a line, for me, that requires interpretation. I just "feel" the sadness and longing behind it and that's good enough.
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