Love stories that end in tragedy usually make a lasting impact on the audience, but Brokeback Mountain takes things on a whole new level of ‘heartbreaking.’
Set in the 1960s, the film explores the lives of Jack and Ennis, two cowboys, as they come to terms with their desperation be with each other but are unable to. Their story caught everyone off-guard for its raw portrayal of love and the tragedy that followed in its wake.
Though the movie overwhelms the audience with feelings of adoration for both characters, it ends on a very cruel death, leaving us mourning the loss of a character we grew to love so much.
Me? This death left me incapable of functioning for hours after the movie. It was impossible to get it out of my head. So if you would rather know who dies beforehand to prepare yourself emotionally, and don’t mind spoilers concerning the ending, let me tell you who dies at the end of Brokeback Mountain.
Who Died At The End Of Brokeback Mountain?
Jack dies at the end of Brokeback Mountain. Lureen tells Ennis that he died in an accident, but the scene immediately cuts to a flashback of three men ganging up on Jack and beating him, enforcing the idea that Jack was murdered for his sexuality.
This thing, it grabs hold of us again at the wrong place, at the wrong time, and we’re dead.”
Ennis to Jack
It’s never explicitly clarified, of course. Whether or not the flashback took place in Ennis’ mind is left for the viewers to decide. But Jack is a victim of a hate crime that Ennis continuously tried to caution him against makes much more sense than him dying from a tire exploding in his face. And it makes things a lot more heartbreaking.
A.Why Was Jack Murdered In Brokeback Mountain?
Jack was murdered for being homosexual. He was beaten to death, and the repeated hits at his groin confirm that it was a hate crime. However, Jack’s wife lied and told everyone he was killed in an accident.
This ending is actually Ennis’ worst fears realized. Throughout the movie, Ennis kept warning Jack of the consequences he would face for being openly gay. Ennis was plagued by the memories of his father showing him the corpse of a man beaten to death for his sexuality, and he feared that something similar might happen to them.
Eventually, it did happen, and both Ennis and I were left devastated.
B. Did Jack’s Wife Lie About His Death?
According to Anne Hathaway (who played Laureen), there were two alternate versions to the ending. One where Laureen wasn’t aware of the truth behind Jack’s death, and another where she lied to hide the shameful truth about her husband’s death.
Hathaway admitted that she doesn’t know which version the director intended to go with, since they mixed up the footage of both versions in the final cut.
Ang knows the truth in his head, and it’s not important to me. I actually think I get to be a part of the film as an audience member because I don’t know because I think the ambiguity is what is the strength of that scene and what’s heartbreaking about it.
Anne Hathaway in an interview with Nation Public Radio
If I had to make a guess, I’d say that Laureen knew the truth. When she spoke to Ennis about Jack’s death, her recount of the event was deliberately robotic— you could tell that she’d repeated the lie to everyone who must’ve enquired about Jack’s death.
But ultimately, everyone has their interpretation, and it’s what makes this movie so much more personal.
Does Someone Else Die Too?
Apart from Jack, none of the major characters die throughout the movie. After Jack’s death, we see Ennis mourning the loss of his love but finally deciding to choose love before everything else.
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