Topic: The smell of Jack

[Rosie]

A thought just came to me,

The first time I ever watched the SNIT I noticed how Ennis smelt Jack.  The way that Ennis inhales Jacks smell is a really intimate thing, taking that smell deep into his lungs and when he exhales I think that you can see the effect that it has had on him (and everyone else watching!). At the same time Jack is breathing in Ennis' smell through his hair, and I just thought, I know that the night before (FNIT) they had had sex for the first time and Ennis may well have smelt Jack when he collapsed on his back, but I think that they had been having surreptitious smells of each other through their shirts before. After FNIT we see Jack washing Ennis' shirt, but originally Ennis was the camper doing the washing. This was 1963, they were doing physical work and I doubt that they'd brought deodorant or aftershave with them! Those shirts must have really been infused with their scent. If Ennis was becoming attracted to Jack and I think he was (I just know that Jack was attracted to him!) then I reckon that it's something they may well have done and Ennis jumped straight in to get more of it when he got the opportunity for real. I may be wrong, but hey, it's my imagination and I'm always going to think it now!

BTW there are a few scenes in this movie where they both deserve Oscars and this is one of them.... What am I saying? - they deserve Oscars for ALL the scenes.

When the two meet up again after four years the short story says that Ennis could smell Jack again that 'intensely familiar odor of cigarettes, musky sweat and a faint sweetness like grass and with it the rushing cold of the mountain'. And then we've got Jack in the motel scene breathing in Ennis again through his hair. Then obviously we've got that unforgettable scene where Ennis finds the shirts and buries his face in them hoping to smell for one last time 'the faintest smoke and mountain sage and salty sweet stink of Jack but there was no real scent, only the memory of it, the imagined power of Brokeback Mountain of which nothing was left but what he held in his hands.' ....Excuse me while I go and add some more depth to my personal Brokeback Mountain river of tears........ Well I was just thinking if they ever bring out a Brokeback mountain deluxe edition with deleted scenes, I wonder if the lovely Jake could be persuaded to rub some cards over his body so that they could be included as scratch and sniff cards in a few lucky DVDs, like they do with golden tickets in Crisp/Potato chip packets? Just so that we could check it out for ourselves. However rare they were I personally would not stop buying DVDs until I got one! ... Hell I bet the people on this site alone would make Brokeback the top selling DVD of all time!

Rosie
xx

[Rønnaug]

I wonder if the lovely Jake could be persuaded to rub some cards over his body so that they could be included as scratch and sniff cards in a few lucky DVDs,

 

That would be something ...

As dfor smelling, how about the closet... Ennis doesn't just smell the shirts, he seems to want to inhale them

[Rosie]

So do I!

[tpe]

Hello Rosie.

It is good that you bring up a more general discusssion here.  If you have read the thread on the Motel Scene, you will see there a discussion about the role of smells and the deep connection with memory.

As I have said before, there is something very primal/primitive about the power of smells to drive associations and deep-seated emotions.  In the case of the beloved, natural odors do make strong sexual and emotional connections.  It is the same as with other animals, except the case for human beings is particularly complex.

This entails a more general discussion of the power of the senses to establish emotional and spiritual bridges from one human being to another.  It is the key to forging a link between the physical and spiritual worlds of love and desire.

[Rosie]

Wow tpe,
I like it!  Primal/Primitive! I'm going to have to go to this Motel scene thread (which I obviously haven't read) coz I think I might like it!
Rosie
xx

[tpe]

Wow tpe,
I like it!  Primal/Primitive! I'm going to have to go to this Motel scene thread (which I obviously haven't read) coz I think I might like it!
Rosie
xx

I think the disadvantage (or advantage?) of seeing all this in a movie is that we don't have the sense of smell and the sense of touch.  But I agree with you: the beauty of these scenes is that you can almost smell them, touch them.  It is a miracle of projection.

[aintfoolin]

I hope deodorant was part of the supply packages. Otherwise they would've gotten pretty ripe. But you are right , Smells are asscoiated with a person"s presence. Even if their not around. This must have came in handy during their long separations. Probably why Jack stole the shirt.

[dirtbiker]

Speaking about smells, I bet I can identify some of my hot friends blindfolded just by smell alone    Sort of like pheromones....

[tpe]

I hope deodorant was part of the supply packages. Otherwise they would've gotten pretty ripe. But you are right , Smells are asscoiated with a person"s presence. Even if their not around. This must have came in handy during their long separations. Probably why Jack stole the shirt.

The ripe scent of the beloved: it is like ambergris to the lover who seeks him out.

[tpe]

Speaking about smells, I bet I can identify some of my hot friends blindfolded just by smell alone    Sort of like pheromones....

You speak the truth. 

[ms.bluesky]

wow rosie that was really nice word i love it and i think that they probaly did kinda keep the smell of each other thats why i think jack had ennis' shirt anyway so he could smell ennis'

[greenfrog]

wow rosie that was really nice word i love it and i think that they probaly did kinda keep the smell of each other thats why i think jack had ennis' shirt anyway so he could smell ennis'

That sounds so romantic     

[NoReins]

Well I was just thinking if they ever bring out a Brokeback mountain deluxe edition with deleted scenes, I wonder if the lovely Jake could be persuaded to rub some cards over his body so that they could be included as scratch and sniff cards in a few lucky DVDs, like they do with golden tickets in Crisp/Potato chip packets? Just so that we could check it out for ourselves. However rare they were I personally would not stop buying DVDs until I got one! ... Hell I bet the people on this site alone would make Brokeback the top selling DVD of all time!

I wonder how much it would cost to order all the DVDs produced?

[aintfoolin]

For a whiff of that? ...pricless

[tpe]

I still find it amazing that we can talk about smell in a movie.  The sense of it is so strong that we can actually even talk about it.

It is a pity that Jack's shirt and jacket do not retain any scent.  Or perhaps I am not sensitive enough to detect it.  To be sure, they were not washed.

[NoReins]

It is a pity that Jack's shirt and jacket do not retain any scent.  Or perhaps I am not sensitive enough to detect it.  To be sure, they were not washed.

Well, I couldn't smell anything either Thomas....and you can be damn sure I tried

[tpe]

Well, I couldn't smell anything either Thomas....and you can be damn sure I tried

I remember.    This, and Ennis's pajamas!!!! 

[aintfoolin]

Everyone has their own unique smell . Jack's was decribed in the SS. Apparently it was intoxicating to Ennis. I usally associate smells with presence. Suppose Jack and Ennis did too.

[trekfan]

I think both guys took a long hard whiff of each other and fell in LOVE and couldn't get enough of each other,  Jack taking Ennis' shirt was a way to keep him with him, including his smell.

I think Ennis probably DID smell Jack on that shirt, even though it probably wasn't actually still there after 20 years but his memory of it could not be taken away

 

[tpe]

Everyone has their own unique smell . Jack's was decribed in the SS. Apparently it was intoxicating to Ennis. I usally associate smells with presence. Suppose Jack and Ennis did too.

Yes, somehow, you know that the person is there with smell, and not just when you see them...

Did Jack's scent change over the years -- especially as he because more well-off?  Like his clothes, I suspect that it did change.

[tpe]

I think both guys took a long hard whiff of each other and fell in LOVE and couldn't get enough of each other,  Jack taking Ennis' shirt was a way to keep him with him, including his smell.

I think Ennis probably DID smell Jack on that shirt, even though it probably wasn't actually still there after 20 years but his memory of it could not be taken away

 

Welocme trekfan!

Yes, if there was any scene where thr sense of smell was most powerfully projected, it must be in that scene with the shirts.

I suppose the smell of Jack and the power of Brokeback Mountain (even the memory of either one) became one and the same in this scene. 

[ragtimecowboy]

I'll be right over and we'll inhale deeply, Jack Nasty's shirt, perhaps a little deeper...

I still find it amazing that we can talk about smell in a movie.  The sense of it is so strong that we can actually even talk about it.

It is a pity that Jack's shirt and jacket do not retain any scent.  Or perhaps I am not sensitive enough to detect it.  To be sure, they were not washed.

[rick65]

Yes, somehow, you know that the person is there with smell, and not just when you see them...

Did Jack's scent change over the years -- especially as he because more well-off?  Like his clothes, I suspect that it did change.

Perhaps Jack's scent did change to outsiders, but I believe the basic scent stayed the same. The odor produced by the body's hormones and pheromones which could only be sensed by someone he was intimate with would stay basically unchanged.
Sure the mixture of smells was different; not cheap tobacco and dirt, but rather Cubans and expensive perfume. But after a few days in the mountains with Ennis, he wouldn't have smelled like lilac soap and cocoa butter moisturizer. IMO
I reckon love can be experienced through the olfactory senses and by it we can remember, even if only wistfully.

[tpe]

Perhaps Jack's scent did change to outsiders, but I believe the basic scent stayed the same. The odor produced by the body's hormones and pheromones which could only be sensed by someone he was intimate with would stay basically unchanged.
Sure the mixture of smells was different; not cheap tobacco and dirt, but rather Cubans and expensive perfume. But after a few days in the mountains with Ennis, he wouldn't have smelled like lilac soap and cocoa butter moisturizer. IMO
I reckon love can be experienced through the olfactory senses and by it we can remember, even if only wistfully.

Very interesting comment, rick65!  It makes sense to me, especially about the basic scent remaining the same -- possibly "hidden" under the surface smells.  Very well said, IMO.

[tpe]

I'll be right over and we'll inhale deeply, Jack Nasty's shirt, perhaps a little deeper...

I trust your olfactory sensitivity, ragtimecowboy.  But as rick65 said, perhaps we have to have been intimate with the wearer in order for us to detect the basic scent! 

 

[ragtimecowboy]

I trust your olfactory sensitivity, ragtimecowboy.  But as rick65 said, perhaps we have to have been intimate with the wearer in order for us to detect the basic scent! 

 

Well it never hurts to dream and what a dream that would be to have and to hold for awhile!  Ennis got a massive dose the second night in the tent. Jack all fresh from his dip earlier in the day in the river, jeans and shirt freshly washed. Fresh scent pooring out of every strategic location on that beautiful buff body and that unfogettable gaze into those dazzling pools of blue as he entered the tent hat in hand. Dizzying you bet! Bond forming for sure.

[manhattangirl]

The smell of your lover, his scent is what draws you to him, like no one else.  You know his scent, and crave him.  When Ennis was in Jack's room, and found their shirts, he put his face in it to smell the scent of his lover because maybe he can feel him laying next to him again, he could feel the warmth of his body.   Ennis wanted that, he wanted again to feel Jack. 

Imagine he has to go on without Jack, how painful this will be for him, and all he'll have are the shirts.  Shirts are shirts it's a cold way of looking at it, but I could see tears always in Ennis's eyes, because this is as close he'll ever be to his lover of twenty years.   

[tpe]

The smell of your lover, his scent is what draws you to him, like no one else.  You know his scent, and crave him.  When Ennis was in Jack's room, and found their shirts, he put his face in it to smell the scent of his lover because maybe he can feel him laying next to him again, he could feel the warmth of his body.   Ennis wanted that, he wanted again to feel Jack. 

Imagine he has to go on without Jack, how painful this will be for him, and all he'll have are the shirts.  Shirts are shirts it's a cold way of looking at it, but I could see tears always in Ennis's eyes, because this is as close he'll ever be to his lover of twenty years.   

There is something special in the scent of a lover -- it speaks of warmth and life, as you say.  Even after the lover has departed, the scent remains.  That is why it can be so poetic and indicative of pining.

[lamusica]

Well, I couldn't smell anything either Thomas....and you can be damn sure I tried

Had they worn these clothes to work in for a couple of days, you would have smelled plenty.  You were smelling movie stars' shirts that were worn, maybe, for a few hours max, then maybe even washed or cleaned before being worn again.  I wouldn't expect to smell anything on them.  They also wore deodorant, I'm sure, and took daily baths in their trailors.  They weren't real cowboys; their hygiene was about 200% above the real thing.  Just MHO.

[tpe]

Had they worn these clothes to work in for a couple of days, you would have smelled plenty.  You were smelling movie stars' shirts that were worn, maybe, for a few hours max, then maybe even washed or cleaned before being worn again.  I wouldn't expect to smell anything on them.  They also wore deodorant, I'm sure, and took daily baths in their trailors.  They weren't real cowboys; their hygiene was about 200% above the real thing.  Just MHO.

The jackets were almost certainly uncleaned, because people found numerous items in the pockets!  The shirts were also probably uncleaned, although I do agree that they probably did not wear them long enough to leave a scent.

Compared to real cowboys and sheepherders, they were certainly spotless and clean.   Clothing worn by real cowboys/herders would have been rank, to be sure.  One would probably smell them from some distance...