Review: “A Sun” Is A Meticulous Family Drama Worthy of Its Golden Horse Awards
影评：“阳光普照”一部细致入微的家庭电影，当之无愧的金马奖得主
Taiwanese director Chung Mong-hong's "A Sun" weaves an intricate and entertaining tale of family misfortune.
台湾导演钟孟宏的“阳光普照”编织了一个错综复杂又具可看性的家庭悲剧
作者：ANTHONY KAO
来源：CINEMA ESCAPIST
译者：不恃
Last weekend, family dramaA Sun(陽光普照),dominated 2019’s Golden Horse Awards(Taiwan’s Oscars). The film won in six categories—including best feature, best director, and best leading actor. Though aChinese boycott of the awardslessened competition,A Sundeserves acclaim as one of this year’s strongest Chinese-language films. Centering on a family beset with misfortune,A Suncrafts an intricate, character-driven drama that’s compelling enough to entertain audiences throughout its two and a half hour runtime.
上周，“阳光普照”这部家庭电影成为了2019年的金马奖（台湾的奥斯卡）的主导。它赢得了6个奖项，其中包括最佳剧情片，最佳导演和最佳男主角。尽管中国有关于奖项竞争性下降的负面抵制，“阳光普照”作为今年最有力量的华语电影，绝对是当之无愧的。以一个不幸的家庭为中心，“阳光普照”创造了一部精巧复杂，以人物为主导的电影。它引人入胜的戏剧张力足以在两个半小时的放映时间内牢牢吸引观众的目光。
1. We Are (Unhappy) Family! 我们是一个（不快乐的）家庭！
If the image of a severed human hand bubbling in soup scares you, avoidA Sun. The film begins with an act of violence that sparks a series of woes for the four-member Chen family. Three of the Chens seem like humdrum working-class Taiwanese: father A-Wen (Chen Yi-wen) works as a driving instructor, mother Qiu styles hair at a nightclub, and elder son A-Hao studies to retake his med school entrance exam.
如果一只断手在咕嘟冒泡的汤锅里的画面会吓到你，那就别看“阳光普照”。电影以以个暴力场面开始，它引发了陈家全家四口的灾难。陈家的三个成员似乎都是台湾平凡的工薪阶层：父亲阿文（陈一文）是驾校教练，母亲在一家夜总会做造型师，大儿子阿豪在为了他的第二次医学院入学考试而努力学习。
Younger son A-Ho (Wu Chien-ho), however, doesn’t fit the mold. In an act of revenge against bullying, he and his delinquent friend Radish attack a boy nicknamed Oden at a soup restaurant (there’s a dark joke here for those whoknow their Asian soups). A-Ho lands in juvenile detention, and A-Wen disowns him.
小儿子阿和（巫建和饰）却无法把自己变成这种样子。为了报复欺负他的人，他和他的一个叫“菜头”的朋友，一起在一家火锅店袭击了一个外号叫“黑轮”的男孩（对于那些知道亚洲汤锅的人来说，这是个黑色幽默）。阿和被少管所拘留，而父亲阿文不愿意承认有这样一个儿子。
The Chen family’s woes don’t stop there though. Qiu learns A-Ho has impregnated a teenage girl named Xiao Yu, Oden’s father chases A-Wen for victim’s compensation, and silent cracks begin forming in A-Hao’s psyche. Thirty minutes in,A Sunhas introduced a sprawling cast of characters, each with their own challenges and proclivities.
然而陈家的不幸还不止于此。陈妈妈（琴姐）得知阿和让少女小玉怀了孕，黑轮的爸爸追着父亲阿文索要受害人赔偿，而哥哥阿豪的心灵也开始出现无声的裂痕。电影开始后的30分钟里，“阳光普照”介绍了一个逐渐延伸开的人物线，其中的每一个人都以自己独特的个性面对着不同的挑战。
2. Meticulous Storytelling 细致入微的叙事
Despite this narrative complexity,A Sunnever feels overburdened. The film somehow allows even small narrative details to serve layered, meaningful purposes. For instance, A-Wen’s driving school has the slogan “seize the day, find your direction” (把握時間，掌握方向). This becomes a motif that surfaces in numerous subtle ways before becoming a core component of the film’s climax. Similarly, a quote from A-Hao gives the film its Chinese title 陽光普照, which translates directly to “sunlight reveals all.”A Sunuses rain, darkness, and sunlight to set the dramatic tone of numerous scenes; the notion of “sunlight reveals all” also takes on visual significance during the movie’s climax.
尽管这部电影的叙述有些复杂，但它不会让人感觉压力太大。它以某种方式让即使很小的叙事细节都有其层次感和有意义的目的。比如，阿文的驾校有一个宣传语——“把握時間，掌握方向”。这句话在作为核心高潮出现之前，以各种微妙的方式作为一个象征被呈现在电影画面中。类似的，片中阿豪引用的“阳光普照”成为了电影的中文片名，直译过来是“阳光驱逐了所有的阴暗”这部电影运用雨、幽暗和阳光给很多场景设定了戏剧性的基调；“阳光普照”这一概念在电影的高潮发展过程中也有着其视觉意义。
It’s also captivating to follow the characters ofA Sun. The narrative strands for father A-Wen and younger son A-Ho offer the most food for thought. Those two characters have the meatiest flaws, and thus the most room to evolve throughout the film. Without giving too much away, their character arcs become elegant foils for each other. We see the two characters each go through a series of trials that borrow from a variety of captivating subgenres—gangster flicks, dark comedies, spousal dramas—and come out different on the other side.
探索“阳光普照”中人物的过程也是很吸引人的。父亲阿文和小儿子阿和的故事线最引人深思。这两个任务之间有着最难以弥合的裂隙，因而营造出了整部电影的延展空间。并未用太多手笔，他们的人物线就精妙地融合在一起，并承托了对方的个性特点。我们能看到这两个角色各自经历了一系列考验，这些设计借鉴了多种吸引人的电影亚类——黑帮片，暗黑喜剧，夫妻剧，并在另一方面有自己的独特之处。
Focusing on A-Wen and A-Ho naturally takes some attention away from other characters. This tradeoff feels worthwhile though. All ofA Sun’s other named characters (with a few exceptions like Xiao Yu) still have enough complexity and evolution to keep the story exciting; they appear for just enough time, with just enough intensity. For instance, Radish isn’t on screen for most of the film. However, when he is, his presence meaningfully impacts the plot—thanks in part to actorLiu Kuan-Ting‘s superb portrayal of the character’s manipulative personality.
集中在阿文和阿和的剧情上，自然会分散观众落在其他角色上的注意力。不过这种这种是值得的。电影中所有其他有名字的角色（除了少数像小玉这样的例外）也都有足够的人物复杂性和内心发展来支撑整部电影，让这个故事始终是扣人心弦的。他们出现的时间和强度都恰到好处。举例来说，菜头在片中露脸的时间很少。但是，每次他出现，都会对情节起到推波助澜的作用。这也要归功于演员刘冠廷对角色性格的精彩诠释。
3.Serious, But Not Bleak 严肃，但不空洞
Another distinctive aspect ofA Sunis that while it depicts serious themes, it’s not overwhelmingly bleak. While not a superhero blockbuster, the film still has enough friendly reference points—family dynamics, triad gangsters—that prevent mainstream audiences from getting too depressed. Its characters might suffer misfortune, but there’s still a whiff of hope.
“太阳普照”的另一个显著的特点是，它在叙述严肃的主题的同时，并没有陷入让人无法忍受的平淡乏味。虽然不是超级英雄大片，它仍然有很多亮点——家庭的动态关系，三人黑帮——它们让这部电影不会让人感到太压抑。片中人物可能遭受了很多不幸，但仍然留存一丝希望。
This represents a slight evolution forA Sun’s directorChung Mong-hong. Chung’s previous features, like 2008’sParkingand 2016’sGodspeed,contained weighty existentialist undertones thatevokedIrish writerSamuel Beckett. In those films, characters had no agency; absurd things just “happened” to them.
这代表了导演钟孟宏的一个小转变。钟导之前的作品，像2008年的《停车》和2016年的《一路顺风》，都包含了浓重的存在主义底色，这会让人联想起爱尔兰作家塞缪尔·贝克特。在那些电影中，角色没有中介作用；荒唐的事情就只是降临在他们身上。
Contrastingly,A Sun’s characters seem like they have the ability to affect change in their lives, as we see through A-Wen and A-Ho’s character arcs. This doesn’t meanA Sunlacks philosophical oomph. It simply has a more accessible variety, one that grounds itself in an exploration of family dynamics. Queasy moviegoers who’d dislike its violent opening might still avoidA Sun, but the film feels like it can attract a broader audience without sacrificing artistic value.
相对而言，“阳光普照”中的人物似乎有能力去影响他们生命中的转变，正如我们通过阿文和阿和的人物线所看到的。这不代表“阳光普照”缺乏哲学魅力。它只是简单地拥有了更多可能性，有了一个探索家庭动力流动的基础。不喜欢电影暴力开场的电影爱好者可能依然回放弃“阳光普照”，但这部电影在不失艺术价值的同时也可能会吸引更广泛的观众群。
4. And the Golden Horse Award for Balance Goes To… 金马奖最佳平衡奖应该颁给……
Intricate balance—that’s the name of the game forA Sun. The film takes a bevy of characters, a litany of plot details, and a smattering of serious themes, somehow fitting them all together in a coherent, captivating manner.A Suncontains just the right amount of artistry and philosophy, mixed with sufficient doses of violence and humor to take off the edge.
精妙的平衡——那就是“阳光普照”挑战的游戏。这部电影囊括了很多角色，对剧情细节的冗长叙述，还有一系列稍显严肃的主题，但它以一种连贯而有引人入胜的方式把它们融合在一起。“阳光普照”包含了恰如其分的艺术性和哲学性，结合了足够的暴力和幽默成分来避免过度的艺术化。
Most other Chinese-language films from 2019 don’t even attempt this intricate balance. On one hand, blockbusters likeNe ZhaorThe Wandering Earthavoid any philosophical musings and stick to conventional stories. On the other hand, on top of boycotting the Golden Horse Awards, Beijing alsosuppressedmanymoviesthat might push the narrative envelope and offer serious competition toA Sunthis year.
2019年以来，大多数其他的华语电影甚至都还没有开始尝试这种复杂的平衡。一方面，像《哪吒》或是《流浪地球》那样的票房热门，避免任何哲学思考，坚持传统的故事讲述。另一方面，除了对金马奖的抵制之外，北京也压制了很多可能扩大叙事范围的电影，这赋予“阳光普照”很强的竞争力。
Thus, alongside other examples likeNina WuandWet Season,A Sunoffers an important reminder that 2019 wasn’t a total loss for Sinosphere cinema. While its relatively narrow focus on a “regular” family and lack of significant socio-political relevance might bluntA Sun’s international sellability as an art film, anyone interested in Taiwanese movies should check it out.
因而，除了像《灼人秘密》和《热带雨》这样的例子，“阳光普照”也提醒我们，2019年对于话语文化界来说还不是一个彻底的失败。尽管它比较狭隘地把重点放在了“普通”家庭上，并且缺少明显的社会政治相关性，这可能会影响其作为艺术片的国际票房，但任何一个对台湾电影感兴趣的人都不应该错过它。
——不恃读影评
Production company: 3 NG Film
Cast: Chen Yi-wen, Samantha Shu-chin Ko, Wu Chien-ho, Liu Kuan-ting, Greg Han Hsu Director: Chung Mong-hong
Screenwriters: Chung Mong-hong, Chang Yaoshen Producers: Yeh Jufeng, Tseng Shao-chien
Director of photography: Nagao Nakashima
Production designer: Chao Shih-hao
Costume designer: Hsu Li-wenEditor: Lai Hsiu-hsiungMusic: Lin Sheng-xiang
Venue: Tokyo Film Festival (World Focus)World sales: MandarinVision Co.
155 minutes
