Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > All Things Brokeback: Books, Interviews and More

Interesting essay about BBM - the movie and short story

(1/4) > >>

MaineWriter:
An author friend of mine, Anne Brooke, posted this interesting essay about BBM:

http://vulpeslibris.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/adaptation-week-brokeback-mountain-%E2%80%93-the-choices-we-make-and-those-we-don%E2%80%99t/

Please consider leaving a comment. She loves hearing from folks who read her stuff.

L

Jeff Wrangler:
Thanks for posting the link, Leslie. That essay was a very good read!

Tell you what, though, I hate to seem churlish but I disagree with her reading of the location of the Reunion being different in the short story compared to the film. She says that in the story the Reunion takes place indoors, but that Ang Lee moved it outdoors for the film. Regretfully, I think this is a misreading of the text.

We know the apartment is above the laundry, and the story gives us Ennis looking down into the street, just as we see in the film. When Ennis sees Jack get out of his truck, he rushes "out on the landing pulling the door closed behind him." In the story we are then told that Jack "took the stairs two and two"--obviously because he sees Ennis. I don't think this would be possible if Ennis was waiting for him on an indoor landing; how would Jack see Ennis if Ennis was indoors?

No, I think the Reunion took place outdoors in both story and film.

But not to end on a negative note, I appreciate what she had to say about the role of the music in the film.  :D

Marge_Innavera:
Excellent essay, although I would have liked it much better if she hadn't started off by pitting the story against the film, so to speak.  I started to find that approach more than a little tiresome a long time ago.

And yes, I understand that the context was film adaptations, but I did have the impression that she was trying to be "charitable" in respect to the film.

Brown Eyes:

Thanks for the heads-up about this.  I'll give it a look later today or this weekend. :)

Front-Ranger:
Great essay, and I made a comment saying so. Thanks for pointing us to this, Leslie.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page