芝加哥太阳时报评论《霸王别姬》

天是红河岸

FAREWELL MY CONCUBINE
　　
0 W3 |1 V: K" F6 W3 k　　By Roger Ebert (Chicago Suntimes)
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　　“Farewell My Concubine“ is two films at once: An epic spanning a halfcentury of modern Chinese history, and a melodrama about life backstage at the famed Peking Opera. The idea of viewing modern China through the eyes of two of the opera’s stars would not, at first, seem logical: How could the birth pangs of a developing nation have much in common with the death pangs of an ancient and ritualistic art form? And yet the film flows with such urgency that all its connections seem logical. And it is filmed with such visual splendor that possible objections are swept aside.
　　
　　
　　The film opens on a setting worthy of Dickens, as two young orphan boys are inducted into the Peking Opera’s harsh, perfectionist training academy. The physical and mental hardships are barely endurable, but they produce, after years, classical performers who are exquisitely trained for their roles.
　　
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+ O# C9 k& W3 A7 B　　We meet the delicate young Douzi (Leslie Cheung), who is assigned to the transvestite role of the concubine in a famous traditional opera, and the more masculine Shitou (Zhang Fengyi), who will play the king. Throughout their lives they will be locked into these roles onstage, while their personal relationship somehow survives the upheavals of World War II, the communist takeover of China and the Cultural Revolution.
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　　Under the stage names of Cheng Dieyi (Leslie Cheung) and Duan Xiaolou (Zhang Fengyi), the two actors become wildly popular with Peking audiences. But they are politically unsophisticated, and Dieyi in particular makes unwise decisions during the Japanese occupation, leading to later charges of collaborating with the enemy.
　　
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　　Their personal relationship is equally unsettled. Dieyi, a homosexual, feels great love for Xiaolou, but the “king“ doesn’t share his feelings, and eventually marries the beautiful prostitute Juxian, played by China’s leading actress, Gong Li. Dieyi is resentful and jealous, but during long years of hard times Juxian stands heroically by both men.
　　
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5 Z3 }( ^& n7 T! f2 q4 D/ L　　That the Peking Opera survives at all during five decades of upheaval is rather astonishing; apparently its royalist and bourgeois origins are balanced against its long history as a Chinese cultural tradition, so that even the Red Chinese accept it in all of its anachronistic glory. What almost does it in, however, is the Cultural Revolution, as shrill young ideogogues impose their instant brand of political correctness on the older generations, and characters are forced to denounce one another. Xiaolou even denounces Dieyi as a homosexual, and Dieyi counterattacks by denouncing his friend’s wife as a prostitute.
　　
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　　The movie’s director is Chen Keige, who knows about the Cultural Revolution first hand. Born in 1952, he was sent in 1969 to a rural area to do manual labor; the scenes involving the Peking Opera’s youth training programs may owe something to this experience. The son of a filmmaker, he was a Red Guard and a soldier before enrolling in film school, and at one point actually denounced his own father, an act for which he still feels great shame. (The father, sentenced to hard labor for several years, worked with his son as artistic director of this film.)
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　　“Farewell My Concubine“ won the Grand Prix at Cannes this year, but Chen Keige returned to find his film first shown, then banned, then shown again and banned again in China. His particular offense was to show a suicide taking place in 1977, a year in which, government orthodoxy holds, life in China did not justify such measures. The Chinese authorities were also uneasy about the homosexual aspects in the story.
　　
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　　What is amazing, given the conditions under which the film was made, is the freedom and energy with which it plays. The story is almost unbelievably ambitious, using no less than the entire modern history of China as its backdrop, as the private lives of the characters reflect their changing fortunes: The toast of the nation at one point, they are homeless outcasts at another, and nearly destroyed by their political naivete more than once. (It is perhaps an unfair quibble that although they must be 60ish by the end of the story, they look only somewhat older than when they were young men.)
　　
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　　The Peking Opera itself is filmed in lavish detail; the costumes benefit from the rich colors of the world’s last surviving three-strip Technicolor lab, in Shanghai, and the backstage intrigues and romances are worthy of a soap opera. In a season when “M. Butterfly“ sank under the weight of John Lone’s uncompelling performance as a transvestite, Leslie Cheung’s concubine is never less than convincing, and his private life - he is essentially raised by the opera as a homosexual whether or not he consents - contains labyrinthine emotional currents. Gong Li, as the prostitute, is sometimes glamorous, sometimes haggard, and always at the mercy of two men whose work together has defined their individual personalities.
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　　The epic is a threatened art form at the movies. Audiences seem to prefer less ambitious, more simple-minded stories, in which the heroes control events, instead of being buffeted by them. “Farewell My Concubine“ is a demonstration of how a great epic can function. I was generally familiar with the important moments in modern Chinese history, but this film helped me to feel and imagine what it was like to live in the country during those times. Like such dissimilar films as “Dr. Zhivago“ and “A Passage to India,“ it took me to another place and time, and made it emotionally comprehensible. This is one of the year’s best films.

天是红河岸

霸王别姬

文/罗杰·埃伯特@芝加哥太阳时报

% r! d( V  V" ?* m2 X- O! ~霸王别姬同时讲述着两个故事：中国现代历史中跨越了半个世纪的史诗，和京剧后台发生着的生命情景。起先，通过两位京剧“角儿”的角度来审视整个中国现代的历史，这个想法听上去，并不太符合逻辑：一个发展中国家经历的阵痛，和一个已经风光不再的古老艺术形式所经历的挫折，有多少相似之处？然而，电影却充满了紧凑的情节以致于这些联系看上去都变得非常合理。加上光彩流丽的出色影像，使得一切可能产生的异议都望而却步了。
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7 F# Q: J% g( N, X" |: G这是一个可以称得上是狄更斯式的电影开头，年幼的孤儿加入了一个非常简陋却追求着极致完美的京剧班子。在那里，肉体和心灵上面的折磨是难以忍受的，但正是这样几乎非人的训练，使得数年之后诞生出来的名角，能够在台上细致精确、人戏不分地扮演着各自的角色。

3 d- t2 \( L* }8 H- o. }; @我们看见了显得阴柔的小豆子（张国荣饰），变成了那出名剧中的花旦虞姬；而阳刚的小石头（张丰毅饰），变成了霸王。在台上，他们的生活被这些角色紧紧锁着；台下，两人的关系在二战、新中国成立和文化大革命的剧变中，辛苦而又微妙地联系着。

在挂着程蝶衣（张国荣饰）和段小楼（张丰毅饰）这两个名字的戏台上，两人受着万千北京观众的宠爱。但在政治上两者却是不谙事故的，尤其是蝶衣。他在日军占领期间一些冲动的作为，使得自己在多年以后遭到了通敌叛国的指控。
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4 j% T0 }  N* K& L0 x. O而他们之间的关系也同样扑朔迷离着。蝶衣对小楼深刻的爱情并不为这个“霸王”理会。最终，小楼与漂亮的妓女菊仙（巩俐饰）成了亲。无论蝶衣如何憎恨和嫉妒，在这之后长长的颠簸岁月里，菊仙始终以一种强悍的姿势，站在他们身边，也隔在他们之间。

3 X( I8 L% X8 B* `/ D6 R" G7 F. y/ [3 s京剧在这五十年剧变之中所经历的挣扎困苦，也同样令人震惊；显然，它的亲贵血统经历了悠久的历史已经平静地演化为一种中国的文化传统，以致于红色中国也接受了它，给予了不应属于那个时代的荣誉。然而文化大革命却几乎颠覆了一切。年轻的孩子们叫嚣着，要将他们未经思考便认定的正确政治的烙印强加在老一代的身上，人们被迫互相出卖与指责。小楼甚至公开指责蝶衣是个“相公”，蝶衣也反唇攻击着小楼的妻子是个妓女。
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该片的导演陈凯歌生于1952年，对于文化大革命有着切身的体会。1969年他曾经被送往偏远的山区插队劳动，京剧训练的艰苦景象也许和他们这些人自身的经历也有关。陈凯歌在进入电影学院学习前，入过伍，当过红卫兵，在某个场合也公开指责过自己的父亲，这一幕他至今都感到羞愧。他的父亲也是一个电影人，曾经被判劳改数年，如今，和成为这部电影导演的儿子一起工作。

《霸王别姬》赢得了当年戛纳电影节的大奖。而陈凯歌回国后，申请电影的公映却屡屡受挫。对电影的攻击在于，蝶衣的自杀是在1977年，政府当权者认为，在这个年份用这种方式对待生命是难以置信的，不合情理的。而且，中国的权威人士，对于故事中呈现出的同性之恋，也感到担忧。
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3 n1 q5 f9 S% R# a9 R如果电影是在这样的环境下诞生的，那么它所呈现出来的自由和生机实在是让人震惊的。这个故事是以一种几乎难以置信的野心运用起了至少整个中国现代的历史作为北京，而角色的生活，反射着他们经历的变换的时势：举国欢庆的时刻，他们彼此却如同被放逐的孤儿，无法适应新的时代和位置，并且不只一次险些毁于他们对于政治的天真和无知。（当他们在结尾时重逢已然年过六旬，而看上去，不过比年轻时老了一点点，时间的不公平仿佛也是一个双关的暗示。）

/ ?; @/ m0 H2 {京剧本身，也被极其奢侈地细节化地表现于电影中。服装色彩的浓重艳丽，得益于世界上仅存的上海三色染印法彩色工作室。京剧背后发生的阴谋和浪漫，仿佛肥皂剧情的跌荡起伏。当尊龙饰演的易装同性恋无法引人注目而导致《蝴蝶君》失败的同一个阶段，张国荣的虞姬却让人再信服不过，而且他自己的私生活和舞台形象也是神秘莫测。巩俐饰演的菊仙，时而迷人时而野性，一直仁慈地对待着这两个因一出一起演的戏而无法脱身的男人。

( X  B  W- h# j史诗类电影是一种冒险的艺术形式。观众们似乎更喜欢安份的简单的故事，在这些故事里面总是英雄控制着世事，而不是被世事所打击。《霸王别姬》是一个史诗类电影成功的范例。总体上，我熟悉现代中国历史中的重要时刻，但这部电影使我想象得到在那些时候生活在这个国家真正的感受。如同另一些不同的电影比如《日瓦戈医生》和《印度之旅》，它将我带到另一个时空，并且使得一切都很贴近很容易理解。这是当年最好的电影之一。
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（紫灰译）

菜包_echo

原来是很久以前的报道了……以为是今年的，谢谢小岸

路过蜻蜓·弯

如果哪天这部电影再次全球上映。该多好。。哪怕时隔20年、。

菜包_echo

2013年，去香港，希望在那里看足哥哥的电影

路过蜻蜓·弯

那个十年之约、具体都有什么内容挖？

菜包_echo

那个十年之约、具体都有什么内容挖？
9 L7 z9 O) V. c挂在树上的阿姨 发表于 2009-10-11 11:14

                               
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具体我也不清，反正就是存多点钱，到时才有能力去香港的

路过蜻蜓·弯

我也想。。。幸好到那时我已经毕业自己赚钱了~
也许我们在HK可以碰到好多荣光上认识的朋友~
也许能看到小岸呢……嘿嘿嘿。

菜包_echo

我也好想看到你们呢

到时候小哥哥十岁了

路过蜻蜓·弯

好吧。。我们相约-十年后见。

yanjing

陈凯歌应该学学墨镜，把霸王别姬也剪辑上映（大规模）。然后也搞个向哥哥致敬，多加哥哥俩段戏。。我保证在电影院里看十遍。

路过蜻蜓·弯

严重同意~

菜包_echo

11# yanjing

3 }& k' N5 y7 h1 P5 H8 N0 }如果是哥哥原音重现就最好了！！！！

路过蜻蜓·弯

可惜霸王别姬哥哥原音少……

天是红河岸

陈凯歌应该学学墨镜，把霸王别姬也剪辑上映（大规模）。然后也搞个向哥哥致敬，多加哥哥俩段戏。。我保证在电影院里看十遍。
# ?% k3 `" d9 W9 f+ |1 G0 byanjing 发表于 2009-10-11 22:26

                               
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9 H  n0 q. e/ l% ]# {陈凯歌不比王家卫，也不会有那种心意。

别忘了当年为了宣传《梅兰芳》是怎么抑张扬黎，张冠黎戴的。

倘若再致敬哥哥，他可是不停搬石头砸自己的脚。