《瘋狂的亞洲富人》作者：我還想寫瘋狂的亞洲窮人

With its lavish banquets, helicopter escapes and sweeping descriptions of Singapore’s lush coast, Kevin Kwan’s novel “Crazy Rich Asians” practically begs to be turned into a film. But when Mr. Kwan wrote the book, which was published in 2013, he never thought his set pieces would spring to life. “I told a story that I think was very cinematic. Did I ever dare to dream it would ever happen? Absolutely not,” he said in a phone interview with The New York Times on Friday. “I didn’t think I would even get it published to begin with.”

凱文·關(Kevin Kwan)的小說《瘋狂的亞洲富人》描述了豪華的宴會、乘直升飛機度假，以及新加坡郁郁蔥蔥的海岸，簡直太適合改編成電影了。這本書于2013年出版，但是，在創(chuàng)作期間，凱文·關從沒想過它能搬上銀幕。“我講了一個非常有電影感的故事，我曾經(jīng)夢想它會拍成電影嗎?絕對沒有，”他在周五接受《紐約時報》電話采訪時表示。“我甚至沒想過它能出版。”

Not only did the book get published and top best-seller lists, but the ensuing film has stormed to No. 1 at the box office, buoyed by warm reviews and aggressive theater-renting campaigns. The film has carried the weight of being the first Hollywood film with an all-Asian cast and a contemporary story since “The Joy Luck Club” in 1993. And even though the movie has been out for less than a week, Mr. Kwan says it has already increased the appetite for different kinds of stories in Hollywood. These are edited excerpts from Friday’s conversation.

這本書不僅得到出版，登上暢銷書排行榜第一位，而且，受益于熱烈的影評和積極的包場活動，根據(jù)它改編的電影還成了票房冠軍。自1993年的《喜福會》以來，這是第一部以全亞洲陣容講述當代故事的好萊塢電影。該片上映不到一周，凱文·關說它已經(jīng)增加了好萊塢對不同類型故事的興趣。以下是周五的采訪內(nèi)容，經(jīng)過編輯和節(jié)選。

What was the best reaction from someone who has seen the movie so far?

到目前為止，觀影者最好的反應是什么?

I was in Philadelphia, and there were two white dudes in their 50s who went to a screening. One of the guys admitted: “I haven’t cried in a movie in the longest time — but I cried.” And his friend was like, “Yeah, I cried too.”

我在費城，有兩個50多歲的白人來看這部片子。其中一個人承認：“我很久沒有看電影哭過了——但是我哭了。”他的朋友說，“是的，我也哭了。”

This was not the target demographic. But it’s funny to see them admitting to this and being so surprised by their own reaction. It’s great to hear that, because that’s what we believed from the beginning: that this story transcends race.

他們不是目標人群。但看到他們承認這一點，并對自己的反應感到驚訝，這很有意思。我很高興聽到這個，因為我們從一開始就相信：這個故事超越了種族。

The story explores the world of the uber-rich in Singapore, where you grew up. What was the most obscene show of wealth you saw as a child?

你在新加坡長大，這個故事探討了那里的超級富豪的世界。關于財富，你小時見過的最令人震驚的一幕是怎樣的?

This made it into “Crazy Rich Asians”: There was this family that had recently suffered a personal tragedy. A Christian counselor had come over and was destroying everything that was Chinese or had any dragons or idols. I was 10 years old, and remember watching from the sidelines in this enormous mansion as they were tipping vases to the floor. The maids are weeping: They see fortunes they can’t even make in their whole lifetime being destroyed right in front of them — and they have to literally sweep it up. I can’t make this stuff up.

這一幕也寫進了《瘋狂的亞洲富人》：有個家庭不久前遭受了個人悲劇。一位基督徒咨詢師來了，摧毀了所有中國化的東西，或者帶有龍和偶像的東西。記得我那年10歲，在那棟巨大的豪宅邊上看著他們把花瓶扔在地上。女傭們哭了起來：她們看到自己一輩子都賺不到的財富在自己面前被摧毀——而且她們還得把它們清掃干凈。這種事我可編不出來。

The book is a satire of this culture of excess, but Hollywood loves to glorify wealth. Were you worried that critique would be lost in translation?

這本書是對放縱文化的諷刺，但好萊塢喜歡美化財富。你是否擔心這種批判會迷失在翻譯之中?

Jon [Chu, the film’s director] and I had many many long talks over this. I knew and understood his vision: that even though there are decadent scenes, you look beyond that. The story at the heart of it is about a family, a couple, a mother and a son. And there’s where the true crazy richness lies in the story.

浩偉(朱浩偉，電影導演)和我就此長談了很多次。我知道并理解他的愿景：即使有放縱的場景，但也要看得更遠。故事的核心是關于一個家庭、一對情侶、一個母親和一個兒子。真正瘋狂的豐富性在于故事。

While other authors option their books for thousands of dollars, you optioned the book to the production companies Color Force and Ivanhoe for $1. What did you do with that dollar?

其他作家賣出作品的改編權要價都是成千上萬美元，你給Color Force和Ivanhoe這些制作公司報出的改編費只有1美元，你是怎么花那1美元的呢?

I don’t think I actually got that dollar, quite frankly. Basically, I was trying to make myself as amenable to the deal as possible. I didn’t want things to be held up by money. I wanted the money to be spent hiring a great screenwriter — to really adapt my book rather than to pay me some stupid option fee. And it gave me a partnership stake in the whole process. So it was worth every dollar — it was worth that dollar. [laughs]

說實話，我應該并沒有真的拿到那1美元。基本上我是在讓自己盡可能地順從這筆交易。我不想讓事情被錢給拖住。我想用那筆錢來請一個優(yōu)秀的編劇——去認真改編我的書，而不是給我一筆愚蠢的版權費。而且，它讓我在整個過程中獲得了合作股份。所以很劃算——那1美元值了(笑)。

There was controversy over the casting of Henry Golding, who is half white, to play Nick, the male romantic lead. Did that debate come up during the casting process?

讓有一半白人血統(tǒng)的亨利·戈爾丁(Henry Golding)來扮演男主角尼克，是存在爭議的。在選角過程中有沒有這樣的爭論?

It definitely came up in the room and was something we deliberated about for a very long time. We were hyper-conscious of what would happen and how people would respond. But at the end of the day we really felt that he really was the perfect Nick. We had to put aside our own issues to see that.

確實有過，這也是我們考慮了很久的一個問題。我們很明白選了他之后會發(fā)生什么，人們會作何反應。但我們最后還是覺得他確實是個完美的尼克。我們得把自己的問題擱置一邊才能看到這一點。

I understand the issue, and I’m glad it came up. But being from Singapore, which is such a multicultural society, and having so many cousins who are mixed race — and seeing their struggle as mixed-race Asians who aren’t fully accepted on either side — I really have a lot of empathy for that. How are they not Asian? How is Henry Golding, who has spent most of his life living in Asia, considered not Asian? Fifty years ago he wouldn’t be let into a lot of private clubs just based on the way he looks.

我理解這個問題，也很高興人們把它提了出來。但我自己就來自于新加坡，那是一個多元文化的社會，我有許多混血表親，我看到他們作為混血亞裔，兩邊都得不到完全接受的掙扎，我能理解他們的感受。他們怎么就不是亞洲人呢?人生中的大多數(shù)時間都是生活在亞洲的亨利·戈爾丁怎么就不是亞洲人?50年前，因為他那樣的外表，很多私人俱樂部都不會放他進去的。

Over the past few months, have you seen a change in potential opportunities for Asian and Asian-American stories in Hollywood?

在過去幾個月里，你有在好萊塢看到亞裔和亞裔美國人故事的可能性發(fā)生了變化嗎?

Absolutely. There’s tremendous interest now in projects that I’m developing going forward. I see it also with the cast: All of them have different pots that are boiling. They’re being offered different roles and possibilities. We’re seeing how all these actors are in demand in a whole new way, and in projects that aren’t just Asian based. The climate’s already changing.

絕對有。如今好萊塢對我正在向前推進的項目興趣濃厚。我在演員中也能看到這一點：他們所有人都有很多事要忙，都獲得了許多不同的角色邀約和機會。我們看到好萊塢對這些演員的需求呈現(xiàn)出全新的方式，而且需要他們參與的項目不僅僅是基于亞洲的。外部大環(huán)境已經(jīng)在發(fā)生改變了。

Now that you’ve broken the bamboo ceiling, what kinds of stories are you interested in telling?

現(xiàn)在你已經(jīng)突破了竹子天花板，你還有興趣講哪些故事?

Crazy poor Asians. Or just crazy average Asians. I’ve written three books about the 1 percent. Now, it’s all about exploring this wide spectrum and showing other facets of Asians around the world. I want to show how they can be as cool as the crazy rich Asians, if not more.

瘋狂的亞洲窮人?；蛘咧皇钳偪竦钠胀▉喼奕?。我已經(jīng)寫了三本關于1%人群的書。如今，我想寫的全是關于這個寬泛范圍的探索，展現(xiàn)世界各地的亞洲人其他的方面。至少我想展示出他們能與瘋狂的亞洲富人一樣酷。

I’m also developing a TV series with Amazon. It’s going to be set in Hong Kong, and it’s about the most powerful and ruthless family there. It’s going to be very different in tone and subject matter.

我還在與亞馬遜合作開發(fā)一部電視劇。這部劇將以香港為背景，講述的是香港最有權勢、最無情的家庭。它的基調(diào)和主題會非常不同。

[Spoilers ahead:] The post-credits scene of the film sets up a new potential love interest for the spurned Astrid (Gemma Chan). Is the scene a harbinger of a sequel?

(下文有劇透)影片字幕放完之后的一幕為遭到拒絕的阿斯特麗德(Astrid，嘉瑪·陳[Gemma Chan]飾)設定了可能的戀愛劇情。這一幕是續(xù)集的預告嗎?

I really hope so. A few of the actors and me, we snuck into one of the screenings in Union Square and were watching as the credits rolled. The minute that scene played, people were screaming. It was hilarious to watch.

我真的希望如此。幾個演員和我之前偷偷溜進了聯(lián)合廣場的放映活動，看到了字幕滾動。那一幕播出來時，人們都在尖叫?？吹竭@一幕真的很好笑。

We are definitely trying to set things up for a sequel. But it all depends on this movie performing well and having legs. This is not up to us.

我們絕對會試著弄一部續(xù)集。但這都要取決于這部影片的表現(xiàn)，是否有生命力。決定權不在我們。