.... I think it happened that way for a reason. ...
I am reminded of the Charlie Rose interview in which Ang Lee speaks more than once of the movie being something that was
happening with director and actors mere pawns in the causal matrix. (my words)
Ang Lee seemed to have some Taoist/Jungian notion of the movie as an archetypal entity coming to life through a will of its own.
(This is not off topic by the way. I do have something to say about a saliva thread.)
Another powerful aspect for me of the synchronicity of the story and movie is the fact that only a year after the story's publication, the Matt Shepard tragedy took place not 50 miles from Proulx' home. Now, had it happened the other way around, with the murder first, and Annie writing her story, then critics and analysts would say, "But of course! Don't you see? She based her story on that murder." But no one ever wants to see the converse situation, in which something primordial and archetypal is expressing itself, first as a fictional story, and then as a deed of action in real life.
Ok, now, back to the string of saliva.
In 1989, I spend a lot of time at New Haven's first and only Japanese sushi restaurant. A man who worked at the telephone company would act as host several nights a week, seating guests. He took an incredible interest in me. Nothing happened. He was a nice person, but I did not share his interest. One evening, he seemed quite hurt, and said I must find him boring. I was quite fond of raw tuna and a glass of plum wine, so I dined there frequently. It was nothing personal. But he spoke with me once, at great length, about some movie scene where two people pass a raw egg back and forth between their mouths. He told me it was his great dream to one day experience that with someone. I am being perfectly serious. This conversation really happened. I could attempt a corny humor and say that he was egging me on.
This thread about the string of saliva reminds me of the raw egg scene for obvious reasons.
There is something about high viscosity fluids which speaks to our primordial nature, seriously!
I have seen other movie scenes in which a strand or thread is quite obvious.
Perhaps it is the hallmark of authenticity which attracts, proving to us that this is the real thing, and not some dry run.