Author Topic: Has anbody wondered?...  (Read 8616 times)

Offline cowgirl19

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Has anbody wondered?...
« on: Mar 30, 2006, 06:23 PM »
Watching it today I had to think.......Did Ennis know Jack's no. off by heart or did he have to look his no. up in the phone directory?

We don't actually see Ennis dial Jack's number.  In the book it said that he rand him to tell him about his divorce, but still we don't know if he looks it up or not.  Maybe he keeps Jack's no. in his head like Jack did with his friends?

« Last Edit: Mar 30, 2006, 08:17 PM by tombul »
"Come on Ennis, you just shot my plane out a the sky!-give me somethin a go on.  This ain't no little thing that's happenin here"---Jack Twist

Ennis, weather-eyed, looked west for the heated cumulus that might come up on such a day but the boneless blue was so deep, said Jack, that he might drown looking up.

His shaking hand grazed Ennis's hand, electrical current snapped between them.

Offline Tom

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Re: Has anbody wondered?...
« Reply #1 on: Mar 30, 2006, 08:17 PM »
Watching it today I had to think.......Did Ennis know Jack's no. off by heart or did he have to look his no. up in the phone directory?

We don't actually see Ennis dial Jack's number.  In the book it said that he rand him to tell him about his divorce, but still we don't know if he looks it up or not.  Maybe he keeps Jack's no. in his head like Jack did with his friends?



I think by the time the divorce had came around, they probably knew a lot about each other, including phone numbers and the likes. I think the postcards that Jack sent to ennis were like a celebration of the first one, maybe like anniversary cards....their private "in joke" type of thing.
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Offline Gtattoome

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Re: Has anbody wondered?...
« Reply #2 on: Mar 31, 2006, 12:02 AM »
That is so funny!  I just got home from watching BBM again (it's the last night it's playing at the artsy theater here in Tucson!) and I was wondering that exact same question, during that scene!  I do remember in the book, like the above person said, that Ennis had actually called Jack after his divorce, and I also thought about the fact that we all know he loved him so much that he probably had Jack's number memorized just like Jack had his info!  I know I just kinda repeated what the person said above, but I just thought it was so funny that I had that same question tonight!!!  ;) Yay for Brokeback coming out on Tuesday on DVD!!!  :D

Offline Gtattoome

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Re: Has anbody wondered?...
« Reply #3 on: Mar 31, 2006, 12:03 AM »
That is so funny!  I just got home from watching BBM again (it's the last night it's playing at the artsy theater here in Tucson!) and I was wondering that exact same question, during that scene!  I do remember in the book, like the above person said, that Ennis had actually called Jack after his divorce, and I also thought about the fact that we all know he loved him so much that he probably had Jack's number memorized just like Jack had his info!  I know I just kinda repeated what the person said above, but I just thought it was so funny that I had that same question tonight!!!  ;) Yay for Brokeback coming out on Tuesday on DVD!!!  :D

Offline tpe

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Re: Has anbody wondered?...
« Reply #4 on: Mar 31, 2006, 07:40 AM »
Jack kept his friends' addresses and phone numbers in his head, as attested by Lureen.  I would not be surprised if Ennis did the same.  :)

Offline Stephen

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Re: Has anbody wondered?...
« Reply #5 on: Mar 31, 2006, 08:50 AM »
An interesting detail! And it reminds me that we're talking of a 20 year relationship, which I keep forgetting as it's so condenced in the film.  That line by Lureen about how Jack kept phone numbers etc. in his head says so much....I wonder how many numbers Jack kept track of! And for Ennis, of courese there's only one address  to remember: Jack's!  Are we to infer that Jack and Ennis never communicated by phone? Not even to reconfirm their rendezvous dates?
« Last Edit: Mar 31, 2006, 09:21 AM by Stephen »
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Offline tpe

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Re: Has anbody wondered?...
« Reply #6 on: Mar 31, 2006, 09:18 AM »
An interesting detail! And it reminds me that we're talking of a 20 year relationship, which I keep forgetting as it's so condenced in the film.  That line by Lureen about how Jack kept phone numbers etc. in his head says so much....I wonder how many numbers Jack kept track of! And for Ennis, of courese there's only one address and to remember: Jack's!  Are we to infer that Jack and Ennis never communicated by phone? Not even to reconfirm their rendezvous dates?

You know, they certainly did appear to have called each other once -- during the divorce.  But I wonder whether they really called each other frequently.  My feeling was that a phone call must have been particularly special when it happened...


Offline Short Leash

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Re: Has anbody wondered?...
« Reply #7 on: Oct 20, 2006, 01:00 AM »
ok, I didn't read all the posts here so, it's possible it's already been said but, I think it started out with the first postcard from Jack. It was his way of protecting himself from rejection by just sending a postcard. Like the Seinfeld episode about the phone numbers you keep on your (one number dial) So, since there was really no way for Jack to know what kind of response if any at all he would get, he kept it light. Then it became a tradition for them.
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Offline NoReins

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Re: Has anbody wondered?...
« Reply #8 on: Oct 20, 2006, 05:12 AM »
An interesting detail! And it reminds me that we're talking of a 20 year relationship, which I keep forgetting as it's so condenced in the film.  That line by Lureen about how Jack kept phone numbers etc. in his head says so much....I wonder how many numbers Jack kept track of! And for Ennis, of courese there's only one address and to remember: Jack's!  Are we to infer that Jack and Ennis never communicated by phone? Not even to reconfirm their rendezvous dates?

You know, they certainly did appear to have called each other once -- during the divorce.  But I wonder whether they really called each other frequently.  My feeling was that a phone call must have been particularly special when it happened...



Well, yes, in the short story they did. But in the movie Jack's words imply that Ennis sent him a postcard about the divorce ("got your message - the divorce came through"). Unless Ennis called and left a message with someone for Jack....but that would be totally out of character for him because he would be scared of having anyone else think that Jack might care that he was divorced.

I reckon that Ennis probably did have Jack's number in his head along with his address, though. Jack probably told him it, hoping that Ennis might call him (presumably Ennis never had a phone) and, like everything else he remembered about what Jack said, Ennis would remember that.
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Offline tpe

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Re: Has anbody wondered?...
« Reply #9 on: Oct 20, 2006, 08:20 AM »
You know, they certainly did appear to have called each other once -- during the divorce.  But I wonder whether they really called each other frequently.  My feeling was that a phone call must have been particularly special when it happened...

Well, yes, in the short story they did. But in the movie Jack's words imply that Ennis sent him a postcard about the divorce ("got your message - the divorce came through"). Unless Ennis called and left a message with someone for Jack....but that would be totally out of character for him because he would be scared of having anyone else think that Jack might care that he was divorced.

I reckon that Ennis probably did have Jack's number in his head along with his address, though. Jack probably told him it, hoping that Ennis might call him (presumably Ennis never had a phone) and, like everything else he remembered about what Jack said, Ennis would remember that.


Good point, NoReins.  Yes, the movie did imply via postcard -- and that would be more in keeping with his discreet nature. 

And it would have been in keeping with Jack's character to have given Ennis his address and number.  Of course, Ennis would never have written it on paper...


Offline welshwitch

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Re: Has anbody wondered?...
« Reply #10 on: Oct 20, 2006, 11:46 AM »
The ss says he has callled Jack's number only once before, when his divorce comes through. Jack apparently misunderstanda the reaosn for the call so drives north as in the movie. But if they talked, why would Jack take off without asking Ennis, who was there on the end of the phone, if he wanted him to come? If as in the movie he sent a card, and it was as brief as his usual messages, Jack is much more likely to have got the wrong idea. I don't think they called one another at all otherwise because it was too dangerous - you never know who's listening in; too awkward if one or the other rang and Alma/Lureen answered the phone; people didn't use the phone nearly as much in the 60s as they do now.
« Last Edit: Oct 20, 2006, 12:58 PM by welshwitch »

Offline Patriot1

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Re: Has anbody wondered?...
« Reply #11 on: Oct 20, 2006, 11:54 AM »
I reckon that Ennis probably did have Jack's number in his head along with his address, though. Jack probably told him it, hoping that Ennis might call him (presumably Ennis never had a phone) and, like everything else he remembered about what Jack said, Ennis would remember that.


But Ennis did have a phone No Reins, his boss called him when the heffers started to calve.
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Offline welshwitch

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Re: Has anbody wondered?...
« Reply #12 on: Oct 20, 2006, 01:01 PM »
Isn't that just another of the movie's inconsistencies or mistakes? in th e ss they apparently had no phone and in the movie there's no sign of one in the aprtment - Ennis goes straight to a public phone when he gets the returned postcard, and that's how I reckon he contacted Jack before. The call  Ennis says his boss made doesn't fir, as this scene doesn't exactly fit - this is the movie-makers cobbling things together. It has illustrious precedents - Shakespeare does it too.

Offline NoReins

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Re: Has anbody wondered?...
« Reply #13 on: Oct 20, 2006, 06:13 PM »
I don't actually think there is an inconsistency. The heifers calving phone call was while Ennis and Alma were married so presumably they had a phone in their appartment, but Ennis didn't have one in his trailer so when he found out about Jack's death, his only option was to use the pay phone.

Doesn't clear up whether or not he had a phone with which to call Jack when the divorce came through - I guess he may have had one at the house Jack came to.
He will be eternally missed, but he will never be forgotten

Christopher Nolan, accepting the Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe on Heath's behalf.

He was, as an actor and a professional and a human being, one of a kind

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This award tonight would have humbly validated Heath's quiet determination to be truly accepted by you all here — his peers within an industry he so loved.

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Offline welshwitch

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Re: Has anbody wondered?...
« Reply #14 on: Oct 22, 2006, 08:49 AM »
Unlikely. i think; it's outside in the country, ( Jack had to ask several people before he could get directions to it), isoltaed and there are no signs of phone cables - and there is no sign of a phone in any othe interior shots of the places Ennis and Alma lived.

Offline aintfoolin

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Re: Has anbody wondered?...
« Reply #15 on: Nov 03, 2006, 01:31 PM »
When Ennis found out about Jack's death he was in town outside the post office . He probably just used the first phone he saw(  pay phone )  to find out what happened I would assume. I think they communicated through postcards and maybe letters most of the time icluding the way he contcted Jack about the divorce.
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Offline Patriot1

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Re: Has anbody wondered?...
« Reply #16 on: Nov 04, 2006, 06:49 AM »
Unlikely. i think; it's outside in the country, ( Jack had to ask several people before he could get directions to it), isoltaed and there are no signs of phone cables - and there is no sign of a phone in any othe interior shots of the places Ennis and Alma lived.

Sorry welshwitch but there had to be poles and wire somewhere. They had electriity after all.

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Offline lamusica

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Re: Has anbody wondered?...
« Reply #17 on: Nov 05, 2006, 10:29 PM »
Again, thinking of the place and time, I doubt that Ennis knew Jack's number.  I imagine he called long-distance since he was calling from a pay phone.  Therefore, he probably got the number from the operator.  A lot of people in the country still make calls this way rather than on cells or with phone cards.
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Offline tpe

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Re: Has anbody wondered?...
« Reply #18 on: Nov 06, 2006, 08:18 AM »
Again, thinking of the place and time, I doubt that Ennis knew Jack's number.  I imagine he called long-distance since he was calling from a pay phone.  Therefore, he probably got the number from the operator.  A lot of people in the country still make calls this way rather than on cells or with phone cards.

This is plausible of course.  I think I had mentioned in the past that a long lost friend was able to locate and contact me vis operator assistance.  I am sure this is not out of the ordinary.