從“賣相”上看來(lái),《綠皮書》算是小眾文藝片那一類,沒(méi)有中國(guó)觀眾熟悉的好萊塢明星,也沒(méi)有炫目的特效,故事表達(dá)的主題也略顯老套。
這或許也是之前的奧斯卡影片在中國(guó)往往表現(xiàn)不佳的原因。
然而《綠皮書》卻是個(gè)例外。豆瓣評(píng)分8.9、《泰坦尼克號(hào)》之后最叫座的奧斯卡獲獎(jiǎng)影片……外媒都被它在中國(guó)的表現(xiàn)驚呆了。
On the social network and movie review platform Douban the movie has a rating of 8.9/10, outperforming 98% of comedies and 97% of dramas.
在中國(guó)社交和電影評(píng)論平臺(tái)豆瓣上,《綠皮書》斬獲了8.9分的高分,高于98%的喜劇類和97%的劇情類。
The film has taken in more than $30 million since it opened, making it the highest-earning best-picture winner in China after Titanic. In the past many Oscar best-picture films have been viewed as niche, and haven’t done very well.
從上映起,《綠皮書》在中國(guó)吸金3000萬(wàn)美元,成為在《泰坦尼克號(hào)》之后最叫座的奧斯卡獲獎(jiǎng)影片。過(guò)去的奧斯卡影片都被看作不接地氣的陽(yáng)春白雪,表現(xiàn)不佳。
niche n.小眾市場(chǎng)
上個(gè)周末,雙語(yǔ)君(微信ID:Chinadaily_Mobile)特意去電影院把這部大熱的電影看了。
其中,有一幕似乎讓觀眾笑得特別開(kāi)心。(劇透預(yù)警了啊)
“You people love fried chicken,” says a white chauffeur to the black man in the back seat, offering him a drumstick.
“你們黑人都喜歡炸雞的,”白人司機(jī)對(duì)后座黑人乘客說(shuō)著,遞給他一個(gè)琵琶腿。
chauffeur ['???f?; ???'f??]司機(jī)
“You have a very narrow assessment of me,” the passenger responds, refusing to take it. After a short argument, he begins to gingerly nibble on the chicken, then polishes it off, and even flings the bone out the window, in imitation of his carefree driver.
“你對(duì)我的認(rèn)識(shí)非常狹隘啊,”乘客說(shuō),沒(méi)接那個(gè)琵琶腿。在爭(zhēng)論片刻之后,黑人乘客小心翼翼地啃起了雞腿,接著啃完了整只,甚至還學(xué)著司機(jī),把骨頭扔到了窗外。
看到這個(gè)鏡頭,電影院不少觀眾都笑翻了。
石英網(wǎng)記者在中國(guó)觀看這部影片時(shí),也發(fā)現(xiàn)了中國(guó)觀眾對(duì)這一幕的特別喜愛(ài),并且寫下了《為什么中國(guó)觀眾會(huì)喜歡<綠皮書>》("Why Audiences in China Are Loving Green Book?")一文。
為什么中國(guó)觀眾喜歡《綠皮書》?作者在廣州看這部電影時(shí),演到炸雞這一幕,整個(gè)影院爆發(fā)歡笑(burst into delighted laughter)。
這一幕在中國(guó)社交媒體上也頗有熱度:
In China that moment was widely discussed on the social media platform Weibo as one of the film’s best scenes. A lot of the chatter is just jokes from Chinese users saying they would love to have a KFC Family Bucket.
但在中國(guó),這一幕在微博上卻成為了最具熱度的一幕。很多用戶都開(kāi)玩笑說(shuō),看完《綠皮書》就想吃個(gè)肯德基全家桶。
截至3月11日下午,微博上#看完綠皮書就想吃炸雞#話題的閱讀已經(jīng)達(dá)到3.7億,討論6.2萬(wàn)條。
當(dāng)然,如果說(shuō)這一幕在中國(guó)受到歡迎的原因只是因?yàn)榇蠹蚁氤哉u,那未免也太不公平。
不少中國(guó)觀眾喜歡這一幕,是因?yàn)檫@一個(gè)細(xì)節(jié)傳遞人物性格,也體現(xiàn)出人與人之間跨越了種族的一種溫情:
But many also felt connected to Shirley’s complex character—"the doctor who uses indifference to cover the inner loneliness," as one Douban reviewer describes him.
但很多人也因這一幕感受到了謝利博士復(fù)雜的人物性格——“這位博士用冷漠來(lái)掩蓋了他內(nèi)心的孤獨(dú),”一位豆瓣網(wǎng)友評(píng)論說(shuō)。
從喜劇的角度來(lái)講,這一場(chǎng)景里戲劇沖突形成的“反差萌”效果也著實(shí)符合中國(guó)觀眾的胃口。
石英網(wǎng)援引影評(píng)人韓浩月的評(píng)論說(shuō),影片的笑點(diǎn)設(shè)定比較符合中國(guó)觀眾對(duì)喜劇片的認(rèn)知和要求:
比如片中是白人給黑人當(dāng)司機(jī),就與一般人心目中黑人應(yīng)該為白人服務(wù)的印象調(diào)了個(gè)個(gè)兒,這種由戲劇沖突造成的喜劇性,讓人想起開(kāi)心麻花的模式。影片還大量運(yùn)用反轉(zhuǎn)手法,營(yíng)造出很多意料之外的笑點(diǎn),國(guó)內(nèi)觀眾也很吃這一套。
不過(guò),這位外媒記者可能不太了解中國(guó)“網(wǎng)梗”,因此也忽視了這一幕走紅的原因。且看這條高贊豆瓣評(píng)論……
對(duì),就是王境澤沒(méi)錯(cuò)了。
但讓作者想不通過(guò)的是,在美國(guó),頗受中國(guó)觀眾歡迎的炸雞這一幕成為了批評(píng)者們攻擊的對(duì)象。
在《赫芬頓郵報(bào)》中兩個(gè)影評(píng)人的探討中,有著如下的對(duì)話:
Matt Jacobs: The movie that would have felt at home 20 years ago, the ideas it’s proffering, aren’t any more thoughtful or progressive. I mean, in “Green Book,” a white man teaches a black man how to eat fried chicken, for chrissakes. What can we even make of that scene?
馬特·雅各布斯:如果是20年前的話,這部電影可能會(huì)比較合時(shí)宜。它所傳遞的價(jià)值觀并沒(méi)有更深刻或者更進(jìn)步了。在《綠皮書》里,一個(gè)白人教一個(gè)黑人怎么吃炸雞,我的老天鵝,這到底是想表達(dá)什么呢?
Zeba Blay: That scene in particular epitomizes a lot of what’s off about this movie. I didn’t think there was anything inherently offensive about the scene, but, boy, was it self-aware. Like, I see what you’re doing, movie, and you see that I see what you’re doing, and you’re feeling pretty clever and patting yourself on the back when, in actuality, you’re not doing/saying anything that interesting or provocative at all.
澤巴·布萊:這個(gè)橋段是這部電影不對(duì)勁的典型代表了。其實(shí)這個(gè)場(chǎng)景本身而言并沒(méi)有什么冒犯,但他們太把這一幕當(dāng)回事了。我知道這是電影,這一點(diǎn)你也心知肚明,你對(duì)這一幕特別引以為豪,但實(shí)際上這并沒(méi)有什么有趣的,也很平常。
由于文化差異帶來(lái)的審美異同還不止于此。
雖然有著新晉奧斯卡最佳影片的光環(huán),但這部電影在美國(guó)仍然受到了一些美國(guó)影評(píng)人和觀眾的批評(píng)。
還有一些評(píng)論認(rèn)為,這部電影表面平權(quán),但卻以白人的視角、表現(xiàn)的是白人的自我救贖。這一點(diǎn)也有一些中國(guó)網(wǎng)友深以為然:
Some people in China saw the film in much the same way as its critics in the US: “Really quite a white-male perspective,” said one Douban reviewer. “This piece is very traditional—no wonder it won the Oscar.”
一些中國(guó)觀眾和美國(guó)影評(píng)人的觀點(diǎn)一致:“真的是非常白人男性視角,”一位豆瓣網(wǎng)友說(shuō)。“這是在是很經(jīng)典的視角——難怪它能獲奧斯卡獎(jiǎng)。”
還有一些美國(guó)人覺(jué)得,電影這種輕快的調(diào)調(diào)并不能反應(yīng)這段歷史真實(shí)的沉重感(fails to capture the true intensity of that history)。
但作者卻覺(jué)得,正是因?yàn)橛捌羞@種“笑著講故事”的特質(zhì),才使之打破文化壁壘,成功打動(dòng)地球另一端的觀眾:
I began to wonder if the very qualities that made the film controversial in the US have been key to helping it connect with people on the other side of the world. As the critics point out, it’s a feel-good movie—well-paced, funny at times, and touching as the characters open their hearts to each other.
我開(kāi)始覺(jué)得,這個(gè)在美國(guó)備受爭(zhēng)議的特質(zhì),會(huì)不會(huì)正是電影在世界的另一端獲得成功的原因。就像是影評(píng)人指出的,這部電影節(jié)奏適當(dāng)、笑料不斷,當(dāng)主人公對(duì)彼此坦誠(chéng)相待,又戳人淚點(diǎn)。
輕松的敘事詮釋沉重的主題,正是這部影片吸引讀者的原因之一,“不是所有沉重都要用沉重去表現(xiàn)”。
影片中的一些細(xì)節(jié)也頗為容易讓中國(guó)觀眾產(chǎn)生共鳴,比如謝利讓弗拉朗格放回偷拿的玉石,后來(lái)明明知道他假意放回也為了保住他的顏面沒(méi)有揭發(fā)他;謝利幫弗拉朗格寫信給妻子等等:
Shirley helps Vallelonga write letters to his wife, including correcting his spellings and polishing his metaphors, which resonated with the audience, since the effort to delicately express love is valued in Chinese culture too.
謝利幫助弗拉朗格給妻子寫信,幫他遣詞造句、修改拼寫這部分也和觀眾產(chǎn)生了共鳴,因?yàn)橹袊?guó)文化也非常注重微妙地表達(dá)愛(ài)意。
或許正像是作者所說(shuō):
The movie’s approach may have been excessively light for people closer to that history, but for a more distant audience, it seems to have been the right touch.
對(duì)于和歷史更近的人群來(lái)講,影片的調(diào)調(diào)或許太過(guò)輕快了。但是離這段歷史比較遠(yuǎn)的觀眾來(lái)說(shuō),這樣的表達(dá)不多不少剛剛好。