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