stunning, hauntingly beautiful, pretty much says it all

Rating: 10/10 (23 January 2006)

I have noticed that several people have questioned as to whether Jack and Ennis really loved each other and have indicated that they feel their relationship seemed to be based on sex. I would remind them that these are people who do not express emotion of any kind verbally and that a lot of people are not going to be used to the way things are expressed between men in the emotionally repressed Rocky Mountain West.
Bearing in mind that the words "I love you" are never used in this film, which is typical of the people depicted within it, let me point out some scenes where that deep and profound love is shown if you just look for it:
1. In the flash back where Jack is sleeping on his feet and Ennis comes up and embraces him from behind and tells him it is time for him to go to bed is an incredibly tender moment. When Jack turns and watches Ennis ride away, the love in Jacks eyes is just breath taking.
2. On the lake shore during their final confrontation Jack tells Ennis that he "wished he knew how to quit him". The incredible agony that pours from Ennis as he collapses to the ground and Jack enfolds him in his arms portrays a frustrated love so deep, so profound that words simply cannot do it justice.
3. The two shirts, which Jack had lovingly placed one inside the other was simply Jack's sweet, quiet way of saying "I love you Ennis del Mar". Ennis's wonderfully tender way of bringing the shirts to his face when he found them was his quiet way of saying "I love you Jack Twist".
4. In the final scene of the film Ennis adjusts the collars of the shirts and says with his eyes full of tears; "Jack, I swear". It is an act, an expression of love again so deep it simply defies description.
No love? NEVER have I seen so much love pass between two human beings in my life.