Topic: The colors they wore

[bluemountainsky]

I noticed something I thought was interesting in the film. Ennis seemed to always be wearing colors that were white, beige, creams, taupes, tans, browns, light blue, etc. Jack tended to where colors that were a bit darker, like dark browns, chambrays, dark blues, forest greens, burgundy, black, etc. Does this have any meaning? Was it done to depict something about the characters' personalities? Or was it done as something symbolic. Or is it merely coincidental? It seems like it was done to convey something though, since there seemed to be a color theme for Ennis, and another one for Jack...they could have easily had both characters dress in all the colors mentioned above...but it seems like they chose template for each. Any discussion on why and what it might mean?

[Mahogany]

It's art direction, to make some contrast between them, to "identify" each character. Not only the clothes, but the places.
Ennis and Alma are characterized with light/sad colors like white, cream, gray that show us their unhappiness, loneliness, sorriness.
Jack And Lureen are characterized with red, purple, dark blue, that show us their ambition mostly.

We see Jack living with Lureen in a "happy" large colorful house after Jack enriches (and later we see Monroe and Alma's place), and Ennis living in places tighter and colorless after the divorce.

When Ennis came at Jack's parents house, we see the same colorless/sad/poor ambients where Ennis used to live in, that show us how sad Jack was living there when he was a kid.

But I'm not saying they wear those clothes and live at those places "on purpose" to identify their personalities for themselves, it's  just a scenario created by the art director and cinematographer for our view.

[bluemountainsky]

Interesting...also Jack and Lureen were so much alike. They both went against the status quo...Lureen riding broncos at the rodeo, being an independent woman, being good at business deals, all things that were not seen as the stereotypical female role that the society they lived in accepted. Jack was a man who showed his emotions, dared to dream about a better life outside and a bigger world, it is not only about Jack being openly gay, but about Jack's personality as a whole. He went against what society wanted, he didn't care what anyone thought. Ennis and Alma, on the other hand, they just accepted everything. Ennis we know was not really the person society wanted, but he hid it, and only showed that part to Jack...everywhere else he pretended to be the tough guy or he hid his emotions. He made no effort to change the status quo aside from being in the relationship with Jack, which of course he thought he kept it a well-hidden secret. Alma also accepted the status quo, she was the docile church-going girl, a house-wife. She later married Monroe, who is better able to give her that life than Ennis was. We see her pregnant again, seeing her main role in life as a mother and homemaker. Very different from Lureen. The more neutral colors symbolize that maybe, the other colors are bolder, the bolder characters wear the bolder colors. Also, tying into this is the colors Ennis wears are the earth-tone colors, showing how he is on the ground, so to speak, tethered to the ground, bound, while Jack wears the sky and water type colors, showing he's a dreamer who flies above the ground, always searching for something else, not being earth-bound. Jack and Lureen represented change for the better, more freedom, progress, while Ennis and Alma represented the status quo...parochial, do what is expected of them...no matter how miserable that same was making everyone feel. The status quo represented that conformity to a small-minded society, the unhappiness it caused, but people like Ennis and Alma feeling powerless in it, "if you can't fix it, you have to stand it"...no matter how miserable it makes them, they just accept.

[jackster]

Interesting observations and comments here for sure. The late Marit Allen was the costume designer on BBM and was pure genius in my opinion in the way she designed and chose the range and sequence of costumes used in BBM. It is so hard to use that word "costume" as it relates to these pieces as it all seems so natural, like it was just what these guys (and gals) had in their closets. But of course it was carefully designed and chosen for specific effect by Marit. There is another thread here about her work on BBM, it's topic=15507.0. These pieces are so ingrained in our minds (at least in my mind) it is very hard to separate the two. I can't imagine Ennis showing up in anything but a classic, yet basic, Carhart duck chore coat that first day in signal. Or it's impossible to see Jack riding thru the mountains in anything but that green plaid wool coat with a showy fur collar. And on and on, the SNIT shirt that Ennis wears, Ennis's silver belly hat, or Jack's blue outfit that made Jake's blue eyes jump at you. And of course the those two iconic shirts that say so much about our two boys, where they came from, who they were, and what they meant to each other. It's all of a piece, so comfortable it seems like Jake and Heath had been wearing it all their lives. I have to believe that the colors she chose were all a part of the effect she conceived for the love story and its characters.

[bluemountainsky]

The wardrobe department sure did a great job! And I noticed that one too, at the very beginning, it was genius to have Jack dressed in all denim, with dark boots, and black hat...the way they introduced him in that scene was definitely unforgettable. I've been going back as of late, watching the film on DVD and taking a closer look at all the outfits. Another of Jack's pieces that I do vividly remember is the burgundy shirt he wore at the reunion. I think that was another reason why they chose to portray the character of Jack as dressing in bolder, more vivid colors. It was another way to make him unforgettable to the viewer. We already know he was unforgettable to Ennis, but the character Jack I think is one of those people who is larger than life. When you meet him, you don't forget him. The colors of clothes accentuate that.

[brokebacksoul]

   Not sure but I think the signification of colours has been mentioned or even thematized on several occasions on EJ but never in such a delicacy and en detail (at least not that I've heard of). Gave me some completely new aspects to consider, thank you all. 

[bluemountainsky]

I also think Jack had a better style than Ennis. That's another reason for having him wear the colors he did, and the style of clothing he did. It was to show that he had a distinct style, even when he was poor the clothes he wore just seemed more stylish. He knew how to mix and match the colors. I noticed that a lot of Ennis's shirts were plaid, but Jack rarely wore plaid. He always seemed to be wearing a bold, solid color, and he always had his shirt tucked in just right and his jeans just seemed to fit just right, even in the beginning, when they both could only afford one pair of boots, Jack just seemed so stylish, no matter how few clothes he owned. I'm not saying Ennis was a slob or anything...just that Ennis's style was more plain and standard, where Jack had that look, that certain je ne sais quoi.