A very interesting subject, from back in 1997, that Artiste has opened up again, and for me, having missed it back then when it started, would like to add my story to the comments.
First of all, one of the posts that really affected me the most was this one....
I agree with Susiebell on this one. Alma, was simply overwhelmed at that moment she witnessed the reunion scene at the base of the stairs. It is simply too much information for her to process.
Nearly every time I went to the theater to see BBM, and believe me, it was more than a few; only twice was I with an audience where a few, or in most cases, many, didn't laugh.
I never did laugh. Aside from Ennis finding the shirts, this is one of the more heartbreaking scenes for me, and Michelle Williams showed acting at its best. You can just feel what she has seen, and know that at that moment, her world has just been shattered. Does he love me? Why did he marry me? Who is this Jack guy? The questions she must have had are endless.
Even the next morning as she is holding the baby, she tries to feebly wave goodbye to Ennis as he and Jack take off for the first of many fishing trips. Doubt she waved goodbye much after the second or third fishing expedition.
Even after it appears that she has sit up all night waiting for Ennis to come home from his siesta at the Siesta, she still hasn't figured it all out, but has had all night long to go over many of the possibilities. I don't think Alma even had it all quite put together even by the time she divorced Ennis. I do think she had put it all together by the time the Thanksgiving dinner rolled around after she had remarried and found herself pregnant again.
She probably never let a day or night, or waking moment go by that she didn't let this revelation that her ex-husband might be secretly gay. She probably let it eat away at her very soul until the present day if she were a real character. And that is what makes this movie so real, because there are many, many real life Alma's out there who have experienced the very same thing.
Firstly, I was upset and astounded that anyone could laugh at that scene. How could anyone not feel for Alma at that moment. And if they did not have compassion for what SHE was feeling, have some emotional fear for Ennis and Jack that this may cause some future destruction to their relationship.
When I first saw the movie, I did not know the story, when they embraced in the reunion scene I was elated, feeling so good, then when Alma opened the door, I gasped and became quite breathless, in that split second I felt an overwhelming pain for her, and at the same time I felt a fear, that the boys had been "caught". It was probably the most memorable emotional scene in the movie for me, and still haunts me even after 50 plus viewings of the movie.
There is a personal reason for my emotions over that scene, because it gave me an insight into how my own mother would have felt, back in the same time period, when she too, walked in on my father in the arms of a man.
She too, had been married to him for several years, had two daughters (me, being the youngest). She actually confronted him, I remember her telling me, the only thing she could think to threaten him with was that she would "tell his mother". In some ways, that threat seems a little bit frivolous and even humourous now, but at the time, it was the worst thing she could think of to say to him, and hurt him. Dad, then retaliated and made threats himself. He was not a violent man, never physically hurt my mum, so she was more intimidated with his threats more than afraid of them. No doubt it was a very explosive situation and a frightening one for both of them.
Somehow, believe it or not, they got through this initial confrontation. Somehow, for a couple of years afterwards, my mother accepted that my father was gay, and even accepted his gay friends. I can remember even as a 7yr old, these "friends", who we enjoyed social outings with as a family. Of course, I did not know what was actually happening, or detect anything other than that these men were friends.
It was the mid 50's, and homosexuality was illegal in Australia then, my mother was just a young housewife, raising two kids, obviously staying was a better option to her than leaving. She kept the "secret", not only because of the social reactions and embarrassment that would have been provoked but because there was the possiblity that my father would have been prosecuted by the law for his actions.
Eventually, a few years later, we moved to Sydney, 100 miles north of where we lived. But this move was their separation. Dad moved to an apartment with his male partner, and mum and us two kids, moved to another apartment. Mum got a job, and dad helped her out with the finances, and we spent a lot of weekends with Dad, and life went on from there.
Mum eventually remarried, and is 81 now, and in good health and has had a happy life.
Dad and his partner stayed together for 14 years. Dad committed suicide a few years after that partnership broke up. He was 56.
As you can see, Brokeback Mountain, had many parallels to my own life, but most importantly as I watched it (then aged 55), for the first time, I finally realized and understood both the emotions and fears that both my father and mother must have gone through all those years before.
