Second Night in the Tent

[Melisande]

Discuss the current forum poll leader for favorite scene here.

[ImEnnisShesJack]

I've posted it already a couple of times in other threads.  This scene is fairly charged with ALL kinds of emotions.  There is that desperate need for comfort and compassion that Jack and Ennis were both lacking in their lives - whether they knew they needed it or not.  There is trepidation on Ennis' part, in his hesitancy to go to Jack again.  (I know there are cowboys on the forum who've explained the whole cowboy etiquette thing of taking off the hat, waiting to be invited in, etc.  I'm talking about EMOTIONS here though)  Jack calms Ennis' fears like he would have a startled mare - a firm hand, crooning words "It's alright.  It's alright."    The look of raw emotion when Ennis lays next to Jack and touches him - his face, his chest.

OK, then there are the visceral reactions to the first kiss between Jack and Ennis.  It is initiated by Jack and you see him reach his mouth to Ennis, open.  [The second time I viewed the movie, I was stuck WAY up front - not a bad thing b'c it was like Jack and Ennis had climbed into my head I was so close to the screen!]  And again when Jack rolls over onto Ennis, and the kissing is more passionate, more mutual.  (Does she have a point to all this?  YES!  I'm getting to it!)

It is here that I was so touched by the tenderness and the need and the raw passion that I was wiping my eyes, and I HEARD the kissing - wet and open-mouthed, HEARD Jack slide over on top of Ennis.  I heard my own heart race with theirs.  This has become, to me, the HOTTEST scene in the movie.  And by the time I looked up, again, totally aroused by their passion, the scene was over!  No!  More!  It needed to be longer - 20, 30 seconds (minutes? lol!) and better lit/better angle.  I don't mean a 100 watt bulb, but throw us a bone [!] here Ang!

I'm going to wear out my DVD player when this movie comes out.

[brokebackLJ]

Did anyone else notice that Ennis keeps his eyes firmly closed the entire time ? It's kind of sad, but touching at the same time, because he's only letting himself get so far....Jack's pecs look amazing in the scene...yum.

[kumari]

Hi ImJackshesEnnis!
How did I know that you would be on this thread!
I just cannot get enough of this scene, and I think it goes beyond hot absolutely hot it is (although that is a big part of it!).
Jack remembers the "dozy embrace" scene to help him get through their "separate and difficult" lives.
But I imagine Ennis replaying the second tent scene in his head. Thinking back to his stories of his childhood, how little love and tenderness he was shown. At his young 19 years, he had already worked more and harder than some of us will in our entire lifetime. And that was pretty much what he though the rest of his life was going to be like. More work, more pain, more lonliness. And then he meets Jack.
Jack is a little loud, sort of goofy, and he is not really good at anything. He can't ride, he can't shoot, and he can't cook. But Jack shows an interest in Ennis that no one else ever has. He asks him questions about his life, worries about him when he is late returning to camp, and plays and jokes with him, even though Ennis doesn't exactly invite this behavior.
I feel the second night in the tent gave Ennis something that was just for him, something to enjoy. Ennis seemed to treat everything like a chore, from drinking to smoking.
Jack gave Ennis a safe place to surrender.

[kumari]

Did anyone else notice that Ennis keeps his eyes firmly closed the entire time ? It's kind of sad, but touching at the same time, because he's only letting himself get so far....Jack's pecs look amazing in the scene...yum.

Yes, I did notice that. I think that there was a part of him that just couldn't face the reality of what he was doing at the time. But then the romantic in me says that he was swooning with desire.
Can we compromise and say a bit of both?

[brokebackLJ]

Well, in the book it says that "Nothing mars this moment for Jack, even though he knows Ennis does not embrace him face to face because he does not want to see or feel that it is Jack he holds" for the scene where they flashback to them younger later on, on the mountain...So I'm just thinking it's an earlier manifestation of that. But he also could be overwhelmed...

[kumari]

Well, in the book it says that "Nothing mars this moment for Jack, even though he knows Ennis does not embrace him face to face because he does not want to see or feel that it is Jack he holds" for the scene where they flashback to them younger later on, on the mountain...So I'm just thinking it's an earlier manifestation of that. But he also could be overwhelmed...

You're totally right, I am just a sucker for romance.
After all, I am still hoping that "My So-Called Life" will come back on the air and Angela is reunited with Jordan Catalano even though Claire Danes and Jared Leto are like thirtysomething.

[brokebackLJ]

INT. BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN MOUNTAIN, WYOMING: TENT: NIGHT: CONTINUED

JACK sits atop the bedroll, naked, his shirt draped over his lap. He looks up as ENNIS enters.

ENNIS cautiously steps in. JACK raises his hand to him.
ENNIS takes it. JACK pulls him in.
JACK, gentle, reassuring, takes ENNIS'S face in his hands.

JACK
It's all right....It's all right.

JACK kisses him.
They lie back. Embrace. Kiss.

[ImEnnisShesJack]

HI Kumari!

Of course I'm in this thread. lol.  Went to see the movie again tonight - and now it goes by so quickly. *sigh*  I'm still holding the "dozy embrace" scene as my favorite, but this scene is an amazingly close 2nd.  I think after tonight's viewing, I'm struck again by Ennis' reluctance [fear?], the inner turmoil that is nigh on palpable.  Even after Jack brings him into the tent, eyes screwed shut tight, Ennis' hand on Jack is more urgent, hungry, needy.  Reaching for intimacy, human touch, closeness, tenderness.  It's just magical to see this onscreen.  I still love the wet sounds of their kissing.  It just goes straight to my....heart.  And I love it that it juxtaposes to the two of them wrestling shirtless the next morning - a couple of kids, still coltish, chasing each other around the campsite.

I'm feeling very proprietary about this blossoming passion between the younger Jack and Ennis.  Very protective.  I really wish it could be like this always.

[dkellergrl2001]

Thanks for creating this thread.

OK, then there are the visceral reactions to the first kiss between Jack and Ennis.  It is initiated by Jack and you see him reach his mouth to Ennis, open.

Did anyone else notice how Ennis tries to pull away from Jack's kiss, yet he can't control his own desire and need to go for the kiss?  It's a very quick moment, but that part always gets me.  Always.

[blairski]

Kumari wrote:

Jack is a little loud, sort of goofy, and he is not really good at anything. He can't ride, he can't shoot, and he can't cook. But Jack shows an interest in Ennis that no one else ever has. He asks him questions about his life, worries about him when he is late returning to camp, and plays and jokes with him, even though Ennis doesn't exactly invite this behavior.
I feel the second night in the tent gave Ennis something that was just for him, something to enjoy. Ennis seemed to treat everything like a chore, from drinking to smoking.

This is one of the best comments I've read on what brought them together.  When I first saw the movie I thought that Ennis had never really had a family, hadn't had anyone to show not tenderness and attention since he was 14, which is why his relationship with Jack is so important.  Also, the movie does NOT show them having conversations like the ones Annie describes in the short story (rodeo, dogs, the submarine incident).  So after first viewing, before I read the story, I felt disturbed by not understanding what it is that draws them together.  Contrasting his relationship with Jack to the "chore" that is the rest of Ennis' life helps me to understand that connection.

[kumari]

This is one of the best comments I've read on what brought them together.  When I first saw the movie I thought that Ennis had never really had a family, hadn't had anyone to show not tenderness and attention since he was 14, which is why his relationship with Jack is so important.  Also, the movie does NOT show them having conversations like the ones Annie describes in the short story (rodeo, dogs, the submarine incident).  So after first viewing, before I read the story, I felt disturbed by not understanding what it is that draws them together.  Contrasting his relationship with Jack to the "chore" that is the rest of Ennis' life helps me to understand that connection.

Welcome to the obsession, blairski.
You brought up something that I had not thought about. Growing up without a family would make Ennis want a stable home even more than the average person. He would want to build a life with Alma and have children to love that will love him back.
Even after he realizes that he loves Jack, I am sure that it would be hard for him to think of Jack as a "family." And raising children with a man? That is still a struggle today, not even close to being a reality then.
So his need for a family goes deeper than pleasing society for Ennis. He is trying to become whole.

[Sam in Chicago]

Kumari and ImJackshesEnnis,

I love to read your takes on these scenes--you both catch every detail and nuance, and analyze everything so well, thank you! For me, this scene is where I fall in love with these two characters. Ennis is so nervous sitting by the fire as Jack is in the tent, and he finally gets up and walks towards the tent so tentatively--Those few steps between the fire and the tent are the bravest steps he's ever taken in his life. Then, when he enters the tent, his face just kills me--he needs so badly to be loved by somebody, and he realizes that maybe, somehow, this goofy guy named Jack is someone who will love him. (Thank you, Kumari, for your take on this) And Jack, so gentle, and so reassuring, lets him know that it's OK--the hand on his arm, the kiss, pulling him closer--it blows me away every time I see it.

.... I think after tonight's viewing, I'm struck again by Ennis' reluctance [fear?], the inner turmoil that is nigh on palpable. Even after Jack brings him into the tent, eyes screwed shut tight, Ennis' hand on Jack is more urgent, hungry, needy. Reaching for intimacy, human touch, closeness, tenderness. It's just magical to see this onscreen....

ImJackshesEnnis, Yes! Yes! I just love the way you describe this--and it IS magical to see this onscreen!!

[David]

Did anyone else notice that Ennis keeps his eyes firmly closed the entire time ? It's kind of sad, but touching at the same time, because he's only letting himself get so far....Jack's pecs look amazing in the scene...yum.

LJ, I think his closed eyes are a sign of desperation and simultaneous rapture because he has touched something that he (Ennis) has been looking for his whole life.

[Sarge]

     Has it been decided whether Ennis actually says: "I'm sorry..." before Jack replies; "It's alright, it's alright..."?
     There has been talk about this elsewhere but I'd like a certain answer if possible. Thanks.