The End of Brokeback Mountain (Massive Spoilers)- Page 2

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 10:46am

I thought she also sounded that way because it was awkward for her to be talking to this Ennis fellow, who thusfar had been very mysterious to her. I'm not sure that I think she suspected that they were anything more than fishing buddies as Ennis' wife did, but this guy is a total stranger to her, and I think she knows on some level that they had a very deep connection, whether or not she knows what it was. One thing that crossed my mind was that perhaps she *did* suspect something, and it only came to light in the way she spoke to Ennis; she realizes that this is the man who caused their marriage to fall apart, and now she has to talk to him, perhaps knowing that Jack loved him more than he loved her.

[RobbO]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 10:52am

i'll have to watch it again and see if i pick up anything more. i was always distracted by her hair to hear what she was saying...

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 11:00am

Oh, God. People were cracking up every time her hair got bigger and blonder.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 11:19am

I can't remember if the word "Deceased" was stamped on the card or handwritten. Either way, wouldn't Ennis' postcard just have been delivered to his wife instead of returned to sender? So if it was written did she do it and if so why so coldly? I think she knew.
Another question...did anyone else think that Jack's Mother had given Ennis the ashes? That last exchange between the two of them as he was walking out had so much non-verbal emotion, and the way he patted the rolled up shirt (like there was something in it) made me think that she somehow got the ashes to him.

One last question...What DID Bill Murray whisper to Scarlet Johansen at the end of Lost In Translation?

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 11:20am

Rosebud

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 11:24am

It was stamped in red ink, Sueleen.

I thought the exchange between Ennis and Jack's mother was to show that "mothers always know" thing. The father was so cold, but she was very nice to him -- she definitely knew, and her warmth was indicative of the fact that she wasn't upset about it, IMO. She never says it, but the way that she looks at him says more than enough.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 11:41am

So if it was stamped, why? Wouldn't they just deliver the post card to his address? It is not as if it was some government document like a social security check. It was just a postcard.

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 11:43am

perhaps Ang will explain it in the directors cut.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 11:44am

I was going to say maybe she had it stamped and sent back rather than getting in touch with him herself, but if I remember the phone conversation correctly, she didn't expect that he'd have found out if she hadn't contacted him yet; so she doesn't know about the postcard. Hm.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 11:44am

And if he was all alone when he died how does anyone know his last word was "Rosebud?"

[RobbO]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 11:44am

in the 1980s, texas was very sensitive about its mail, thus, the postcard being sent back.

jack's mother did not give ennis the ashes but she knew he had taken something from jack's room and was okay with it.

bill murray whispered to scarlett that she wasn't that good of an actress.

[eslgr8]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 11:47am

So as not to be influenced by any of the other responses, I am responding without reading them. So quite possibly I'm saying something that someone else has said. If so, the idea came to me independently.

I feel that the scene showing Jack being bashed to death is something that Ennis imagines, based on his knowledge of what happened to the cowboy couple who lived together when he was a child. Brokeback Mountain is told pretty much from Ennis' and from Jack's points of view, so to reveal something that Jack's wife would know (but not Ennis) wouldn't make dramatic sense in this film. It would be as if the filmmaker suddenly popped in and said, "This is what really happened," which would be out of place in the movie. I believe that the ending is deliberately ambiguous. It seems that Jack's wife is lying, and apparently Ennis picked up on this. But did it really happen the way we see it in the brief "flashback"? I think we cannnot know for sure.

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 11:49am

I remember the postcard sensitivity movement in Texas in the 1980's. I once wrote one in purple ink and was brought in and questioned by the postmaster general. He thought I was subversive or something.

[eslgr8]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 11:50am

Second answer without reading anyone else's:
Ennis, I swear...
a) I'll never forget you
b) I'm sorry I was too much of a coward to do what you wanted
c) I never meant to hurt you
d) I'll love you forever
e) All of the above
Honestly, I think this is something left entirely up to the imagination of the viewer, and that any response that comes into your mind or heart might be true.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 11:51am

Do you all think that the last time the movie shows them together ("I wish I knew how to quit you") is indeed the last time they saw each other before Jack died? I'm not sure if I think they left that day on poor terms or not. I do think Ennis wishes he hadn't left it that way, though.

Updated On: 12/20/05 at 11:51 AM

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 11:53am

f. I miss your big dick f*cking my ass

[eslgr8]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 11:59am

I do believe that it was their last time together, and that is one of the things that torments Ennis, that he cancelled their plans to meet in August, saying that they would have to wait till November. They parted on not the best terms, and he has that to carry on his conscience, plus the question of whether things might have been different had they met again in August (before Jack's death?).

[BlueWizard]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 11:59am

f. I miss your big dick f*cking my ass

No, because Jack was the bottom.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 12:01pm

That's what I thought, eslgr8, that now he's got that on his conscience -- never having said a lot of things, or having said a proper goodbye. I was just curious!

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 12:23pm

Are people confusing the whole postcard thing?
It seems like no one really got it. Lureen got a postcard FROM Ennis for Jack. She stamped deceased on it and sent it back to Ennis. When he got it, that's why he called. She even says that Jack kept all his friend's addresses in his head so she didn't know how to get in touch with him.
and, FYI, having seen it twice, when she mentions that Ennis was Jack's fishing buddy, she also says something that sounds, seriously like, "his humpin' buddy, I knew that."
Although I think she says huntin' buddy.

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 12:26pm

My thoughts on "I swear"...

It is a Southern expression that usually has to do with being annoyed at someone you love. I'm sure there is more than that meaning, but that's how the line read to me when I saw this flick.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 12:26pm

JRB, how likely is it that Lureen has a "Deceased" stamp handy?

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 12:27pm

Bway, I think she says something to the effect of knowing that Ennis was Jack's fishing buddy OR his hunting buddy, like she didn't know if they went fishing or hunting.

Sueleen, maybe she took it to the post office?

[RobbO]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 12:33pm

the stamp was from a post office like the "return to sender" or "no such address" stamps used today. can you imagine how maudlin it would be for a widow to stamp "deceased" on every piece of mail received. i think if she received the card, she might use the return address to write a short note explaining jack's death.

the one thing for certain is that the wife did not stamp the card.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 12/20/05 at 12:34pm

Whatever the method of stamping the postcard, the return address was there. So if Lurleen wanted to contact Ennis she could have. I think she knew about them, somehow. But how did she find out? Perhaps it WAS a gay bashing and she put two and two together...but you would think she would be bitter enough to throw that in Ennis' face when he did call. She is obviously bitter about something when he calls...and there really is no indication that their marriage was that bad. Remember, she is rather proud when Jack finally stands up to her Father. So something must have happened to make her so cold to Ennis.

Updated On: 12/20/05 at 12:34 PM