Rant on as long as you want. Great posts everyone!
I think the most obvious reason to let the urinating scene out of the movie is the difficulty to film and to see it. You would have needed a small child to film it. I realize that filming a scene is very different to seeing the end product on a screen, and you could have probalby filmed it with clever cuts, but still ....
I personally am glad they didn't include it in the movie.
Additionally, there's the question where to include it? Same place as it is in the SS? No. I think it would have destroyed the perfection of the whole LF sequence. It would have distracted the viewer.
Ang Lee would have had to find a way to make it clear to the audience that it is a flashback of something Jack had told Ennis about. Alternatively, he could have shown Jack telling Ennis about it at one of their fishing trips. But somehow this could have come out like some sort of comparison with Ennis's story about his old man.
I jusy wonder if it could have been a flashback in the same way as we had with Ennis and the scene he witnessed.I am sure it could have been filmed just with the noise of a zipper from OMT( just as in TS1.)I agree that the circumcision part would have been difficult ,but that could have been part of a conversation between Jack and Ennis when,Jack states that from then on having seen his dad he knew the diference and there was no going back.
I would not have wanted to witnesss the scene in full graphic detail,I just think it could have bben alluded to.You dont even need to see the child unclothed which would be very wrong,but could instead see the mess made by the child,OMT zipper sound, then cut to child soaking wet and cleaning floor and clothes etc.All as flashback.
Then cut back to present with conversation between Jack and Ennis to fill in the gaps,re Jacks feelings on the matter and how it affected him.
However I am not a director and maybe it was thought a bridge too far for the public.Lee was after all taking a big risk in the first place.
Where it was placed in the film,I would have had it as another campfire scene,where they did most of their talking.Followed of course by another tender scene in the tent.
But then I just wanted to see more of Jack and Ennis together,aka motel and TS2.After all they have more meetings over the years than we get to see in the film.
Of course that does leave a problem of length of film,which leads on to what bit to cut out to include the new scene!!!!! For me to see more of Jack and Ennis I would have beeen happy to see lesss of the sheep herding part.But I am sooo biased.In any case who am I to start mucking around with a film so perfect I must have watched it at least 50 times in just 2 months!!!!!!!!!
So thats my thoughts on the matter.I am beginning to wish I had not opened my mouth as I feel a foot in gob situation here!!!!
Feel free to disagree,I love to get other peoples opinions,sometimes it even makes me change my mind,or think more laterally about things,instead of literally.