Daily Dialogue — September 19, 2010

“I wish I knew how to quit you.”

 — Jack Twist (Jake Gillenhaal), Brokeback Mountain (2005), screenplay by Larry McMurtry & Diana Ossana, based on a short story by Annie Proulx

The Daily Dialogue theme for the week is catch phrases.

Trivia: The original short story by Annie Proulx was published in the 13 October 1997 issue of The New Yorker, without the italicized prologue which was included in the later version published in “Close Range”, her collection of short stories. Diana Ossana, co-screenwriter and a producer on the film, read it, then asked her colleague Larry McMurtry to read the story. He refused, stating he doesn’t read short fiction, because he can’t write it. She persisted, however, and he ultimately agreed. McMurtry handled the marital dramas and the Western elements, while Ossana concentrated on the male relationship, McMurtry feeling that he was not up to the task of conveying that realistically. Some reports have it that director Ang Lee barred screenwriter McMurtry from the set of the movie. A spokeswoman for Focus Features, which is producing it, commented: “Larry McMurtry rarely goes on sets because he has very severe allergies.” McMurtry was also in the midst of writing a novel when filming began and ended; no one barred him from the set. Ossana was on set during the entire filming.