Ennis & Jack

Ennis and Jack are two shepherds who develop a sexual and emotional relationship. Their relationship becomes complicated when both of them get married to their respective girlfriends.

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In 1963, Ennis Del Mar and Jack Twist are hired by Joe Aguirre to herd his sheep through the summer on the Brokeback mountains. After a night of heavy drinking, Jack makes a pass at a hesitant Ennis, and Ennis eventually responds to Jack's advances. Ennis tells Jack that it was a one-time incident, but they soon develop a passionate sexual and emotional relationship. Eventually, Jack and Ennis part ways; Ennis marries his longtime fiancée Alma Beers and has two daughters with her. Jack returns the next summer seeking work, but Aguirre, who had observed Jack and Ennis on the mountain, refuses to rehire him.

Jack moves to Texas, where he meets rodeo rider Lureen Newsome; they marry and have a son. After four years apart, Jack visits Ennis. Upon meeting, the two passionately kiss, which Alma inadvertently observes. Jack broaches the subject of creating a life with Ennis on a small ranch, but Ennis refuses; he is unwilling to abandon his family, and is haunted by a childhood memory of two men being killed for suspected homosexual behavior.

Ennis and Jack meet infrequently for fishing trips, while their respective marriages deteriorate. Lureen abandons the rodeo, going into business with her father, which in turn causes Jack to work in sales. Alma and Ennis eventually divorce in 1975. Upon hearing about the divorce, Jack drives to Wyoming and tells Ennis that they should live together, but Ennis refuses to move away from his children. Upset, Jack finds solace with male prostitutes in Mexico.

Alma eventually confronts Ennis about the true nature of his relationship with Jack. The couple have an argument, causing Ennis to cease contact with Alma. Ennis goes on to have a brief romantic relationship with a waitress named Cassie. Jack and Lureen befriend another couple, Randall and Lashawn Malone. At the end of a fishing trip, Ennis tells Jack that he cannot take any more time off from work to meet him. The pair have an argument, in which they blame each other for not being together. Ennis begins to cry and Jack embraces him.

Some time later, Ennis receives a postcard that he had sent to Jack, stamped with "Deceased". He calls Lureen, who says that Jack died when a car tire accidentally exploded in his face. As Ennis begins to imagine Jack's fate, Lureen tells him that Jack wanted to have his ashes scattered on Brokeback Mountain. Ennis meets Jack's parents and offers to take Jack's ashes to the mountain. The father refuses, preferring to have them interred in a family plot. Ennis goes to Jack's bedroom where he finds his bloodstained shirt in the closet. He discovers Jack kept it hanging with his own shirt from a fight they had that summer. Ennis holds the shirts to his face and silently weeps.

Later, a 19-year-old Alma Jr. arrives at Ennis' trailer to tell him that she is engaged. She asks for his blessing and invites him to the wedding. Once Alma Jr. leaves, Ennis goes to his closet where his and Jack's shirts hang together, with a postcard of Brokeback Mountain tacked above them. Teary eyed, he stares at the ensemble for a moment before walking away.