Boy, guys, I didn't need to get to tearin' up this morning with those videos!
Of all the fine moments in the film, that dozy embrace scene, when Jack watches
Ennis go off on the horse and we see Jack's young face...then we see the present
Ennis leaving and Jack's current face, and we feel all the years all at once that have
happened in between, it's the single most upsetting moment in the film, I believe,
because there isn't any hope left. Well, on a first viewing there may be because
we don't know that's the last time we're going to see Jack in that fashion...but every
subsequent viewing one does; one runs the gamut from joy, peace, contentment and
hope right through to sadness and despair, all in a minute or so.
In the Brokeback Screenings Thread I wrote about seeing the film last Thursday in a theatre.
I always notice something different when doing that, not necessarily important and usually
mundane, in a good way, but this time I noticed a horse in the background munching on a
tree branch that amused me.
I also look for Jack's grin when he's playing the harmonica and Ennis is teasing him about that.
You never really see it when it's on a home screen, no matter how large your TV is.