Is it back???? Time again for moustaches?

[newyearsday]

I agree with you Amanda--it's a good topic, with some very neat detours along the way about ageism in the movies, and in life. At least we know that in the story, they were getting down to bidness right up till the end. I so wish they had showed that at the last scene of them sitting and talking by the river at night.

This is my first time over here to the open forum, and I'm liking what I see. Nice to know that 6 months later, there are STILL things to be talking about in the movie that haven't been discussed before.

[serious crayons]

Welcome, Jenny! Glad to have you join us here.

I think they do kind of imply that in the last scene -- that quick shot of them together in the tent -- and I am glad that shot made it into the movie. Still, I wish it had been a little more, um, intense.

[newyearsday]

Yeah, for me, it was a nice shot, and is some people's favorite frame in the movie, but a very different portrayal of their relationship than the book showed at that particular point.

[Brown Eyes]

Yeah, for me, it was a nice shot, and is some people's favorite frame in the movie, but a very different portrayal of their relationship than the book showed at that particular point.

I'm guessing that Lee is letting the audience imagine and assume that their relationship continued to be physical.  Some of the glimpses of their later camping trips are so brief that we hardly have time to get our bearings or to see much real interaction between Jack and Ennis at all.  I do think this is a minor flaw with the movie.  I would prefer to have seen more of the later conversations (not to mention love scenes) between Jack and Ennis, and I mean conversations that weren't filled with tension and arguments.  I feel like we often find ourselves learning more about the Lureen/Alma/Cassie/Randall characters and their involvement in our boys' lives than we learn about how the main relationship actually developed.  I'm guessing that Lee is trying to make the audience actually feel the same kind of frustration that Jack feels when he says "never enough time, never enough".  I mean I know I'm frustrated by the lack of time the camera spends on the two of them together in the second half of the film.
 

[serious crayons]

I do think this is a minor flaw with the movie.  I would prefer to have seen more of the later conversations (not to mention love scenes) between Jack and Ennis, and I mean conversations that weren't filled with tension and arguments.  I feel like we often find ourselves learning more about the Lureen/Alma/Cassie/Randall characters and their involvement in our boys' lives than we learn about how the main relationship actually developed.  I'm guessing that Lee is trying to make the audience actually feel the same kind of frustration that Jack feels when he says "never enough time, never enough".  I mean I know I'm frustrated by the lack of time the camera spends on the two of them together in the second half of the film.

Me too. And though I understand Ang Lee's objective, I sometimes think he may have gone a bit TOO far. Just because something's a masterpiece doesn't mean it's perfect. Surely there could be some happy medium -- a teeny glimpse, at least, of the brilliant charge of their infrequent couplings.

[David In Indy]

Ha ha ha!    I know what you meant.   

Very true though.    The public likes to see the "Pretty People" in their movies and love scenes.    Let's face it,  the actors were not anything like the descriptions in the original story.  

It is a cold reality in the work force too.  Companies like to hire an attractive receptionist and sales reps.    If you were born with exceptional good looks, you go alot farther in life that us who don't.  

Yes. Didn't the author describe Ennis as a "buck tooth youth" or something like that? That is a far cry from Heath Ledger! Still, I sure was happy to see Heath up there on the screen.

[Brown Eyes]

Hi David,
Proulx describes her version of Jack as having an overbite.  Jack is made significantly more glamourous in the movie.
 

[serious crayons]

Great minds, Amanda! I just two minutes ago finished a post on this very subject in the "Randall really is" thread! 

[David In Indy]

Hi David,
Proulx describes her version of Jack as having an overbite.  Jack is made significantly more glamourous in the movie.
 

Amanda. Ah! Thank you. Yes, Jake Gyllenhaal is a far cry from Annie Proulx's description of Jack.

[Rayn]

Amanda. Ah! Thank you. Yes, Jake Gyllenhaal is a far cry from Annie Proulx's description of Jack.

Annie said she thought Jake was "too pretty" for the part. If you've read the book, you know he is,
but I don't mind that at all!   

Rayn