A million unanswered questions
by BannerHill (Fri Oct 13 2006 23:32:49 )
UPDATED Sat Oct 14 2006 00:00:19
Brokeback Mountain leaves a million questions unanswered and few answered at all. Is this part of what makes it so....fascinating?
At first, I thought the ending was sad. Now, I don't know if it is sad or not. Actually it seems a bit upbeat, all things considered.
There is so much we don't know.
Would Ennis have met another man if he hadn't met Jack? Don't know.
Would Ennis and Jack have worked out if they had embarked on a life together? Don't know.
Did Jack's mother know the shirts were in the closet? Don't know.
Was Jack's father homophobic?
Did Alma Jr know about her father?
Did Lureen know who Ennis was?
Don't know
Don't know
Don't know
Sometimes it feels like I don't know anything about this film; just have a lot of ideas. So many questions left unanswered.
Re: A million unanswered questions
by Ellemeno (Sat Oct 14 2006 01:40:40 ) BannerHill, my friend, one thing I do know, is that you gave me one of the greatest gifts of my life by getting me to AnglessFest at the Aero. I have been remembering that experience recently, since reading about people's experiences seeing Gustavo speak and play in New York the other night.
Take care, friend,
Elle
knowing
by malina-5 (Sat Oct 14 2006 22:07:36 ) There ARE a million unanswered questsions (god, i really can't type when i've been drinking! very odd.. it's the first thing to go, i don't even feel drunk)
there are,.. but even stranger in a way to me is how we do 'know' things.
I "know" what Ennis was thinking at such and such a time etc. Of course we don't know. But I definitely feel like I know things that I reallyhave no concerte basis for knowing, vis a vis this movie.
I was with a friend on the beach just now and of course I cn't go very long before bringing up BBM. She hasn't seen it, but she brought up that tired old question of why they didn't get gay actors to play Jack and Ennis. How can straight actors "know" what it would've been like?
I don't know. But Jake and Heath did. Somewhow . It's possible to tap into ways of knowing even when there's no obvious reason why you should know such a thing.
Maybe what Annie did was to create a sort of vehicle for many truths to come through. While other things remain deliberately unstated, vague or blurry.
Re: knowing
by jimmyt012587 (Sun Oct 15 2006 09:40:54 ) Was jack murdered or did he actually die pumping his tyres? the scene which showed jack getting beat up makes me think he got murdered?
Re: A million unanswered questions
by BannerHill (Wed Oct 18 2006 12:43:50 ) Ellemeno:
It was my great pleasure to kind of help organize that amazing evening. For those of you who weren't there. A group of us from IMDB sat three rows back from the fron and about 10 (ten) feet from Jake and Heath. It was pretty neat
Re: A million unanswered questions
by daphne7661 (Wed Oct 18 2006 12:50:58 ) malina wrote -
I was with a friend on the beach just now and of course I cn't go very long before bringing up BBM. She hasn't seen it, but she brought up that tired old question of why they didn't get gay actors to play Jack and Ennis. How can straight actors "know" what it would've been like?
I don't know. But Jake and Heath did. Somewhow . It's possible to tap into ways of knowing even when there's no obvious reason why you should know such a thing.
malina & BannerHill ...
I think, following our discussion yesterday about a higher power and the lessons of LOVE coming through this film, that Heath & Jake felt this, too. At least the love part. Not that I'm an actor, but I would think that it doesn't matter who you're portraying (gay, straight, bi, whatever...), they portrayed two people in love. Everyone knows what that feels like, or how they would think it feels.
...Nice to know ya, Ennis del Mar...
Re: A million unanswered questions
by latjoreme (Wed Oct 18 2006 13:09:19 ) BannerHill wrote:Brokeback Mountain leaves a million questions unanswered and few answered at all. Is this part of what makes it so....fascinating?
It's certainly one of the factors. Even among people who love the movie, there are so many disagreements about all its mysteries: which character was thinking what, why did so and so say or do such and such, what would have happened if ...? If we put all the questions you asked and all the other questions that the movie leaves unanswered into one giant list, I bet no two of us would answer all of them the same way.
Re: A million unanswered questions
by anml-lvr (Wed Dec 6 2006 08:59:05 ) I guess a good actor is a good actor and can make us believe anything.
Ellen Degeneres playing a straight person just wasn't realistic, however, maybe she is best at comedy.
I often wondered how could Jake and Heath be so believable in their roles. They convinced all of us they were actually in love. Brillant.
It is going to take me sometime to actually see them as who they are and not Jack and Ennis. I have been moved by their acting beyond words.
Re: A million unanswered questions
by pianocellolove (Wed Dec 6 2006 09:30:50 ) I just love it when people bump up these interesting former threads!
I have the same what-ifs. and perhaps the unanswered questions makes this film so intriguing. Most, if not all of us have expereinced a kind of love and devotion that may go beyond our understanding. (Perhaps me and the NyQuil/DayQuil should speak for ourselves***I have a cold***) That's what pulled me in and keeps me stuck in the same place. I long to understand but perhaps the old saying ignorance is bliss is a good thing. I dunno.
*sigh*
Sometimes you just wish that things could be different. Maybe understanding would heal so many personal broken dreams for not only Jack and Ennis but for so many others, self included, out there.
Would be nice!
PCL
Re: A million unanswered questions
by malina-5 (Wed Oct 18 2006 13:58:10 ) <<For those of you who weren't there. A group of us from IMDB sat three rows back from the fron and about 10 (ten) feet from Jake and Heath. It was pretty neat >>
you guys did WHAT?? you got to meet each other AND sit 10 feet from Jake and Heath? I am so jealous!!
But I'm really glad you got to do that. It must've been amazing.
Re: A million unanswered questions
by eisforemma (Wed Oct 18 2006 13:11:05 ) Does Heath not say 'I hope this films asks more questions that is answered,', or something similar?
Re: A million unanswered questions
by BannerHill (Wed Oct 25 2006 05:24:35 )
I'm not sure if Ennis says this.
Re: A million unanswered questions
by Rontrigger (Wed Nov 22 2006 10:57:13 ) Perhaps it's time to repost a thread on that wonderful evening at the Aero last February--which I dearly wish I could have taken part in.
Anyone with more expertise, and who composed one of the threads as a participant, wanna give it a shot? I wouldn't mind re-living it vicariously (again!), and some of our newcomers had no idea it ever occurred.
"You can't have Ennis without Jack."--Annie Proulx
Re: A million unanswered questions
by malina-5 (Wed Nov 22 2006 11:28:37 ) <<Perhaps it's time to repost a thread on that wonderful evening at the Aero last February--which I dearly wish I could have taken part in. >>
Yes please .. I would love to re-live it vicariously for the first time!
And I love that there are people who save threads and can repost them. And I love that I'm getting tastes of the early days that I missed.
In fact - in honour of American Thanksgiving tomorrow - I am thankful for these things. I'm thankful for the community.
Is anyone planning to slice their turkey with a Monroe-style electric carving knife? I'd love to get hold of one of those... vintage, of course..
Re: A million unanswered questions (Possible spoilers)
by Isaac5855 (Wed Dec 6 2006 10:00:04 ) You bring up several interesting questions and I would like to weigh in on a couple of them.
Do I think Ennis would have met another man if he hadn't met Jack? No, I don't. I think what happened between Ennis and Jack was a special unique situation created out of their loneliness and isolation on that mountain. If you remember their first encounter, Ennis' first response was to fight it. When they were wrestling on the grass later and Jack overpowered him and hit him in the face, he had to hit him back. This was another manifestation of Ennis fighting this whole thing. Ennis never would have been involved with any other man. Do I think Jack would have met someone else if he hadn't met Ellis? Yes. Jack eventually comes to a point where he accepts his bisexuality even if he doesn't put a label on it. Ennis never does.
Would Ennis and Jack have worked if they had embarked on a life together? I think they would have had a better chance if they had gotten together before they married and had children. If they had gotten together at the end of the movie with everything that had happened? I don't think so...I think Ennis' guilt over his girls and his inability to forget about Jack's adventures in Mexico would have eventually destroyed them.
If Jack's mother didn't know about the shirts, I don't think she would have sent Ennis up there. She sent him up there, he didn't ask to go up there,
Did Lorene know about Ennis? That's a real puzzler. Every time I watch the movie my opinion changes about this. There is a coldness in her tone when she's telling Ennis about how Jack died that implies that she did, but I can't say for sure.
