Earlier today I was reading an interview that Tom Benz, the production manager of Brokeback Mountain, gave in the October of 2006. The following passage I found of interest:
Rob: Cut scenes....There were several scenes shot for BBM that were edited out of the final print. Would it be possible to get a very detailed listing of these omitted scenes including the characters involved and how the missing scenes related to the plot?
Tom: I'm so far removed now, from the strategies of Brokeback, I wouldn't know about the marketing or packaging. I know for the longest time on eBay, you could buy the script that we shot. And then I suppose the detail that would be in that script would be you'd look at the movie and you'd go "wow, that's scene isn't in there" ...because essentially we filmed the script & then edit the story, not the script...you find the story within what you've photographed, so you shoot the script & you edit the story.
Rob: Will these "lost" scenes be made available someday?
Tom: Again, I'm away from that part of things. In general, I see a wonderful DVD features market come up....it's not just the movie, it's all the other features...suddenly deleted scenes have a value, where they stayed on the cutting room floor before these features came out.
Rob: For example: Ennis brings his children to the market and leaves them with Alma. He declares that he must leave immediately to work at the ranch that night (the heifers are calving). We, in the audience, are left to assume that Ennis is telling a boldface lie. Or is he?
Tom: I remember, it was in Carstairs, the grocery store......If I remember the context, he is trying to go out & see Jack....it was an excuse to go out & see Jack.
Rob: It appears that there is a deleted scene preceding this one showing Jack and Ennis together and making plans. I think the film would have been clearer if this cut scene had been included.
Tom: That's an opinion & I think what is always interesting is how a Director wants to make the audience work for the story. When I hear comments like this "it would have been clearer", I must say, many Directors would go "good, I'm making them work for it" rather than be disappointed that it was hard to get. The easier a film is to figure out, the less successful it is. No one is challenged by, nobody wants to see it again.
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Probably I'm an innocent but had it occurred to others that Ennis was telling a "boldfaced lie" in order to get off for a sudden opportunity to see Jack that had just come up? I've always took it at face value and assumed that he was off to look after the livestock. However, it looks as though I must think about this scene again.