Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > All Things Brokeback: Books, Interviews and More
Production Mistakes I think they Made on the Movie
souxi:
--- Quote from: Artiste on February 28, 2008, 11:58:24 pm ---Do you think that maybe placing Lureen as a lesbian or not was a mistake?
Indirectly or directly?
In the BM movie,
hugs!
--- End quote ---
Oh for Christs sake Artiste don,t start all that again about Laureen being a Lesbian, ffs. ::) ::) ::) ::)
brokeplex:
I just discovered this thread and I'm delighted to find it.
Of course nothing is perfect and our beloved movie Brokeback Mountain has its flaws, some continuity flaws, some verisimilitude flaws, sometimes the films is so faithful to the ss with "set design" that there "appear" to be flaws. Overall though, I think that we all agree, the film works very well.
just off the top of my head without looking at some notes now almost a year old that I made while discussing the film with me sister I noted:
1) the model K-W cattle truck Ennis rode into Signal was not manufactured until the late 1970's
2) the street lights that you see throughout the film were not in use in the 1960's
3) Jack and Ennis needed lanterns if they were camping out, in the ss AP gave them lanterns, they would have had them in real life
4) notice the boys haircuts and beards, they pretty much stay the same all the while on the mountain, that wouldn't have been the case in real life. Also note Jack's hairline around his ear, the hair cut is the same before he married Lureen and after. That would not have been the case in real life. Prosperous men in that time frame in rural Texas towns (Childress) went to the barber once per week, and came away with what was called "white walls", hair clipped closely around ears. Ennis's hair before and after marriage probably is correct, as a poor ranch hand out in the sticks couldn't afford to drive in constantly to get his "ears lowered".
5) note the axe Jack was using in the scene when Aguirre rode up to camp advising Jack of Uncle Harold's condition - a major continuity error on the part of Ang Lee
6) where is the dog food? those sheep dogs have to eat!
7) note the hood on Jack's truck after Ennis helped him start it after shovedown - a major continuity error on the part of Ang Lee
8. in the scene where Jack is in the bar in Electra,TX (1965) : note the "Coors" taps at the bar, Coors was not sold in Texas until after the 1970's, some licensing agreement dispute that was finally resolved well after the setting of the film
9) note the hair length and beard of the bar tender in Electra, unusual to say the least for anyone living in a small rural town in TX in the mid 1960's
10) note the steel sided barns in the scene of the rodeo in Childress - that style of prefab building was not sold until much later in time, barns in that time period would have not been prefab and the look would have been rather different
11) note the pine trees behind the rodeo stands in the Childress scene - Childress is on the edge of the TX Panhandle, there are no groves of Pinetrees in the area, there are hardly any trees at all, except for Mesquite and some planted Cottonwoods and Liveoaks. it was obviously filmed in Canada
12) note the hair styles and beards and the eye glasses frames of some of the men who are watching Jack get his 8 seconds ride, those style would not have been characteristic of rural TX in the mid 1960's
13) when Ennis brings Junior and her baby sister for Alma to baby sit while Ennis goes off to his job, notice how the baby will start crying and a spit second later will be perfectly calm, this is repeated over and over in the scene. baby's moods change rapidly, but their little scrunched up pouting faces don't change that rapidly - this was obviously filmed over and over again and not edited well, perhaps that is why the baby actor gets cross!
14) note the post office in Riverton when Ennis first send Jack a card, no zip code on the building sign, this scene was set in 1967 several years after all US posts office's were mandated to incorporate zip coding and change their signs. the exact year of universal mandatory zip coding was 1964.
15) note the jet airplane apparently taking off crossing the path backscene of Jake in the scene later where he is showing the local yokels how the features and benefits of LD's new combine. Childress did not at that time have an airport designed to accommodate a jet aircraft.
16) the interior of OMT's home has been discussed earlier, and I echo the sentiments of those who also feel that is unrealistic. Mother Twist would have decorated that house with every little religious Jesus object and plaque she could find space for. Mother Twist would have had some plants and a colorful decorative table cloth as well, she had to show here individuality in the face of the tyrant OMT in some way. The white, white everywhere color scheme would drive anyone snow blind by itself. Jack's room is touching but unrealistic, unless mother Twist deliberately redecorated it to resemble the room as Jack would have had in while he was a preteen.
just off the top of my head, I'll review my note from long ago and see if I missed anything.
belbbmfan:
Wow, there are many in your post that I hadn't heard of before. And 'having their ears lowered'? :laugh: That's a new one for me. Thanks. And I've never thought about the dog food. Maybe they gave them beans too. ;)
Yeah, the axe that one was very obvious. And the glass jars being mysteriously restacked after little Alma knocks them over was a give away too.
brokeplex:
I looked at the notes I gathered some time ago and this is what I found in addition to what I listed above. These also that may or may not have been errors in the film.
1) TS1 - "the mysterious laces" that tie and untie themselves
a - when Jack is trying to sleep alone, the laces are shown to be tied
b - Jack unties the laces when he yells at Ennis to get inside the tent
c- Ennis comes into the tent, covers up and lies back down, he is not shown retying the laces or for that matter having the time to do so
d- But, when the boys start their nookies, the laces are shown as tied again
e- when Ennis wakes up the flaps are again untied
2) I think that someone else noticed that there is no caboose on the small freight train that whistles thru Signal
3) the camera shows that both boys have their ear lobes pierced, 1960's WY ranch stiffs just didn't pierce their ears!
4) In the Motel Siesta scene, you can notice a cell phone satellite relay tower behind the motel, in 1967 I don't think that there would have been such a tower in Riverton, WY
5) In the introduction after the title, notice that as Ennis walks into town he passes the back of a hazard/info sign has a collapsable hinged undersection. those types of signs were not in use in the early 1960's. they are in usage everywhere now.
6) In the Aguirre trailer scenes, notice that the venetian blinds appear to be of modern manufacture, they use a control handle to open and close the louvers rather than the pulley type cords used in old fashioned blinds.
7) Red sheep / Blue sheep - notice that when the boys are taking the sheep up to their pastures, there are sheep with blue paint markings mixed in with sheep who have red "x" marks on them, looks like the sheep were already mixed before the big hail storm.
8. Pretty teeth - the boys have perfectly pretty white teeth all the way thru the film, no sign of staining even after 20 years from coffee, whiskey, and those godawful cigarettes.
9) The disappearing coffee pot- when Ennis drunkenly gets up to go into the tent (and was Ennis really that drunk?) he brushes against the coffee pot, later when the camera pans outside the tent to show the campfire site again after their nookies, the coffee pot is missing.
10) Hail Storm - when a very rapidly moving hail storm sweeps into their camp site, while the hail is falling and the wind is gusting,if you look at the clouds they are not moving at all. must have been CGI 'd
11) Post card cancellation stamps - in 1967 and 1972 neither show an exact date in violation of USP regs, and no zip codes, again in violation of postal regs. Uniformity in zip code regs was required everywhere by 1967.
12) High Prices - the prices in the insert ad that Alma uses to cover Jacks 1972 post card shows some higher prices than would have been in 1972 ; "Carl Buddig" sandwich meat at 2 pkgs for 99 cents, way too high for the times.
13) In the Juarez, Mex scene - the same little boy crosses in back of Jack twice as Jack enters the "red light" alley
14) In the dance hall scene set in the late 1970's where Ennis and Cassie are dancing to "Melissa" a woman dancing next to them has extensive tattooing on her back and arms. This type of tattooing in the general pop would not become popular until the '90's and in this decade. It is still not popular with me.
15) During the drive back to Junior's house with Ennis following the above scene, Ennis's truck passes what appears to be a 2003 or 2004 Ford Focus.
16) The End Titles - although not errors, have raised some questions :
a- lists a waitress as played by Valerie Planche, the only waitress I saw was an extra in the first bar scene in Signal, why the decision to name her in the credits?
b- lists two roughnecks as played by Ken Zilka and John Tench - I saw only one roughneck who beats the crap out of Ennis after the Thanksgiving scene, where is the second one.
c- lists the three assailants in Jack's murder scene - those were parts for extras, why list them?
brokeplex:
--- Quote from: belbbmfan on February 29, 2008, 12:09:10 pm ---Wow, there are many in your post that I hadn't heard of before. And 'having their ears lowered'? :laugh: That's a new one for me. Thanks. And I've never thought about the dog food. Maybe they gave them beans too. ;)
Yeah, the axe that one was very obvious. And the glass jars being mysteriously restacked after little Alma knocks them over was a give away too.
--- End quote ---
"the ears lowered" is just something my dad always said,
the axe and the block of wood is so obvious that I am puzzled this wasn't changed in 'continuity' and editing. the famous block of wood that Jack is about to chop mysteriously transports off the stump back onto the ground, during Jack's conversation with Aguirre
the truck hood faux pas is equally obvious, when Ennis slams the hood down it is not completely shut, but when Jack drives away it is shut tight.
I'm glad that you noticed the mysterious peanut cleanup, I didn't and you are correct.
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