Reposted from the Archives...
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The White Truck that goes by...
by jv_rules_1 (Sun Apr 2 2006 08:28:52 )
There is probably a thread about this but i looked for it a bit and didnt find it..
but remember, right after ennis got his divorce and jack comes to see him all so happy,
ennis tells him that he has his daughters for the weekend etc etc.. but during that conversation, he looks afar and sees a white truck pass... then, jack turns back and looks at it as well.
what could this possibly mean???
Re: The White Truck that goes by...
by stitchbuffymoulinfan (Sun Apr 2 2006 08:42:25 )
That Ennis was uncomfortable with the thought that maybe somebody was watching them, and knew.
www.jlodown.com www.petitionspot.com/petitions/jlodown Re: The White Truck that goes by...
by naun (Sun Apr 2 2006 08:57:39 )
UPDATED Sun Apr 2 2006 09:00:18
As someone pointed out in another thread, Jack has just told Ennis that he has asked "about ten people" for his address, and Ennis, always afraid of being found out, is suddenly very edgy about passing strangers. (P.S. I see stitchbuffy has pointed out the same thing here, as well.)
On a symbolic level, the white truck is one of several elements in this scene that may be significant. First of all, the truck is white, and some have suggested that white is a colour associated in this movie with death (or judgement, or fate, or some such idea). Think of Ennis waking up alone in the snow, or the stark white of the Twist home. Second, we hear crows (or ravens, or whatever they are) in the background in this scene, and there is a crow flying above the truck. Crows, of course, are also a symbol of death. When Ennis opens the window in Jack's room at the end of the movie, we hear crows again. Third, several people have suggested that this scene is the emotional turning-point of the film, the point at which the relationship becomes doomed. I have a feeling that Jack's truck reversing away from Ennis when he departs in this scene serves as a visual signal of this turning-point.
Just a random association to finish off, but the combination of crows, open crop fields, and a vivid sky somehow reminds me of those Van Gogh paintings of similar subjects.
Re: The White Truck that goes by...
by naun (Sun Apr 2 2006 10:00:31 )
UPDATED Sun Apr 2 2006 10:05:42
A further speculative thought on the white truck. I'm toying with the idea that there may be an internal direction scheme in this film. Others have previously pointed out that the truck that Ennis is travelling in at the beginning of the film goes in the opposite direction from the one he travels in at the end. But perhaps, just perhaps, there is room to develop this thought.
In fateful scenes like the post-divorce encounter and the "deceased" postcard scene we see a truck travelling from right to left. But in scenes of liberation or escape, like the first fishing trip or Jack's flight to Mexico, the truck travels from left to right. When Ennis travels home from Lightning Flat, his truck travels left to right. I am tempted by the idea that the white truck and crow travelling from right to left in the post-divorce scene are symbolically headed toward Lightning Flat.
Re: The White Truck that goes by...
by dancinjinn (Sun Apr 2 2006 10:25:04 )
UPDATED Sun Apr 2 2006 10:49:57
Naun,
That's interesting you mention that white seems to be associated with death or fate in the film because in China and Taiwan, white is the death color. I'd seen a lot of discussion of meanings of colors in this film but had somehow missed the symbolism of the color white.
And speaking of colors in Chinese culture, red is the color of happiness. I don't remember seeing much red in the film (maybe on the post office?) but I haven't seen the movie in a long time. If red was on the post office right before the last postcard scene, I wonder what it meant. Maybe that Ennis was finally ready to accept happiness for himself until his plans were dashed by the postcard.
I'll refresh my memory of film colors on April 4 but would still be interested in what anyone else thinks/remembers.
Red
by tryagain-5 (Mon Apr 3 2006 11:39:33 )
OMG, if red is happiness, in the reunions scene, Jack is wearing red and I think he's driving a red truck. Talk about happiness!
Red
by dancinjinn (Sun Apr 9 2006 07:23:03 )
Yeah, I had forgotten about the red truck until I saw the movie on DVD. That scene of the red truck heading into the mountains during the reunion is one of the happiest scenes I've ever seen.
Of course, there's also Lureen's red hat and her initial association with red. Not sure how that figures into the happiness theme. Guess she just started out as a happy person until all the color drained out of her and her hair went blond?
Re: The White Truck that goes by...
by LauraGigs (Sun Apr 2 2006 10:26:29 )
UPDATED Tue Apr 11 2006 08:01:34
Hmmm.... For westerners at least, left-to-right movement is said to feel "natural", so according to film/drama 101 books, right-to-left movement across a stage or screen is meant to suggest disturbance and be somewhat jarring. The truck is also going uphill -- against gravity, against nature.
Many trucks of the time (such as the one Jack drives that day) had 2 contrasting colors, so the all-white color of the passing truck is no accident. I definitely agree it suggests death (White : Chinese culture :: Black : Western culture).
Someone posted on another thread that the moment they saw snow outside the tent the last morning on Brokeback, they knew Jack would die.
(Interesting that Ennis seems bothered by the fact that Jack asked 10 people where he was. It means 9 out of 10 people in that tiny community didn't know, and therefore Ennis had much more privacy and anonymity than his paranoia allowed him to believe!)
Re: The White Truck that goes by...
by naun (Sun Apr 2 2006 16:26:26 )
UPDATED Sun Apr 2 2006 16:39:14
For westerners at least, left-to-right movement is said to feel "natural", so according to film/drama 101 books, right-to-left movement across a stage or screen is meant to suggest disturbance and be somewhat jarring. Also IIRC, the truck is going uphill -- against gravity, against nature.
Thanks for this bit of information, laura. Ang Lee obviously read the same drama 101 texts that you did! I believe you're right as well about the truck going up a slope.
the all-white color of the passing truck is no accident. I definitely agree it suggests death (White : Chinese culture :: Black : Western culture).
With the white truck and the black crow, Lee has his bases covered.
The colour white has another, related association that I'm hoping somebody can shed light on. Puritanism was, I understand, an outgrowth of the Reformation, a period when many churches were literally whitewashed, resulting in severe interiors very like the Twist family home. Can anyone out there elaborate on the significance of the colour white in this religious movement?
Re: The White Truck that goes by...
by jeaniebaby001 (Sun May 14 2006 13:43:13 )
UPDATED Sun May 14 2006 23:38:47
Hmmm.... For westerners at least, left-to-right movement is said to feel "natural", so according to film/drama 101 books, right-to-left movement across a stage or screen is meant to suggest disturbance and be somewhat jarring. The truck is also going uphill -- against gravity, against nature.
In the openning scene of the movie, the train was going from right to left (but the afterimage you get is left to right), wiping out Heath in the background...then, slowly, Jake's black truck meanders up the road, ominously, from right-to-left.... spoooky. very edgar allen poe.
"William Buckley wrote a book at Yale; I read one"~ GW Bush
I'll hug your elephant if you kiss my ass
Re: The White Truck that goes by...
by NewHorizons37 (Sun Apr 2 2006 17:40:25 )
UPDATED Sun Apr 2 2006 17:41:21
several people have suggested that this scene is the emotional turning-point of the film, the point at which the relationship becomes doomed. I have a feeling that Jack's truck reversing away from Ennis when he departs in this scene serves as a visual signal of this turning-point.
That's a good way to put it. It always struck me when watching that scene, that there was plenty of room for Jack to turn around so he could drive out facing forward, yet he backed out. He was looking back toward the way he had come in, symbolically looking at the past, a time when he had hope for the relationship. Very powerful.
Re: The White Truck that goes by...
by latjoremekeed (Sun Apr 2 2006 17:44:36 )
the truck is white, and some have suggested that white is a colour associated in this movie with death (or judgement, or fate, or some such idea). Think of Ennis waking up alone in the snow, or the stark white of the Twist home. Second, we hear crows (or ravens, or whatever they are) in the background in this scene, and there is a crow flying above the truck. Crows, of course, are also a symbol of death. When Ennis opens the window in Jack's room at the end of the movie, we hear crows again. Third, several people have suggested that this scene is the emotional turning-point of the film, the point at which the relationship becomes doomed. I have a feeling that Jack's truck reversing away from Ennis when he departs in this scene serves as a visual signal of this turning-point.
Very nicely analyzed and expressed, Naun!
Re: The White Truck that goes by...
by amandazehnder (Mon Apr 3 2006 07:16:33 )
Wow. I love threads that are about the symbolism in the movie. The discussions above are great. This really is a turning point moment... after which Jack never quite seems to be the same again. He smiles less and less, etc. After watching the film several times I get increasingly frustrated with Ennis at this point. I just want to shake him to wake him up to realize that Jack is more important than what the random guy in the truck might be thinking. Ennis keeps missing opportunities for happiness during the 20 year relationship and this is probably the biggest. I think the look of guilt on Ennis's face as Jack turns to go back to his truck is great.
It was probably also something of a mistake for Jack to surprise Ennis like that. I would think he'd know that that would ruffle Ennis's feathers. Jack's patience is amazing in that he doesn't think twice about coming back in a month for their normal meeting. I mean he just learned that not only does Ennis not have the courage to live with him... he doesn't have the courage to be seen with him. Sad.
Re: The White Truck that goes by...
by LauraGigs (Mon Apr 3 2006 10:33:46 )
UPDATED Tue Apr 11 2006 08:06:10
"The colour white has another, related association that I'm hoping somebody can shed light on. Puritanism was, I understand, an outgrowth of the Reformation, a period when many churches were literally whitewashed, resulting in severe interiors very like the Twist family home. Can anyone out there elaborate on the significance of the colour white in this religious movement?"
The Reformation, essentially, protested the excesses and "idolatry" of the Roman Catholic establishment. In decor and dress, this expressed itself in bare-bones practicality and simplicity. Churches were simple, whitewashed wooden structures (and priests wore what has evolved into the all-black outfit with white in the center of the collar, which we see today). This aesthetic dovetailed nicely with frontier life in the newly-settled United States (Shaker furniture, for example). Many settlers were protestant, and there wasn't much room for frivolity in the settlement lifestyle. The color white has a general connotation of purity, but doesn't have the strong, specific associations that it seems to have in the Far East.
So anyway, the sparsity of decor in the senior Twists' home has a direct precedent and significance. And its white interior sets off the few, significant decorative items therein such as the crucifix and (Jack's?) black hat.
Re: The White Truck that goes by...
by jlilya (Sun Apr 9 2006 04:38:54 )
In the following scene when Jack is heading home we see Jack in his pickup crying with his hand/arm up to his face. He is wearing what I assume is a wedding ring (commitment) and a watch (time). He shakes his head to clear away the crying as if he's saying "No". I think that this basically reinforces what he's thinking " I've wasted enough time on Ennis, times running out, I need to find someone new, he doesn't deserve my commitment". I think it is the beginning of these feelings anyway. And as we see with the prostitute and Randall, thats where Jack goes.
Re: The White Truck that goes by...
by jaaguir (Mon Apr 3 2006 11:29:52 )
I know this may be slightly off-topic on this thread but I hope I'm not bothering you. naun wrote:
"As someone pointed out in another thread, Jack has just told Ennis that he has asked "about ten people" for his address, and Ennis, always afraid of being found out, is suddenly very edgy about passing strangers."
Did anybody notice there's a shot in the movie's trailer that shows two men that look like mechanics in front of their garage staring at something off camera? Do you think this shot could refer to when Jack is asking for Ennis' directions around town?
Just a thought.
Re: The White Truck that goes by...
by taj_e (Mon May 15 2006 07:23:13 )
Just a random association to finish off, but the combination of crows, open crop fields, and a vivid sky somehow reminds me of those Van Gogh paintings of similar subjects
Interesting Naun
Most of Van Gogh's paintings look the same to me. Not that I know them by name nor understand them, but are you saying it talks about death/judgement/fate or similar?
