Awesome topic Chrissi and Sister-Mod! :-*
I also love the title "Symbolism of the Week (=SOTW)"! I'm sure you're not surprised. 8)
the most poignant final container holds Jack's remains. the urn sent by Lureen to the Twists. it remains unseen, why? so we can think of the shirts as the final metaphorical repository of the remains of Jack? perhaps.
I like this topic, and it looks like I'm just going to have review the film yet again, so here I go to fire up the DVD player ONE MORE TIME! :)
Yup, that's the one container Ennis is denied of. :(
Looking through the screencaps, I noticed that Alma has the most containers. But Ennis isn't interested in those. He wants only one, and doesn't get it.
In contrast to Alma's kitchens, the Twist-Newsome kitchen has far less containers. But of course, the whole Twist household is far less cluttered than the Del Mars', so it's logical we see less containers there (plus, we see less of the Twist household in general).
Thanks for liking and saying so :).
You're a brave man, taking the hard task to see the movie again ;).
Look out for the coffeepot. You'll be surprised how often it is present. Oh, BTW, there is something I wanted to show you for a while, but never got around doing it. It fits halfways in this thread, so I'll post it here:
You said in another thread, that there's a mistake (error in continuity) when Ennis gets up and enters the tent for TS1. You said we hear Ennis knocking over the coffeepot, but then it's seen still standing when the camera draws back from TS1 and we see the campsite once more.
Ennis knocking over the coffeepot(with the blanket):
(http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m47/Penthesilea06/Photo%20Captions%20Stripedwall/brokebackmtn_0768.jpg)
The campground directly after TS1:
(http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m47/Penthesilea06/Photo%20Captions%20Stripedwall/brokebackmtn_0860.jpg)
Detail from the same picture:
(http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m47/Penthesilea06/Photo%20Captions%20Stripedwall/brokebackmtn_0860-1.jpg)
Another pot is still standing, but the coffeepot is knocked over, lying behind the other pot.
(I'm uploading pics for this thread, therefore I have them at hand right now)
Cassie between the candy containers and the sweet drinks. Has she found the sweet life with Karl?
(http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m47/Penthesilea06/Photo%20Captions%20Stripedwall/brokebackmtn_3480.jpg)
The containers that intrigue me the most lately are the thermoses. You may recall that Joe Aguirre pulled his thermos out of his Studebaker when he drove up that morning that he hired Jack and Ennis. There are other glimpses of thermoses, but another one that I recall was when Ennis reached into a cabinet and grabbed a thermos as he was heading out the door of his apartment to meet Jack for a fishing trip. What was the thermos for? Coffee, I guess. The reality check drink. In remembering the thermos, Ennis almost forgot another container...the creel case for the fish that he wasn't planning to catch, hehe. That is, until Alma reminded him of it.
The thermos is a straightforward symbol, one of containment and bottling up of secrets and hidden desires. I wonder if there is a thermos in evidence in Ennis' trailer at the end of the movie. I'll just have to watch again!!
The containers that intrigue me the most lately are the thermoses.
Thermos = phallic symbol? ???
for what its worth here is a list of every possible phallic image that I could find in the film:
that is all I can find with only one viewing.
;)
So strictly for research purposes ,I will force myself to watch the film again, for containers, open or closed,upright or knocked over.Goodness what a drag,how will I sit through it again!!!!!!!!
Especially as I had a full day of washing,ironing and cleaning planned.
for what its worth here is a list of every possible phallic image that I could find in the film:And I thought I had it bad!!...
cattle trucks in intro - horizontal phallus
sheep trailers - horizontal phallus
telephone poles, light poles and fence posts
solo pines on mountain
church steeple in Signal
Randy Quaid's nose
cigarettes
long neck beer bottles
thermoses
rifle barrels
...that is all I can find with only one viewing.
;)
And I thought I had it bad!!...
You forgot the hanger, described in the story thusly, "as a coat hanger is straightened to open a locked car and then bent again to its original shape"
Oh, I'm starting to warm up to this topic!! Yes, the story is a rich resource. But also the hanger appears in the movie, most notably as the question mark pressing into Ennis's face as he hugs the shirts.
Not a phallic symbol but a powerful symbol of sexual potency is the beans that Ennis loves and Jack tolerates. This symbol, only mentioned in the story, is expanded (hehe) in the movie for effect. Beans are an ancient Asian symbol of potency. You may recall the story of Jack and the Beanstalk where Jack planted some magic beans which grew into a GIANT beanstalk that reached up into the sky to the abode of a GIANT. Possible clue to the origin of Jack's name?? ??