Author Topic: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore  (Read 62811 times)

Offline forbiddenlovers

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The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« on: Apr 17, 2006, 08:32 PM »
In their final scene together on Brokeback before Jack dies, Ennis is in Jack's embrace and mentions that he can't stand this anymore. Can't stand what? Just curious of everyone's opinion on this.

Can't stand missing Jack?

Can't stand his feelings of love for Jack when he knows that he'll never be able to commit to Jack the way he wants to because of the stigma attached to being gay?

I kind of go with the latter on this one, I guess.

Ann :)
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Offline shieldmaid

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #1 on: Apr 17, 2006, 09:02 PM »
Yes, I agree.  It seems like he can't stand the agony of their constantly being parted and constantly struggling to be together--the love they've shared for so long that they have never been able to fully enjoy since Brokeback.
some open space between

Offline tpe

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #2 on: Apr 18, 2006, 06:49 AM »
Beautiful question.

Aside from the above, I also think of it as reflecting Ennis's internal conflict.  He knows he loves Jack, and this yearning conflicts with the need for secrecy and the desire to 'blend' in with society.

 

Offline keren_b

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #3 on: Apr 18, 2006, 06:59 AM »
Aside from the above, I also think of it as reflecting Ennis's internal conflict.  He knows he loves Jack, and this yearning conflicts with the need for secrecy and the desire to 'blend' in with society.

Beautifully put, tpe. Also, remember that he said that he couldn't stand it any more after saying "I'm nothing... I'm nowhere..." so it could be these feelings of being nothing and nowhere that he can't stand.
The truth is... sometimes I miss you so much I can hardly stand it.

Offline tpe

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #4 on: Apr 18, 2006, 07:23 AM »
Beautifully put, tpe. Also, remember that he said that he couldn't stand it any more after saying "I'm nothing... I'm nowhere..." so it could be these feelings of being nothing and nowhere that he can't stand.

keren_b, the words nothing and nowhere really hit me in the gut in this scene.  You are right.  They are so powerfully said that you can't help associating the pain and emptiness of these words to Ennis's 'I can't stand this anymore, Jack.'

For me, the pain was very real, very physical, in this scene.


Offline forbiddenlovers

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #5 on: Apr 18, 2006, 08:20 AM »
Tpe, you have a great way with words.

Those words, "nothing and nowhere" hit me like a ton of bricks too. One of the most heart wrenching scenes of the movie. Watching Ennis collapse in Jack's arms after that brings tears to my eyes and hits me in the stomache.  I honestly feel that pain Ennis is feeling. He's so conflicted, he's so hurt, his whole world is in turmoil.  I can't say enough about that scene, yet I can't find the words either. It's powerful and it speaks volumes of what Ennis and Jack have been through for 20 years.

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Offline tpe

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #6 on: Apr 18, 2006, 08:27 AM »
Ann, Thank you.

And what can be more devastating to us than to follow THIS heart-wrenching embrace with the DOZY embrace flashback.   The effect is even more painful seeing how they were before, contrasted with the hopelessness of the present situation.

The contrast is beyond tears.  It is at this point in the movie that I think I die in a certain way.






Offline filazahies

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #7 on: Apr 18, 2006, 09:24 AM »
Watching this scene I came to the conclusion of two things:
On the one hand, Ennis opens his heart and accepts and assumes in front of Jack what he feels for him, he's the center of his heart, his love, his mind his life... everything.
On the other hand, he also accepts that his incapability to accept these feelings, that is the truth, and his terror to be discovered is something which he can't stand anymore, becase it has made his life incomplete, empty, full of lies and secrets :'( :'( :'(

Offline forbiddenlovers

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #8 on: Apr 18, 2006, 09:24 AM »
Yes, Tpe, it's this acceptance of realizing that this the end of their romance. We see Ennis collapse in Jack's arms, then we flashback to their first summer together. You see two different times and you realize the toll their love affair took on the both of them.  I'm with you, at that point, I just feel a sense of loss and maybe really I think about what could have been.

Amazing that a movie can touch us in such a way. Never felt like this about a movie before.
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Offline filazahies

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #9 on: Apr 18, 2006, 09:26 AM »
Ann, Thank you.

And what can be more devastating to us than to follow THIS heart-wrenching embrace with the DOZY embrace flashback.   The effect is even more painful seeing how they were before, contrasted with the hopelessness of the present situation.

The contrast is beyond tears.  It is at this point in the movie that I think I die in a certain way.






I totally agree with you here, tpe

Offline tpe

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #10 on: Apr 18, 2006, 09:32 AM »
filazahies and Ann, thank you for sharing your wondeful thoughts here.

But I must confess that this scene kills me everytime I think about it.  I have not watched the DVD.  I tried watching these 2 scenes on DVD last weekend as a test.  I ended up so wretched that I gave up watching the DVD for now.

I think you understand.


Offline filazahies

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #11 on: Apr 18, 2006, 09:39 AM »
I understand you ;)
But I wish I knew when the DVD is going to be realeased in Spain!!! :'( :'( :'(
It's still being played so I imagine I'll have to wait for some time :( :( :(

Offline tpe

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #12 on: Apr 18, 2006, 09:43 AM »
But I wish I knew when the DVD is going to be realeased in Spain!!! :'( :'( :'(
It's still being played so I imagine I'll have to wait for some time :( :( :(

In a way, I envy that it is still playing in Spain.  I have intentionally avoided my neighborhood theatre after BBM's last showing at the end of a 4 month run.


Offline dirtbiker

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #13 on: Apr 18, 2006, 09:48 AM »
But I wish I knew when the DVD is going to be realeased in Spain!!! :'( :'( :'(
It's still being played so I imagine I'll have to wait for some time :( :( :(

In a way, I envy that it is still playing in Spain.  I have intentionally avoided my neighborhood theatre after BBM's last showing at the end of a 4 month run.



I know what you mean tpe - I haven't been back to the multiplex by the mall as I would be heartbroken not to see the huge billboard of BBM outside the theater  :-\

Offline tpe

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #14 on: Apr 18, 2006, 09:53 AM »
I know what you mean tpe - I haven't been back to the multiplex by the mall as I would be heartbroken not to see the huge billboard of BBM outside the theater  :-\

dirtbiker, believe me, I know exactly how you feel.  Thanks for sharing this.   

Mercifully, I usually prefer to go alone to the cinema, so my friends would not know of anything amiss -- except that I have rarely surface after the BBM Oscar loss!


Offline filazahies

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #15 on: Apr 18, 2006, 09:53 AM »
The PBS has longlasting effects, hasn't it? :-\

Offline MississaugaRed

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #16 on: Apr 18, 2006, 01:13 PM »
Ann, Thank you.

And what can be more devastating to us than to follow THIS heart-wrenching embrace with the DOZY embrace flashback.   The effect is even more painful seeing how they were before, contrasted with the hopelessness of the present situation.

The contrast is beyond tears.  It is at this point in the movie that I think I die in a certain way.
Contrast and juxtaposition show up everywhere in this film, absolutely.

Ennis saying "I can't stand this anymore, Jack" can be linked directly back to their first camping trip on the four year reunion.  Ennis says  then "If you can't fix it, Jack, you gotta stand it".  When Jack asks for how long, Ennis tells him for as long as they can ride it, there ain't no reins on this one.

So the last time they're together, when Ennis confesses that he can't stand it anymore, it really foreshadows a ending to their relationship as it existed at that point, although who would ever have believed it would truly end so abruptly or so cruelly. 

And I refer to the ending of their existing arrangements because, you have to hope, that if Jack hadn't been killed, maybe Ennis would have finally realized that if you can't stand it, you have to fix it ... and made a change for the positive.  I like to think that if they'd had more time, with Jack out of patience and not satisfied to put up with this anymore either, Ennis would have had to bend a little, rather than risk losing Jack completely.  Ennis wasn't calling all the shots anymore.  That scared him as much as anything, I think, and was partly why he broke down.

This has to be one of my favorite scenes, BTW, in spite of how sad, because it rings with so much passion and truth.  Rips your heart out, everytime. :(

 
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Offline tpe

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #17 on: Apr 18, 2006, 01:30 PM »
Contrast and juxtaposition show up everywhere in this film, absolutely.

Ennis saying "I can't stand this anymore, Jack" can be linked directly back to their first camping trip on the four year reunion.  Ennis says  then "If you can't fix it, Jack, you gotta stand it".  When Jack asks for how long, Ennis tells him for as long as they can ride it, there ain't no reins on this one.

So the last time they're together, when Ennis confesses that he can't stand it anymore, it really foreshadows a ending to their relationship as it existed at that point, although who would ever have believed it would truly end so abruptly or so cruelly. 

And I refer to the ending of their existing arrangements because, you have to hope, that if Jack hadn't been killed, maybe Ennis would have finally realized that if you can't stand it, you have to fix it ... and made a change for the positive.  I like to think that if they'd had more time, with Jack out of patience and not satisfied to put up with this anymore either, Ennis would have had to bend a little, rather than risk losing Jack completely.  Ennis wasn't calling all the shots anymore.  That scared him as much as anything, I think, and was partly why he broke down.

This has to be one of my favorite scenes, BTW, in spite of how sad, because it rings with so much passion and truth.  Rips your heart out, everytime. :(


Perfect.  Simply perfect.

'if you can't stand it, you have to fix it ...'

I am totally convinced of the correspondence between 'If you can't fix it, you've got to stand it' and 'I can't stand this anymore'.  This correspondence takes my breath away.

Thanks.



 
« Last Edit: Apr 18, 2006, 01:35 PM by tpe »

Offline edgar

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #18 on: Apr 18, 2006, 10:24 PM »
The whole fight was caused by Ennis cancelling August.

Then he says he can't stand it anymore--all the complexity, secrecy, pressure Jack puts on him, having to--having to--keep Jack on the leash for safety's sake...

Then, some time later, he sends a postcard to Jack AS IF NOTHING HAPPENED. "I'll get the cabin for November..."

Same question Ann posted at the beginning: What did Ennis mean by this? He didn't really mean he couldn't stand it; he believes "you have to stand it."

Ennis. What a rock. He could eat beans every day for twenty years and not worry about it.

Offline frances

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #19 on: Apr 19, 2006, 02:18 AM »


 What did Ennis mean by this? He didn't really mean he couldn't stand it; he believes "you have to stand it."




Don't know. Maybe Ennis means more than that. "He believes you have to stand it" wouldn't justify completely his dramatic reaction.

IMO this scene is, in a way, the failure of Ennis' "If you can't fix it Jack, you gotta stand it" point of view, because he himself realizes that he can't stand anymore the weight of (quoting Annie Proulx)" things unsaid and now unsayable - admissions, declarations, shames, guilty, fears"
And, quoting Tpe, what is more devastating to us, is the flashback. We can see clearly, we have straight on our face what Jake means by "Ya know, it can be like this... just like this... always"








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Offline tpe

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #20 on: Apr 19, 2006, 06:33 AM »
Don't know. Maybe Ennis means more than that. "He believes you have to stand it" wouldn't justify completely his dramatic reaction.

IMO this scene is, in a way, the failure of Ennis' "If you can't fix it Jack, you gotta stand it" point of view, because he himself realizes that he can't stand anymore the weight of (quoting Annie Proulx)" things unsaid and now unsayable - admissions, declarations, shames, guilty, fears"
And, quoting Tpe, what is more devastating to us, is the flashback. We can see clearly, we have straight on our face what Jake means by "Ya know, it can be like this... just like this... always"

This certainly throws in an extra dimension to this scene: " things unsaid and now unsayable - admissions, declarations, shames, guilty, fears".  Perhaps it is indeed the weight of all the 'unknowables' that is pressing on him also at that time.  I cannot forget Ennis's face after Jack tells him about an 'affair' with the ranch foreman's wife.  On the surface, he tries to take it lightly and smile, but you can see that there is a great sadness underneath.  He knows it even before Jack said: 'The truth is...sometimes I miss you so much I can hardly stand it.'  THis is because I really believe Ennis deep down felt the same way.

To profound opposites, yet strangely married/intermingled in the love of Ennis and Jack for each other:

'If you can't fix it Jack, you gotta stand it'

'Ya know, it can be like this... just like this... always'




Offline Stephen

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #21 on: Apr 19, 2006, 06:56 AM »
a wonderful thread here, everyone: from my first viewing of the film, Ennis' " I can't stand this anymore" hit me so powerfully that it has never in 3 months left my mind!  And your points about the juxtapositions of this line with "if you can't fix it..." and the line from the story, and all this counter poised against the flashback of Ennis' embrace as Jack sleeps on his feet like a horse makes Ennis' desperate confession even more heart breaking.  Ms. Ossana was the one I think who said the film becomes tragedy in the scene at the Twist home; but I think it's Ennis' breakdown in this last scene with Jack that everything previous converges and collapses in this one devastating line: "I can't stand this anymore."
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Offline tpe

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #22 on: Apr 19, 2006, 06:59 AM »
Perhaps it is just me, but I think the scenes in this part of the movie is the apex of the entire film.

It is the soul of tragedy.


Offline NoReins

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #23 on: Apr 19, 2006, 07:06 AM »
Ennis saying "I can't stand this anymore, Jack" can be linked directly back to their first camping trip on the four year reunion.  Ennis says  then "If you can't fix it, Jack, you gotta stand it".  When Jack asks for how long, Ennis tells him for as long as they can ride it, there ain't no reins on this one.

So the last time they're together, when Ennis confesses that he can't stand it anymore, it really foreshadows a ending to their relationship as it existed at that point, although who would ever have believed it would truly end so abruptly or so cruelly. 

And I refer to the ending of their existing arrangements because, you have to hope, that if Jack hadn't been killed, maybe Ennis would have finally realized that if you can't stand it, you have to fix it ... and made a change for the positive.  I like to think that if they'd had more time, with Jack out of patience and not satisfied to put up with this anymore either, Ennis would have had to bend a little, rather than risk losing Jack completely.  Ennis wasn't calling all the shots anymore.  That scared him as much as anything, I think, and was partly why he broke down.

This has to be one of my favorite scenes, BTW, in spite of how sad, because it rings with so much passion and truth.  Rips your heart out, everytime. :(


Ah, that's it - perfectly said and far and away the nicest interpretation of the scene at the lake that I've heard :D

"If you can't fix it, you gotta stand it" ---> "I can't stand this anymore" ---> "If you can't stand it, you gotta fix it".

Yep, that makes perfect sense - if only they'd had November... :'(
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Offline tpe

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #24 on: Apr 19, 2006, 07:12 AM »
NoReins, I agree, MississaugaRed's argument is stated beautifully.




Offline keren_b

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #25 on: Apr 19, 2006, 07:29 AM »
WHY DID IT HAVE TO END THIS WAY???!!!! I was reading the last posts and it was hard for me to read because of the tears. THIS IS SO UNFAIR!!! I can't stand seeing them in so much pain, especially when you see the flashback and you recall how happy they were back then. and that it could have been like this always, and instead of that you see Ennis breaking down in tears and Jack so tired and defeated, so much pain and so much heartbreak where there could be so much happiness... why??? I feel like they are real people, I can't see them in so much pain, I feel like I can't stand it anymore either!
« Last Edit: Apr 19, 2006, 09:01 AM by keren_b »
The truth is... sometimes I miss you so much I can hardly stand it.

Offline MississaugaRed

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #26 on: Apr 19, 2006, 07:45 AM »
NoReins, I agree, MississaugaRed's argument is stated beautifully.


Gee, all,  thanks for the kind words. 

It's so rewarding to share views here with people who love the film as I do and are all trying get at the deeper meanings behind the spare dialogue and stark images.  I've learned so much from reading everyone's interpretations of the different scenes and it always makes my next viewing of BBM that much more intense.  I don't know what I would have done with my passion for BBM these past weeks if I hadn't been directed here by our good friend Jack in Maine! You've saved my sanity, and I ain't jokin'.

It a testament to the masterpiece that is BBM that the boys final scene together, where they are in more open conflict than at any other point in the story, should be one that strikes close to the heart of many fans.  We have learned to love Ennis and Jack, as they grew to love each other, through the good moments and the bad. 

I don't know many couples (shoot, I don't know any couple!) who could have maintained a relationship under the conditions Ennis and Jack did for so long.   20 years, damn.  Only  a bone-deep and soul-certain love could have survived what they did all that time.

And I'm going out on a limb and predicting that our love for BBM will survive 20 years or better! :)

BTW - Jacks hands - don't you love the way he puts his hands to Ennis's face at emotional times throughout their lives?  At the very end of "I can't stand this anymore, Jack", just before the fade out to the flash-back scene, Jack's hand once again comes up to cradle Ennis's head as they're locked in that desparate embrace.  Jack's sweet way of giving comfort, always. That gesture is used so beautifully through the whole film it's fitting it's the last thing we see of them together in the "present" time, as Ennis says those words that break our hearts.   :'(
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Offline tpe

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #27 on: Apr 19, 2006, 08:08 AM »
The hands.  Yes.  Even when they don't touch Ennis, they evoke a multitue of emotions, especially in this scene when is is accusatory, conciliatory, and loving all at the same time.

The complexity of the emotions is mirrored in Jack's words right before Ennis's "I can't stand this anymore, Jack":


Jack: "I'm sorry...It's alright...Damn you, Ennis..."



Offline MississaugaRed

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #28 on: Apr 19, 2006, 08:12 AM »
The hands.  Yes.  Even when they don't touch Ennis, they evoke a multitue of emotions, especially in this scene when is is accusatory, conciliatory, and loving all at the same time.

The complexity of the emotions is mirrored in Jack's words right before Ennis's "I can't stand this anymore, Jack":


Jack: "I'm sorry...It's alright...Damn you, Ennis..."




Ahhh .. that "damn you, Ennis" gets me every time.  Has anyone ever been "damned" by such a an intensely loving voice before?? :(  I think not.
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“I miss you,” Jack whispered. “I miss you.” He felt loved. He felt heard. Shades of Grey by MidwestGirl

Offline NoReins

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Re: The Ennis Quote of I Can't Stand This Anymore
« Reply #29 on: Apr 19, 2006, 08:58 AM »
The complexity of the emotions is mirrored in Jack's words right before Ennis's "I can't stand this anymore, Jack":


Jack: "I'm sorry...It's alright...Damn you, Ennis..."




Oh god, I'd completely forgotten that he said "I'm sorry, it's alright" just before the "Damn you Ennis" line - just like the SNIT.

And now I'm choking up just thinking about this. Not good - I'm at work :'(
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

Charles Roven, accepting Heath's BAFTA.

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.

Kim Ledger, accepting Heath's Oscar.