Author Topic: lovable subtle details  (Read 476081 times)

Offline Kazza

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Re: lovable subtle details
« Reply #250 on: July 06, 2006, 11:48:43 am »
Is it just my hearing (or the little voices in my head) - or is Ennis humming/singing to himself when he come back from collecting food at the bridge - just before getting 'spooked' by the bear?

I thought that  was hearing things but then I watched it again and I'm sure I can hear something. I might just have a dud DVD mind you...

moremojo

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Re: lovable subtle details
« Reply #251 on: July 06, 2006, 11:52:36 am »
Is it just my hearing (or the little voices in my head) - or is Ennis humming/singing to himself when he come back from collecting food at the bridge - just before getting 'spooked' by the bear?

I thought that  was hearing things but then I watched it again and I'm sure I can hear something. I might just have a dud DVD mind you...
Oh, you heard right...he is indeed humming there, specifically a tune called "The Cowboy's Lament". I actually had a hard time discerning the humming in the theater (though I knew it was there from having read about it), but find it easier to hear on the DVD.

Cheers,
Scott
« Last Edit: February 15, 2008, 08:14:15 pm by moremojo »

Offline Brown Eyes

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Re: lovable subtle details
« Reply #252 on: July 06, 2006, 08:41:14 pm »
I've been meaning to post this lovable subtle detail for a long time, but keep getting distracted. 

I love that in the scene where Alma hides one of Jack's postcards inside a folded newspaper/ circular that the type on that newspaper includes a very prominent ad for "milk and honey."  It's as if the newspaper now contains the promise of "milk and honey" for Ennis when and hopefully if he actually finds that postcard.  And, actually, I think it says "evap." or "evaporated milk and honey"... which makes things more complicated (and I'm all for making things complicated).  I can think of two ways to interpret that idea... I guess one would be that if Ennis doesn't find that hidden postcard, his opportunity for the milk and honey that Jack is offering will evaporate or be lost this time around.  Or, it may evoke the old saying about the "land of milk and honey"... so if you add the "evaporated" it might be a reference to the lost paradise of Brokeback.  The paradise that has evaporated for Jack and Ennis... the land of milk and honey to which they can't return.

« Last Edit: July 15, 2006, 11:22:42 am by atz75 »
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Offline serious crayons

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Re: lovable subtle details
« Reply #253 on: July 06, 2006, 11:24:39 pm »
Good one, Amanda!

I'm betting Ang Lee is all for complicated, too. When more than one interpretation of a symbol or metaphor seems to fit, I tend to think maybe both are right, and that it might be deliberate.

Offline Ellemeno

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Re: lovable subtle details
« Reply #254 on: July 07, 2006, 02:23:21 am »
I've been meaning to post this lovable subtle detail for a long time, but keep getting distracted. 

I love that in the scene where Alma hides one of Jack's postcards inside a folded newspaper/ circular that the type on that newspaper includes a very prominent ad for "milk and honey." 

And as the camera lingers on the word 'honey,' the next thing we hear is Jack calling Lureen, "Honey, you seen my blue parka?"  SHE gets to be called Honey by Jack, not Ennis.  :(

Offline Ellemeno

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Re: lovable subtle details
« Reply #255 on: July 07, 2006, 02:25:30 am »
Oh, you heard right...he is indeed humming there, specifically a tune called "The Cowboy's Lament". I actually had a hard time discerning the humming in the theater (though I knew it was there from having read about it), but find it easier to hear on the DVD.

Cheers,
Scott M.

Also by the name "Streets of Laredo."  :)

Offline Brown Eyes

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Re: lovable subtle details
« Reply #256 on: July 08, 2006, 02:45:20 pm »
And as the camera lingers on the word 'honey,' the next thing we hear is Jack calling Lureen, "Honey, you seen my blue parka?"  SHE gets to be called Honey by Jack, not Ennis.  :(

Ooooo, good catch!


So here's another detail... very different context.  I love how many empty chairs there are in the Lightning Flat scene.  They're everywhere... there's one (or two?) behind Ennis and one behind John Twist and then one at the table and then one in Jack's room.  These I'd say are meant to be constant reminders of Jack's absence.  The number of chairs is striking since the house is otherwise so empty.  Also, that black hat on the wall surely is meant to remind us of Jack (even if it really is John's hat or something).
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Offline serious crayons

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Re: lovable subtle details
« Reply #257 on: July 08, 2006, 05:45:27 pm »
Also, that black hat on the wall surely is meant to remind us of Jack (even if it really is John's hat or something).

And it's hovering above Ennis' head like a thought balloon in a cartoon. Though to my eyes it's more dark brown than black -- is it supposed to be close enough, or could it be a mingling of white hat and black hat?

Offline Penthesilea

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Re: lovable subtle details
« Reply #258 on: July 09, 2006, 12:57:26 pm »
Ooooo, good catch!


So here's another detail... very different context.  I love how many empty chairs there are in the Lightning Flat scene.  They're everywhere... there's one (or two?) behind Ennis and one behind John Twist and then one at the table and then one in Jack's room.  These I'd say are meant to be constant reminders of Jack's absence.  The number of chairs is striking since the house is otherwise so empty.  Also, that black hat on the wall surely is meant to remind us of Jack (even if it really is John's hat or something).

Jeez! It's amazing how much details people are detecting. I noticed neiter the relatively many chairs nor the hat behind Ennis.
Once more I checked the screencaps at stripedwall.com (great source). I counted 4 empty chairs in the kitchen: one behind John Twist (at least this one I had noticed before), one on the right behind Ennis and two at the table between them.

I think the empty chairs are there to emphasize the emptyness of the Twist house in general and the absence of Jack. I don't think the Twists often have visitors; friends or family to come around and having a good time together (ha ha, old Twist and having a good time - an antagonism itself). I think these two people barely ever need six chairs in their kitchen. Old Twist has run off every friend they might have had a long time ago, I guess. And Mrs. Twist suffers from this. Her house, her home is an empty and lonesome place. And it gets even worse after Jack's death. For Jack's mom, his visits must have been the brightest days in her year.

Offline fernly

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Re: lovable subtle details
« Reply #259 on: July 09, 2006, 01:37:17 pm »
Quote
I think the empty chairs are there to emphasize the emptyness of the Twist house in general and the absence of Jack. I don't think the Twists often have visitors; friends or family to come around and having a good time together (ha ha, old Twist and having a good time - an antagonism itself). I think these two people barely ever need six chairs in their kitchen. Old Twist has run off every friend they might have had a long time ago, I guess. And Mrs. Twist suffers from this. Her house, her home is an empty and lonesome place. And it gets even worse after Jack's death. For Jack's mom, his visits must have been the brightest days in her year.

Oh, god, what a life she had.
The emptiness in that house is in stark (pun intended) contrast to Jack and Lureen's house, where there's, if anything, way too much stuff. A fake tiger skin throw rug over white shag. White curtains closed over most of the windows, even during the daytime. Wallpaper and some other items (I don't even know what to call them) that have criss-crossing patterns like lattice fences.
But all that 'stuff' is just cover for a whole lot of emptiness, too. Not as horribly dire as at Lightning Flat, but still really sad.
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