Explanation of the final scene in Brokeback Mountain (2005) Why do Jack and Ennis decide to go their own way?
The film, later known as Brokeback Mountain, had mixed reviews at the time of its release, but is now considered a classic. Her depictions of homosexuality, as well as the challenges she posed to morality, religion, and cultural norms, contributed to the controversy she sparked.
The homophobic tirades of the time about the “unnaturalness” of homosexuality were countered in this chaotic and creatively complex film, which helped propel the film to fame and helped change people’s attitudes towards the issue of homosexuality. It was replaced by the unnaturalness of sexual restraint, which was the opposite of what was desired.
Ang Lee is an Academy Award-winning film director, producer and screenwriter, and he is responsible for directing the American neo-Western romance film Brokeback Mountain.
Film stars Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal and Anne Hathaway tell the story of a romantic relationship that develops over the course of 20 years between two American cowboys, Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist, in the American West. The relationship is complicated and fraught with tension.
The two people develop a close bond, but it is ultimately broken due to different cultural norms. Everyone feels compassion for her and her plight. This type of “forbidden” passion can exist between two women or between couples of different religious or cultural backgrounds, making the film even more accessible to audiences due to the breadth of its potential audience.
What were some of the ideas that led to the creation of Brokeback Mountain?
The tragic events in the film “Brokeback Mountain” were adapted from a short story of the same name. Annie Proulx is the author of this story, which was first published in The New Yorker magazine in 1997.
Anne Proulx recalls a time when she was living in northern Wyoming and during an interview observed a significant number of people expressing homophobic views. One evening while she was in a bar she saw an elderly cowboy leaning against a wall and he was looking at the other men in the bar playing billiards with an unusually sad and melancholy expression on his face. She found that very interesting.
The author asked if he was gay or not, and she thought about what it would be like to be an older cowboy living in a town where being gay is despised.
Proulx said in another interview: “The novel was not ‘inspired,’ but the result of years of unconscious observation and reflection that eventually led to writing.”
Proulx continued her discussion by detailing how the indigenous cultures of the more remote regions of North America serve as inspiration for her work. She also spoke about how she “pays attention to the historical distortion between what people hoped for and who they thought they were and what happened to them.”
In what way does the film adapt the source material it is based on?
In Brokeback Mountain, Proulx often juxtaposes nature and culture as antagonists. The two main characters’ irrational affections for one another are a reflection of nature, and the setting is endowed with symbolic meaning thanks to the setting presented during the protagonists’ budding relationship.
Terrain plays a different role in Brokeback Mountain than in Western film genres, as it is used to intensify the themes of desire and repression.
Throughout the film, Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar struggle to find the right words to express their feelings for each other, and even when they do, they believe that the constraints of society and culture prevent them from expressing themselves freely your feelings.
The setting is an important element in the story being told. This plays an important role in the Brokeback Mountain narrative when dialogue alone is not enough to get the plot across.
They both come from places that are both physically and emotionally desolate, and Brokeback Mountain offers them an escape from that desolation, both literally and figuratively. The film is set in Rocky Mountain West, where the mountains serve as a dramatic antithesis to the two characters’ different hometowns.
In accordance with societal norms, Jack moves to Texas to live with his wealthy wife, but Ennis is constrained by his commitments and the limitations of their financial situation.
From the beautiful towering pole above the mountain to the ordinary and everyday life that society’s expectations lead them to. In the film, the mountains are alive, full of life, wild and untamed, in contrast to their hometowns, which are drab, tame, lonely and melancholic. The mountain can also be seen as a tombstone and it is necessary for the relationship of men to rest beneath it.
Why do Jack and Ennis decide to go their own way?
When they were both out fishing at the same time, Ennis and Jack kept seeing each other. Despite this, the two eventually realize that they just can’t be together. The reason for this choice, Ennis recalls, was what his father did to a homosexual man who had witnessed his sons’ homosexual activities.
This particular memory was largely responsible for creating a sense of anxiety in his son. Unfortunately, after disagreeing and eventually trying to comfort the other, the two decide to go their separate ways.
Jack’s death is news to Ennis, how does he find out?
A few years later, Ennis wrote Jack a postcard, which Jack later received with the stamp Deceased on it. He wastes no time and gets in touch with Jack’s partner Lureen as soon as possible. He learns from Lureen that Jack died in an accident in which a car tire exploded in his face.
Ennis can’t help but imagine his worst nightmare turning into his final manifested moment of terror. He speculates that Jack’s death was the result of an act of violence committed by someone else. Lureen also tells Jack that her husband’s last wish was to scatter his ashes on Brokeback Mountain.
Ennis goes on a journey to fulfill Jack’s request and have a conversation with Jack’s parents. Unfortunately, his father disagrees, stating that he would rather have the ashes scattered on the family farm.
How did Jack die?
While it seems Lureen is telling the truth, there’s still a chance there’s another explanation for what’s happening. The film alludes to a number of possible outcomes, including Jack’s suffering and eventual death. In an earlier scene, Jack flirts with another patron at the bar. The other patron is male. As Jack turns to speak to his friend in the corner, two of the other men in the room look up at him with looks of pure disgust on their faces. It is easy to understand how the circumstances could quickly become life-threatening for him.
It is likely that Jack lost his life trying to get his needs met through sexual activity with other men repeatedly because of the regularity with which he did so. Also, the film makes no attempt to allay Ennis’ concerns. Therefore, it is not entirely impossible that this event actually took place.
Anne Hathaway stated in an interview that she doesn’t know what happened to Jack and she doesn’t know what happened. She then goes on to claim that the moment in the film where Lureen calls Ennis was shot in two different takes and that both were used. Lureen explains to Ennis how she found out her partner was gay and that he was killed as a result of a hate crime. You watch this conversation. The second involved Lureen informing Ennis that Jack had died in an accident in which a tire blew up in his face.
In the end, a compilation of both was made instead of using either take on its own. It seems that Anne is completely unaware of the reasons for Ang Lee’s ordering this to happen.
Does Lureen have any idea what Jack’s sexual orientation is?
Lureen may have picked up on her partner’s sexual preferences throughout their relationship, but nothing equivalent is shown on television. During the course of the film, she reveals to Ennis that her boyfriend has expressed a wish for his ashes to be scattered over Brokeback Mountain.
In Jack’s formative years, the mountain may have given her the impression that he could conceivably call it home. In fact, however, this provides Jack and Ennis with a sort of sanctuary where they can get together.
There are a few moments throughout the film where Lureen opens up to other female characters about how her partner refused to “dance” with her. In this context, it’s possible that dancing has been associated with sexual interactions. She further claims that she didn’t let her spouse “drink” at all during their marriage. She hinted that she may have asked her husband not to engage in homosexual relationships after giving her statement.
Jack “drank” regularly but, to use her expression, he didn’t notice her. As she speaks, her eyes appear to be watery, suggesting that she probably knew Jack used to go out to meet Ennis. Alternatively, it may indicate that she is feeling grief over the loss of her spouse.
