Musical Motif: Symbolizing Love in Brokeback Mountain

Sound

There is no music in the shots until the very end. There is nondiegetic, faint, disjointed, sounds of horns that begin to play. Then a sound of xylophone or keyboard and violins join in. The volume increases from faint to a more full sound, as Ennis embraces the blood stained jacket and shirt. I must note that during the course of the movie, there was a very signature musical motif. We hear a steel guitar strumming a very serene melody as violins and a faint hint of a slide guitar play this beautiful recurrent melody. This beautiful musical motif is significant in that it is repeated every time Jack and Ennis are together on Brokeback Mountain. The song signifies their time spent together as their love affair grows. It signifies the beauty and serenity of the mountains and a secret place where Jack and Ennis could go and share their love without being judged or scrutinized by the public's disapproval of homosexuality in the 1960’s.There are few sound effects in the shots. Most of the sounds heard are natural sounds like the wind blowing or the floor creaking. We can hear a crow cawing in the distance and a cow mooing when Ennis opens the window in the scene. This helps us understand that we are in the

country on a farm.The sounds are natural, sounds one would expect to hear if walking into a room in old farmhouse. You would not want any loud, jarring or unnatural noises to take the focus away from the emotional impact of the scene.
There is no dialogue in the entire scene. Ennis is alone in Jack’s childhood bedroom, reminiscing and yearning for Jack as he explores his belongings. This is done to focus our attention on Ennis and his inner emotions. There is silence, except for the natural noises of the floor creaking and sounds of the farm from the open window.
Ennis is the only character in the scene. There is no narration or voice overs. We as an audience, are simply passively watching Ennis as he explores Jack’s bedroom after his death. The scene speaks for itself. We are viewing firsthand the emotional state of Ennis as he reminisces about Jack and finds sacred items that have great meaning for their love relationship.

Audience Address

The film does not directly acknowledge the viewers. The film is portrayed as if the audience is a spectator watching the relationship between Ennis and Jack evolve. The audience also observes their separate lives that the men lead with their wives. The characters do not look directly into the camera. The characters are going about their lives as if the camera doesn't exist. This is done to portray the two men’s love affair in a realistic manner.
The film positions the spectator or the audience face to face with Jack and Ennis and their relationship as well as their separate lives with their wives and children. I can’t say the audience favors one character over the other. Both men are masculine, cowboy’s that come from similar poor upbringings. I think the audience is meant to feel sympathy for Alma, Ennis’s wife, who is hardworking and cares for the children while Ennis goes off with Jack. The film uses beautiful scenery of the mountains in Wyoming and a unique, signature musical motif that is repeated each time the men share their time together on Brokeback Mountain. The scenery and musical motif are used to give the audience the feeling that the mountain was their secret paradise where they could enjoy their relationship out of sight from public scrutiny.
The film deviates from certain conventions.

The film conforms to the conventions of the way we would expect two young, rough and tough cowboys, from a poor upbringing to look and act. Jack and Ennis are very masculine men. The deviation occurs in the fact that they have a homosexual relationship with each other. The two men do not follow the conventions of what one might view as a stereotypical gay man. I believe this is done in the film because, the 19 year old men were thrust together on the mountain to herd sheep. I do not believe either one expected to have a romantic or sexual relationship with each other. It was not acceptable in the 1960’s especially among western cowboys to be gay. The men had to maintain an alter identity to be accepted by

society.
The film addresses contemporary social issues. The film brings our attention to the obstacles the men face with their homosexual relationship and how they could never live together as a couple. To this day, in certain parts of the country homosexually is not openly embraced. At the time the film was released in 2005, it still brought forth a great deal of controversy. It was a film that openly showed two men kissing and having a sexual relationship on the big screen. It was even controversial for the actors to portray this role on screen. Director Ang Lee did an amazing job of telling the story of Jack and Ennis’s love affair. It was very sad that Jack was murdered over his gay relationship. I think the film was done to bring this issue to the public’s attention.

Additional Observations

The acting in the scene was very naturalistic. Both Jack and Ennis depict traditional, masculine, western cowboys. Ennis is physically adept, g