Where I go on and on and on about Brokeback Mountain.

[sarren]

I was seriously dreading Brokeback Mountain. Initially I was going to just NOT see it at all, but then I decided if they showed it on mainstream cinemas then it was my duty to go, cos, you know, they need the encouragement. Then bardigrub organised a fundraising screening for the GLCS (Gay and Lesbian Community Services) so of course that was the place to be. Which was insanely successful btw, they were turning people away all day apparently!

I knew next to nothing about the story going in, except that zebra363 and victoriantweed are intensely in love with it.

And everyone else on my flist seems to be of the opinion that the movie leaves you with the desire to eviscerate yourself with a fork rather than ever fall in love.

DREADING IT.

I was not at all reassured by being handed a box of tissues on going into the cinema.


First of all. I loved the film, especially their first summer together and I can’t wait to own it on dvd so I can watch the first half of the film over and over again.

The whole film was riveting, the cinematography was wonderful, the story intense, and the acting brilliant.

However, I spent most of the film wanting to give Ennis a smack upside the head, which yes, yes, I get the whole childhood trauma deal, okay, I get it. And I admire his determination to stay with his family – but once Alma divorced him, I really, really wish that he’d been able to overcome his fear and make a new life with Jack. Hell, I wish that Jack had been more practical. I get that his idea of them setting up that ranch together seemed like a pipe dream to Ennis, because it really was, he should have had actual financial details, achievable goals, something to show Ennis – though I got a little confused at the end with Jack’s parents talking about how Jack’s dream was to come home and fix their place up. See, that would have been doable. If they built Ennis a hut to live in and Jack ‘lived with’ his parents it would all be respectable like and they wouldn’t have to die horribly.

And I get that their love was ‘tragic’ but they still got twenty years to love, and I think that’s pretty cool. The real horror of the film for me was just the unrelenting poverty. And the absolute worst moment in the film for me was the moment Alma sees Jack and Ennis kissing and she realises that everything that made her live bearable was a lie and there was no escape. (Another moment when I wanted to smack them both). And Ennis, choosing the unreliable work that kept his family that way instead of accepting a steady job. Aargh.

My pals were all outraged afterwards that most people laughed when Alma saw Jack and Ennis kissing. Personally I didn’t hear any of it, I was deep in my personal trauma and my body was attempting to jackknife under the seat. I think it was only my death grips on Trille’s and Sphinx’s hands that stopped me.

I would have liked to see something more of the passion in their relationship in later years. All we really saw was scenes of them sitting around the campfire drinking. It was only when Jack burst out with ‘I wish I knew how to quit you’ that I got a sense that they COULDN’T get on with their lives. That scene was stunning.

Ennis’ violence towards Alma when she brought up Jack I found horrifying and a little unexpected, given that he’d never exhibited anything of that during their marriage. Though, I guess given that he was violent towards Jack when he was upset I guess it’s not totally wacky. Though now, having read the story, and realised it’s not canon, I wish they’d left it out. It certainly made me less sympathetic towards Ennis.


I didn’t actually need the tissues so thoughtfully provided, but that was probably due to me managing to completely miss the whole meaning of the shirts hidden in Jack’s room, and Ennis’ subsequent rehanging of them. In my defence, had I been able to understand more than half of the words coming out of Ennis’ mouth, I might not have missed the part where he mentioned he’d lost his favourite shirt. *facepalm* When Ennis pulled out the shirts and examined (his own) blood on the sleeve, I was picturing the tyre iron, and assumed it was where he’d raised his arm to try and block the blows. See? Missed. The. Whole. Point.


I read the story as soon as got home. Instead of going to bed at a reasonable time, so that my double shift the next day wouldn’t totally suck.

I loved it, (I’m not surprised come to think of it, The Shipping News is my favourite book ever in terms of the sheer beauty of the writing.) My favourite line in BBM, which I’m unashamedly stealing zebra363 ’s quote here "Ennis, riding...back to the sheep in the treacherous, drunken light [following an evening around the campfire], thought he'd never had such a good time, felt he could paw the white out of the moon."

Just. Wow.

Comments

[victorian-tweed.livejournal.com]

Part of me wishes that I hadn't read the novella first, so I could have gone into the movie raw.

The crowd I saw it with laughed at Alma too. I didn't. Nor did the women sitting with me. But that was the only inappropriate laughter during the entire screening.

And I get that their love was ‘tragic’ but they still got twenty years to love, and I think that’s pretty cool.
I fully agree! Despite what happened, or didn't happen, they had some damned good times together. Some people never experience such heights of passion. (Which is why I don't get the 'rather eviscerate onc's self with a fork than fall in love' way of thinking. Hell, what if you only get one shot at life, isn't it better to give your self over to the full range of experience than abstain because you might get hurt?)

In defense of Ennis - I think he was just trying to keep everyone he cared about happy, and what he did was the only way he knew to do this. I think his universe was a pretty small one , he wasn't an educated man, and he was probably resigned to a liife of poverty and comprimise because it was all he knew. He couldn't see beyond it - he wouldn't even allow himself to see beyond it. Maybe once he was free from child support... who knows?

(Don't get me wrong, I had enormous sympathy for Alma. She was a decent, loving woman in an unenviable situation. And I would say that whether Ennis was having an affair with either a man or a woman. In fact, maybe she endured it for so long because she knew Ennis couldn't run off and marry/have kids with Jack, not in the sixties at least.)

I'm looking forward to seeing it on DVD, cos I too had a bit of difficulty with Ennis's dialogue. And maybe I can play it in reverse so it has a happy ending. Heh!

[zoerayne]

marythefan said it far better than I could in her thoughts on the movie.

I need to go read the original short story now.

[sarren.livejournal.com]

That's a beautiful review. I wish I was half as articulate. Thanks for linking.

And she's nailed it about the choices.

Her comment about not having the financial means to escape made me think - about Jack. (I'd already been cranky that Ennis had deliberately refused to accept a steady job) BUt Jack had the financial means. If he'd accepted the payout this father-in-law wanted to give him to bugger off, he could have fixed up his folks farm, made their lives better - and given himself more choices. Aargh.


However, Jack and Ennis experienced a love affair that encompassed twenty years of intense passion. Most people aren't that lucky. (I'm speaking for myself here). I don't think of it as a Tragic Gay Love Affair or whatever the marketing was.

[zebra363.livejournal.com]

he should have had actual financial details

This is possibly my favourite comment anybody's made about the film. *loves*

And I get that their love was ‘tragic’ but they still got twenty years to love, and I think that’s pretty cool. The real horror of the film for me was just the unrelenting poverty.

I agree with you that they had something wonderful, whether or not they took full advantage of it. And that Ennis should have made the leap after his divorce. And I also agree, on reflection, about the complete badness of the poverty. Ennis's trailer at the end really got to me. It was even plainer and shabbier than I'd envisaged. What did he do at night, alone there? No internet for him.

Have I mentioned how much I appreciate that you never let me get away with making comments that downplay the difficulty of someone's situation (like the poverty here, or the Muslim girl with no escape from her family we were talking about the other day, etc etc). It's good to have someone who will come down like a ton of bricks if I don't exercise enough empathy. Seriously.

How neat that we have the same favourite line! My next two: "There was some open space between what he knew and what he tried to believe" at the end, and [after the Mexico conversation] "somehow...they torqued things almost to where they had been, for what they'd said was no news. Nothing ended, nothing begun, nothing resolved."

I haven't read The Shipping News...will do so!

[victorian-tweed.livejournal.com]

he should have had actual financial details

Maybe he did, but Ennis just refused to listen?

Ennis's trailer at the end really got to me. It was even plainer and shabbier than I'd envisaged.

He probably didn't give a damn though. He might have thought it was what he deserved (though I don't think Ennis was the self-loathing type), or what I actually think is - it was like living in a shed. Give a bloke a shed and he's a happy man. (Might be me projecting though, I love sheds.)

What did he do at night, alone there? No internet for him.

I imagine he sat there alone with his memories, quietly drinking and smoking. It might sound bleak to most, but some people just want a quiet, unadorned life.

I like to think Alma Junior kept an eye on him too.