这篇影评同样来自国外著名的影评网站Variety。同时推荐这个网站,颇有点豆瓣影评的feel。
今天这篇推送挑选其中几个句子,抠一抠。
先看上图中的副标题,高度浓缩了电影的内容主旨:
Jia Zhangke's gangster epic: a twisting tale of love and survival 贾樟柯的黑帮史诗:一个关于爱与生存的曲折故事
关注epic,不但可以做名词,史诗,还可以做形容词,除了表示“史诗般的”之外,还能表示“漫长而艰难的”,比如这个国庆假期,如果你去黄山游玩,卡在山上进退两难,你就可以将这次旅程称为an epic journey。epic既然和史诗挂钩,那么也可以引申为“壮观的、盛大的”,比如节假日回家探亲,妈妈准备了一桌丰盛的饭菜a meal of epic proportions。
"Ash Is Purest White," Chinese auteur Jia Zhangke's most serious foray into the gangster genre since "A Touch of Sin," is a winding tale of love, disillusionment and survival that again represents his vision of his country's spiritual trajectory.
“Ash Is Purest White”,第一次看到《江湖儿女》的名称英译时,想了好久为什么要这样翻译。后来看到贾樟柯讲电影的创作思路,才算明白。贾樟柯在创作剧本的时候,所住地区附近有个火山群,他遂萌发出这样一句台词:“火山灰是最干净的”,想用这句话概括电影的思想。
灰烬,透着一尘不染的洁白。嗯,值得玩味。
关于电影名称的翻译,不得不说几个月前红遍全国的《我不是药神》,翻译为Dying to Survive,dying一语双关,既有绝症之人奄奄一息之感,又有生命燃烧至尽头放手一搏的绝望。
这句话中再关注foray一词。常搭配介词into: foray into,进军、尝试进入某个陌生的领域。比如:
Wanda made its first foray into film industry almost 10 years ago. 早在十年前,万达就开始进军电影行业了。
初次尝试也可以用这个词,比如:
This book is the author's first foray into nonfiction. 这本书是这位作家第一次尝试写非虚构类作品。
It will be my first foray into local government. 这将是我首次尝试进入地方政府。
还有winding一词,其实是导语中twisting的近义词,都表示曲折迂回的。
auteur这个词可能平时不太关注,词典里的定义是:a film director who has a strong influence on the style of the films that he or she makes 风格导演〔影片风格独特的电影导演〕,说贾樟柯是有自己独立风格的导演,可见影评作者对他的评价之高。
At 141 minutes, the work has its intellectually ponderous moments but is ultimately saved by Jia's muse and wife, Zhao Tao, who surpasses herself in a role of mesmerizing complexity.
intellectually修饰ponderous严肃乏味的,在思想上严肃乏味,可见电影主旨比较沉重。在上一篇影评笔记外媒如何评价张艺谋新片《影》中,也出现了许多副词+形容词的组合,比如supremely controlled控制得恰如其分,breathtakingly beautiful美得令人窒息,fractionally different略有不同。这种写法比较简洁,要掌握。
mesmerizing原型是mesmerize,及物动词,使着迷,近义词captivate, obssess, a role of mesmerizing complexity,颇为迷人的复杂角色。
Cinephile anticipation for anything helmed by the onetime Godfather of Chinese independent cinema will give this Chinese-French co-production a forceful push into Euro-art-house territories.
这句话有几个生词难词:
Cinephile 电影爱好者,影迷,不折不扣的影迷,a complete cinephile。
helm我们更常见它的名词性“头盔”,不过这里是做及物动词,意思想想也知道,指挥、掌舵,这里相当于direct导演。后面的Godfather of Chinese independent cinema中国独立电影教父,说的其实就是贾樟柯,也是对人名的替换词。
Chinese-French co-production这部电影是中法联合制作的。这里算是对this film, Ash Is Purest White的替换词。
句子主干Cinephile anticipation will give this co-production a push into territories. 影迷们的期待将强有力地推动这部影片进军欧洲艺术影片领域。
Art house不是一般的电影院,而是艺术影院,主要放映外国影片或低成本影片。art house films艺术片。
Domestic response may depend on whether the work nabs any awards at Cannes, as in the case of the Berlin Golden Bear winner "Black Coal, Thin Ice," which starred "Ash" leading man Liao Fan.
这句话稍微有点难,先抠词:
nab抢先获得,比如这两天有个新闻说老太太上车晚了,没能在火车上抢到座位,抢座位nab a seat。
star作及物动词时,表示“由……担任主角,由……主演”,比如还是拿江湖儿女来说,这是一部由廖凡主演的电影,a film starring Liao Fan,这部电影由赵涛饰演巧巧,this film stars Zhao Tao as Qiao Qiao.
句子有点长,划分一下层次:
Domestic response /may depend on /whether the work nabs any awards at Cannes,/ as in the case of the Berlin Golden Bear winner "Black Coal, Thin Ice," /which starred "Ash" leading man Liao Fan.
which引导的非限制性定语从句,先行词是前面的winner,也就是Black Coal, Thin Ice白日焰火这部电影。
大意是说,江湖儿女这部影片在国内反响如何,还要看它在戛纳影展上的战绩。江湖儿女的主演廖凡此前也在白日焰火中担当主演,这部电影在柏林电影节上斩获金熊奖,在国内大受好评。大概这个意思。