nan | 楠木

Baz Luhrmann’s Australia is a loud, melodramatic and lengthy affair, and tries to do for the director’s homeland what Gone With the Wind did for America and Out of Africa did for Africa. Mr. Luhrmann’s noisy, cliched and somewhat naive style of narrative may put off audiences who hate movie cheesiness, but the film is nonetheless enjoyable and passionate enough to make its storytelling sincere.

The plot is a rehash of popular melodramatic epics. It’s the 1930s, and the world is on the brink of war. Nicole Kidman is as an English lady – Mrs. Ashley – who travels to Australia force her husband to come back to England, but instead finds her husband mysteriously murdered and the family cattle ranch threatened by local cattle tycoon King Carney and his evil sidekick Neil Fletcher (David Wenham in a cheesy, cheesy antagonist role – you might remember this actor as Faramir from The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and more recently, 300). Assisted by the cowboy known only as Drover (Hugh Jackman), Lady Ashley is determined to carry on her husband’s legacy and compete against the Carney empire. What ensues is an epic western.

The most interesting element of the story is its highlight of racism and Australia’s previous Aboriginal policies, especially the Child Removal policy which led to the Stolen Generations. One of the film’s supporting characters is Nullah, a mixed blood child who Lady Ashley develops a motherly love for and whose custody she ardently fights for. Indeed, the most powerful and moving scene of the the film is one which unapologetically confronts and criticizes racial prejudice.

As a side note, regarding the film’s depiction of Aborigines, Roger Ebert’s review offers an interesting perspective:

Luhrmann is rightly contemptuous of Australia’s "re-education" policies; he shows Nullah taking pride in his heritage and paints the white enforcers as the demented racists they were. But "Australia" also accepts aboriginal mystical powers lock, stock and barrel, and that I think may be condescending.

Having made the mistake of reading his review first and then seeing the film, I can’t help agreeing with this preconceived notion. On the other hand, the whole film has a slight childish quality to its narrative (I was downright appalled by the first 10 minutes where the characters made their entrance – frankly, I felt it was raucous, distracting and silly), so it’s safe to say that any condescending and paternalistic feelings conveyed are certainly unintentional. Still, Ebert’s point demands reflection.

7/10

澳大利亚的游后感需要缓缓，这两天玩儿的有点疯，完全没有整理思绪的状态。

主要原因就是昨天搞了个初中同学聚会，不少朋友真的是快十年没见了。其实出勤率并不高，40多人的班级，来了15个，但这并不妨碍群众的热情急速升温。

早上在钱柜；下午在避风塘；晚上吃火锅。刨去要回家照顾小孩的（是的，有人已经当上妈妈了）以及晚上有其它事情的，从头到尾有11个人。就是11个人就仿佛有无穷无尽的话要说，毕竟十年太长，一天太短。

我想，这次聚会和高中、大学时代的初中同学聚会相比，感觉是非常不同的，道理也非常简单。毕竟，刨去若干正在为博士事业而奋斗的同学，大家大多数都已经离开了校园，而社会的复杂反衬出少年同窗之谊的简单与淳朴。或许很多人我很久没有见到了，他们这些年经历了什么、正在做什么我甚至一无所知，但这并不妨碍我立刻想把自己的全部心里话倾诉出来，因为那三年的共同经历，蕴含的是如今最稀缺的信任。

聚会完了，感觉真的非常好，一来，又多了一重归属感，而这种归属感是给人以安全感并令人愉悦的；二来，看到大家都生活得好，也有些欣慰，进一步也可以说是对社会又多了几分信心。

大家在走迥异的路，每个人似乎都很安于自己的轨迹，每个人似乎也都在非常努力地奋斗着，这很好。看到好几个老同学不约而同地走了技术路线，坐到一起可以会心的交流，我不禁也会有那么片刻在假想，倘若我当初没有变换轨迹，现如今的我是不是也会像他们一样，和他们有更多的共同语言。当然，这没有反悔的意味，只是，人生的奥妙似乎便是在一个个选择中，而这些选择所构建的无尽的平行宇宙，蕴含的是“活法”的无穷组合。我并关心那种“活法”最好，因为这个最优解是子虚乌有，好不好全在自己心中；我只是非常觊觎我可能无法体验的其它“活法”里的人生经历与感悟。

生活不是游戏，不能save/load去探索另外的道路——这实在是太可惜了。

上半个月跟父母出去转了转，“走访”了澳大利亚和香港。香港没什么好说的，就是“血拼”去了，澳洲倒应该记上几笔。

我们首站是悉尼。人口四百多万，澳洲第一大城市，放在中国也就是个2-3级城市。市中心其实是个巴掌大的一块儿地方，从我们位于城南中国城附近的酒店，到北边的海港，步行也不过半个小时吧。搞笑的是，我们市内参观的项目，基本上就是围绕一两条大街，今天往北走一点，明天往南走一点。悉尼港是有些小资情调的，毕竟那个硕大的贝壳歌剧院做背景往那一摆，傍晚在海边搭一个小咖啡桌，点上一盏蜡烛海风中摇曳，还是有那么点味道的。

不过，我们都是白天在海港走来走去。

由于经常压悉尼的马路，对澳洲人民的多元化颇有感触。街上中国人、日本人、韩国人成片成片的，东南亚人士也不少。据某位移民澳洲的中国台湾籍导游讲，澳洲房价近几年直线上升，和中国人来此投资房市不无关系，这恐怕也是澳洲社会变迁的缩影。毕竟，这里总共不过2000万人，想改变人口比例还是不难的。

我们在悉尼逗留了三天，其中一天是在蓝山国家公园。这里貌似有些名气，不过实际上是个来趟澳洲你不好意思说没去、去了又实在没啥好说的地方。至少它没有什么令人极为称奇的景观，当然，我说这话可能是100%的外行，因为这里的森林是真正的远古时代的树种，由于澳洲的孤立，而得以完整保存至今而未随世界的主流进化。

所以说，澳洲最大的特点是其生态的独特性，而这种独特性是建立在与外界隔绝的基础上，是一种非常脆弱的平衡——这也是为什么澳洲的海关对于来访者的检查非常得严，尤其是食品方面，他们非常在意防范外来的物种对当地生态的可能“污染”。

说一两句悉尼歌剧院。我们行程里安排了入内参观，所以有幸在主剧场里坐坐。这里再次体现的是“细节是魔鬼”（btw非常讨厌这句翻译），譬如吊顶悬挂的数量、长短可灵活调整的反射声音用的腔体（不知道我的解释和用词对不对，反正有一些调整音响效果的东西。。。）；再如座椅所用的靠垫，号称是和人体的密度一样的，目的是排练与真正演出时的声音效果是近似一样的，方便演出者排演；再再如座椅的自动复位，不是一个简单的弹簧硬梆梆的复位，因为那样会有动静，而是非常缓慢毫无声息的弹起。这些细节体现的是对音响效果的一种追求极致的精神。

其实歌剧院的内装修是一种非常简约的风格，大贝壳的内部就是赤裸裸的水泥，没有贴任何内饰。讲解员说这就是当初设计者的初衷，我作为外行难免会怀疑一番是否经费严重超标导致控制成本。不过无论如何，前已述及，整栋建筑确实体现的是一种对“音”的极致追求，其它的都是次要的。（待续）

Xu Lai book gathering, originally uploaded by nan.duan.

今天下午和朋友去参加了徐来（即钱烈宪）的书友会，推介他的新书。说实话，我不是个读书人，徐先生提到的很多作家很多作品我听得云里雾里，不过他讲的关于审美、以及小趣味，我还是有一定的共鸣。

因为他是钱烈宪，问答环节自然有无数问题是关于这个博客的，譬如说有人问他为什么只转载不评论，他怎样看待罗永浩老师的网络事业，其实话题是很敏感的，而徐先生的回答还是非常和谐而保守的，和其博客一样很难让人挑刺。

然而就是这样一个幽默风趣（他回答问题的时候一直在笑，非常自得其乐）的人，在活动结束后竟在洗手间里遇到歹徒袭击。网上的讨论其实已经有很多了，尤其doubleaf的twitter。

我当时并不在场，与这些老师也历来只有拜读的缘分，对于事件真相没有任何可以贡献的。只是想感慨一下，钱老师所说的这个离奇的世界。

谨祝钱老师早日康复。

All were seen aboard Cathay Pacific, with the exception of Appaloosa, which I would have finished in flight were it not for a technical problem with the in-flight entertainment (which never recovered for the remainder of the flight… Funa if you’re reading, I’m not a happy CX customer).

What Just Happened? (2008)

Another Hollywood on Hollywood satire. Robert De Niro stars as a producer who has to wrestle with big studio executives and egomaniac stars (e.g. Bruce Willis as himself). The satire is mildly amusing and it’s always good to see stars who are not afraid to make fun of themselves (Sean Penn and Bruce Willis in this case, especially the latter who has a few scenes that could contend Tom Cruise’s outrageous self-mockery in Tropic Thunder).

6/10

Max Payne (2008)

The circle is complete, but it’s a vicious one. Max Payne, the video game franchise, started out heavily referencing Hollywood and Hong Kong genre films, and in turn its own blended style has always had good movie-adaptation potential. The movie version, though, utterly fails to live up to this potential.

My biggest gripe with the film is that it has all the potential ingredients (the stars and the visuals) except for an even remotely viable plot. Even a scene for scene remake of the video game plot would have been more interesting than the completely brainless plot.

1/10

 Body of Lies (2008)

Compared to the previous film, Body of Lies is at least a decent example of a great studio production. Ridley Scott, Russel Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio team up to make this entertaining (if disappointing in terms of message) contemporary espionage thriller. The film touches upon the subtle issues in geopolitics today, but does not delve deep enough to really provoke the audience to think. The protagonist (DiCaprio) appears surprisingly naive and conscientious for his role; Russel Crowe is effective as a total a**hole portraying a shrewd CIA director, but the film seems to forgive him and show him as a good guy towards the end.

7/10

The Nightmare before Christmas (1993)

Only two words necessary: Tim Burton.

A very enjoyable stop-motion animation. Danny Elfman shows his complete range of musical talent, composing the score and singing the songs.

8/10

Appaloosa (2008)

Ed Harris seems to be contending with Clint Eastwood in who’s the most diversified talent in Hollywood – since he’s directing, producing, writing, starring as well as writing and singing a song on the soundtrack in this western. The film gets off to a good start with a great opening sequence, and the surprising amount of humor in the first half makes the film a very involving viewing experience; however, the film meanders through the second half and the climax is decidedly anticlimactic. Nonetheless, a decent western about male friendship with an interesting character study of a female thrown in.

6/10

After 10 days and 7 cities, finally back in Beijing this noon.

Slept the whole afternoon.

Realized that I haven’t gone on such a travel with my parents in a long time. Lots of memories evoked.

Will start gathering my thoughts later.

今天看了这部老电影，Frank Capra导演，Clark Gable与Claudette Colbert主演。这是一部爱情喜剧，倘以今日的眼光来看，影片并没有太出众的地方（除却演员的表演的确非常精湛），然而所谓经典，通常总是要以相对的并带八卦色彩的角度去评判——亦即，这部影片，在当时是否是具有创新意义的，它是否在某些方面做到了前无古人；而影片本身的艺术性或欣赏性，则理当是不能与后世的作品直接比较的，否则后来者对于这门艺术岂非毫无贡献？

所以，在网上转了转，写这部《一夜风流》的影评，大抵都会绘声绘色地八上几段，把影片的传奇性体现出来。影片可以八的东西也的确很多，我在此也就不免俗了。这是奥斯卡历史上的第一部“大满贯”，亦即囊括了最重要的五个奖项——最佳男女主角，最佳电影、导演、编剧，而在此之后的70年里也只有两部影片可以复制这个奇迹。围绕这五个小金人也有很多可以八的，譬如这是Gable唯一的一座小金人，96年的时候被Spielberg在拍卖中买下并捐赠给了美国电影艺术与科学学院；又譬如Colbert在颁奖夜确信自己不会中奖，于是并未出席而是要坐火车出行，最后硬是在火车站被同仁叫了回来去领奖。而可能最具神奇八卦色彩的，是关于电影本身的种种传说，譬如Gable和Colbert都曾拒绝出演本片，而Colbert在整个影片拍摄期间也一直闹情绪，并且为了照顾她的度假计划，影片的摄影被压缩在4周内完成。更不要提Gable是被MGM租借给Columbia Pictures来的，每周2500美元（大过了其在MGM 2000美元的周薪，从而MGM小赚一笔）——据说，作为MGM当家影星的他被租借，是对其拒绝出演某部影片的惩罚，然而这则轶事虽被广泛转载，却似乎仅仅是谣言。此外，动画人物兔八哥的创作者，也自称是受到本片中Gable的角色形象影响而创作出了这个广受欢迎的卡通形象。

回到电影本身。。。影片的情节有些公路片鼻祖的味道，Colbert饰演的Ellen是华尔街大鳄娇生惯养的独女，因为与父亲赌气而荒诞地嫁给了一个花花公子。其父倒是个明理的人，要为其取消这个婚姻，而Ellen则一怒之下离家出走，要从Miami赶赴New York与丈夫团聚。在长途汽车上，她结识了Gable所饰演的记者Peter。世故的Peter一下子认出了这位大小姐，打算借此写出个大新闻，于是便帮助毫无阅历的Ellen北上。一路之上，两位主人公自然是在种种荒诞的喜剧情景中擦出爱情火花。

由于非常紧张的4周拍摄周期，影片更多地采用了外景实地拍摄，而非在影棚中搭建场景，主要的场景也都是公路及公路周边的小旅店、农舍等。影片的精彩之处在于两位主演的喜剧效果，尤其Gable在本片中有充足的空间大放异彩。或许这部电影的过人之处在于，它能在非常平淡的环境中塑造出印象深刻的情景，譬如下面这段非常受人追捧的喜剧段落：

以一部爱情喜剧来看，电影的情节多少有点牵强，主人公的情感发展也着实“俗”了些。然则在30年代，或许这种情节是大胆而前卫的——“在公路上与陌生男子相识并产生感情，那是多么富有激情的事情啊！”相比于我看过的其它几部Frank Capra的作品，这部影片在主题上略显陈旧了一些，在变革的时代面前有些陈腐——而Mr. Smith Goes to Washington以及It’s a Wonderful Life这两部Capra作品，我觉得所探讨的议题是历久弥新的。但这仍不乏为一部非常有魅力的影片。

8/10