'We was herding sheep one summer, back in '63'
by fionaman1 (Thu Aug 10 2006 15:28:23 )
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This has to be one of saddest lines ever omitted by a "fictional" person. There is something about it that makes me lose it. I guess it's because it brings me back to the beginning, when Jack and Ennis were so young and hopeful, when they were together. It breaks my heart completely.
Find your own way.
Re: 'We was herding sheep one summer, back in '63'
by ailuro (Thu Aug 10 2006 16:01:43 )
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Yes fionaman, I agree & I think a lot of the impact has to do with Heath Ledger's delivery.
That little pause just before he says, "back in '63" does it for me.
Re: 'We was herding sheep one summer, back in '63'
by daphne7661 (Thu Aug 10 2006 16:06:46 )
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I agree, too, ailuro... That hint of a pause "...back in '63" And all the beauty of their love on that mountain comes rushing back to me in a huge wave as Heath says it!!!
Even Lureen can feel it... I think it's at this moment that she realizes what all the fuss was about with Jack and Brokeback and why he "...always said it was his favorite place..."
I can't believe what a sadness rolls over me when I write of all these things in this film... I am literally crying slow, stinging, sad tears as I write this!!
...Nice to know ya, Ennis del Mar...
Re: 'We was herding sheep one summer, back in '63'
by Chaplin_fan (Thu Aug 10 2006 17:21:56 )
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I can't believe what a sadness rolls over me when I write of all these things in this film... I am literally crying slow, stinging, sad tears as I write this!!
I'm right there with you, Daphne. I first saw it back in February, I have seen it approximately 20 times now (the first five of which in the theatre), and it still has a mysterious yet warm and wonderful grip on me that I hope will never end. I have never experienced anything like it, and I doubt I ever will again. It is a masterpiece, on so many levels.
Ennis + Lureen: Both devastated (spoilers)
by LauraGigs (Thu Aug 10 2006 16:09:47 )
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The whole conversation is so powerful. I don't get it when people say either of them was cold or unemotional. Lureen's account of the 'accident' is dry, but many folks have said that when they have to retell the details of a loved one's death, their delivery becomes very rote so they can get through it.
As the conversation moves on, she gets more and more emotional until the very end, when she barely keeps it together. (And there are so many possibilities there: how much does she know about Jack?. . . etc.)
And Ennis is devastated too. What a way for the 2 main people in Jack's life to connect! (from an artistic point of view, I mean . . .)
Re: Ennis + Lureen: Both devastated (spoilers)
by watergarden (Thu Aug 10 2006 16:29:04 )
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UPDATED Thu Aug 10 2006 16:30:33
I am influenced by the screenplay which says, at the end of their phone coversation,"Although she is polite, she is as cold as ice. In the short story, Proulx writes, "No doubt about it, she was polite, but the little voice was as cold as snow."
The explanation of the "accident," does sound rote. But she changes. I think she is stunned and becomes very distant as soon as she hears, " No, ma'am, we herded sheep up on Brokeback one summer..." I interpret her speaking, thereafter, as cold, but, perhaps, I am too severe.
Re: Ennis + Lureen: Both devastated (spoilers)
by vhw11 (Thu Aug 10 2006 17:24:30 )
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Thank you for the thread.
It's indeed heartbreaking and haunting.
It's the first time Ennis making contact to Jack's "world".
It's the first time Ennis exceeding his tiny world to reach out in Jack's.
It's the first time Ennis learning his rival of other sex.
It't the first time Ennis realizing Jack's love in him on Brokeback Mountain.
It's the first time Ennis telling about he and Jack "herded sheep up on Brokeback Mountain, ... back in 63".
It's the first time Ennis stopping the "we are fishing bodies" lies.
Suddenly I realized that Ennis had been so frightened as to even lied the "friendship" and the place of Brokeback Mountain. Only after Jack's death he is then freely to speak of Jack and when and where they met first.
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right-on, vhw11!
by toycoon (Tue Sep 12 2006 10:17:06 )
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So many 'first times' for Ennis.
The second half of the film is mesmerizing (and heartbreaking, yes but well worth the wait) to me. Speaking to Lureen, Ennis learns so much not only about Jack but about himself as well. It's the first time he stops lying about all of his feelings for Jack. I think he consciously makes a vow to stop the pretense and start paying attention to what really matters.
I love the scene later on when he's in his trailer with his daughter, Jr. and he catches himself lapsing back into his bad behavior then changes his mind about attending her wedding.
Re: right-on, vhw11!
by latjoreme (Tue Sep 12 2006 11:11:11 )
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I am influenced by the screenplay which says, at the end of their phone coversation,"Although she is polite, she is as cold as ice. In the short story, Proulx writes, "No doubt about it, she was polite, but the little voice was as cold as snow."
The explanation of the "accident," does sound rote. But she changes. I think she is stunned and becomes very distant as soon as she hears, " No, ma'am, we herded sheep up on Brokeback one summer..." I interpret her speaking, thereafter, as cold, but, perhaps, I am too severe.
I see this as another case where the filmmakers consciously decided to alter the nature of a character. Lureen is more sympathetic in the film, more complex. Her explanation of the accident is ambiguous. Does it sound rote because she's still stunned with grief or because she's lying? Or maybe because she's trying to convince herself?
Her tears and little squeaks upon hearing about Jack and Ennis' relationship -- particularly when she discovers that it's been going on for 20 years and realizes how much she didn't know about her husband -- don't sound cold as snow to me.
Despite all that, she does Ennis a huge kindness by suggesting he get in touch with Jack's folks -- about the ashes, I mean.
Re: right-on, vhw11!
by SnickerD (Tue Sep 12 2006 13:31:04 )
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UPDATED Tue Sep 12 2006 13:36:53
The explanation of the "accident," does sound rote. But she changes. I think she is stunned and becomes very distant as soon as she hears, " No, ma'am, we herded sheep up on Brokeback one summer..." I interpret her speaking, thereafter, as cold, but, perhaps, I am too severe.
>>If that doesnt show the coldness perhaps her hanging up the phone with a slam with not so much as a goodbye, or thanks for calling, anything of common courtesy<<
>>I also find her little whimper{s} cold as ice IMO<<
>>To the OP, I couldnt agree more (as others)this line is the first step in many for Ennis to finally come to grips with what has and is happening. Delivered so passionatly by Mr. Ledger. Bringing we the observers back to their Eden<<
Gotta Love *Our* Boys!
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Re: right-on, vhw11!
by muscla_1 (Tue Feb 20 2007 21:35:47 )
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UPDATED Tue Feb 20 2007 21:36:55
Her tears and little squeaks upon hearing about Jack and Ennis' relationship -- particularly when she discovers that it's been going on for 20 years and realizes how much she didn't know about her husband -- don't sound cold as snow to me.
COLD? Are you all HIGH?!?
THAT is the moment when she realizes who Ennis IS, that he's been Jack's lover for over 20 years, that she never really knew her husband, and, months after his death, is being confronted with the fact that she WASN'T the love of Jack's life, but rather Ennis was.
She was absolutely devastated and trying not to completely lose it.
She may have had her suspicions about Jack, but in that one brief little moment...SHE KNOWS.
"Jack, I swear..."
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Re: 'We was herding sheep one summer, back in '63'
by stephen-mellor (Fri Oct 20 2006 04:14:56 )
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I started tearing up just from the thread title....
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bump
by northernplains (Thu Nov 30 2006 23:52:53 )
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bump
Re: bump
by shortfic (Fri Dec 1 2006 13:55:05 )
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It's a critical moment when Ennis speaks those words, because it's also when Lureen realizes, with clarity, what BBM has meant to Jack all those years--and it had nothing to do with her or their son. It's as if something finally dawned on her.
"Say thank you, Gilbert. Say thank you."
