Topic: What is the significance of the ending in the movie (spoiler)

[romeshvr]

I know the book ends differently with how Ennis now dreams of jack.  However, the movie ends with the closed closet and the open window showing the wide green fields and the road.  I know the closed closet shows how Ennis is still keeping his love for Jack closed.  I read somewhere that the open fields and the road shows an option Ennis has, to go out there travel/live with Jack's love in the open.  Although in the book the shirts are supposed to be hanging on the wall in the open.  I want to get your opinion on what the ending in the movie means.

[dblippy]

Hi,

I have just watched the movie again and i think that the shirt is not Jacks' but Eniss's. At the end of the first summer when they had to leave early Ennis says " I can't believe I left my shirt up there ". The blood on the sleeve is from when Ennis wiped his bloody nose. Perhaps everyone else has realised this but It is obvious that Jack took the shirt so that he could always feel close to Ennis and at the end Ennis takes it back as a way of it reminding him that someone realy did love him and that it was the greatest love of his life.
When Ennis says " Jack I swear ". He is saying Jack I swear I loved you as much as you loved me. Jack loved him enough to steal his shirt the very first Summer, just so he could feel close to Ennis. That is what the shirt reminds him of.

David.

[tpe]

Hello romeshvr and dblippy.  Welcome.

The screenplay is fairly faithful to the original story when it comes to the use of symbols.  Recall that in the original story, the northern plains are always evoked to call to mind loneliness, bleakness, and an intrinsic sadness.  This is contrasted with the the beauty and majesty of the mountain (i.e. BrokeBack Mountain), which is the refuge and symbol of the love between Ennis and Jack. 

I have mentioned elsewhere that in the screenplay, the final shot is made to evoke loneliness and bleakness -- as if to mirror Ennis' regret and resignation in losing Jack.  The screenplay ends by bringing to our attention 'the bleakness of the vast northern plains', but as in Proulx's other work, there is a stark and severe beauty to the northern plains that is captured most perfectly in the final shot of the movie.  Personally, I find a note of comfort in the final shot -- something which is never hinted at in the original story or the screenplay, and I suspect that this is an addition of Ang Lee (excellent cinematographer  that he is.)

dblippy, in the scene where the shirts are found in Jack's room, Jack's blue shirt is seen covering Ennis' white shirt.  In the final scene, we see that Ennis' white shirt now protects Jack's blue shirt.  This reversal is not found in the original story, but is explicitly added in the screenplay.  Since Proulx had a hand in suggesting modifications to the final screenplay, I would assume that this addition (presumably made by the screenplay writers) has her explicit blessing.

[rabjr1]

Interesting point, some people wondered why the prologue in the story wasn't in the movie.  How could you film a scene that is mostly  Ennis's thoughts.

The audience is made to focus on the shirts for a reason.  The shirts are used in the story as a metaphor of their relationship.  The deft reversal of the shirts as depected in the movie is not (I believe) in the story.  Pure absolute genius of Ang Lee (or who made the decision)   

ps.In Alfred Hitchcocks mivie "Suspicion" there is a scene where Cary Grant walks upstairsr to his wife a simple glass of milk in order to make the audience on the milk with suspicion Hitchcock  lit the glass of milk from the inside using a light bulb to give the it an etheral glow the audience could not miss.

[tpe]

The audience is made to focus on the shirts for a reason.  The shirts are used in the story as a metaphor of their relationship.  The deft reversal of the shirts as depected in the movie is not (I believe) in the story.  Pure absolute genius of Ang Lee (or who made the decision)   

I agree.  Upon recognizing this reversal of the shirts in Ennis' closet, one is filled with a sense of sadness.  This feeling is reinforced in the closing shot of the northern plains...

[Kindred]

An interpretation that did not occur to me until after my second viewing and subsequent reading of the short story was the significance of the reversal of the shirts.

The story version describes "the pair like two skins, one inside the other, two in one."  Ennis' shirt under Jack's, possibly interpretted as Ennis getting "under" Jack's skin.  "I wish I knew how to quit you." seems to sum up how Jack felt.

Then in the final scene, the shirts are reversed.  All Ennis can say is "Jack, I swear-" realizing that Jack is gone and all he can do is think about him.  Now it is Jack that is under Ennis' skin.  Just a thought that came to me after reading the story.

[keren_b]

I've just read in an interview that it was Heath Ledger's idea to reverse the shirts and tuck Jack's into his, it was his contribution. Diana Ossana said so. this guy is so deep...

[tpe]

I did mention in other threads that partially discuss the ending that the film follows closely the original story's dichotomy between the mountains and the plains.

If you recall, the description of the plains in the original is colored a bit darkly.  Specifically, we recall that Ennis passes by the cemetery where jack is to be laid, and he could not bear the thought of Jack laid to rest in the midst of the grieving plain.

For the last shot in the movie, the emotional clue is given by the screenplay itself.  The last sentence in the screenplay calls our attention to the vastness and bleakness of the northern plains.  I have said in  another post that there are two words that best describe this shot: BEAUTY and LONELINESS. 

It evokes the beauty of the love between Ennis and Jack -- so wonderfully expressed in the final scene with the shirts and Ennis's 'I swear'.  At the same time, it evokes Ennis's loneliness even after two years after Jack had died.

The plains have never really been the setting of the happiness shared by Ennisd and Jack.  The plains evoke the reality of an unaccepting society that they sought to escape even for a few days during their fishing trips up in the mountains.  It is a metaphor for the 'world' that refuses to accept them, and the loneliness this refusal engenders...

[keren_b]

  At the same time, it evokes Ennis's loneliness even after two years after Jack had died.

How do we know in this scene that it's been two years since Jack had died? Have I missed anything? 

[tpe]

  At the same time, it evokes Ennis's loneliness even after two years after Jack had died.

How do we know in this scene that it's been two years since Jack had died? Have I missed anything? 

Hello keren_b.  I am following the screenplay here (different in the original story).  The visit to Jack's parents was in 1982 (most likely Fall) and Alma Jr.'s visit is dated 1984 (most likely Spring).  A bit less than 2 years...

See the thread on 'Timeline of the Final Scenes' for an interesting (and confusing) discussion about dates. 

[mélisande]

I did mention in other threads that partially discuss the ending that the film follows closely the original story's dichotomy between the mountains and the plains.

If you recall, the description of the plains in the original is colored a bit darkly.  Specifically, we recall that Ennis passes by the cemetery where jack is to be laid, and he could not bear the thought of Jack laid to rest in the midst of the grieving plain.

For the last shot in the movie, the emotional clue is given by the screenplay itself.  The last sentence in the screenplay calls our attention to the vastness and bleakness of the northern plains.  I have said in  another post that there are two words that best describe this shot: BEAUTY and LONELINESS. 

It evokes the beauty of the love between Ennis and Jack -- so wonderfully expressed in the final scene with the shirts and Ennis's 'I swear'.  At the same time, it evokes Ennis's loneliness even after two years after Jack had died.

The plains have never really been the setting of the happiness shared by Ennisd and Jack.  The plains evoke the reality of an unaccepting society that they sought to escape even for a few days during their fishing trips up in the mountains.  It is a metaphor for the 'world' that refuses to accept them, and the loneliness this refusal engenders...

 :'(

[Valandil Eluch]

The ending was so sad and beautiful it was really showing the truth Jack would be in Ennis heart forever and he would protect him for the rest of his life and maybe beyond that but Ennis was making clear that he would never be able to love anyone than jack ....why i post this i want to cry now

[jazzsinger]

I'm confused about the timing at the end ... the short story places the final meeting specifically in May 1983.  Alma Jr was born in September 1964 and is 19 in the final scenes of the film - her wedding is to be in the June so it must be spring of 1984.

Like tpe, I find comfort and hope in that final shot.  The vast northern plains are at their most beautiful, with the bright yellow of the flowers - still a lonley place but with some joy, and hope for the future.

Ennis has closed the door on the shirts and the memory of Brokeback Mountain - these will always be treasured, but he is now looking outwards.  And he has just agreed to go to Alma Jr's wedding, to share in her joy and celebration.

The first time I saw the film, I was so drawn in, disbelief completely suspended, the characters became real for me!  and I believed the story from my heart.  so I came away thinking that maybe Ennis would come to terms with his sexuality, and connect with people...

Over time, I feel differently, but there is still hope and love in that final scene... and in that music!

[mélisande]

SYSTEM OF A DOWN LYRICS

"Lonely Day"

Such a lonely day
And its mine
The most loneliest day of my life

Such a lonely day
Should be banned
It's a day that I can't stand

The most loneliest day of my life
The most loneliest day of my life

Such a lonely day
Shouldn't exist
It's a day that I'll never miss
Such a lonely day
And its mine
The most loneliest day of my life

And if you go, I wanna go with you
And if you die, I wanna die with you

Take your hand and walk away

The most loneliest day of my life
The most loneliest day of my life
The most loneliest day of my life
Life

Such a lonely day
And its mine
It's a day that I'm glad I survived