《雪花秘扇》影評

Friendship between women-the deep and secret friendship of 'sworn sisters' in Chinese society-forms the core of Wayne Wang's film, which was adapted from the popular novel by Lisa See. The original setting was 19th-century China, but the screen version weaves a parallel tale on two additional time lines-present-day Shanghai and the same city in the 1990s. This structural complexity proves an insuperable barrier to effective storytelling. While the action flashes back and forth in increments of centuries, years or months, we're adrift in the here and now, trying to get a grip on the characters and their relationships, yet finding it loosened with every new dislocation. (The screenplay was written by Angela Workman, Ronald Bass and Michael Ray.)
女性之間的友誼──中國社會“結(jié)拜姐妹”之間秘密而深厚的友誼──構(gòu)成了王潁（Wayne Wang）這部電影的核心。該片改編自鄺麗莎（Lisa See）的暢銷小說。小說的背景是19世紀的中國，但電影同時講述了兩條時間線上的兩個故事，分別發(fā)生在19世紀的上海和現(xiàn)代上海。事實證明，這種復(fù)雜的結(jié)構(gòu)是實現(xiàn)有效講故事的不可逾越的障礙。鏡頭來回穿梭于不同的世紀、年和月之間，我們的心則在此時此地懸在半空，試圖理解片中人物及人物之間的關(guān)系，卻發(fā)現(xiàn)隨著每一次新的時空轉(zhuǎn)換，我們就會失去駕馭力。（劇本由安吉拉•沃克曼（Angela Workman）、羅納德•巴斯（Ronald Bass）和邁克爾•雷（Michael Ray）創(chuàng)作）

The parallelism extends to the performers. Gianna Jun and Bingbing Li play the dual roles of Snow Flower and her beloved Lily in the 19th century, and young women named Sophia and Nina in the present and recent past. They're more interesting, though seldom compelling, in the historical sections, which are themselves more interesting for the density of detail gleaned from the novel-the shared excruciation of foot binding, the secret language with which the friends communicate, the irresolvable conflict between their love for one another and the pull of dutiful wifedom. Modern Shanghai, in ceaseless evolution, is interesting to look at-Richard Wong's beautiful cinematography reminded me of 'Phantom Shanghai,' a superb book of photos by the Canadian photographer Greg Girard-but the phantom China of long ago is where the film comes to life, whenever it stops there for a truncated visit.
平行手法也應(yīng)用到了演員身上。全智賢和李冰冰扮演19世紀的雪花和及其摯愛百合兩個角色，現(xiàn)代時空里的索菲亞和尼娜兩個年輕姑娘也由她們扮演。她們在古代部分更有趣，但不怎么扣人心弦，從小說中搜集到的極致細節(jié)增添了趣味──共同經(jīng)歷裹小腳的煎熬、二人之間交流的秘密語言，兩人的愛慕關(guān)系和嫁做人婦之間無法解決的沖突。不斷演變的現(xiàn)代上海很吸引眼球──黃世寧（Richard Wong）拍攝的優(yōu)美畫面讓我想到了《上海魅影》（Phantom Shanghai），這是加拿大攝影師格雷格•吉拉德（Greg Girard）創(chuàng)作的一本優(yōu)秀攝影集，但讓影片具有生命力的則是近代中國的幻影，每當(dāng)鏡頭切換至過去并短暫停留，這部電影就活了起來。