I watched the movie again yesterday, and after "lost count" viewings, I still saw some things that Im wondering about......
When Jack drove to Ennis's place, after he heard of his divorce, when he got there, he said....I got your card about the divorce comin thru.....here I am......
Got me to wonderin, if he was there to stay, from that day on or take Ennis away then and there......whether he had told Laureen he was leaving
I know we wont ever know, but its something to think about.
Obviously, just after that and the Mexico scene, we see them at Thanksgiving, where to me, Jack seems to show a lot of respect to Laureen about her cooking half the day...
It also shows how Jack is carrying around the anger, whereas before he would have let things slide with JD but his demeanour had changed quite a lot. He was probbly thinking..."I shouldn't be here with you, I should be with Ennis".
Something else, the divorce was granted on November 6th, Ennis must have let Jack know fairly quickly about the divorce, because Thanksgiving is not long after. You cant really blame Jack for thinking that Ennis was as eager as he was.
Hi Katie 77,
The Thanksgiving dinners fall in the year following the divorce. Her are two possible timelines for that period:
By the way sp.=screen play as published in "Brokeback Mountain:Story to Screenplay".
1975:
Nov. 6 Alma and Ennis divorce. *1.
Nov. Jack drives up to be with Ennis. Rejected.
Nov. Jack goes to Mexico.
Dec. Jack meets up with Ennis? Jack says "see you next month, then..." (sp. p.63) in the "rejection" scene. *1.
1976
April. Jack receives the “divorce” postcard. Drives up to be with Ennis. Rejected.
April. Jack goes to Mexico.
May. Jack meets up with Ennis? Jack says “see you next month, then…”(sp.p.63) in the “rejection” scene.*1.
1977:
Nov. Thanksgiving weekend. The two Thanksgiving dinners.
NOTES:
*1. One possibility is that what the judge says here is an “interlocutory” decree and not a final decree. The final decree would then have been granted some months later – say, in March or April of the following year. If Ennis sent Jack that postcard shortly after receiving the final decree, then Jack would have probably driven up in April and his reference to their meeting next month would point to May.
Another possibility is that the judge’s pronouncement is final but that Ennis spends some time getting things sorted out before sending Jack that postcard. This again could result in Jack’s driving up in April.
In general, a number of Brokies feel that it is much more likely that the meeting referred to would take place in the spring and not in wintery December. There is some textual support for this. In one of the earlier scripts for Brokeback Mountain, Jack’s line reads: “I’ll see you first week in June, then.”
