********* SPOILER ALERT *********
Some priceless moments in the film.
Feel free to add to the list and comment on them.
In approximate chronological order.
1. When Ennis/Ledger is washing himself and Jack/Gyllenhaal gulps, tightens his jaw, and tries SO hard not to look.
2. In the second love scene inside the tent. Jack and Ennis kiss for the first time. They pause in the middle of all this, trying to make it last a bit longer.
3. When Ennis collapses in the alley after parting with Jack, as if his guts are being drawn out by the yard.
4. When Ennis' lips tremble uncontrollably when he reads Jack's first postcard after 4 years of silence.
5. When Ennis first catches a glimpse of Jack getting out of his truck from the window of his home. The face is suffused with a happiness that is close to tears.
6. When the lovers embrace for the first time in 4 years. Ennis pushes Jack against a wall and kisses him. Jack reciprocates by pushing Ennis against a post and kisses him. In both cases, you can tell that they are almost in tears.
7. When Alma sees Ennis and Jack kissing.
8. When Alma cries after Ennis leaves her for a weekend with Jack.
9. The short idyll that begins with Jack saying 'Anything interesting up there in heaven?' You see Ennis lying down looking up to the stars, his face full of contentment and quiet happiness.
10. Jack's face breaking into a radiant smile after seeing Ennis arrive at the camp site. It is a look of pure pleasure -- an intense happiness of being with Ennis.
11. When Jack weeps in his car after being 'rejected' by Ennis after the divorce with Alma.
12. In their last meeting: the tenor of Jack's voice when he says 'Tell you what. The fact is... Sometimes I miss you so much that I can barely stand it.' The still small voice crackles with emotion.
13. Jack: 'All we have...is Brokeback Mountain'. Gyllenhaal's neck veins bulge with grief and passion in this scene.
14. In their last meeting, Ennis turns to Jack after Jack says 'I wish I knew how to quit you.' It clouded with tears and an indescribable pain...indeed, like clouds from a thermal spring. 'Then why don't you? Why don't you let me be. It's because of you Jack that I'm like this. I'm nobody. I'm nowhere.' You see Ennis pressing his thumbs between his eyes in his futile attempt to keep back the tears. When he collapses in Jack's arms, you see his face contorted with pain and sadness. This is the undisputable summit of Ledger's performance in the film.
15. The entire 'Embrace from behind' flashback. Jack resting his head on Ennis' arm. Ennis' hand tracing tender arcs on Jack's collar, as he hums a half-forgotten song. Jack looks at Ennis riding off. There is so much tenderness and love in that look, veiled ever so slightly with a knowing sadness. This scene is Gyllenhaal's most magical performance in the film.
16. Gyllenhaal's last shot in the film. So full of sadness, resignation, but also love.
17. Jack's mother meeting Ennis outside Jack's home. She is 'defeated and resigned.'
18. Jack's mother, placing her arm tenderly on Ennis when she invites him to go to Jack's room.
19. Ennis hugging the shirts in Jack's room, and inhaling on them.
20. Ennis looking out the window with indescribable regret, after Alma Jr. affirms Kurt's love -- a regret for what he cannot have, for what he will never have...
21. Ennis' face burning with tears as he says 'Jack, I swear...'
Et in Arcadia ego.
