Hi all
,
I am new here. Thanks for this beautiful opportunity to speak about this great movie. I wish I had discovered it many years ago.
Anyway… I would rewrite the final part. *Brace yourself, cause I’m pretty angsty. Also, be kind, English is not my mother language*
What if Jack does not die. He gets his sweet life… With Randall.
Jack answers to last Ennis postcard saying he cannot be there in November. He also adds that he divorced from Laureen and he’s moving elsewhere. Without saying where. So, Ennis…Waits. And waits. And months pass and there is no news from Jack. Then he phones Laureen, but she is not exactly happy to hear from him: Jack confessed everything about Ennis and him and asked for divorce, so she is not “friendly with Ennis”. Maybe she gets angry or cries how much he hates them both. But she also says that…She hates Randall way more than Ennis because he took Jack away.
Ennis learns that Jack has someone else and firstly he accepts it. A year passes. It is deep and painful. He tries to get comfort in the idea that Jack is happy. However, the idea that he is living with another man gets him jealous and possessive. He fights back this feeling convincing himself that he only needs to make sure that Jack is alright, that he is not taking stupid risks with his new life choices.
So… he goes to Lighting Flat to investigate where Jack has moved. Jack’s parents’ scene is almost the same as the original script. But they are not sad(mother)/angry(father) because Jack died…They are sad/angry because Jack has moved far away from them, to live his life with another man. They tell him exactly where he moved to (maybe Canada, maybe Mexico, far anyway…). John Twist cannot accept it. He provokes Ennis and has the same hateful attitude. Jack’s mother’s, however, sees how much Ennis is suffering and she knew about him. She knew he was Jack’s lover, and she remembers his hopes, his suffering, his affection for Ennis Del Mar. She gives him the shirts as in the original script.
Ennis goes home and he reverses and hugs the two shirts, discovering how deep Jack love was. He understands he failed at reciprocating, he failed in sensitivity, he failed in pursuing happiness together. So, he only wants to tell Jack he is sorry. He saves some money and drives to the place where Jack had moved to. He asks everyone for finding the exact address of Jack and goes there.
Only Randall is home. He seems kind. He opens the door and implicitly, even before Ennis speaks out his name, he knows who he is. The man who disappointed Jack for 20 years and broke his hearts. He lets him in. The house is nice, clean, and welcoming. They have a little farm. He says Jack is not there cause he has taken their dog to the vet. He makes Ennis some coffee. Ennis almost does not speak. It is like he has lost the courage: while driving, he imagined saying to Randall to f*** off cause Jack is his, cause they love each other. But now, in that house, it seems impossible. He asks how Jack is doing. And Randall tells him that Jack is alright and safe.
Ennis: “Did he ever tell you about Brokeback Mountain?”.
Randall: “We have been there last summer”.
Ennis: “It was…our place, you know?”.
Randall: “Yes, I know.” He breaths “Jack loved you so much. It was difficult for him.”
They are both so awkward. It is embarrassing.
Ennis drinks his coffee, thanks Randall and heads for the door. He turns only to say: “Could you tell Jack that I swear to him…” and Randall is like “What?” and Ennis shakes his head and mumbles “Nothing”.
He goes home and cries in front of the shirts in the closet.
The End
Jack!team
Ennis!team
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Jack definitely is more comfortable with his sexual orientation than Ennis for the reasons which you have pointed out and also his trip to Mexico. 