Author Topic: Interesting essay about BBM - the movie and short story  (Read 21701 times)

Offline MaineWriter

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Interesting essay about BBM - the movie and short story
« on: July 23, 2009, 09:50:33 am »
An author friend of mine, Anne Brooke, posted this interesting essay about BBM:

http://vulpeslibris.wordpress.com/2009/07/23/adaptation-week-brokeback-mountain-%E2%80%93-the-choices-we-make-and-those-we-don%E2%80%99t/

Please consider leaving a comment. She loves hearing from folks who read her stuff.

L
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Offline Jeff Wrangler

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Re: Interesting essay about BBM - the movie and short story
« Reply #1 on: July 23, 2009, 10:06:05 pm »
Thanks for posting the link, Leslie. That essay was a very good read!

Tell you what, though, I hate to seem churlish but I disagree with her reading of the location of the Reunion being different in the short story compared to the film. She says that in the story the Reunion takes place indoors, but that Ang Lee moved it outdoors for the film. Regretfully, I think this is a misreading of the text.

We know the apartment is above the laundry, and the story gives us Ennis looking down into the street, just as we see in the film. When Ennis sees Jack get out of his truck, he rushes "out on the landing pulling the door closed behind him." In the story we are then told that Jack "took the stairs two and two"--obviously because he sees Ennis. I don't think this would be possible if Ennis was waiting for him on an indoor landing; how would Jack see Ennis if Ennis was indoors?

No, I think the Reunion took place outdoors in both story and film.

But not to end on a negative note, I appreciate what she had to say about the role of the music in the film.  :D
"It is required of every man that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellow-men, and travel far and wide."--Charles Dickens.

Marge_Innavera

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Re: Interesting essay about BBM - the movie and short story
« Reply #2 on: July 24, 2009, 09:20:41 am »
Excellent essay, although I would have liked it much better if she hadn't started off by pitting the story against the film, so to speak.  I started to find that approach more than a little tiresome a long time ago.

And yes, I understand that the context was film adaptations, but I did have the impression that she was trying to be "charitable" in respect to the film.

Offline Brown Eyes

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Re: Interesting essay about BBM - the movie and short story
« Reply #3 on: July 24, 2009, 09:58:02 am »

Thanks for the heads-up about this.  I'll give it a look later today or this weekend. :)

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Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: Interesting essay about BBM - the movie and short story
« Reply #4 on: July 24, 2009, 12:09:39 pm »
Great essay, and I made a comment saying so. Thanks for pointing us to this, Leslie.
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Offline optom3

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Re: Interesting essay about BBM - the movie and short story
« Reply #5 on: July 24, 2009, 12:47:37 pm »
What a thought provoking article. I loved her interpretation of the ending of both the book and the film. I read the SS first and the line about Ennis waking up sometimes in joy etc had me in floods of tears. I was in so much pain by that stage that when I read the lines, the sheets wet, some times the pillow, I was struggling to breathe. It is so desperately poignant, all he has to warm him, as per the prologue are his memories and the shirts.
By the time we reach the epilogue, both in the SS and the film, our emotions have been on a roller coater ride of joy and despair and we may feel we can take no more, yet little do we know.The final searing pain is yet to come.
I have never read the SS or seen the film and not been emotionally crucified by the ending.  I  feel akin to the way Ennis does when he retches in the alley, having come down the mountain.
In the film as those first few notes of wings  penetrate my very core, so the tears flow unchecked,in the book I am reduced to a quivering wreck by the lines about the sheets and pillow.We are brought, more so I feel in the book, full circle. That is in no way a criticism of the film which I love equally but differently. The presence of both in my life have awakened emotions and memories long since thought dead and buried. The very writing of this post has made me stop and evaluate things once again.
I am an avid reader and never before have I been so completely winded by a story, yet I feel honoured and privileged, to have been given the gift of all that constitutes BBM. I feel sorry for those who simply do not or will not "get it " The rich tapestry of my life has been enhanced by both mediums.

Offline bailey1205

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Re: Interesting essay about BBM - the movie and short story
« Reply #6 on: July 24, 2009, 12:48:40 pm »
I'm going to have to read this essay.

When I think of BBM now, I always seem to go back to the SS first.


Offline mariez

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Re: Interesting essay about BBM - the movie and short story
« Reply #7 on: July 24, 2009, 12:49:12 pm »
Thanks, Leslie.  I really enjoyed her essay - so eloquent and thoughtful, as I told Anne in my comment.  :)
The measure of a country's greatness is its ability to retain compassion in times of crisis         ~~~~~~~~~Thurgood Marshall

The worst loneliness is not to be comfortable with yourself.    ~~~~~~~~~ Mark Twain

Offline AnneBrooke

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Re: Interesting essay about BBM - the movie and short story
« Reply #8 on: July 24, 2009, 03:37:31 pm »
Many thanks for reading - and thank you to Leslie for the tip-off! The comments are much appreciated.

Apologies to Jeff for my misunderstanding of the text - I just always thought like it seemed as if it was indoors in the book - probably just my assumption! Though I do think I remember Alma opening the door halfway through the clinch and seeing Ennis' heaving shoulders as he was kissing Jack and it felt like they were all in the same space?? Or maybe that's just me! It has been known ...

If so though, it was probably an outdoor landing if it was the laundry? Either way, my ignorance of US houses shines bright. I'm not allowed out much, you see ...

 ;D

Hugs and thanks to all

Axxx

Not very lovable but surprisingly humane ...

Offline Front-Ranger

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Re: Interesting essay about BBM - the movie and short story
« Reply #9 on: July 24, 2009, 03:49:49 pm »
Welcome to BetterMost, Anne! Like you, I always thought the reunion scene happened in a cramped indoor stairwell until the movie. I like the movie scene better because the two men have more eye contact and interchange before the "coming together." Annie Proulx is vague on this, so it is up to the reader to flesh out the story. It does mention Jack's hat falling to the "floor" so that is further reinforcement that they are inside. And the story does specifically mention that Jack ran up the stairs, so the clench took place just outside the door to the apartment. However, Lee's treatment, with the boys at least trying to hide in among the beams of the stairwell, underneath the doorway, seems more realistic and makes for some better camera angles. The thought of Ennis's "straining shoulders" that Alma sees makes for a compelling image but nothing like the violent kisses and nuzzles that we get treated to in the movie.

I'd love to hear more of your insights!!
"chewing gum and duct tape"