Why is the "dozy embrace" in the film?

[Front-Ranger]

I also wonder if the scene where Ennis is comforting the infant Jennie is a "bookend" to the dozy embrace. There are things that are similar, the way he's rocking her, and perhaps he's murmuring to her. The hand movements are similar. But she is facing towards him, and it would have been awkward the other way around. To me, it is a reminder that we all carry within us the memory of being small, lonely, and vulnerable, and of being held and comforted by a loving parent. Somewhere along the way of growing up we lose that reassuring feeling, only to find it again if/when we meet our true love.

Also, I'm glad some people listened to the lullaby! Isn't it incredible??

[Andrew]

Another bookend is the very next scene, in which Alma " comes and sits behind Ennis, wraps her skinny arms around him."  Ennis is exhausted, his eyes closed like Jack's in the dozy scene, asleep-awake.  In this scene Alma is talking of their moving away, back into town, whereas Ennis in the dozy scene is thinking of getting up to the sheep.  The similarity is meant to point up all the contrasts between Riverton and the mountain, between the relationship with Alma and the relationship with Jack.

[Front-Ranger]

Thank you for pointing that out! I never saw that scene that way before, but you're right. One thing that struck me about that scene is that everything is a shade of brown. There is a little bit of blue or green in Alma's gown but not much. And there are a lot of patterns, which someone has pointed out tend to underscore the feelings of ambivalence in the scene.

[dly64]

Another bookend is the very next scene, in which Alma " comes and sits behind Ennis, wraps her skinny arms around him."  Ennis is exhausted, his eyes closed like Jack's in the dozy scene, asleep-awake.  In this scene Alma is talking of their moving away, back into town, whereas Ennis in the dozy scene is thinking of getting up to the sheep.  The similarity is meant to point up all the contrasts between Riverton and the mountain, between the relationship with Alma and the relationship with Jack.

I think it is interesting to note in this scene that Alma mentions to Ennis that, “you don’t want it to be so lonely ….” Ennis’ reaction, albeit subtle, is one in which he is thinking of Jack … he is “lonely” for Jack.  It is no coincidence that he flips Alma over and gets her in the “back door.” Similarly, Jack’s face reflects his sadness when he is dancing with Lureen and the song says … “I know sometimes you felt so lonely. Sometimes you felt so sad and blue  ….”  It is Ennis he is thinking about at that moment.

To me, it is a reminder that we all carry within us the memory of being small, lonely, and vulnerable, and of being held and comforted by a loving parent. Somewhere along the way of growing up we lose that reassuring feeling, only to find it again if/when we meet our true love.

Beautifully said. I couldn’t agree more.

Also, I'm glad some people listened to the lullaby! Isn't it incredible??

LOVE IT!! I actually went on to Amazon to buy it. It’s simply to beautiful to forget about it later.

[Front-Ranger]

No, FR, it sounds like that Andrew, littledarlin (from Chicago) is just busy in his personal life - that's what he said in his last post.  I'm sure he'll use the same moniker when he gets back, which I hope will be soon.  I'm Andrew from Boston.

Do you know how we can get Chicago Andrew to come back in time for his birthday???

[Katie77]

This topic and this forum - every now and then I step back and realize how lucky I am I found them, and all of you!
 


An important word in Proulx's sentence for me has always been the adverb:  "Nothing marred it, even the knowledge that Ennis would not then embrace him face to face..."  This is Jack looking back on the whole history of their times together: "Later, that dozy embrace solidified in his memory..."  In all their years this is the single moment of artless, charmed happiness...yet this was at a very early stage of their love before they had any inkling of what it would become over the years.  Their love on Brokeback had all the perfection of the newborn and all the newborn's lacks, and Jack is relishing the one though aware of the other, from the vantage of years.  Denial was still possible on Brokeback - you had only not to look at what you were doing!  We are not told in the story how long after their first pairing this embrace was, but IF they did embrace face to face that first summer at a time when it was light enough to see each other's faces, the dozy embrace was a waystation to that daylit embrace.  What a dimension Proulx adds to the story with her deliberate mystery!  She does not say whether they kissed on Brokeback, or kissed when it was light.  What we are allowed to see is always set off against what we are not.

You are sooooooo right there Andrew....the word "then" is very important, because it reflects that "then" he didnt hug him face to face as a before and after....after, being the time when he did hug him face to face......it shows how far and  how much the affection changed, and how Ennis's shyness did disappear "afterwards".....

The dozy embrace, is him remembering the beginning of their love story, at a time when it was about to end.....and it is all the more significant because it is the last time we see them together.....

[Rutella]

One of the things that really breaks my heart with the dozy embrace is suddenly seeing how young they are on Brokeback. Every time I watch it I never think of them as looking especially young at the beginning and then as they get older I don't really notice it ('cept for the tache). Then boom, flashback scene and I see all that hope and youth and I burst into tears near on every time.   

[dly64]

One of the things that really breaks my heart with the dozy embrace is suddenly seeing how young they are on Brokeback.

It is interesting that you mention that point. Although this didn't make it into the movie (it would have been hard to depict), Ennis begins dreaming about Jack (after Jack has died). Ennis sees Jack as he (Jack) was when they first met on BBM. They had youth and freedom. They didn’t have all of those years of heartbreak. It was just the two of them, and nothing else mattered. The “dozy embrace” is a sequence that is almost dreamlike. It dares to take us into a very private and intimate moment. We are reminded of what they had and what they could have had … a “sweet life.”

[serious crayons]

Although this didn't make it into the movie (it would have been hard to depict), Ennis begins dreaming about Jack (after Jack has died). Ennis sees Jack as he (Jack) was when they first met on BBM.

Though they could have put it in the movie fairly easily if the movie had started the way the story did, with older Ennis in his trailer. Would that have been good? What do you all think?

I'm not sure, personally. I so love the movie's beginning I don't think I would like it any other way. And I can say this: it was stretching things to turn a 20-something-year-old into a 39-year-old (though they did a good job!). But making him even older might have pushed it too far.

[2robots4u]

Everytime I come to this scene, I pause and remember a time when it meant a lot in my personal life, shed many tears of pleasure, and then get on with the movie.  Like so many others, this is my favorite scene....Doug