Ang Lee has stated that he cut scenes to maintain a sense of "universal" longing, but the DVD extras reveal that the tent scenes were originally more numerous and explicit—not just sexually, but emotionally.
However, details of these "lost" moments exist through production stills, scripts, and interviews: Known Deleted Scenes & Fragments brokeback mountain deleted scenes
Additional shots were reportedly filmed for the final trailer sequence, including moments at the Twist cemetery. Why They Aren't on the Blu-ray Even premium releases, such as the Kino Lorber Special Edition The Things They Didn't Cut (But Couldn't Keep)
Lee has stated in commentary tracks that he wanted the audience to feel the lack of information. By removing explicit confrontations or explanatory flashbacks, he forced viewers to sit inside Ennis Del Mar’s suffocating repression. Most of the deleted scenes were removed because they did exactly what Lee feared: they talked too much. Why They Aren't on the Blu-ray Even premium