Topic: How did Ennis express his love for Jack?

[Rønnaug]

THe more I see Brokeback the more little snippets of Ennis expressing his love for Jack become clear to me...

THe one I wanna start this thread on is the scene between Alma and Ennis in the kithcen at thanksgiving... I think for Ennis to physically abuse Alma, and threaten to make both her and monroe eat the floor, cause she calls Jack Jack Nasty, is pretty close to an I LOVE HIM... IMO he might as well have sayd don't you dare insult the man I love..

What do you think?

[NoReins]

Yep, thats definitely one, Esme.

Here's a few of mine:

1. The whole way through the motel scene, every time Jack says something even vaguely romantic, Ennis strokes his arm. He doesn't have the words to say what he feels, but he shows it.

2. "Sending up a prayer of thanks" - we know what for, Jack knows what for, but Ennis can't say it so he makes a joke then winks and smiles to show what he's really thinking.

3. "Ain't no reins on this one" - close as he ever comes to telling Jack he loves him, by telling him that he knows this thing can't be controlled, that it's beyond that.

4. The smile on his face when he arrives at the mountain (the "blue parka" meeting!) - his whole face lights up when he sees Jack is already there.

There's loads more I can think of, but that's a start.

[aileen]

The moment Jack told Ennis, that Aguirre wants them to go down from the mountain - Ennis got angry, I think not because of the money - he just didn' t want to leave Jack and back to the "normal" life. He punched Jack, because he didn' t know how to tell him "don't leave me, I' ll miss you..."

[tpe]

My favorite: when Ennis is shown with arms wrapped around Jack while sleeping on the last night of their last meeting.

[frances]

This face just before the reunion scene...

[NoReins]

This face just before the reunion scene...

Oh yeah - his eyes light up like all his Christmasses have just come at once. So much love in one tiny little half smile. Gorgeous.

[stacp]

How does Ennis express his love for Jack?  Let us count the ways . . .  Up on BBM Ennis:

1.  Offers to switch jobs with Jack;
2.  Kills the elk although Ennis is happy to stick with beans;
3.  Cooks the meat for him just right (scene after they've killed the elk and Ennis has the salt shaker);
4.  Surrenders to Jack SNIT;
5.  Collapses to his knees in the dry heaves and in tears after they depart BBM.

Down from BBM, Ennis, at the Reunion, runs down the steps to meet Jack and plants THE kiss on him; quits jobs to be with Jack and doesn't get a better job (like the electric company) so he can up and go with Jack at any time; foresakes vacations and time with his family to be with Jack; Gives up on Cassie because he realizes he loves Jack; and tells Jack he's "like this" because of Jack.  Seems like he's telling Jack that Jack has ultimate control over his heart and even his life.  Ennis may not be much of a talker but he sure gets his point across! 

[CrimsonSky]

This face just before the reunion scene...

I love that whole scene so much, when he's looking out the window all nervous, playing with his lighter, wondering when, or if, Jack's going to turn up, it's just so sweet, and it's the sort of feeling that everyone can relate to, of being all excited about a hot date, then getting nervous in case he doesn't show.

[frances]

Seems like he's telling Jack that Jack has ultimate control over his heart and even his life.  Ennis may not be much of a talker but he sure gets his point across! 

To see you again
lost the language
lost myself
lost the way of my life
waiting for you in the sunny noon
silence is love
love is silence[/b]
(Jasper Vikas George )


Loved your post, thank you!

[CrimsonSky]

It's probably the most obvious one, but the most beautiful one too:

[Sassenach]

It's probably the most obvious one, but the most beautiful one too:

*agrees*

[shieldmaid]

Also some very obvious ones:

-goes off with Jack, first to the motel and then camping, even though he can tell Alma is upset
-[paraphrase] "Sometimes I just can't stand it anymore" the last time they see one another
-"I can't tell you how bad I feel" when at the Twists' house
-Smelling the two shirts
-"Jack, I swear"

*runs off to watch the DVD again*

[NoReins]

Bringing beans to the "blue parka" meeting and offering to "fix 'em up just the way he used to" (even though you can hardly hear that dialogue in the movie)

Aw, bless him....he really was a romantic at heart :D

[LuvJackNasty]

The reunion kiss and the flashback are my favorite scenes in which Ennis expresses his love.

In addition to killing the elk he also ordered the soup for Jack even though he doesn't eat it.

from the short story- "Little darlin'"

[chameau]

This face just before the reunion scene...

Yes and all the time he is waiting before that shot... we feel his nervousness.

Afterwards, THAT kiss, Jack just can't believe it.  The look on Ennis face and the face rub a the end of the kiss when he whispers ''later'' to Jack  :-\

And of course:

[Sunflower79]

here are a few from memory

The renion scene before when he is waiting and when they meet up again

the flashback scene when he comes up behind Jack and hugs him from behind

the hotel scene when they are lying in bed all relaxed and cuddly after they had some fun 

when he takes the shirts home with him from Jack's room and touches and holds the shirts close to his heart  :'( :'(

the second tent scene when he comes to Jack 

the first tent scene and giving into his true passions  :o

and Ennis saying Jack I swear at the end of the movie

[stacp]

Bringing beans to the "blue parka" meeting and offering to "fix 'em up just the way he used to" (even though you can hardly hear that dialogue in the movie)

Aw, bless him....he really was a romantic at heart :D

I never realized this is what Ennis says here.  I thought he was talking about bringing the horses--thanks for the insight! 

[keren_b]

What can I add? you've said it all...

Esme, that was a great observation about his reaction in the kitchen scene with Alma, I loved your interpretation. Also notice the way he's breathing heavily and trembling just before he grabs her arm. He's desperately trying to control himself until he loses it.

The most striking manifestation of love on his part: SNIT, the reunion scene and the flashback.

[NoReins]

Bringing beans to the "blue parka" meeting and offering to "fix 'em up just the way he used to" (even though you can hardly hear that dialogue in the movie)

Aw, bless him....he really was a romantic at heart :D

I never realized this is what Ennis says here.  I thought he was talking about bringing the horses--thanks for the insight! 

Ach, don't thank me - thank the folk who put the Story to Screenplay book together. It's all in there!

[MississaugaRed]

There's a little touch Ennis uses, since touch is rare from him it's sweet -
SNIT, after he and Jack lay back, he reaches up to touch Jack's face and sweeps his thumb across Jack's eyebrow; I notice he makes the same little gesture in the reunion kiss once he's got him against the wall .. you almost miss it except in slo' mo.

[LuvJackNasty]

There's a little touch Ennis uses, since touch is rare from him it's sweet -
SNIT, after he and Jack lay back, he reaches up to touch Jack's face and sweeps his thumb across Jack's eyebrow; I notice he makes the same little gesture in the reunion kiss once he's got him against the wall .. you almost miss it except in slo' mo.

One more good reason to slo mo that scene! I never noticed that.

In the SS when he tells Jack about puking in the alley and he figured out it was that he should have never let Jack out of his sights.

[NoReins]

There's a little touch Ennis uses, since touch is rare from him it's sweet -
SNIT, after he and Jack lay back, he reaches up to touch Jack's face and sweeps his thumb across Jack's eyebrow; I notice he makes the same little gesture in the reunion kiss once he's got him against the wall .. you almost miss it except in slo' mo.

One more good reason to slo mo that scene! I never noticed that.

In the SS when he tells Jack about puking in the alley and he figured out it was that he should have never let Jack out of his sights.

If we're straying into the short story here then how about when he tells Jack "I like doin' it with women, yeah, but, Jesus H, ain't nothin' like this. I never had no thoughts a doin' it with another guy but I sure wrang it out a hunderd times thinkin' 'bout you" - that's way closer to saying "I love you" than "movie Ennis" ever gets

I noticed the eyebrow thing - very sexy There's another one, too - he strokes Jack's ears during the reunion kiss...

[CrimsonSky]

I noticed another one when I was watching earlier:

When he's checking the tent, and saying it "don't look right", even though he's not even going to be sleeping in the tent (well, he is, but he doesn't know it yet, he just wants to make sure Jack's comfortable and safe in there

[welshwitch]

The tentative way he enters Jack's room, as if he's afraid he's intruding, then the way he touches the thoings there, looks out of the window, as though trying to absorb the essence of Jack, understand the things that came together to make Jack what he was, then strokes Jack's clothes as if they were something he hardly dares to touch, and approaches the shirts almost as one would a holy relic. This isn't anything other than the purest form of love, the need to identify with and become a part of the beloved.

[tpe]

...then strokes Jack's clothes as if they were something he hardly dares to touch...

This is a wonderful observation.  You do get the impression that he is almost tentative in his caresses here...

[LuvJackNasty]

The tentative way he enters Jack's room, as if he's afraid he's intruding, then the way he touches the thoings there, looks out of the window, as though trying to absorb the essence of Jack, understand the things that came together to make Jack what he was, then strokes Jack's clothes as if they were something he hardly dares to touch, and approaches the shirts almost as one would a holy relic. This isn't anything other than the purest form of love, the need to identify with and become a part of the beloved.

That was beautiful!  :'(

[CrimsonSky]

"I figured you was sore from that punch" "And the army didn't get you?"  Ennis remembers every moment of their last day together as if it was yesterday, he's spent the last four years replaying it over and over in his mind, wishing he'd said or done things differently, wondering what might have been if he had. Not knowing if Jack was even alive or dead, he could have been got by the army and send off to die in some war somewhere

It's been said in another thread about Jack opening his heart to Ennis in that scene, red lining it all the way, etc, and all he gets in return from Ennis is "Me? Ahdunno...", and that's true to a degree, but Ennis's answer is in his questions, if you see what I mean

[chameau]

In French we use to say "une image vaut mille mots"

Which means a picture is worth one thousand words...

[NoReins]

"I figured you was sore from that punch" "And the army didn't get you?"  Ennis remembers every moment of their last day together as if it was yesterday, he's spent the last four years replaying it over and over in his mind, wishing he'd said or done things differently, wondering what might have been if he had. Not knowing if Jack was even alive or dead, he could have been got by the army and send off to die in some war somewhere

It's been said in another thread about Jack opening his heart to Ennis in that scene, red lining it all the way, etc, and all he gets in return from Ennis is "Me? Ahdunno...", and that's true to a degree, but Ennis's answer is in his questions, if you see what I mean

I know exactly what you mean CrimsonSky - Ennis has held onto the memories of that summer, probably thinking he would never see Jack again, and when he's lying in Jack's arms in the motel that's what comes rushing back to him when Jack is opening his heart.

[tpe]

In French we use to say "une image vaut mille mots"

Which means a picture is worth one thousand words...

This world can end.  That kiss endures.