《No Country for Old Men》　老無所依　在黑暗的情感深淵中

No.006　《No Country for Old Men》　老無所依　在黑暗的情感深淵中

英文導讀

No Country for Old Men is a 2007 American thriller written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, based on the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name. The film stars Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin, and tells the story of an ordinary man to whom chance delivers a fortune that is not his, and the ensuing cat-and-mouse drama, as three men crisscross each other's paths in the desert landscape of 1980 West Texas.

When a Vietnam veteran discovers two million dollars while wandering through the aftermath of a Texas drug deal gone horribly awry, his decision to abscond with the cash sets off a violent chain reaction in a stripped-down crime drama from Joel and Ethan Coen. Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) has just stumbled into the find of a lifetime. Upon discovering a bullet-strewn pickup truck surrounded by the corpses of dead bodyguards, Moss uncovers two million dollars in cash and a substantial load of heroin stashed in the back of the vehicle. Later, as an enigmatic killer who determines the fate of his victims with the flip of a coin sets out in pursuit of Moss, the disillusioned Sheriff Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) struggles to contain the rapidly escalating violence that seems to be consuming his once-peaceful Lone Star State town.

The film premiered in competition at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival on May 19, and commercially opened in limited release in 28 theaters in the United States on November 9, 2007, grossing $1,226,333 over the opening weekend, and opened in the United Kingdom (limited release) and Ireland on January 18, 2008. It became the biggest box-office hit for the Coen brothers to date, grossing more than 170 million dollars worldwide, until it was surpassed by True Grit in 2010.

No Country for Old Men appeared on more critics' top ten lists (354) than any other film of 2007, and was the most selected as the best film of the year. It is regarded by many critics as the Coen brothers' finest film. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times called it "as good a film as the Coen brothers...have ever made," The Guardian journalist John Patterson said"that the Coens' technical abilities, and their feel for a landscape-based Western classicism reminiscent of Anthony Mann and Sam Peckinpah, are matched by few living directors," and Peter Travers of Rolling Stone said that it is "a new career peak for the Coen brothers" and is "as entertaining as hell".

Among its four Oscars at the 2007 Academy Awards were awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay, allowing the Coen brothers to join the five previous directors honored three times for the same film. In addition, the film won three British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) including Best Director, and two Golden Globes. The American Film Institute listed it as an AFI Movie of the Year, and the National Board of Review selected the film as the best of 2007.

獲獎情況

2008年第80屆奧斯卡：最佳影片、最佳導演、最佳男配角、最佳改編劇本獎。

影片信息

導演：伊桑·科恩、喬爾·科恩

編劇：喬爾·科恩、伊桑·科恩

主演：湯米·李·瓊斯、哈維爾·巴登、喬什·布洛林、凱莉·麥克唐納

類型：劇情、驚悚、犯罪

制片國家（地區(qū)）：美國

上映日期：2007-11-21（美國）

片長：122分鐘

又名：《2百萬奪命奇案》《險路勿近》《二百萬奪奇案》

劇情簡介

在美國西部新墨西哥州，老牛仔莫斯（喬什·布洛林　飾）在獵殺羚羊時偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)了幾具尸體、一個深受重傷即將渴死的人、一車廂海洛因以及高達200萬美元的現(xiàn)金。莫斯想要改變自己的生活，所以決定將現(xiàn)金占為己有。可能是出于仁慈，莫斯深夜提著一桶水又回到了交易地點。但是他的仁慈卻給他給來了不幸，他被冷血殺手安東·奇古爾（哈維爾·巴登　飾）追殺，為了逃避追殺，莫斯開始了逃亡生活。

老警長埃德·貝爾（湯米·李·瓊斯　飾）是當?shù)氐闹伟补?，在追查一連串的殺人案，同時努力地想要保護莫斯。但是，事情的發(fā)展讓貝爾越來越感到絕望，他使出渾身解數(shù)也無法追蹤到冷血殺手，莫斯的生命受到嚴重的威脅。作為一名執(zhí)法者，在此時卻束手無策。老貝爾一邊驚異于社會的變化、人性和法制觀念的沒落，一邊緬懷父輩們的光榮歲月，深感現(xiàn)實中老無所依的悲哀。

制作花絮

希斯·萊杰本來確定會出演影片，可惜最終卻無故退出。

影片的標題取自W·B·葉芝的詩歌《航向拜占庭》。

根據(jù)湯米·李·瓊斯的說法，因為稅務的問題，導演科恩兄弟打算完全在新墨西哥州拍攝影片，但是他最終說服了他們來到得克薩斯州。

科恩兄弟參考了一張1890年的老照片里一個妓院老板的樣貌，設計了安東·奇格的頭型，當哈維爾·巴爾登第一次從鏡子中看到自己的古怪造型時，忍不住痛苦地呻吟：“哦不，我不想整整2個月都頂著它。”

重點學習

His decision to abscond with the cash

文中的abscond with是英語中的一個固定搭配，它是“拐騙（人或財物）潛逃，拐走；偷”的意思，比如：The young man absconded with his friend's wife.（這個年輕人拐騙他朋友的妻子潛逃了。）

Who determines the fate of his victims with the flip of a coin sets out in pursuit of Moss

文中的in pursuit of是英語中的一個固定搭配，它是“追求；追擊，追趕”的意思，比如：They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.（他們故意拒絕召回有危害生命安全的問題產(chǎn)品以追求利潤。）

單詞時間

landscape[?lændskeip] n. 風景，景色；山水畫

veteran[?vet?r?n] n. 老兵；老手；富有經(jīng)驗的人；老運動員

aftermath[?ɑ:ft?mæθ] n. 后果；余波

abscond[?b?sk?nd] vi. 逃匿，潛逃；避債

chain[t?ein] n. 鏈；束縛；枷鎖

corpse[k?:ps] n. 尸體

heroin[?her?uin] n. 海洛因，嗎啡

enigmatic[?eniɡ?mætik] adj. 神秘的；高深莫測的；謎一般的

reminiscent[?remi?nis?nt] adj. 懷舊的，回憶往事的；耽于回想的

peak[pi:k] n. 山峰；最高點；頂點；帽舌