The Ultimate Brokeback Forum

Author Topic: The Reunion  (Read 1034302 times)

Offline pdxbennett

  • Feet Wet
  • **
  • Posts: 31
Re: Scene: The Reunion
« Reply #45 on: January 15, 2006, 12:07:42 AM »
This is the point in the film that Ennis cements Jack's love for him. 

Ennis spontaneously responded to his own emotions for Jack without Jack having to do a thing.  Most likely for the first and only time.  I can imagine what Jack was feeling.  Some one who rejected him has grabbed him with both arms in broad daylight and is showering him with passionate kisses.   I have been sporadically kissing men for 20 years.  What I saw on that screen was the realist portrayal of passion between two involved men that I have ever seen much less experienced personally.  Jake and Heath certainly put aside their natural inclinations and became Jack and Ennis.

Now, of course, poor Alma got crushed.   How could she have seen that coming?   At least she was smart enough to get out and find her own happiness later.




Offline PetterG

  • Obsessed
  • *****
  • Posts: 924
Re: Scene: The Reunion - the night in the motel
« Reply #46 on: January 15, 2006, 07:42:12 AM »
One thing which I am confused about is: wasn't it 'dangerous' to share that room at the motel? someone (the motel manager) would maybe suspect something...
if you cannot fix it - you've gotta stand it
if you cannot stand it - you gotta fix it

Offline ImEnnisShesJack

  • Obsessed
  • *****
  • Posts: 4347
Re: Scene: The Reunion
« Reply #47 on: January 15, 2006, 07:43:58 AM »
I know I've commented on this scene numerous times, analyised it to the nth degree, frame by frame in some instances.  But I saw the movie [again] Saturday, and this scene gave me another reason to like it.  When Ennis comes down the stairs and hugs Jack, and then they break apart, I'm still absolutely gobsmacked by Jack's eyes going straight to Ennis' mouth and staying there.  Jack doesn't see Ennis look around to see if the coast is clear per se, but when Ennis starts walking him backwards, his hands holding Jack by the collar of his vest....  The look on Jack's face is priceless.  It's open shock and amazement and (fear?).  Right to the point he slams back against the wall and Ennis' mouth comes down on his.

Just perfection.

Lovesit!
"And when he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night."
~~Heath Ledger 1979-2008~~

Carol8159@yahoo.com

Offline ImEnnisShesJack

  • Obsessed
  • *****
  • Posts: 4347
Re: Scene: The Reunion - the night in the motel
« Reply #48 on: January 15, 2006, 07:45:48 AM »
One thing which I am confused about is: wasn't it 'dangerous' to share that room at the motel? someone (the motel manager) would maybe suspect something...

Yes. But in america, these little roadside motels are nothing more than a dozen or so connected one room cottages.  The entrances are all outside.  One of them could have booked a room and none would be the wiser.

"And when he shall die,
Take him and cut him out in little stars,
And he will make the face of heaven so fine
That all the world will be in love with night."
~~Heath Ledger 1979-2008~~

Carol8159@yahoo.com

Offline 909dot

  • Expert
  • ****
  • Posts: 382
Re: Scene: The Reunion - the night in the motel
« Reply #49 on: January 15, 2006, 08:51:21 AM »
One thing which I am confused about is: wasn't it 'dangerous' to share that room at the motel? someone (the motel manager) would maybe suspect something...

Yes. But in america, these little roadside motels are nothing more than a dozen or so connected one room cottages.  The entrances are all outside.  One of them could have booked a room and none would be the wiser.



What happens in a roadside motel stays in a roadside motel....

Todd
"maybe you should get outa there...move someplace different...maybe Texas."

Offline mwiersma

  • Getting Acquainted
  • *
  • Posts: 9
Re: The Reunion
« Reply #50 on: January 15, 2006, 10:52:18 AM »
Kumari, I agree with you up until the time Alma sees them from the doorway.  Then my own heart nearly broke because Alma isn't a bad person and doesn't deserve to get her feelings go through a ringer.  Then again, nobody in the film deserves the pain they've experienced.

I feel for Alma, as another tragedy in this story.
But what makes the tension even more palpable is that she is a part of the society that rejects their love. Alma is a good person, but she is homophobic and she is repulsed by what she has seen. She looks at Jack as if he is a circus freak.
I won't speculate as to how she would feel if she were not in that unenviable position, but her venomous "Jack Nasty" comment gives us a pretty good idea.
I'm not sure I'd be quick to label Alma homophobic.  For all his shortcomings and his lack of earning potential, it's clear that she loves Ennis.  Jack, whom she has just met, indeed has just recently known existed, has clearly taken a part of her husband away.  The passion she has just witnessed is a passion she has never known, as she has stood by her husband for years and given birth to his children.  I would submit that she is less repulsed by what she has just seen than she is sad and angry that her life is forever changed in a way she had previously not even considered possible.  And for her, the sadness and sense of loss would only intensify over time, and the only way she could ever express this to Ennis was in that one comment, "Jack Nasty," probably intended to HURT Ennis more than an actual opinion of hers.  And hurt Ennis, it did.

Offline 909dot

  • Expert
  • ****
  • Posts: 382
Re: Scene: The Reunion
« Reply #51 on: January 15, 2006, 04:47:53 PM »
ok, this is for you hard core BBM fans...
after the blissfull night in the Motel,what does Ennis take from the medicine cabinet in his house before he goes to the Mountains.....(he has the tooth brush in his mouth...) Ive always tried to see, but its to quick...if anyone cant tell me,,,I GUESS ill have to go see it yet again!!! it must be something of meaning...nothing is surface in this well thought out movie...(the tooth brush is so classic...what guy thinks to take his tooth brush to the mountains for a couple of days unless there is going to be allot of kissin' goin' on.)

Todd
"maybe you should get outa there...move someplace different...maybe Texas."

Mr. Wrong

  • Guest
Re: Scene: The Reunion
« Reply #52 on: January 15, 2006, 04:59:42 PM »
after the blissfull night in the Motel,what does Ennis take from the medicine cabinet in his house before he goes to the Mountains.....(he has the tooth brush in his mouth

vaseline? I'm just guessing.

kumari

  • Guest
Re: The Reunion
« Reply #53 on: January 15, 2006, 07:31:44 PM »
Kumari, I agree with you up until the time Alma sees them from the doorway.  Then my own heart nearly broke because Alma isn't a bad person and doesn't deserve to get her feelings go through a ringer.  Then again, nobody in the film deserves the pain they've experienced.

I feel for Alma, as another tragedy in this story.
But what makes the tension even more palpable is that she is a part of the society that rejects their love. Alma is a good person, but she is homophobic and she is repulsed by what she has seen. She looks at Jack as if he is a circus freak.
I won't speculate as to how she would feel if she were not in that unenviable position, but her venomous "Jack Nasty" comment gives us a pretty good idea.
I'm not sure I'd be quick to label Alma homophobic.  For all his shortcomings and his lack of earning potential, it's clear that she loves Ennis.  Jack, whom she has just met, indeed has just recently known existed, has clearly taken a part of her husband away.  The passion she has just witnessed is a passion she has never known, as she has stood by her husband for years and given birth to his children.  I would submit that she is less repulsed by what she has just seen than she is sad and angry that her life is forever changed in a way she had previously not even considered possible.  And for her, the sadness and sense of loss would only intensify over time, and the only way she could ever express this to Ennis was in that one comment, "Jack Nasty," probably intended to HURT Ennis more than an actual opinion of hers.  And hurt Ennis, it did.
Alright, we can disagree.
I just don't see why we have to choose between the Alma who is hurt and betrayed and the Alma who thinks that Ennis loving a man is wrong. She can be all of those things and we can still cry for her.

Offline HunterPDX

  • Feet Wet
  • **
  • Posts: 23
Re: The Reunion
« Reply #54 on: January 16, 2006, 04:49:52 PM »
Disagree.
When Annie Proulx was asked what BBM is about, she stated, "the destructive power of rural homophobia."
I knew that this Alma post was going to be a little unpopular, which is fine.
My point is that Alma is just as complicated as all of the other characters in the story. It's not either she is the betrayed wife or she is homophobic. She's both, and that does not detract from her suffering, it adds to it. She has been betrayed by something that she doesn't comprehend.
She does still love Ennis, just as she hates what he and Jack do. But she doesn't just hate it because it's adultrery. Ennis loves Jack, and he feels ashamed of his own nature. He doesn't just fear the tire iron, he fears society's judgment.
Do you think she would ever let Ennis see their daughters if he actually lived with "Jack Nasty?"
I think we have reason to believe that Alma believes that homosexuality as wrong, as most of the people in their community do.

and again we have to go back to the undeniable facts that they were all uneducated and unsophisticated to boot.  Even if Alma had the chronological maturity to deal with what she saw on the stairs, she didn't have the emotional or cognative abilities to wrap her head around "homosexuality."  It took her another 10 years or so before she even confronted Ennis and even then, her words and emotions are stunted.

I give Alma a little more credit, though I do agree that she's probably homophobic.  She had enough maturity to recognize the sinking ship of their marriage for what it was and file for a divorce.  Watch the courtroom scene--she's the plaintiff, and she's granted custody of the kids (though men were never ever granted child custody in those days).  She obviously suspected that Jack and Ennis' fishing trips weren't to go fish--she was sophisiticated enough to concoct the Great Fishing Pole Experiment to test her hypothesis.  I think the reason why she doesn't say anything to Ennis until that Thanksgiving dinner is because wives don't directly confront their husbands about infidelity in that time and place. 

Offline OnesEnough

  • Experienced
  • ***
  • Posts: 150
  • One's enough
Re: Scene: The Reunion
« Reply #55 on: January 17, 2006, 07:34:31 AM »
In the book "son of a bitch" is said twice, whereas in the movie only once. There is a difference - comments?
... lets a panel of the dream slide forward ...

Offline marius

  • Getting Acquainted
  • *
  • Posts: 15
Re: The Reunion
« Reply #56 on: January 17, 2006, 09:53:51 AM »
I love all the little touches in this scene, starting from when Ennis is anxiously awaiting Jack's return. The story says that he's put on his best shirt for the occassion, which we can't really tell in the movie, although it's clear it's a nicer shirt than what he normally wears! All that waiting throughout the day... And then when he hears the truck outside, the little smile that crosses his face (and how many times do we get to see Ennis smile?) when he sees Jack alighting outside. He rushes out of the room, tucking in this shirt in the back. Wants to look his best!  "Jack Fuckin' Twist!" BIG SMILE. The race down the stairs and then the embrace - son of a bitch, son of a bitch. That embrace they've been waiting for - four years delayed - and WE'VE been waiting for for what seems an equally long time. So wonderful to behold. The furtive glances around to see if they've been spotted and then, fuck it, throw that sucker into the corner and kiss him like there's no tomorrow. And back at him, from Jack. Oh, my gosh... How often do we get to see real passion like this on the screen or anywhere for that matter. Do I have any regrets? Just wish it was even longer and of course, one of my big regrets: that during the course of the film we never get to hear Ennis utter his only endearment to Jack described in the story: calling him "little darlin'" Oh well, somewhere in the privacy of their moments Jack was called this, even if we don't get to hear it :D
yeah it would have been soooooooo nice to hear Ennis say "little darlin.."though.
It would have made many of us a little happier to discover the tender of Ennis.
By the way he only says it to the horses and his little girls!
Well it sounds stupid but I find the parallel so cute and deeply touching

Offline muse

  • Feet Wet
  • **
  • Posts: 28
Re: Scene: The Reunion
« Reply #57 on: January 17, 2006, 11:33:36 AM »
after the blissfull night in the Motel,what does Ennis take from the medicine cabinet in his house before he goes to the Mountains.....(he has the tooth brush in his mouth

vaseline? I'm just guessing.

i thought it was a bottle of pills. guess i'll have to check again tonight! (god, i'm an addict)
"...in a slow-motion, but headlong, irreversible fall."

Offline 909dot

  • Expert
  • ****
  • Posts: 382
Re: Scene: The Reunion
« Reply #58 on: January 17, 2006, 11:59:10 AM »
after the blissfull night in the Motel,what does Ennis take from the medicine cabinet in his house before he goes to the Mountains.....(he has the tooth brush in his mouth

vaseline? I'm just guessing.

i thought it was a bottle of pills. guess i'll have to check again tonight! (god, i'm an addict)


Pills seems like a strange thing to grab from the medicine cabnet...Ennis taking aspirin for a headache?...I cant see it....its small and fits in his had...I seen the movie more than once Ill say. and I CANT make it out....

Anyone else out there have a suggestion...?

Todd
"maybe you should get outa there...move someplace different...maybe Texas."

Offline aceygirl

  • Expert
  • ****
  • Posts: 361
Re: Scene: The Reunion
« Reply #59 on: January 17, 2006, 01:46:56 PM »
after the blissfull night in the Motel,what does Ennis take from the medicine cabinet in his house before he goes to the Mountains.....(he has the tooth brush in his mouth

vaseline? I'm just guessing.

i thought it was a bottle of pills. guess i'll have to check again tonight! (god, i'm an addict)


Pills seems like a strange thing to grab from the medicine cabnet...Ennis taking aspirin for a headache?...I cant see it....its small and fits in his had...I seen the movie more than once Ill say. and I CANT make it out....

Anyone else out there have a suggestion...?

Todd

I think the idea of vaseline (or its ilk) is both reasonable and appealing. ;)

Re: Alma--I do think the main thing is about her husband being unfaithful, with the added "insult" of it being another man. Indeed, it IS a homophobic society, thus Ennis's fear throughout the movie. His "you don't know nothin' about this" threat to Alma is fueled out of that fear. IF she told everyone he had cheated on her with another woman, it wouldn't really be that fearsome for him. It's just the society he, and she, live in. I don't think she's deliberately homophobic--she just is a product of the world she lives in. I see it as first and foremost her being hurt, and secondarily the fact that it's another man. "Jack NASTY."

My gay best friend asked me if I'd be turned on by the idea of my BF getting it on with another guy. Without making this a confessional, I'll say that he had good reason to ask that question. However, there is a world of difference between having a 3-some with two hot bi guys and the situation of seeing my lifemate evidence a level of passion for someone else--male or female--that he never showed with me. That and the secrecy. That would be unacceptable. That's what Alma must deal with. To give her credit, she apparently never does tell anybody Ennis's secret.