Wasn't Heath Ledger an amazing cowboy?
He was so wonderfully in character in that last scene that I could not understand what he said when he looked at Jack's clothes. It's his last line in the movie.
Thanks for clarification!
Ennis last line is "Jack I swear......"
and the book adds this-though Jack had never asked him to swear to anything, and was not the swearing kind himself.
I think it means:
....I'm sorry
...for the fight, for the words said that can't be taken back
...For not trying harder to get time in August
....Regretting there won't be a NOvember
....I'm sorry I have to live without you, and I'll never forget and there will never be anyone in my heart like you were.
Well I saw the movie in french (I'm french :D) I will try to translate.. I think he said '' If I could say.. '' say.. I LOVE YOU! Ennis never had a chance to say '' I love you '' to Jack.. it's make my cry :-[
Well I saw the movie in french (I'm french :D) I will try to translate.. I think he said '' If I could say.. '' say.. I LOVE YOU! Ennis never had a chance to say '' I love you '' to Jack.. it's make my cry :-[
WOW - How beautiful is that? Neither of them were "the kind" to be able to say, nor knew how to say, I love you. Furthermore, Jack never actually ever asked Ennis to tell him he loved him (...had never asked him [Ennis] to swear anything...). What a terrible predicament to be in. They didn't have the vocabulary for their situation. It was so foreign to them--just as it was for Alma Sr. when she saw them kiss--it just wasn't in their paradigm of reality![/color] [/b]
Froggy - one more note - I merged the topic from the one you started. They seem to go together. I hope you don't mind. :)
(! Do you know wha? The jacket (of jack) and the shirt (of ennis) made me cry at the end when it was inversed :'(
(! Do you know wha? The jacket (of jack) and the shirt (of ennis) made me cry at the end when it was inversed :'(
I cry...(not so much now), reading the story..or watching the trailer....when i heard about the shirts, i knew i had to buy extra tissues!!!
b - it is open to some interpretation - people can decide what it means to them
My interpretation is this: it is Ennis' own affirmation of love -- and regret. Ennis has finally understood a deeper facet of love. This understanding shines thru when he surprisingly accepts his daughter's wedding invitation (he has at least come to a realization of life's true priorities). It shines thru when he sees all too clearly his daughter's blossoming love for her husband to be.
And it is this realization of love both raises Ennis up and crushes him.
It is because with the realization of his own Love, Ennis also realizes that it is a bit too late for him and Jack. And the final shot outside the window in a way affirms all of this, for the last words of the screenplay calls to our attention a deep sense of BEAUTY and a profound LONELINESS (the 'vast bleakness of the northern plains') that comes with having loved and having affirmed that love all too late.
tpe, you summed up very well. Thank you very much! The explanation from the screenplay does make sense and offer a lot of insights. Love and regret - a combination of this tragic relationship. Had Jack not died and disappeared from Ennis's life, Ennis probably would not have recongized the significance of his love to Jack. It is a story that happens all the time.
First of all, I consider it very powerful that both the short story and the film leave a lot of the most significant things unsaid -- in a way, sort of open-ended.
The 'Jack, I swear' scene is perhaps one of the most beautiful examples of this economy ( the other being the 'sexless' embrace shown as a flashback at the end of their final meeting).
I think it is precisely this economy that keeps a lot of us going back again and again to the many wonderful scenes in this movie.
I'd like to 2nd the praise for your analysis! It is exactly spot-on in my mind also! The use of the term "economy" is genius! I cannot agree more that leaving out the verbal accompaniment in these scenes makes them all the more powerful! And even more reason for me to shut up now! ha ha
Victor
TPE - I'm going to sound all American and say your analysis was "right-on!" instead of "spot-on" cause I don't want to try to impersonate someone from the UK. ;) Thank you for that thoughtful breakdown: I think you've hit the nail on the head. Yes, it definitely had to be examined why the scene with Alma, Jr. was *added* to the screenplay - scenes like that have to serve some greater purpose, otherwise it would just feel tacked on (and sweet as a scene with his daughter is, no one would be quite as moved if it were completely random). With a movie that says so little in the most eloquent of ways, stage directions are incredibly important to the overall flow and sense of the story!
Argh, now I have to go see the movie *again* cause I want to watch for the "WHAT HE CAN'T HAVE" expression! I totally missed it the first and second times, cause I was waiting for Alma, Jr. to forget her sweater and for him to go over to the cabinet with the shirts and his reaction...(and mine!) :'(
I totally agree.
if you had to translate "Jack, I swear" - I think it would be "Jack, I love you"
But in general I think it's such a beautiful verbal expression of FRUSTRATION and of being OVERWHELMED.
All his thoughts and feelings were too much for him to verbalize. The word love wouldn't even cut it...
I puddle up whenever I think of it. Saw the movie in my hometown in NJ on New Year's and can't wait for it to come out here in France next week! :'(
I puddle up whenever I think of it. Saw the movie in my hometown in NJ on New Year's and can't wait for it to come out here in France next week! :'(
Funny I just posted the same question in another section of the site.
I will let you know how they translate it. I'll be seeing the French subtitiled version, not the dubbed version, but I will let you know what the subtitle says.
Hopefully it won't say "Jack, si tu savais.."
I'll cringe if they use that as the translation and will have to explain to all my friends that it should read "Jack, je te jure..."
The last line from Ennis is "I swear" have been translate "ti giuro..." in Italian.
I don't have to many interpretation about it.
I think this is not only the final line from Ennis, but the final message of the film.
I think it mean... "I swear.. that I will never make a mistake again!! I will never been won by my fears I will always give place to love in my future!!". Ennis regret to have not given enough place to Jack in his live. Than he swears to never mistake again.
In fact Ennis decide to renounce working (maybe for the first time) to go to Alma Jr marriage... finally he choice to give love someone.
coguaro
Ennis's last line in the film is "Jack, I swear". I am not sure what it means exactly. It is worth discussing. :)
Ennis's last line in the film is "Jack, I swear". I am not sure what it means exactly. It is worth discussing. :)
When Ennis speaks these words, his eyes are filling with tears. I think it is just an expression of grief and love for Jack so great that they are no words for it.
I totally agree.
if you had to translate "Jack, I swear" - I think it would be "Jack, I love you"
But in general I think it's such a beautiful verbal expression of FRUSTRATION and of being OVERWHELMED.
All his thoughts and feelings were too much for him to verbalize. The word love wouldn't even cut it...
I puddle up whenever I think of it. Saw the movie in my hometown in NJ on New Year's and can't wait for it to come out here in France next week! :'(
I totally agree.
if you had to translate "Jack, I swear" - I think it would be "Jack, I love you"
But in general I think it's such a beautiful verbal expression of FRUSTRATION and of being OVERWHELMED.
All his thoughts and feelings were too much for him to verbalize. The word love wouldn't even cut it...
I puddle up whenever I think of it. Saw the movie in my hometown in NJ on New Year's and can't wait for it to come out here in France next week! :'(
Definately possible, but I think maybe in my mind---when I think of that I hear him saying
Jack, I swear .........That I miss you. I hear that in his voice and face even more than "love you."which I don't think Ennis could ever actually bring himself to say----BUT He would/could say "miss You." and from him those words would mean the same thing. :)
TPE is full of wisdom and insight. I saw the film again today for the third time in 7 days (only cried three times this go round!) and paid special attention to the details we have been questioning. "I swear..." rang crystal clear as "I love you" to me this afternoon, not just for the reasons TPE has suggested above (the converstion about her upcoming marriage and "does he love you?"). When Alma enthusiastically affirms that he does (what else would a bride think?), Ennis can't look her in the face, he has to turn and look out the window. This is a man who can hide his true feelings fairly well (check the scene at Jack's parents house when angry Dad spills the beans about the rancer Jack was planning to bring up to the old homeplace and build a cabin with).
Ennis knows that any man should love the woman he asks to marry. It is perfectly natural. But Jack has come to mind and he can't hide the feelings rising up at that very moment as he evalutes his own relationship with Jack in light of this oh so traditional and accepted form that Alma has announced for herself. His face, even in profile, is wrought with emotion. This is a man who can barely contain the revelation that he has always loved Jack. The "I swear..." spoken to the makeshift shrine (the only physical link that remains of Jack) and capped off by the lover buttoning the beloved's shirt. (Oh f**k, where's the kleenex?) This scene is what gives me hope for Ennis. Thanks, TPE.
Wow, thanks, tpe! I wondered how a two post thread got up to three pages over night :-D
btb