Topic: "I might be back" - Ennis & Jack parting

[daveya26]

Hi

I was just watching this clip of the movie where Ennis and Jack are about to part for the first time after their summer together.  Theyre talking about what theyre plans are, it seems obvious that they both want to see each other again but they cant express it.  Jack then says 'I might be back', when he says this there is this small, almost pleading/hopeful look that flashes across his face that seems to say 'I WILL be back next summer, come and meet me here".

Wow, so many nuances that I didnt get with my first viewing...

[natalia]

I agree, I didn't really pick up on that almost pleading tone in his voice till my second or third viewing. Also, I noticed that when they were in the motel room talking after their first meeting in 4 years Ennis asked Jack if the draft got him. I think this really shows that although Ennis seemed nocholant about their parting after Brokeback Mountain on the surface it affected him so bad that he remembered Jack's exact last words ("I'll probably be back up, if the draft doesn't get me" or something along those lines) and probably replayed them in his head constantly. *sigh* As with the "just sending a prayer up to heaven" scene there are quick flashes when we can see Ennis' true love and affection, but then in his fear of appearing vulnerable he quickly retreats behind his stone wall again.

[*Froggy*]

The good thing is that we can watch this clip over and over again if we want to!!! Well at least until the DVD comes out!

"Gonna Do This Again Next Summer?"...I wish he had!

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/brokeback_mountain/trailers.php

[daveya26]

I know - I love the internet! :-) I remember loving films as a kid and it being torture having to wait for them to come on again, maybe sometime on tv.  Now we havd internet, videos, dvds etc :-)

Couldnt find out when the DVD release it, Im guessing early May for the UK. I hope it stays in the cinemas a while, give me a chance to see it a few times on the big screen.

[jimnick]

Oh yeah, Jack's face says it all.  Something in they way his eyebrow arches into a questioning half circle says please, I love you, come back to me...

Jim

[brokebackmountain]

Hi

I was just watching this clip of the movie where Ennis and Jack are about to part for the first time after their summer together.  Theyre talking about what theyre plans are, it seems obvious that they both want to see each other again but they cant express it.  Jack then says 'I might be back', when he says this there is this small, almost pleading/hopeful look that flashes across his face that seems to say 'I WILL be back next summer, come and meet me here".

Wow, so many nuances that I didnt get with my first viewing...

You are good after first viewing. I didn't pick it up after 4 viewings until I read your post.  :-[ I was just immersed myself too much in EJ's love. But now you mention, I can actually run the scene in my head.

Jack did have the look of hoping to *work* with Ennis again.

Also, I noticed that when they were in the motel room talking after their first meeting in 4 years Ennis asked Jack if the draft got him. I think this really shows that although Ennis seemed nocholant about their parting after Brokeback Mountain on the surface it affected him so bad that he remembered Jack's exact last words ("I'll probably be back up, if the draft doesn't get me" or something along those lines) and probably replayed them in his head constantly. *sigh* As with the "just sending a prayer up to heaven" scene there are quick flashes when we can see Ennis' true love and affection, but then in his fear of appearing vulnerable he quickly retreats behind his stone wall again.

Great observation too, natalia. I wonder what I have been seeing in 4 viewings. 

[n061857]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this before, but Jack offers to loan Ennis money when they leaving Brokeback.  Possibly he was hoping it would give him a reason to be in touch with Ennis.  Have you ever had someone break up with you and you leave something significant at their place, so you have to go back to get it?

[cara1158]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this before, but Jack offers to loan Ennis money when they leaving Brokeback.  Possibly he was hoping it would give him a reason to be in touch with Ennis.  Have you ever had someone break up with you and you leave something significant at their place, so you have to go back to get it?

Yes, a classic trick.  In this case, I think the loan offer was another example of how Jack thought they had a 'relationship' now, the fact that summer was over was a non-issue, he figured they'd still be together, in one way or another.  It wasn't until the fight and then the departure scene that it occurs to Jack that this is it, he might not see Ennis again.

[n061857]

I think you're right, Cara.  I hadn't thought of a change of perceptionon Jack's part.

[jakestowel]

When the two are getting ready to part, they get Jack's truck started and are standing by the side of it and they are discussing being back the next year, and Jack said, ". . . . .Or I might be back. . . ."  Right then, his left eyebrow makes a hopeful move. And it is his voice right then which is so wistful and hopeful.  This Jake has the most wonderful inflexions in his voice.  This ability of his is heard in most of his lines in this film.
Fafner

[shieldmaid]

To me this is one of the very most touching moments in the whole film--Jack clearly wants to say he'll miss Ennis or needs to see him again, but all he can do is look, and that little hopeful lilt creeps into his voice . . .  Poor Ennis, unable to tell him how he was really feeling.  If Jack had only seen him a few minutes later, in the alley, he would have known the truth.

[Daniella]

To me this is one of the very most touching moments in the whole film--Jack clearly wants to say he'll miss Ennis or needs to see him again, but all he can do is look, and that little hopeful lilt creeps into his voice . . .  Poor Ennis, unable to tell him how he was really feeling.  If Jack had only seen him a few minutes later, in the alley, he would have known the truth.

That scene was so tense.  The pleading in Jacks eyes were heartwrenching. 

[Valandil Eluch]

that is true it broke my girlfriend heart when she was watching the movie she was going to scream you idiot don let him go but she was unable by the tears since Ennis was not corageous to take Jack and escape with him and have their own sweet life.

his eyes broke my heart to the was beging Ennis to don't leave him and go with him but that never happened.

[LuvJackNasty]

When the two are getting ready to part, they get Jack's truck started and are standing by the side of it and they are discussing being back the next year, and Jack said, ". . . . .Or I might be back. . . ."  Right then, his left eyebrow makes a hopeful move. And it is his voice right then which is so wistful and hopeful.  This Jake has the most wonderful inflexions in his voice.  This ability of his is heard in most of his lines in this film.
Fafner

Yes his voice and his eyes. I also noticed the way the look on his face and voice changes in this scene when he says "if the army don't get me". I know it's a possibility but I think it was more of a way to get to Ennis. I don't want to use guilt trip or a manipulation of sorts but I can't think of anything else to describe it. He can't say "don't go" so he says that.

[shieldmaid]

When the two are getting ready to part, they get Jack's truck started and are standing by the side of it and they are discussing being back the next year, and Jack said, ". . . . .Or I might be back. . . ."  Right then, his left eyebrow makes a hopeful move. And it is his voice right then which is so wistful and hopeful.  This Jake has the most wonderful inflexions in his voice.  This ability of his is heard in most of his lines in this film.
Fafner

Yes his voice and his eyes. I also noticed the way the look on his face and voice changes in this scene when he says "if the army don't get me". I know it's a possibility but I think it was more of a way to get to Ennis. I don't want to use guilt trip or a manipulation of sorts but I can't think of anything else to describe it. He can't say "don't go" so he says that.

And I think it works in a way, too, since Ennis says to him when they meet again, "so the army didn't get you?"  He remembers the exact words Jack said since he must have treasured them for those past four years.

[filazahies]

You are so right, shieldmaid, I didn't notice that 
 Ennis remembered exactly Jack's words. And he was trying to appear not interested at all in what Jack was saying. I don't find it strange that he collapsed the way he did a few minutes later in the alley. So much love and desire swallowed to go on with his plans of marrying Alma :'( :'( :'( :'(

[christie wood]

When the two are getting ready to part, they get Jack's truck started and are standing by the side of it and they are discussing being back the next year, and Jack said, ". . . . .Or I might be back. . . ."  Right then, his left eyebrow makes a hopeful move. And it is his voice right then which is so wistful and hopeful.  This Jake has the most wonderful inflexions in his voice.  This ability of his is heard in most of his lines in this film.
Fafner

Yes his voice and his eyes. I also noticed the way the look on his face and voice changes in this scene when he says "if the army don't get me". I know it's a possibility but I think it was more of a way to get to Ennis. I don't want to use guilt trip or a manipulation of sorts but I can't think of anything else to describe it. He can't say "don't go" so he says that.

And I think it works in a way, too, since Ennis says to him when they meet again, "so the army didn't get you?"  He remembers the exact words Jack said since he must have treasured them for those past four years.

Yes, I agree, I think he did treasure those words, and kept them close and probably spent the next 4 years wondering if the army had got Jack.  It could have been a guilt thing from Jack to Ennis, hoping to get a reaction from Ennis, but I think it was just something to say.  What Jack WANTS to say, is stuck somewhere in his heart, but the way Ennis is doesn't make it easy for Jack to tell him.   But we know that Ennis DOES care about what Jack saying......god, the way Ennis talks to Jack in this scene is enough to make me cry.......he's trying to be all nonchalant, when you can just tell by his body language he is anything but.  When Jack says ".....if the army don't get me", Ennis doesn't know what else to say and lingers for a moment before saying "well, see you around I guess".....because what else can he say?  He's not got the words for how he feels inside.  And then Jack says ".....right" and you hear the total disheartened sound in his voice and he has to put his head down.   But then Ennis takes forever to actually leave, becuase he doesn't want to leave.

God, I'm making myself sad here.  :'(

[NoReins]

Yes, I agree, I think he did treasure those words, and kept them close and probably spent the next 4 years wondering if the army had got Jack.  It could have been a guilt thing from Jack to Ennis, hoping to get a reaction from Ennis, but I think it was just something to say.  What Jack WANTS to say, is stuck somewhere in his heart, but the way Ennis is doesn't make it easy for Jack to tell him.   But we know that Ennis DOES care about what Jack saying......god, the way Ennis talks to Jack in this scene is enough to make me cry.......he's trying to be all nonchalant, when you can just tell by his body language he is anything but.  When Jack says ".....if the army don't get me", Ennis doesn't know what else to say and lingers for a moment before saying "well, see you around I guess".....because what else can he say?  He's not got the words for how he feels inside.  And then Jack says ".....right" and you hear the total disheartened sound in his voice and he has to put his head down.   But then Ennis takes forever to actually leave, becuase he doesn't want to leave.

God, I'm making myself sad here.  :'(

Aye, there's all that....and then there's the way Jack looks in his car mirror and watches Ennis walking along the road....

Why didn't he just stop the truck and get out and grab Ennis there and then - would've cut the film short but it sure would have made all of us a lot happier, eh?

[frances]

Why didn't he just stop the truck and get out and grab Ennis there and then - would've cut the film short but it sure would have made all of us a lot happier, eh?

Courtesy of Tpe, from a G. J. Whyte-Melville's poem




What are we waiting for? Oh, my heart!
Kiss me straight on the brows! and part again!
Again! my heart! my heart! What are we waiting for, you and I?
A pleading look, a stifled cry.
Goodbye, forever! Goodbye, forever!
Goodbye! Goodbye! Goodbye!



That's exactly what I think EVERYTIME during that scene "What are YOU waiting for?"

[christie wood]

Why didn't he just stop the truck and get out and grab Ennis there and then - would've cut the film short but it sure would have made all of us a lot happier, eh?

Courtesy of Tpe, from a G. J. Whyte-Melville's poem




What are we waiting for? Oh, my heart!
Kiss me straight on the brows! and part again!
Again! my heart! my heart! What are we waiting for, you and I?
A pleading look, a stifled cry.
Goodbye, forever! Goodbye, forever!
Goodbye! Goodbye! Goodbye!



That's exactly what I think EVERYTIME during that scene "What are YOU waiting for?"

Jeez Frances, don't do this to me!  I'm at work, trying to look busy!  Then I read this poem and I'm a mess now.   :'(  :'(  :'(


"A pleading look, a stifled cry".........a pleading look from Jack, a stifled cry from Ennis........WHY didn't Ennis just grab Jack, touch his face and tell him he loved him?

Cos that would have been the end of film, that's why!

*Christie tries to compose herself, but fails*

[shieldmaid]

To me they both look even younger and more vulnerable in this scene, too: Ennis must be looking at the bruise on Jack's face, thinking, "I did that! I hit the face of the man I love!"  Jack looks hurt figuratively and literally here, bruised by love and life.  In the short story, they hit each other on the shoulder before leaving, but they don't get even that brief interaction here.   

[aimi15]

As this scene ended i was left wanting as much as Jack and Ennis. Its such a mesmerising, skillfully acted scene. I love Jack's pleading expressions - you really can't help but feel his achings and yearnings with him, but i also think Heath's performance here is breathtaking - so subtle and understated. The way his eyes flicker around and then hold Jack's for just a moment before they part - its wonderful. And of course with the gutwrenching alleyway scene following the understated way Ennis says goodbye to Jack makes it all the more poignant. :'( :'( :'( It makes me sad  :'( :'( :'(

[donnaread]

I"just sending a prayer up to heaven" scene there are quick flashes when we can see Ennis' true love and affection, but then in his fear of appearing vulnerable he quickly retreats behind his stone wall again.

Yes, Ennis' love and affection for Jack usually takes the form of humor...teasing Jack about his harmonica playing.  Except for the reunion scene, Jack seems to be the more affectionate one. 

Donna

[christie wood]

As this scene ended i was left wanting as much as Jack and Ennis. Its such a mesmerising, skillfully acted scene. I love Jack's pleading expressions - you really can't help but feel his achings and yearnings with him, but i also think Heath's performance here is breathtaking - so subtle and understated. The way his eyes flicker around and then hold Jack's for just a moment before they part - its wonderful. And of course with the gutwrenching alleyway scene following the understated way Ennis says goodbye to Jack makes it all the more poignant. :'( :'( :'( It makes me sad  :'( :'( :'(

Oh Aimi, I know how you feel.  No words seem to do their acting justice, do they?  It's all the subtle and understated stuff that breaks your heart.....all them things that Ennis isn't saying (CAN'T say), all them things that Jack is wishing Ennis would say......the boy is practically giving Ennis an open invitation to meet him back on brokeback the following summer!  But for Ennis, reality has moved back in, and he's moved his love for Jack out.

Sometimes less is so much more.     :'( :'(

[filazahies]

I've always loved the way Jack says the "I might be back". If someone in that situation says that to me and with that voice and those lips , I'd just forget all the Almas and the rest of the world, and would go to Brokeback again to spend the rest of my life with him :'( :'( :'(
But if Ennis had been as impulsive as I am, this movie would have been a short movie and we all would have complained :-\

[rikcub]

Hi

I was just watching this clip of the movie where Ennis and Jack are about to part for the first time after their summer together.  Theyre talking about what theyre plans are, it seems obvious that they both want to see each other again but they cant express it.  Jack then says 'I might be back', when he says this there is this small, almost pleading/hopeful look that flashes across his face that seems to say 'I WILL be back next summer, come and meet me here".

Wow, so many nuances that I didnt get with my first viewing...

Absolutely...I didn't get it the first time or two...but Jake's facial expression if excruciating...he SO wants to see Ennis next summer...and is asking for just that...although Ennis doesn't (or doesn't want to) get it.

[proulxfan]

Hi

I was just watching this clip of the movie where Ennis and Jack are about to part for the first time after their summer together.  Theyre talking about what theyre plans are, it seems obvious that they both want to see each other again but they cant express it.  Jack then says 'I might be back', when he says this there is this small, almost pleading/hopeful look that flashes across his face that seems to say 'I WILL be back next summer, come and meet me here".

Wow, so many nuances that I didnt get with my first viewing...

Absolutely...I didn't get it the first time or two...but Jake's facial expression if excruciating...he SO wants to see Ennis next summer...and is asking for just that...although Ennis doesn't (or doesn't want to) get it.

I had noted that in previous viewings, but this last time kept re-playing that brief look he gives Ennis as if to say "Please Ennis, just give me some hope we'll see each other again!". Absolutely heartbreaking stuff, and very subtle. Lord, what that Jake can do with his facial expressions!

[frances]

I read somewhere that Jake Gyllenhaal described Ennis and Jack's relationship about being what they don't say to each other.  Most of the moments where they are standing, being departed by the other, what they don't say to each other is more significant that the words they say.

This scene is maybe the best example of it.

[tpe]

I read somewhere that Jake Gyllenhaal described Ennis and Jack's relationship about being what they don't say to each other.  Most of the moments where they are standing, being departed by the other, what they don't say to each other is more significant that the words they say.

This scene is maybe the best example of it.

I agree.  I believe this is the scene exerpted when Gyllenhaal appeared on Leno.  If I remember correctly, his comments there about this scene was something to this effect...

[NoReins]

I remember hearing Jake say that and wondering what he meant. Does he mean the things they don't say that they should have said - like "I want to be with you" or "I love you"? Or does he mean the things that they don't say with words but instead with looks and expressions?

I think there's a general feeling that both Ennis and Jack were very good at reading each others faces and eyes - knowing how the other was feeling with a word being spoken. I think Ennis knows Jack feels the same way he does when they part the first time - but his upbringing and childhood experiences don't allow him to do anything then, or indeed later. In a similar way, I think Jack reads between the lines when Ennis tells him it ain't gonna be that way - and that's the reason he gently strokes Ennis's face at the end of that scene, because he knows how Ennis really feels.