Author Topic: Comparison between '03 to '05 screenplay: would we still be discussing this film  (Read 54185 times)

Offline serious crayons

  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 22,712
(Movie-Ennis, on the other hand, says his brother and sister "did the best they could.")

But given how little movie-Ennis says about anything, it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't have the same traumatic childhood, but is less willing to talk about it.

Yes, I think "did the best they could" is also evidence of movie-Ennis's willingness to make do with beans.

Quote
So I'm wondering if story-Ennis simply dealt the abuse in a different way -- by burying some of his emotions, for instance -- whereas movie-Ennis pulled away from people and withdrew completely?

Yes, that could be. I guess both Ennises had more or less the same childhoods; it's their adult personalities that differ. So yeah, I guess they were just inherently different people. Er, uh, characters.

Quote
I wonder if movie-Ennis was simply a more sensitive child in general? That sounds weird, I guess. But you know how Heath described Ennis as being very sensitive to light, to sounds, to everything? Well, the tiny amount of reading I did in child-raising books (before I threw them on the floor and went to chase my own child...) told me that even kids who can't speak yet respond to people in totally different ways.

I can attest to this as the mother of two sons who are close in age but very different in personalities, in ways that were obvious from the time they were about one week old.

My older son, in fact, is probably one of those ultra-sensitive-to-sights-and-sounds kids. And it's hard to imagine anybody whose personality is less like Ennis'. One of our therapists theorized that he responds to the constant barrage of sensory information by insisting on absolute control over his environment. In other words, he doesn't settle for beans, and if you don't fix it, he can't stand it.

Offline dly64

  • Brokeback Got Me Good
  • *****
  • Posts: 708
After reading this discussion I wonder who influenced the final "Ennis" we saw on the screen? Had the '03 version been filmed, Ennis would have been portrayed more like the book ... much more talkative. Jack would have been less gregarious. And since Heath described Ennis (as Mel pointed out) as one who was sensitive to light and sound (almost wincing at everything) ... did that influence a script change? Jake saw Jack as a bad rodeo cowboy and ranch hand, but who also tried his hardest to do the best he could. Did that influence the final version?

I had stated earlier, wrongly, that Ang wanted to cut out Jack and Ennis kissing at the reunion scene. What I realized is that Ang wanted to cut out Alma seeing Jack and Ennis kissing when they reunited because he thought it would be too shocking. Thank goodness DO and LM fought to keep that in since that is such a key scene!

Maybe this becomes one of those discussions ... "what came first? The chicken or the egg?"
Diane

"We're supposed to guard the sheep, not eat 'em."

Offline serious crayons

  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 22,712
And since Heath described Ennis (as Mel pointed out) as one who was sensitive to light and sound (almost wincing at everything) ... did that influence a script change?

This is another comment that probably belongs on the story/film thread, but ... I'm always kind of surprised that Annie said something like, Heath understood Ennis better than she did. Because the Ennis we see Heath playing is such a different person. I would argue he's a more fleshed-out character, which may be what she's alluding to. (Though I know not everyone would agree with that.)

Offline nakymaton

  • BetterMost 1000+ Posts Club
  • ******
  • Posts: 1,045
  • aka Mel
This is another comment that probably belongs on the story/film thread, but ... I'm always kind of surprised that Annie said something like, Heath understood Ennis better than she did. Because the Ennis we see Heath playing is such a different person.

Maybe Ennis was a real person in her head, and she felt he was hard to capture in words, and she felt like the character that Heath created was what she had been aiming for all that time, but which still eluded her, even after all the revisions.
Watch out. That poster has a low startle point.

Offline serious crayons

  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 22,712
Maybe Ennis was a real person in her head, and she felt he was hard to capture in words, and she felt like the character that Heath created was what she had been aiming for all that time, but which still eluded her, even after all the revisions.

That makes perfect sense to me. I think of it as, Annie created this character, Heath (and/or Ang) read it and took it another step further, Annie saw that and said, yeah, that's what I meant. Which is not, I hope, a derrogatory comment about any of them. Ennis was sort of a product of collaborative effort. And what a product!
 


Offline southendmd

  • Town Administration
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 18,962
  • well, I won't
Bumping for Throwback Whateverday.

Offline southendmd

  • Town Administration
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 18,962
  • well, I won't
Sounds like "Brokeback Mountain Meets Terms of Endearment!" The women are more fleshed out (though not kindly) and the romance between Jack and Ennis is barely there. So glad Ang Lee came along. He's my hero (swoon).

Funny, because, of course, Larry McMurtry wrote the screenplay for Terms of Endearment!

Offline southendmd

  • Town Administration
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 18,962
  • well, I won't
Bumping this thread again, five years later.

Weren't you all so clever! 

Offline Front-Ranger

  • BetterMost Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 30,288
  • Brokeback got us good.
Thanks for the bump! I read every post. I miss nakymaton and am so glad most of the posters are still here.  :-*
"chewing gum and duct tape"

Offline serious crayons

  • Moderator
  • The BetterMost 10,000 Post Club
  • *****
  • Posts: 22,712
Thanks for the bump! I read every post. I miss nakymaton and am so glad most of the posters are still here.  :-*

I often miss nakymaton, too. She and I met in person once and had dinner. As for dly64, aka Diane, me and her was good friends, too.
 
(Or would that be "me and her were good friends"? Or "she and I was good friends"? If you deviate from proper grammar, do you have to go all the way?

I need the rules for how to break the rules.  :laugh: