On buckets, eagles, impatience, and...

[Front-Ranger]

Hmmm, I just thought of something. Go look at Julie's husband's ring with the yin-yang symbol (thanks, Julie!)

http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php?topic=4105.msg80680#msg80680

Yup, it has Ennis (light) on the left, with Jack (dark) on the right. At least, that's how I see it.

[Brown Eyes]

Hey again,

Well, I haven't had time today to watch the movie... so my horizontal/ vertical list will continue to have to wait.  Yup, Lee I sort of wondered if the right/ left idea would link back up to yin and yang.  I think I've usually seen that symbol with black on the right as well.  Another meaning of left and right that's been on my mind has to do with traditional wedding ceremonies.  Isn't it conventional for the bride to be on the husband's left?  I don't know what if anything that would mean for Jack and Ennis... but I thought I'd throw it out there.

Katherine, Renaissance, classical and even Egyptian art have all sorts of "rules" about the aesthetics of proportion.  It's possible that Lee had some of those old traditions in mind.  The complexity of figuring all those rules out makes my head hurt.  I think there's a lot to be said for the simpler issue of symmetry vs. asymmetry in the movie (linking up to the bookend/ ink-blot structure).  Maybe all of this has to do with the balance that's struck when Ennis and Jack are together and the unhappiness the ensues when they're apart... leading to the permanent asymmetry after Jack's death.
 

[Front-Ranger]

Now I am going to repeat my earlier posts with all of the left Ennises and right Ennises together.

Ennis on left:
First scene. J is stage right, E stage left
Aguirre's trailer: J stage right, E stage left
At the bar: same
Going up the mtn: One shot w/J stage right, Ennis stage left
Ennis looking up at Jack: J stage right, Ennis stage left
during this series of shots, the water is flowing right, and the sheep are flowing left.
Bear shot, Ennis is initially traveling left, but then after encountering the bear, he goes right.
Where U been shot:  J stage right, Ennis stage left, then cross
Eating elk: Ennis on left
Wanna switch: Jack on left, then Ennis on left when he takes off to go up w/the sheep
Warsh scene: Begins with Ennis on left, then switches
Water-Walkin Jesus: Ennis on left
Go up to the sheep now (TS1): Ennis on left
The morning after: Ennis on left, then Ennis travelling left
No business scene: Ennis left, Jack right
TS2: Begins w/Ennis on left, switches to Ennis on rt, ends with Ennis on left
Chilean scene: Ennis left, J rt then opposite
Harmonica: Ennis rt, J left, then cross
Tussle: ends with Jack stage right
Going down the mtn: Ennis, left
Goodbye: Ennis stage left
Marriage scene: Ennis Left
toboggan: travelling from left to right
Bed scene: Ennis on left
Peanut jumble: Ennis on left
Post card scene: Ennis enters left and exits left. He later looks left
Reunion scene: Ennis on left only shortly in the middle
Hotel Siesta: Ennis on left
Prayer: Ennis on left
Young Ennis: on left
Last scene w Alma & Ennis: Ennis scene left
Apres Divorce scene: Ennis on left
Monroe Thanksgiving: Ennis on left during the confrontation
Black and Blue Eagle: Ennis on left
Campground: Ennis on left
Meeting Cassie: Ennis on left
Last campground: Ennis on left
Water flows gently past the tent from left to right
Last confrontation: Ennis pivots from left to right in the background (unique camera angle), ends with Ennis on left
Bus station: Ennis on left
Phone conversation with Lureen: Ennis on left
Visiting the Twists: Ennis enters from left, Mr. Twist is on the right
During this scene, Ennis is on the left when he is upset by OMT
Closet scene: Ennis on left, shirts on right






Ennis on right:
Going up the mtn: Most of the time Ennis is on the right
First scene on the mtn: J stage left, E stage rt. J has a sheep on him, E is petting a blue heeler
Where U been:  Ennis stage left, then cross to stage rt
Shooting the elk: Ennis stage rt, Jack left
Commuting: Jack stage left
Wanna switch: Jack on left at beginning of scene, then cross
Warsh scene: Nude Ennis on right
Flickin the rodeo belt: Jack on left
Setting up the new camp: Jack on left
Tent don't look right:  Jack on left
Hail scene: Jack left, Ennis right
Chilean scene: Ennis left, then opposite
Harmonica: Ennis rt, J left, then cross
Camp teardown: Jack left, Ennis right
Puking his guts out: Ennis right
Reunion scene: Begins and ends with Ennis right
Jumping in the lake: Ennis on rt
Last confrontation begins with Ennis on right
Flashback: Ennis on right
Visiting the Twists: Ennis is on the right when he's smiling
Last scene: Alma Jr. on left, Ennis on right


So, Ennis is on the left more often than on the right. His earlier scenes are all on the left, while the scenes with Jack somewhat alternate between left and right. In crucial scenes, he and Jack cross from left to right, and the last scene has him on the right.

I really should study the directions of the vehicles too...

[Front-Ranger]

I found another coffeepot scene (It helps to leave town and watch the movie in a hotel room--gives you a new perspective!). When Ennis is washing up in the middle of the stream, he is swabbing the coffeepot with a rag (warshrag!) and then looks up at Jack on the mountainside.

[Front-Ranger]

Thanks to Katherine for moving this topic into the Open Forum--it was getting buried there over on CT. I have been reading a book about Chinese mythology recently and it discusses the concept of a tung, that is a ceremonial bucket or vessel that is meant to represent the world. Since the director, Ang Lee, is Chinese/Taiwanese, this is a concept worth considering.

[Front-Ranger]

Another reference to a bucket, buried in the story!

http://bettermost.net/forum/index.php?topic=3166.msg111628#msg111628

[twistedude]

Irrelevant: Juarez is a dead straight drop, 16 hiours, from Riverton.

[Front-Ranger]

A drop in the bucket, Julie?? 

I was especially vigilant when the first post card came from Jack to the little apartment above the laundry. Lookin for a coffeepot somewhere in that scene. I didn't find one!! But there was a tea kettle in the background on top of the refrigerator, almost behind Ennis's head as he read the post card.

[Front-Ranger]

Jack/Ennis, coffeepot/bucket:

[Front-Ranger]

And another:



(They used a canvas bucket just to make sure we were awake)