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《特朗勃》

2016-05-14宋云峰

英语学习 2016年7期
关键词:恐慌左翼好莱坞

宋云峰

美国传记故事片《 特朗勃》(Trumbo,2015)的上映令观众(尤其是美国观众)再次回想起20世纪40年代到50年代美国社会的“红色恐慌”以及美国国会对好莱坞左翼艺术家的疯狂迫害,并反思美国社会的所谓自由民主(宗教、言论、出版、结社、示威等自由是美国宪法所赋予每一个美国公民的权利)的本质。影片基于布鲁斯·亚历山大·库克(Bruce Alexander Cook)的传记《达尔顿·特朗勃》(Dalton Trumbo)改编,由杰伊·罗奇(Jay Roach)执导、布莱恩·科兰斯顿(Brian Cranston)主演,讲述好莱坞金牌编剧达尔顿·特朗勃因其美国共产党员身份和激进的左翼观点而遭到美国“众议院非美活动调查委员会”和“麦卡锡主义”的迫害而坐牢,并为了生计不得不隐姓埋名,给电影公司当枪手编剧的荒唐而奇特的经历。虽然有人指出影片在历史、人物、时间等细节上存在失实之处,但是多数影评人在影片主题和表演方面给予正面肯定,主演科兰斯顿也因此获得了奥斯卡最佳男演员奖提名。

Trumbo is a 2015 American biographical(传记的)drama film directed by Jay Roach and starred Bryan Cranston, Diane Lane, and Helen Mirren. It follows the life of Hollywood screenwriter(编剧)Dalton Trumbo and is based on the biography Dalton Trumbo by Bruce Alexander Cook. The film was shown in the Special Presentations section(特别展映单元)of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival(多伦多国际电影节)on September 12, 2015, and was released on November 6, 2015, by Bleecker Street. Trumbo has received generally positive reviews, with lead actor Bryan Cranston nominated(提名)for several awards including the Academy Award. However, the film has also been criticized for historical inaccuracies and misportrayals of important people and events.

特朗勃其人其事

詹姆斯·达尔顿·特朗勃(1905—1976)为20世纪40到60年代好莱坞才华横溢的金牌编剧,其作品中观众耳熟能详的有浪漫爱情片《罗马假日》(Roman Holiday)、史诗巨片《出埃及记》(Exodus)和史诗传记片《斯巴达克斯》(Spartacus)等。然而,由于其美共党员身份及左翼政治观点,更由于他拒绝在美国众议院非美活动调查委员会作证指认美国电影行业内其他美共成员和左翼人士,特朗勃在1947年被判蔑视国会罪,遭受牢狱之灾,并被好莱坞列入不得雇用的十人黑名单(被称作“好莱坞十君子”)。为了生计,他不得不给别的编剧当枪手,或使用化名继续进行创作。令人惊奇的是,特朗勃在这样的特殊环境中才思泉涌,其中两部匿名之作《罗马假日》和《勇敢的人》(The Brave One)荣获奥斯卡最佳编剧奖。

James Dalton Trumbo (1905—1976) was an American screenwriter and novelist, who scripted films including Roman Holiday, Exodus, Spartacus, and Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo(《东京上空30秒》). One of the Hollywood Ten(好莱坞十君子), he refused to testify(作证)before the House Un-American Activities Committee(HUAC,美国众议院非美活动调查委员会)in 1947 during the committees investigation of Communist influences in the motion picture industry, and was subsequently blacklisted(被列入黑名单)by that industry. He continued working clandestinely(秘密地,暗中), and his uncredited(未署名的)work won two Academy Awards(奥斯卡奖); the one for Roman Holiday (1953) was given to a front(台前的)writer, and the one for The Brave One (1956) was awarded to a pseudonym(笔名,假名). The public crediting of him as the writer of both Exodus and Spartacus in 1960 marked the end of the Hollywood Blacklist, and his earlier achievements were eventually credited to(归功于)him.

历史背景:“红色恐慌”、美国众议院非美活动调查委员会及“麦卡锡主义”

美国历史上曾有过对国内左翼社会革命的两次“红色恐慌”时期,一次是苏联十月革命后对工人运动高涨和政治极端主义的恐慌,一次是“冷战”开始后对苏联通过美共的影响和活动颠覆美国政权可能性的恐慌,其中尤以第二次恐慌为甚,又将其称为“麦卡锡主义”。两次“红色恐慌”均为美国右翼政客为镇压美国左翼工人运动(包括无政府主义)、压制持不同政见者(美国共产党)或左翼进步艺术家而渲染制造的社会恐慌。

A “Red Scare” is the promotion of fear of a potential rise of communism or radical(激进的)leftism. In the United States, the First Red Scare (1919—1920) was about worker (socialist) revolution and political radicalism. The Second Red Scare (1947—1957) was focused on national and foreign communists influencing society, infiltrating(渗透)the federal government, or both. The second Red Scare occurred after World War II (1939—1945), and was popularly known as “McCarthyism” after its most famous supporter, Senator Joseph McCarthy. McCarthyism coincided with(与……同时发生)increased popular fear of communist espionage(间谍活动)consequent to(作为……的结果)a Soviet Eastern Europe, the Berlin Blockade (1948—1949)(柏林封锁)and the confessions of spying for the Soviet Union given by several high-ranking U.S. government officials.

成立于1938年的美国国会众议院非美活动调查委员会是制造第二次“红色恐慌”、迫害美共党员和左翼进步人士的主要机构,主要致力于调查美共和苏联间谍对美国政府机构的可能性渗透。1969年,该机构更名为“众议院国内安全委员会”。1975年,国会废止该组织,其功能转移到众议院司法委员会。

The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives(美国众议院). It was originally created in 1938 in order to uncover(揭露,发现)citizens with Nazi ties inside the United States, but it concentrated its efforts instead on investigating possible Communist Party infiltration(渗透). In 1969, the House changed the committees name to “House Committee on Internal Security”. When the House abolished(废除)the committee in 1975, its functions were transferred to the House Judiciary Committee.

提起第二次“红色恐慌”,人们往往将众议院非美活动调查委员会对美国文艺界左翼人士的迫害活动与臭名昭著的“麦卡锡主义”混为一谈。实际上,麦卡锡是参议院议员,与该机构没有直接关系。但是,麦卡锡位高权重,担任参议院政府运作委员会及其下属机构美国参议院调查委员会主席,在制造“红色恐慌”方面更是有过之而无不及。

The committees anti-Communist investigations are often compared with those of Joseph McCarthy who, as a U.S. Senator, had no direct involvement with this House committee. McCarthy was the Chairman of the Government Operations Committee and its Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations of the U.S. Senate, not the House.

麦卡锡在1950年耸人听闻地提出美共党员已经渗透到美国社会的许多领域,包括杜鲁门总统的行政部门、国务院、美国之音以及美国军队。他制造并利用“红色恐慌”以及同性恋嫌疑(称作“The Lavender Scare”)指控美国政府内部的多名政客和其他名人,制造了许多悲剧,甚至致使一名参议员自杀。由于逐渐丧失了多数民意的支持,“麦卡锡主义”最终于1954年被美国参议院谴责并终止其行为。

In succeeding(随后的)years after his 1950 speech, McCarthy made additional accusations of Communist infiltration into the State Department, the administration of President Harry S. Truman, the Voice of America, and the United States Army. He also used various charges of communism, communist sympathies, disloyalty, or homosexuality to attack a number of politicians and other individuals inside and outside of government. McCarthy made various attempts to intimidate(恐吓), and expel(开除)from government positions, persons whom he accused, or threatened to publicly accuse, of homosexuality. Following the death of Senator Lester Hunt of Wyoming by suicide in 1954, McCarthys support and popularity faded. On December 2, 1954, the Senate voted to censure(谴责)Senator McCarthy by a vote of 67 to 22, making him one of the few senators ever to be disciplined(处分)in this fashion.

对《特朗勃》的评价

尽管《特朗勃》是部独立投资的小众影片,票房也只有区区821万美元(截止2016年2月),但其主题的严肃性和传记的真实性还是赢得了看过影片的观众和影评家的高度赞扬。随着影片获奥斯卡奖提名,更多的观众会观看该片,并反思美国民主自由制度的双重标准和排他性要素。两大大众影评网站(“烂番茄”和Metacritic)对该片的评价均较为正面。

Trumbo has received generally positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 74%, based on 144 reviews, with an average rating of 6.7/10. The sites critical consensus(共识)states, “Trumbo serves as an honorable and well-acted tribute to(致敬)a brilliant writers principled stand(原则立场), even if it doesnt quite achieve the greatness of its subjects own classic screenplays.” Metacritic gives the film a score of 60 out of 100, based on reviews from 33 critics, indicating “mixed or average reviews”.

美国重要报刊的影评人也大都对《特朗勃》进行了正面评价:

综艺杂志Variety撰稿人Peter Debruge给予影片很积极的评价:“Trumbo may be clumsy(笨拙的)and overly(过度)simplistic at times, but its still an important reminder of how democracy can fail [that is, when a fervent(昏了头的)majority turns on those with different and potentially threatening values], and the strength of character it takes to fight the system.”《纽约邮报》评论人Lou Lumenick对该片的评价是:“Its a cracking(出色的)good story, and Cranston does a great job portraying a man who made great sacrifices for his principles.”《旧金山纪事报》影评人Mick LaSalle认为:“Trumbo is breezy(轻松愉快的)and pithy(精炼的)without ever undercutting(削弱)the seriousness of the subject. A certain degree of wit is appropriate in a writers story, just as any Hollywood tale must at least have a whiff of absurdity(有一点荒谬), or else it cant be true.”《波士顿环球报》影评人Ty Burr高度评价克兰斯顿的表演:“Cranstons performance is the motor(马达,发动机)that runs Trumbo, and that motor never idles(空转), never flags(变弱,衰减)in momentum(势头,动力)or magnetism(吸引力)or idealistic scorn(轻蔑).”

对于该片的负面评价则集中在其细节失实之处:

Roger Ebert Journal影评人Godfrey Cheshire认为:《特朗勃》只不过是“another of those simplistic, made-to-order(定制的)films about the Hollywood blacklist in which the blacklisted movie folks are all innocent, in every conceivable way.”他责难影片在暗示是麦卡锡和众议院非美活动委员会制定了好莱坞的黑名单,而实际上该名单是由好莱坞自身影业公司的老板拟定的。

《特朗勃》故事情节

Dalton Trumbo is a screenwriter whose talent places him among the elite of Hollywood. However, his active membership in the Communist Party of the USA draws the contempt of staunchly(坚定地)anti-Soviet entertainment-industry figures such as columnist Hedda Hopper and actor John Wayne.

Trumbo is one of 10 screenwriters subpoenaed(传讯)to testify(作证)before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) regarding alleged(声称的)Communist propaganda in Hollywood films. They refuse to directly answer questions, confident that a liberal majority on the Supreme Court(最高法院)will overturn the convictions(定罪)for contempt of Congress(蔑视国会). Trumbos friend Edward G. Robinson, who supports the cause, sells the Portrait of Père Tanguy(印象派画家梵高的名画《唐吉老爹》)to raise money for their legal defense fund.

The unexpected death of Justice Wiley Rutledge ruins Trumbos plan to appeal(上诉)to the Supreme Court. In 1950, Trumbo serves 11 months in Texarkana prison, where he meets former HUAC chairman J. Parnell Thomas, who was convicted of(宣判有……罪)tax evasion(逃税).

As the Hollywood Blacklist expands to exclude more communists and communist sympathizers(支持者)from working in the industry, Trumbo and his comrades(同志,伙伴)are abandoned by Robinson and producer Buddy Ross, who disavow(否定,否认)them to protect their careers. Trumbo is released from prison, but he remains blacklisted and his finances—and family life—become increasingly strained(紧张的,勉强的). He resorts to(依靠,借助)giving the screenplay for Roman Holiday to his friend Ian McLellan Hunter, to take credit and a share of the money, and eventually the Academy Award for Best Story. Selling his idyllic(田园牧歌般的)lakeside home and moving to a house in the city, he goes to work as a pseudonymous(匿名的,使用笔名的)screenwriter for the low-budget King Brothers Productions, also farming out(分包,转包)the writing of B-movie(低成本二流影片)screenplays to fellow blacklisted writers. He puts his wife Cleo and teenage children to work as his support staff, adding to domestic conflict. King Brothers film The Brave One, an original story by Trumbo under a pseudonym, receives an Academy Award he cannot claim(声索,认领). His blacklisted friend Arlen Hird dies, destitute(一贫如洗的), but an attempt by Hoppers allies to intimidate the head of King Brothers to fire Trumbo fails completely.

Over time, industry suspicion of Trumbos ghostwriting(代笔,当枪手)develops, but he is careful not to confirm it. In 1960, actor Kirk Douglas recruits(雇用)him to write the screenplay for his epic film Spartacus, and director Otto Preminger recruits him to script Exodus for him; both publicly credit Trumbo as the screenwriter despite Hoppers futile(徒劳的)efforts to intimidate Douglas into dropping Trumbo. By 1960, the effectiveness of the Blacklist has been broken to the point where newly elected US President John F. Kennedy publicly endorses(认可)Spartacus and Trumbo and others are able to begin rebuilding their careers. Ten years later, finally receiving his due accolades(应得的嘉奖、荣誉)from Hollywood, Trumbo speaks about how the Blacklist victimized them all: those who stood by their principles and lost their jobs, and also those who compromised their principles to keep them.

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