A Story of Survival in a Hostile Environment

Rating: 10/10 (21 January 2006)

Ennis survives a childhood bereft of physical necessities and of emotional support due to the untimely loss of his parents. The love and emotional support that Jack offers cannot overcome the constant need for basic, physical necessities which dogs Ennis throughout his adult life. So the fact that their love survives in this constrained environment is amazing... to say nothing of the external caustic environment of the times that finally takes Jack away from Ennis. I think Jack and Ennis could have survived in a "you and me against the world" scenario, but they could not overcome the poverty trap in which Ennis was caught in order to risk taking on the world together.The emotional impoverishment of Ennis' youth is also reflected in the way he treats his wife and children, exasperated by his conflicted longing for Jack. This is a multi-layered film, and one I recommend you see.