I can't say that I view or interpret some of the often quoted views the same, even (please don't throw me off the board for this) - the clothing.
Should I run now...
That does it, Silk, as moderator of this board I am officially banishing you. Get out!
No, I guess I promised when I became moderator not to let all that power go to my head.
So instead I'll just have to say, oh well, to each his own. I think we disagreed about the clothing thing before, and maybe some of the other details. You're right that Jack's jackets are heavier and warmer, as befits his higher income, but re layers I was thinking of how, in key scenes on Brokeback, Jack is often one layer ahead of Ennis -- he takes off his jacket in the first tent scene and his shirt in the second. In the reunion scene, Ennis is wearing fewer layers, but that's the exception that proves the rule: in that scene Ennis leads the way to intimacy.
As for colors, there are only few exceptions to Ennis' code of always wearing blue when he misses Jack and wearing something more predominantly tan when he's with Jack and feeling skittish (sometimes a plaid, but one that's more tan than blue). Again, it's not absolute but it seems too recurrent to be accidental.
Luckily, I stopped short in the email of outlining my theories about Jack's subdued shirt colors after the divorce scene and Ennis' gray jacket in the last few scenes!
And if you think some of the other tiny details might seem doubtful to someone who's not a Brokeback devotee, imagine if I'd included -- as I was tempted to do -- the idea of the cherry cake representing yin/yang symbols!
yeah, it is really difficult to convey that emotional impact of the film. i still haven't been able to figure out how to talk about it either. all i can do is give anecdotal stories that others posted about their own experiences. in a way, those are the stories that move me. ... I wonder if you might challenge those three to see the film again and see if they still have the same opinions, if they might not catch more details and nuance of the film, and if they might not find that emotional connection.
But even with those powerful anecdotes I'm afraid that, while we find them moving, people who don't "get it" may just dismiss them as nutty, or at best just assume those people must have some specific personal reason to connect with the film. (Not to minimize its importance for people who
do have a specific personal reason, only making the point that you can be deeply affected even if you don't.)
I like your idea of challenging them to a second viewing, though. If the email exchange continues, I'll give that a shot, and also try to broach the emotional thing somehow.
Now I'm wishing I had gotten feedback from you guys before I hit "send," because your suggestions would have been helpful. Oh well. Next time.
Mel and Natali, your posts jcame in as I was writing this. I agree, if I were talking to someone who'd never seen the movie, or who refused to see it, I would emphasize the heartbreaking love story aspect, too. But all three people I was talking to
have seen it, so they already know whether they are moved by the story or not. And as I said, I have never met two of them, though from what I gather they seem reasonably open-minded and sophisticated movie goers. But their biggest complaint about the movie seemed to be that "nothing happens," so I tried to convey that actually a lot happens, but much of it subtle or beneath the surface.
