《饑餓游戲》塑造當代女英雄

《饑餓游戲》塑造當代女英雄

There’s a short anxious scene in the new film “The Hunger Games” when its 16-year-old heroine, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence), races through a deep, dark forest; falls down a hill; and rolls and rolls, only to rise up and thrust herself again into the unknown. Katniss, the lethally tough linchpin from Suzanne Collins’s trilogy and now a rather less imposing film heroine, is a teenage survivalist in a postapocalyptic take on a familiar American myth. When she runs through that forest, and even when she falls, there’s something of the American frontiersman in her, as if she were Natty Bumppo reborn and resexed.

電影《饑餓游戲》中有一段讓人揪心的簡短場景：16歲的女主人公凱特尼斯·埃弗蒂恩 (Katniss Everdeen，珍妮佛·勞倫斯Jennifer Lawrence飾演) 在黑暗的密林中飛奔，從山上摔下，不斷翻滾，爬起來之后卻仍然置身于未知的挑戰(zhàn)之中。凱特尼斯就是蘇珊·科林斯(Suzanne Collins)《饑餓游戲》三部曲當中那個強悍得要命的核心角色，如今則變成了一個不那么冷酷嚴肅的電影女主人公。她是一名奉行生存主義的少女，出現(xiàn)在一個熟悉的美國神話式的后天啟時代版本當中。當她在森林中奔跑，甚至是當她摔倒的時候，她身上也會散發(fā)出一股美國拓荒者的氣息，就像是再生的女性版納蒂· 班波(Natty Bumppo，譯者按，此人為美國文學(xué)當中的叢林英雄)。

For as long as this brief scene lasts, it seems possible that Gary Ross, the unlikely and at times frustratingly ill-matched director for this brutal, unnerving story, has caught the heart-skipping pulse of Michael Mann’s “Last of the Mohicans” if not that film’s ravishing technique and propulsive energy. Alas, Mr. Ross, the director of the genial entertainments “Pleasantville” and “Seabiscuit,” and whose script credits include “Big,” has a way of smoothing even modestly irregular edges. Katniss, who for years has bagged game to keep her family from starving, was created for rough stuff — for beating the odds and the state, for hunting squirrel and people both — far rougher than Mr. Ross often seems comfortable with, perhaps because of disposition, inclination or some behind-the-scenes executive mandate.

對于這個殘酷驚悚的故事來說，加里·羅斯(Gary Ross)不像是個理想的導(dǎo)演人選，有時還顯得與電影故事極不匹配，令人沮喪。然而，僅就以上那個短短的場景而言，他似乎抓住了邁克爾·曼恩 (Michael Mann)執(zhí)導(dǎo)的電影《最后的莫希干人》(Last of the Mohicans)中驚心動魄的節(jié)奏感，哪怕他并沒有學(xué)到那部電影的迷人技法和推進力道。唉，作為輕松娛樂片《歡樂谷》(Pleasantville)和《奔騰年代》(Seabiscuit)的導(dǎo)演，以及《飛越未來》(Big)一片的編劇，他總有辦法抹平哪怕是小小的不規(guī)則棱角。長年通過打獵來填飽家人肚子的凱特尼斯是為受難而生的，比如與命運和權(quán)威搏斗、比如獵殺松鼠，或者是，獵殺人。其強悍的程度遠遠超過了羅斯先生通常表現(xiàn)出來的可接受標準，個中緣由可能是羅斯先生本人的性情和氣質(zhì)，也可能是某種幕后的行政指令。

It may be that Mr. Ross is too nice a guy for a hard case like Katniss. A brilliant, possibly historic creation — stripped of sentimentality and psychosexual ornamentation, armed with Diana’s bow and a ferocious will — Katniss is a new female warrior, and she keeps you watching even while you’re hoping for something better the next time around. (Mr. Ross is onboard to direct the follow-up, “Catching Fire.”) For some fans of the three novels, the screen version will inevitably be disappointing, especially for those keeping inventory of the details, characters, grim thoughts and cynicism that have gone missing. For others the image of a girl like Katniss taking up so much screen space with so few smiles may be enough to keep faith.

面對凱特尼斯這樣的強悍角色，羅斯先生可能太過溫柔善良了。凱特尼斯是一名新型的女戰(zhàn)士，她脫去了多愁善感和欲望對象的花飾，以狩獵之神的弓箭和剛烈意志來武裝自己，她是一個光彩照人甚或具有歷史意義的角色。即使你希望她的下一部電影能拍得更好一些，她還會一直吸引你的眼球。(羅斯正在導(dǎo)演《饑餓游戲》的續(xù)集《燃燒的女孩》(Catching Fire)。)對于這三部小說的一些粉絲來說，電影版會不可避免地讓人失望。電影遺漏了小說當中的一些細節(jié)、角色、冷峻思考和憤世情緒，對這些東西如數(shù)家珍的觀眾將會倍感失望。但對于另外一些人來說，僅僅是凱特尼斯在銀幕上冷峻的形象，就足以讓他們追捧。

The screenplay by Mr. Ross, Ms. Collins and Billy Ray hews dutifully close to its source material, at least in wide strokes. Katniss lives in District 12 of Panem — as in panem et circenses, Latin for bread and circuses — a totalitarian state that has risen from the postwar ashes of North America. Every year a boy and a girl ages 12 to 18 are chosen from each Panem district to compete in the gladiatorial games of the title, a fight that owes something to that ancient Roman blood sport and something else to the Greek myth of the Minotaur, the part man, part bull that devoured Athenian youths given in tribute. The Minotaur is eventually slain, but that’s getting ahead of Katniss.

至少大體上來說，羅斯先生、科林斯女士和比爾·雷(Bill Ray)合寫的劇本做到了盡職盡責和忠于原著。凱特尼斯住在帕訥姆國(Panem)的12區(qū)。“Panem”來自拉丁短語“panem et circenses”(食物與馬戲)，意思是“食物”，帕訥姆國則是一個誕生于北美戰(zhàn)火余燼之中的極權(quán)國家。帕訥姆國各區(qū)每年都得選出兩名12到18歲的孩子，男女各一，讓他們?nèi)⒓优c電影同名的角斗游戲。這種游戲一部分源自古羅馬帝國的那種血腥競賽，一部分源自關(guān)于人身牛頭怪(Minotaur)的希臘神話，這頭怪物會吞噬雅典城進貢的少男少女。神話里的牛頭怪最終被殺，不過，凱特尼斯暫時還辦不到同樣的事情。

The film takes off at the selection ceremony, or reaping, a nationally televised event complete with armed soldiers and a bubbly bubblehead M.C. (Elizabeth Banks), during which Katniss’s younger sister, Primrose (Willow Shields), is chosen. Katniss quickly volunteers to take Prim’s place, becoming, with Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), District 12’s tributes. The two are whisked off to the Capitol, where they’re plucked and primped by a team of gaudily hued stylists (overseen by a gilt-lidded Lenny Kravitz as Cinna), a potentially razor-sharp sequence that should underscore the Capitol’s decadence but here comes across as a variant on Dorothy’s cheery wash- and brush-up when she enters the Emerald City. Katniss may not be in Kansas, but neither does she seem in palpable danger.

電影以選人儀式，或者說，叫“收割儀式”也可以，這是一件全國電視直播的盛事。儀式中有全副武裝的戰(zhàn)士，也有甜膩造作的花瓶女主持 (伊麗莎白.班克斯 Elizabeth Banks飾演)。凱特尼斯的妹妹普瑞姆羅斯 (薇籮.謝爾茲 Willow Shields飾演)被選上了，凱特尼斯立刻申請頂替妹妹的位置，最后就與匹塔·梅拉克(Peeta Mellark，由喬西.亨徹森 Josh Hutcherson飾演)一起被選為12區(qū)的貢品。兩個人被迅速送到神殿，一群衣著花里胡哨的化妝師(化妝師的頭兒是Cinna，由打著閃耀眼影的連尼.克拉威茨 Lenny Kravits飾演)為他倆梳妝打扮。這個鏡頭原本可以深刻地揭露神殿的腐朽，電影里的景象卻與多蘿西(Dorothy，美國童話《綠野仙蹤》當中的人物)進入翡翠城(Emerald City)時那種歡快的洗漱場面大同小異。凱特尼斯興許的確不在堪薩斯(譯者注，《綠野仙蹤》當中多蘿西的家鄉(xiāng))，但她似乎也并未面臨什么明顯危險。

That changes once she and Peeta are transported to the outdoor arena where, with wits and weapons, they battle the other tributes and assorted perils generated by the game makers (including a dandified Wes Bentley), who dole out death via computer touch screen. There, in a rapidly cut massacre that pits boy against girl and finds youngsters killing and falling and dying in a frantic, fragmented blur, Mr. Ross and his editors, Stephen Mirrione and Juliette Welfling, set the stage and stark mood. For her part Katniss, though frozen in fear, follows the advice of her and Peeta’s mentor, Haymitch (an overly cute Woody Harrelson), and runs in the opposite direction. It’s a strong, visceral scene that quickens the pace and pulse, and distills the story’s horror — suffer the little children to enter the arena — in blunt visual terms.

這一切都在凱特尼斯和匹塔被送達露天競技場后完全改變了。他們運用武器和自己的智慧與其他的貢品進行殊死搏斗，并且還要克服游戲設(shè)計者(其中包括打扮時髦的韋斯.本特利 Wes Bentley)安排的種種危險，那些游戲設(shè)計者通過觸摸電腦屏幕就可以奪去游戲選手的生命。通過快速切換的鏡頭，羅斯先生和影片剪輯斯蒂芬.米瑞恩(Stephen Mirrione) 及朱麗葉.維弗靈(Juliette Welfling)展現(xiàn)了一場震撼人心的大屠殺場面，其中的少男少女彼此廝打，殺戮、跌倒、死亡，所有一切交織成了一片瘋狂破碎的模糊影像。這一切為片中角色準備好了舞臺，并定下了冷峻的基調(diào)。凱特尼斯雖然十分恐懼，但是仍然遵照她和匹塔的導(dǎo)師黑密契·阿勃納西(Haymitch Abernathy)(由伍迪.哈瑞森 Woody Harrelson飾演，扮相可愛得過了頭)的建議，跑向了相反的方向。這是一個力度強烈、驚心動魄、讓人血脈賁張的場景，通過毫無隱諱的視覺形式集中體現(xiàn)了故事的恐怖：讓孩子踏上血腥的角斗場。

Nothing else in the arena comes close to that initial fight in its sheer primal impact. Working with Tom Stern, Clint Eastwood’s longtime cinematographer, Mr. Ross tries to find mystery in the forest, in its canopy of trees and thick undergrowth, but never locates a deeper dread, despite the computer-generated fireballs and hounds, and especially the other tributes. Part of what makes the “Hunger Games” books so effective is that they literalize the familiar drama of adolescence, translating the emotional assaults, peer pressure, cliques and the tortured rest into warfare. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” did the same on television, except there the villains were supernatural demons. In “The Hunger Games” the real enemies are adults, including, of course, the parents catching the show on TV.

這場最初的搏斗充滿了原始的沖擊力，角斗場里的其它任何事物都無法與之相比。本片攝像技師湯姆.斯特恩(Tom Stern)曾長期為導(dǎo)演科林特.伊斯特伍德(Clint Eastwood)工作, 在他的協(xié)助之下，羅斯先生竭力在遮天蔽日的樹冠和茂密的灌木叢中尋找森林的秘密，并以電腦制作的火球、獵犬、尤其是其他“貢品”來烘托效果，但卻始終沒能表現(xiàn)出更深層次的恐懼。《饑餓游戲》小說之所以如此攝人心魄，部分原因是它對司空見慣的青春期波瀾進行了文學(xué)化處理，把情感沖擊，同伴的競爭壓力，拉幫結(jié)派行為和其它種種苦惱演繹成了戰(zhàn)爭。電視劇《吸血鬼獵手巴菲》(Buffy the Vampire Slayer)具有同樣的特點，區(qū)別在于其中的反面人物是超自然的惡魔。而在《饑餓游戲》當中，真正的敵人是成年人類，當然也包括通過電視觀看角斗游戲的父母們。

Fans of the Japanese cult film “Battle Royale” may see some overlap with its allegory about students sent to an island to fight to the death, and others may be reminded of Orson Scott Card’s science-fiction novel “Ender’s Game,” about children trained to battle an alien species. If you’ve seen the pint-size assassins in the recent action flicks “Kick-Ass” and “Hanna,” which feature prepubescent girls who lock, load and shoot without batting a lash, you may think you’ve also seen it before. You haven’t, not really. Although the girls in those movies are vaguely sexualized, their age exempts them from the narrative burdens of heterosexual romance. They don’t have to bat those lashes at the boys, and they don’t need to be saved by them either, as in the “Twilight” series.

日本邪典電影《大逃殺》(Battle Royale)有把學(xué)生送到島上讓他們決一死斗的情節(jié)，該片的影迷可能會對《饑餓游戲》產(chǎn)生似曾相識之感，其他人可能會由此想到奧森·斯科特·卡德 (Orson Scott Card)那部關(guān)于訓(xùn)練兒童去和外來物種決斗的科幻小說《安德的游戲》(Ender’s Game)。在最近的動作片《海扁王》(Kick-Ass)和《漢娜》( Hanna)當中，青春期尚未開始的小姑娘們甚至連睫毛都不眨就可以直接拉槍機、上膛、、開槍。如果你看過這些小不點兒殺手，興許也會覺得《饑餓游戲》有點兒眼熟。其實不是，不全然是。那兩部電影里的女孩雖然被賦予模糊的性征，可她們的年齡決定了她們無需承受異性戀情節(jié)的負擔。她們不需要向男孩顫動自己的睫毛，也不需要等待男孩的拯救， 一如像《暮光之城》(Twilight)系列里面的女孩那樣。

What invests Katniss with such exciting promise and keeps you rapt even when the film proves less than equally thrilling is that she also doesn’t need saving, even if she’s at an age when, most movies still insist, women go weak at the knees and whimper and weep while waiting to be saved. Again and again Katniss rescues herself with resourcefulness, guts and true aim, a combination that makes her insistently watchable, despite Mr. Ross’s soft touch and Ms. Lawrence’s bland performance. One look at District 12, which Mr. Ross conceives as a picturesque old-timey town — filled with withered Dorothea Lange types in what was once Appalachia — and it’s clear that someone here was enthralled with the actress’s breakout turn in “Winter’s Bone” as a willful, resilient child of the Ozarks.

凱特尼斯之所以值得令人熱切期待，甚至在這部電影的驚險程度并沒有達到相應(yīng)水平的情況下依然讓令人迷醉，原因是她不需要別人拯救。盡管她這個年齡的女生在大多數(shù)電影里面仍然會雙膝發(fā)軟，哭哭啼啼地等著被救贖。在這部電影當中，凱特尼斯一次又一次地憑借謀略、膽量和不死的信念救了自己的性命。這些特質(zhì)使她變成了一道讓人不得不看的風(fēng)景，即便是羅斯的孱弱風(fēng)格和女主角珍妮佛.勞倫斯的平庸表演也無法將她抹殺。當觀眾看到羅斯構(gòu)造的美麗的阿爾巴契亞《多籮西·蘭格》(Dorothea Lange)色彩的舊時小鎮(zhèn)——12區(qū)，突然出現(xiàn)了在電影《冬天里的骨頭》(Winter’s Bone)扮演里密蘇里的那個堅強女孩，在這個時候，人們會感到欣喜。

A few years ago Ms. Lawrence might have looked hungry enough to play Katniss, but now, at 21, her seductive, womanly figure makes a bad fit for a dystopian fantasy about a people starved into submission. The graver problem is a disengaged performance that rarely suggests the terrors Katniss faces, including the fatalism that originally hangs on her like a shroud. What finally saves the character and film both is the image of her on the run, moving relentlessly forward. Unlike those American Adams who have long embodied the national character with their reserves of hope, innocence and optimism, Katniss springs from someplace else, a place in which an American Eve, battered, bruised and deeply knowing, scrambles through a garden not of her making on her way to a new world.

幾年前，勞倫斯興許擁有適合扮演凱特尼斯的饑民體型。但是，現(xiàn)在她已經(jīng)21歲，她那嫵媚性感的體態(tài)與一個關(guān)于人類因饑餓而臣服的反烏托邦故事格格不入。更嚴重的問題是，她漫不經(jīng)心的表演并沒有展現(xiàn)出凱特尼斯面臨的種種恐怖，包括那個原本像裹尸布一樣包裹著凱特尼斯的必死宿命。最終拯救這個角色和這部電影的是她那種不停奔跑、一往無前的形象。長期以來，各種男性英雄憑借堅毅的信念、純真和樂觀的精神成為美國特質(zhì)的象征，《饑餓游戲》的女主角凱特尼斯卻與他們不同。她從另外一個世界橫空出世，在那里，一位受到打擊、傷痕累累、深諳世故的美國女英雄正在跌跌撞撞地穿過一座不屬于她的花園，沖向一個新世界。