Topic: The Two Ennises: Movie versus Short Story

[jedibarrister]

I came late to BBM (I was one of 10 people worldwide who stayed away b/c they don't like 'westerns'....don't ask.)  So read the short story first and it slayed me.  Then I picked up the DVD at the library and was haunted anew.  One thing that was glaringly obvious was how different Ennis was.  Yes both versions weren't loquacious or social. Yes both versions were stoic and homophobic.  But the similarities ended there for me. 

Where was the Ennis who freely admitted to Jack about his dry heaves on the side of the road and their cause?  Where was the Ennis who freely admitted to "wranging it out" fantasizing about Jack?  Where was the Ennis who would sit next to Jack on their fishing trips with his arms around Jack and initiating the sex?  He wasn't in the movie.  In the movie, Ennis was in even deeper denial and deeper deprivation of his needs.  He sat apart from Jack...we only see him touch Jack once while curling up asleep.  After months apart, there is no greeting hug at the camp sites, etc.  After they leave BBM, other than the reunion, we see no physicality with these two and for 20 years time span, it was odd to me.

Part of me wondered if it was the screen-writers discomfort with more than a few scenes of intimacy.  But the scenes they wrote, and Lee's direction of them, was not cowardly.  So why hide/not include the rest?  Did they fear the general audience could only handle so much? AP apparently approved the script so why not point out how dramatically different Ennis was in the script version?

[chameau]

Hi and welcome jedibarrister. 

For me it is obviously the choice of the scenarists and Ang Lee, in many places the short story is very graphic about (homosexual) sex and and that would have made the movie barely releasable in many markets.

There was already a lot of controversy about what is shown in the movie isn't?

BTW, Ang Lee experienced some distribution issues with is next movie after Brokeback, there were very explicit sex scenes in Lust Caution (IMO the actors were not faking).  Ang Lee explained they were among the most difficult scenes he ever shot and we're talking about heterosexual sex here.

Let's go back to the topic,

I love the short story a lot.

I love the movie too if not more, because it was better then expected, I mean for me.

Adapting a book into a screenplay is always difficult and there are not much movies who are better than the books they were based on.

One example of a not so good movie, also adapted from an Annie Proulx story, The Shipping News.

IMO, they did very well with BBM and Annie Proulx once said Heath Ledger understood better than her the character she created.

I could hardly compare books and movies made from them, one example:  I loved reading To Kill a Mockingbird, despite the many cuts from the original book, I love watching the movie too. Like Heath Ledger's Ennis Del Mar, Gregory Peck's Atticus Finch is a characterization that made movie history, this is what matters to me.

My two cents.

[ethan]

jedibarrister, let me add my welcome as well. I thought it was more than 10 people including myself. Glad you are on board nevertheless.

I pretty much conquer what chameau had said. Personally, I would have liked to see more of the scenes which you described from the short story. By omitting these, did the movie somehow diminish the portrayal of Jack and Ennis's relationship? Probably no.

In the movie, Ennis was in even deeper denial and deeper deprivation of his needs. He sat apart from Jack...we only see him touch Jack once while curling up asleep.  After months apart, there is no greeting hug at the camp sites, etc.  After they leave BBM, other than the reunion, we see no physicality with these two and for 20 years time span, it was odd to me.

Great observation here. My suspicion is that it was done intentionally for its dramatic effect. To me, I love the movie as well as the story and would happily leave them alone as it is.

[rimasworld]

In the movie, Heath's performance as Ennis really had an impact on me. Movie Ennis had trouble putting into words how he felt and many times was not openly demonstrative, but Heath's facial expressions and body language spoke volumes to me.

[jedibarrister]

For me, the change in Ennis, made gave Jack a different feel.  In the short story, Ennis is more able to discuss his needs and feelings for Jack, he seems less reserved about discussing their relationship and more of an equal partner.  In the book, Jack is the wild-eyed dreamer who sees the world as he wants it to be as opposed to Ennis who sees the world as it is.  It's also the dichotomy between the man who'd love at any cost versus the one who'd rather live than love.  In the movie, Jack almost came across as an instigator instead of a partner.  He is the one who initiates in the tent, he tracks Ennis down, he is the one who seems to be chasing Ennis through 20 years all culminating in the new dialogue of "it's your fault I'm like this" (which it wasn't).  Once they jump off the cliff after their reunion, we don't see the joy that the relationship provides Ennis anymore...just pain, anxiety and discomfort.

[chameau]

Looking at notes, articles and reviews I realized, IMO, where the movie and the short story are different.

The screenwriters emphasized the death of Rich scene, when Ennis witnessed the corpse when taken to the "scene crime" by his father and made this episode the real turning point of the movie history so they wrote the character of Ennis as he is portrayed in the movie, he was extremely traumatized by this experience.

Yes the movie Ennis is different from the Short story Ennis but I for sure praise Heath Ledger's performance, this is what matters to me, Heath gave flesh and blood to Ennis.

Once again, we can't compare books and movies they were made from, huh?

[tpe]

Different is not always bad.  I think that the movie and the performances capture the true spirit/essence of the story, even if it did not exactly duplicate it in substance...  besides, what makes sense in the written word may not work in cinema if transposed directly.

[jedibarrister]

The written word is always portrayed differently when acted out.  My beef was with how much of the written word was omitted.  How many scenes where Ennis showed how he felt for Jack, how many scenes where he admitted them.  They were all removed.  It left me with a different Ennis and by extension, a slightly different Jack.

[lancecowboy]

The written word is always portrayed differently when acted out.  My beef was with how much of the written word was omitted.  How many scenes where Ennis showed how he felt for Jack, how many scenes where he admitted them.  They were all removed.  It left me with a different Ennis and by extension, a slightly different Jack.

I believe Annie Proulx at one point said Jake portrayed Jack exactly as she envisioned Jack, but Heath created a very different Ennis, one that is more true to life than she had written.

Personally, I like the movie Ennis better than the short story Ennis perhaps because the short story Ennis begins with the prologue's old lonely and poor, instead of the young Ennis as in the movie. I don't think I would react to Brokeback Mountain the same way if the movie introduces the summer of '63 as flashback.

I like the way Heath portrayed Ennis, and conveying the implied emotions. Ang Lee also did a great job conveying the feelings of "pawing the white out of the moon" camaraderie, and the majestic isolation of the mountain, looking down on the backs of hawks calling. It's personal, and there is no right or wrong answer. It's why art is open to different interpretations. I wish I feel closer to the short story as some people are. It must be a wonderful feeling to resonate with the raw and powerful printed words of Annie Proulx.

[lancecowboy]

For me, the change in Ennis, made gave Jack a different feel.  In the short story, Ennis is more able to discuss his needs and feelings for Jack, he seems less reserved about discussing their relationship and more of an equal partner.  In the book, Jack is the wild-eyed dreamer who sees the world as he wants it to be as opposed to Ennis who sees the world as it is.  It's also the dichotomy between the man who'd love at any cost versus the one who'd rather live than love.

I like the way you put this, but I think Ennis also saw the world as it was when he was nine. The trauma of witnessing the murder of a friend left indelible marks that superimposed memory on reality.

  In the movie, Jack almost came across as an instigator instead of a partner.  He is the one who initiates in the tent, he tracks Ennis down, he is the one who seems to be chasing Ennis through 20 years all culminating in the new dialogue of "it's your fault I'm like this" (which it wasn't).  Once they jump off the cliff after their reunion, we don't see the joy that the relationship provides Ennis anymore...just pain, anxiety and discomfort.

I read somewhere that Annie Proulx and Ang Lee had a big disagreement about the motel scene and the final confrontation scene. I don't recall the detail but the sequence was one disagreement. Annie finally agreed, after watching the movie, that Ang's version is more dramatic.

I think Heath's version of Ennis, the tightly clenched emotionally wounded, wound-up version conveys more of the homophobia than the short story version. He may also have had the prototype of Adam Sutton to draw on for inspiration. The faithful "wrunging it out hundreds of time thinking of you" was conveyed in the movie in other ways. There is a definite difference between the movie's lyrical gentleness compared to the shortstory's raw "sweat and semen" reality. It is perhaps more real for two poor ranch hand in the short story than it is in the movie, but I think the movie also portrayed Jack's progressive transformation from the poor ranch hand to rich salesman better than the book. The two media complement each other, and it would be a pity to consider the one better than the other.

The joy went out of their relationship in different ways. They still had the passion and comfort of two souls fitting together like two shirts. But the joy was strained from the moment under the stars, when Ennis told of his experience at nine years of age, and refused to share a life together with Jack.

The joy relate left Jack after the divorce, when he knew there is no hope between them. All they had were the high altitude f@#$ks a few times a year. That's when he got into more drinking and weed.

It's very good point you made, about the contrast between Ennis and Jack in the movie showing Jack up as the "instigator", compared to the contrast between them in the short story. Perhaps that is unintentional or perhaps it is. After all, both Ang Lee and Annie Proulx expressed at different times that Jack is "more gay" than Ennis. In any case, he was the one who initiated, instigated, took the plunge, bit the bullet, whatever. Ennis still had to be receptive, sympathetic and willingly submit to the invitation. It took two to ...ahem...tango.

[tizi17]

jedibarrister... 
after so many discussions, this is a point i have been discussing with myself for ages.. and i thank you for bringing it up...
needless to say that heath ledger has done an incredible ennis - but yes, the two ennises ARE different, for me too...

thank you everyone for your input! 

[lancecowboy]

Huh, sorry, you are wrong here, friend. Annie said that Heath portrayed Ennis as she wrote him and even said that Heath understood Ennis better than her. She said that Jake's Jack was totally different from his Jack (movie Jack is way more vulnerable, sweet and caring than SS Jack. Film Jack is a dreamer, SS Jack not). She was so sure that Heath's Ennis was her Ennis that when she signed a copy of the SS for Heath she wrote "to Ennis". She was not very happy with Jake's and Ang's vision of her Jack. Her Jack was harder and less honest that film Jack.

You are probably right. I recall the story of the book signing. I don't remember her reaction to Jack that well due to my obsession with Ennis especially during the early days of PBS. I recall she said something about her giving Jake a score of 100% for being the Jack that she wrote, and Heath 50% because he put so much more into Ennis. It's been a while since those early days, so you are probably right. I know for sure that she thought the movie's Ennis and Jack were much MORE attractive physically than the ones she created in her short story. Jack's not buckteethed, and those blue eyes  and muscles... Heath stayed fairly close to her vision of the poor ranch hand, with cigarette burns and callouses on his hands, and refused to bulk up in the gym as Ang Lee instructed. In spite of all that, Ennis still captured the hearts of many.

[chameau]

Annie also signed books of the short story for both Jake & Heath.  She dedicated Jake's to Jake but dedicated Heath's to Ennis, she eventually noticed her mistake but gave to Heath the Ennis's dedicated one...

We could discuss this matter forever but like tizi17 mentioned, thanks for opening this discussion jedibarrister.

[Ranchand1]

    For whut its worth..

    I see the SS and the movie as the same story being told with there differing perspectives. Like asking 5 different people about an accident they all witnessed.  You get different details and things that will stand out to each person making the story more full.  Never thought of the two as conflicting but co-existing.  An I believe it has made us all the more enthralled with their story.  Different side of the same coin as all of it together is what makes up its truth?

     

[lancecowboy]

    For whut its worth..

    I see the SS and the movie as the same story being told with there differing perspectives. Like asking 5 different people about an accident they all witnessed.  You get different details and things that will stand out to each person making the story more full.  Never thought of the two as conflicting but co-existing.  An I believe it has made us all the more enthralled with their story.  Different side of the same coin as all of it together is what makes up its truth?

     

Great metaphor, Ranchand  worth a million bucks.

The short story is from a rural buck naked truth kinda perspective. Told it just like it was, like Ennis...few words.

The movie is from a more sophisticated perspective...lyrical, emotionally more open and striking a chord with more people, more accessible to the emotionally challenged, like me.

I've always thought truth is a many faceted gem. See one side is just the surface. See more sides is delving into the depth of the gem.

Good one Ranchand. 

[jackster]

. . .  An I believe it has made us all the more enthralled with their story. . . .

You bet bud.

[jedibarrister]

Personally, I like the movie Ennis better than the short story Ennis perhaps because the short story Ennis begins with the prologue's old lonely and poor, instead of the young Ennis as in the movie. I don't think I would react to Brokeback Mountain the same way if the movie introduces the summer of '63 as flashback.

I read an essay about this difference and why it leaves a substantively different emotional resonance.  In the movie, it ends with a look at the long stretch of road and implies possibility and hope.  The circularity of the book, beginning and ending in that trailer, shows Ennis in a more depressing life.  So the movie Ennis has learned a lesson and is going to change how he looks at life.  The story Ennis is continuing to live in his own personal hell because he can't fix it, so he has to stand it.

[tpe]

You bring up an interesting point.  I do feel that the story suggests a harsher fate for the older Ennis -- especially when compared to where the movie ended.  Critical to all this are what we call the dream sequences that open and close the story.  There is a thread that discusses whether the movie should have or should have not included these 2 scenes -- if it was even possible to realize them in a satisfactory way, cinematically speaking...

[vedrana]

jedibarrister... 
after so many discussions, this is a point i have been discussing with myself for ages.. and i thank you for bringing it up...
needless to say that heath ledger has done an incredible ennis - but yes, the two ennises ARE different, for me too...

thank you everyone for your input! 

I quote this!

[lancecowboy]

I read an essay about this difference and why it leaves a substantively different emotional resonance.  In the movie, it ends with a look at the long stretch of road and implies possibility and hope.  The circularity of the book, beginning and ending in that trailer, shows Ennis in a more depressing life.  So the movie Ennis has learned a lesson and is going to change how he looks at life.  The story Ennis is continuing to live in his own personal hell because he can't fix it, so he has to stand it.

That's right on the money. The movie implies endless possibilities, and even after the tragedy, Ennis was given a new life, a new hope, a new lease on life.

The short story started with the end, fixed and unchangeable. It is that, which keeps me from falling into the story.

Thanks for all your new insights, jedibarrister. 

[vedrana]

Huh, sorry, you are wrong here, friend. Annie said that Heath portrayed Ennis as she wrote him and even said that Heath understood Ennis better than her. She said that Jake's Jack was totally different from her Jack (movie Jack is way more vulnerable, sweet and caring than SS Jack. Film Jack is a dreamer, SS Jack not). She was so sure that Heath's Ennis was her Ennis that when she signed a copy of the SS for Heath she wrote "to Ennis". She was not very happy with Jake's and Ang's vision of her Jack. Her Jack was harder and less honest that film Jack.

I can't argue about all this, but SS Jack was a dreamer! That's for sure!

Also, I never heard that AP wasn't happy with Jake's and Ang's vision of her Jack  She said that she's maybe the only writer whose book was truly transferred into a movie.

IMO Heath is physically resembling Ennis, more than Jake to Jack (hair and the front teeth), so that helps too in portraying a character.

I don't want to discuss about the quality of Heath's and Jake's acting in other movies (in which I'd vote for Heath ), but in BBM, both gave a great and unforgettable acting! And movie Jack got all the audience sympathies and I am sure - it is a big part of the movie success!