《Erin Brockovich》　永不妥協(xié)　弱女子的英雄壯舉

No.082　《Erin Brockovich》　永不妥協(xié)　弱女子的英雄壯舉

英文導(dǎo)讀

Erin Brockovich is a 2000 biographical film directed by Steven Soderbergh. The film is a dramatization of the true story of Erin Brockovich, played by Julia Roberts, who fought against the US West Coast energy corporation Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E).

Erin Brockovich (Roberts) is a twice-divorced mother of three young children, who struggles to be taken seriously. While working as a file clerk in a small law firm, she stumbles upon a cover-up involving contaminated water in a nearby town which is causing devastating illnesses.

She convinces her boss (Finney) to allow her to investigate, and in the process uncovers the company causing the contamination. Although the local citizens are initially leery of becoming involved, Erin's brash manner and ability to speak to them clearly and frankly earns their trust. With over 600 plaintiffs signed up, the unlikely duo go on to win the largest settlement ever paid in a direct-action suit...$333 million.

The majority of critics responded favorably towards the film. It holds a certified"Fresh" rating of 83% on film review website Rotten Tomatoes and 73 metascore on Metacritic. In his review for The New York Observer, Andrew Sarris wrote, "We get the best of independent cinema and the best of mainstream cinema all in one package. Erin Brockovich, like Wonder Boys right before it, makes the year 2000 seem increasingly promising for movies". Newsweek magazine's David Ansen began his review with, "Julia Roberts is flat-out terrific in Erin Brockovich." Furthermore, he wrote,"Roberts has wasted her effervescence on many paltry projects, but she hits the jackpot this time. Erin, single mother of three, a former Miss Wichita who improbably rallies a community to take on a multibillion-dollar corporation, is the richest role of her career, simultaneously showing off her comic, dramatic and romantic chops".

Erin Brockovich was released on March 17, 2000, in 2,848 theaters and grossed $28.1 million on its opening weekend. It went on to make $126.6 million in North America and $130.7 million in the rest of the world for a worldwide total of $256.3 million.

Erin Brockovich received numerous awards. The National Board of Review, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the Broadcast Film Critics Association voted Julia Roberts best actress of the year. The National Society of Film Critics voted Steven Soderbegh best director for his work on both Traffic and Erin Brockovich.

Erin Brockovich received four Golden Globe nominations including Best Dramatic Motion Picture, Best Dramatic Motion Picture Actress (Roberts), Best Director (Soderbergh) and Best Supporting Actor (Albert Finney). It won only one award for Best Dramatic Actress. The film received five Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, Best Director (Soderbergh), Best Actress (Roberts), Best Supporting Actor (Finney), and Best Original Screenplay (Susannah Grant). Roberts won Best Actress, the only Academy Award the film received. However, Soderbergh lost out to himself for his work on the film Traffic.

獲獎情況

2001年第73屆奧斯卡：最佳女主角獎，并榮獲最佳影片提名、最佳導(dǎo)演提名、最佳男配角提名、最佳原創(chuàng)劇本提名。

影片信息

導(dǎo)演：史蒂文·索德伯格

編?。禾K珊娜·格蘭特

主演：朱莉婭·羅伯茨、阿爾伯特·芬尼、康查塔·費雷爾、艾倫·艾克哈特

類型：劇情、愛情、傳記

制片國家（地區(qū)）：美國

上映日期：2000-03-17（美國）

片長：130分鐘

又名：《埃琳·布羅克維奇》《伊人當(dāng)自強》《阿蓮正傳》

劇情簡介

埃琳·布羅克維奇（朱莉婭·羅伯茨飾）是一位經(jīng)歷了兩次離婚，并帶著3個孩子的單身母親。倒霉的她在遭到一場交通事故后，連志在必得的賠償官司到最后都輸?shù)袅?，一貧如洗的可憐女人到了走投無路的絕境。為她辯護的律師埃德（阿爾伯特·芬尼飾）半是同情埃琳，半是因為幫她打輸了官司心感內(nèi)疚，收留埃琳在他的律師樓里打雜。

一天，埃琳在一堆有關(guān)資產(chǎn)和債務(wù)的文件中偶然地發(fā)現(xiàn)了一些十分可疑的醫(yī)藥單據(jù)，這引起了她的困惑和懷疑。在埃德的支持下，埃琳開始對其展開調(diào)查。在調(diào)查中，埃琳發(fā)現(xiàn)了當(dāng)?shù)厣鐓^(qū)隱藏著的重大環(huán)境污染事件，污水中含劇毒物質(zhì)，而供水公司卻對此敷衍了事。弱女子埃琳決定用她柔弱的肩膀擔(dān)負(fù)起為受污染的數(shù)百名居民討回公道的重?fù)?dān)。

埃琳和埃德在一家大型法律事務(wù)機構(gòu)的幫助下，終于使污染事件得到了令人滿意的賠償，創(chuàng)造了美國歷史上同類民事案件的賠償金額之最，達3.33億美元。埃琳正是用自己的無比堅韌的毅力，克服難以想象的困難，向世人證明了一個“弱女子”的價值，在人生的道路上開辟了一片新的天地。

制作花絮

劇組在拍攝過程中使用了兩臺攝影機。

本片制作設(shè)計師菲利普·墨西拿曾率隊考察埃琳和埃德的辦公室，服裝設(shè)計師和道具部門也曾與兩人多次會面，埃琳提供了一些真實的卷宗，埃德則提供了多種證書的復(fù)印件和職業(yè)生涯的紀(jì)念品。

朱莉婭·羅伯茨是左撇子，所以她必須學(xué)會用右手簽名。

埃德·馬斯瑞本人曾出現(xiàn)在餐館的場景中。

片頭的車禍場景是由數(shù)字技術(shù)合成的。

重點學(xué)習(xí)

She stumbles upon a cover-up involving contaminated water in a nearby town

Stumble upon是英語中的一個固定搭配，它是“偶然發(fā)現(xiàn)；無意中發(fā)現(xiàn)”的意思，比如：If you're lucky, you stumble upon a lifelong best friend by accident.（如果你足夠幸運的話，沒準(zhǔn)你會偶然遇見一位終生的知心朋友。）

With over 600 plaintiffs signed up

Sign up是英語中的一個固定搭配，如果你sign up for an organization or if an organization signs you up, you sign a contract officially agreeing to do a job or course of study.也就是“和…簽約；簽約參加；報名參加（課程）”的意思，比如：He signed up as a flight attendant with Korean Air.（他與大韓航空公司簽了約，當(dāng)機乘人員。）

單詞時間

dramatization[?dræm?tai?zei??n] n. 編??；改編成戲劇

corporation[?k?:p??rei??n] n. 公司；法人（團體）；社團

clerk[klɑ:k] n. 職員，辦事員；店員；書記；記賬員

stumble[?st?mbl] vi. 躊躇，蹣跚；失足；犯錯

contaminated[k?n?tæmineitid] adj. 受污染的；弄臟的

leery[?li?ri] adj. 機敏的；狡猾的；猜疑的；送秋波的

plaintiff[?pleintif] n. 原告

settlement[?setlm?nt] n. 解決，處理；結(jié)算；沉降；殖民

promising[?pr?misi?] adj. 有希望的，有前途的

flat-out[?flæt?aut] adj. 直率的；坦白的；最高的

effervescence[?ef??ves (?)ns] n. 冒泡；歡騰

paltry[?p?:ltri] adj. 不足取的；無價值的；瑣碎的；卑鄙的

jackpot[?d?ækp?t] n. 頭獎；累積賭注；十分成功