陳文宇
被影迷奉為愛情經(jīng)典的《愛在黎明破曉前》(Before Sunrise, 1995)、《愛在日落黃昏時(shí)》(Before Sunset, 2004),終于迎來了最新一部續(xù)集——《愛在午夜降臨前》(Before Midnight, 2013)。在第一部中,來自美國的青年Jesse在前往維也納的火車上邂逅了漂亮的法國女孩Celine,兩人相伴在維也納旅行,并度過了難忘而浪漫的一夜。9年后,在第二部中,Jesse已成為一名暢銷小說作家,他以兩人邂逅為背景的小說暢銷歐美,這本小說也讓兩人再度在巴黎重逢,在日落來臨前再續(xù)前緣?,F(xiàn)在,又一個(gè)9年逝去,在第三部中,Jesse與Celine已成為夫妻,有了一對雙胞胎女兒,已到中年的兩人對愛情和人生有了更多的感悟和體會,曾經(jīng)浪漫的邂逅與甜蜜的重逢慢慢變?yōu)槠椒铂嵥榈幕橐錾睢?/p>
第三部和前兩部一樣,沒有復(fù)雜的故事情節(jié)和戲劇性的橋段。兩位主人公依舊和以往一樣,就像兩個(gè)無話不談的老友,談?wù)撝膶W(xué)、愛情、生活、兩性,他們互相打趣調(diào)侃,也會因觀點(diǎn)不同而爭論不休,然后一方總是會去哄另一方,于是他們和好,繼續(xù)相愛。所以,影迷們稱這三部電影為“話嘮愛情片”。然而與前兩部不同的是,隨著兩人走到一起,愛情的浪漫也開始被生活的瑣碎和彼此相處的功利性取代,吵架拌嘴也隨之而來。如何在婚姻的面紗下維系愛情?如何在平淡的婚姻生活中保持浪漫?影片將兩人的感情發(fā)展通過生活的細(xì)微之處真實(shí)地表現(xiàn)了出來。就讓我們伴著和煦溫暖的微風(fēng),跟隨Jesse和Celine一起走進(jìn)希臘南部的小島,在他們假日的最后一天,體會最美好的愛情。
清晨,盤山公路:無謂的爭吵
Jesse送兒子Hank登上飛機(jī)后,悵然若失地走出機(jī)場,愧疚與懊惱充斥心中。度假勝地的美景也難解他心頭的郁結(jié)。18年前,他還是一個(gè)得意青年,不為任何家長里短的事情困擾。而如今,他卻是一個(gè)郁郁寡歡的中年男人,因不了解兒子而懊惱。兒子已經(jīng)不再喜歡足球,已經(jīng)開始對異性產(chǎn)生好感,他卻一無所知。他和兒子話不投機(jī),他們簡直不像是一對父子,彼此是如此的陌生和疏離。
9年前,他住在美國,娶妻生子。他本以為人生就此定格,自己將永遠(yuǎn)待在美國,在一段無趣的婚姻中看著兒子慢慢長大,因此,他把所有的浪漫情懷都訴諸筆端。也就是在這一年,他去巴黎為新書簽售,不料卻再次與Celine重逢。在簽售現(xiàn)場,他認(rèn)出了那個(gè)他在心里思念了9年的她,那個(gè)在去往維也納的火車上邂逅的她——有著金色濃密卷發(fā)、笑起來如夏日陽光般燦爛的女孩。如今的她已褪去少女的青澀,充滿了成熟女性優(yōu)雅的韻味。他們又一次閑聊起來,這次閑聊讓他們加深了對彼此的了解,依然地怦然心動,依然地戀戀不舍。最終,他不再選擇妥協(xié)于命運(yùn),回到美國,與妻子離婚,與她結(jié)婚,并留在了她的故鄉(xiāng)巴黎。為此,他付出的代價(jià)是前妻一輩子的恨以及一個(gè)與他關(guān)系疏離的兒子。他其實(shí)并不后悔,因?yàn)樗珢跜eline了。
送完兒子出來,他看見Celine站在他們的汽車旁等他。她已不似當(dāng)年那樣年輕與美麗,日漸肥胖的腰肢、深陷的眼窩和爬滿皺紋的眼角都說明了這一點(diǎn),她甚至開始變得神經(jīng)質(zhì)和嘮嘮叨叨。但是他依然愛她,而且比以往更愛她??杉幢闳绱耍€是難掩抑郁的心情。兒子成了他的心結(jié),他向她傾訴心中的苦惱。他想多陪伴兒子,在兒子最重要的人生階段盡父親的責(zé)任,彌補(bǔ)缺失已久的父親角色,否則以后等兒子成人就沒有機(jī)會了。他內(nèi)心希望他們可以一起回美國芝加哥生活,從而能有更多時(shí)間與兒子相處。而Celine卻在考慮自己未來的工作,她想為一份新工作留在巴黎,實(shí)現(xiàn)自己因養(yǎng)育孩子耽誤已久的夢想。于是,在希臘南部的盤山公路上,在這美妙假期的最后一天,和煦美妙的陽光與夏日的微風(fēng)也無法阻止兩人為世俗之事爭執(zhí)起來。他們的關(guān)系就像這崎嶇的山路,曲折蜿蜒,不會永遠(yuǎn)一馬平川。
Celine: Jesse, Im not moving to Chicago.
Jesse: What? Did I ask you to? Where did that come from? Im just thinking out loud. I mean, this is the one thing I promised myself I would never do. And I look up and Im doing it!
關(guān)于是否搬去美國的爭執(zhí)以及Jesse的郁郁寡歡,讓Celine覺得兩人的關(guān)系出了問題。她總覺得從陌生的邂逅到意外的重逢最后到步入幸福的婚姻,這樣的愛情太過美好與順利,就像水晶一樣,有一天終將會破碎。她擔(dān)心他們的愛情或許將在希臘這崎嶇的山路上走向終點(diǎn)。
Celine: This is where it ends.
Jesse: What are you talking about?
Celine: This is how people start breaking up.
Jesse: You just jumped off a cliff.
Celine: No, no ... Im marking this. This is the day you light the ticking bomb that will destroy our lives, yeah?
Jesse: OK, well, first off, you dont light a ticking bomb. You set it. It has a timer. Thats why it ticks.
Celine: Oh yeah, whatever, you know what? Its ticking right now. And this is how it happens. You are unhappy and blame it on the other person. Resentment grows, everything falls apart, and you break up. Thats it.
Jesse: You are just doing this to shut me up.
Celine: Not at all! Not at all!
Jesse: No, you are, and thats what you are doing, yeah?
Celine: No, Im actually surprised weve lasted this long.
Jesse: OK. So here it comes out.
Celine: We are on parallel tracks a while, but now the tracks have crossed, and Im going west and youre going east. And believe me this is how it happens. Ive seen it, OK?
Jesse: Youre kidding, right?
面對Celine對兩人關(guān)系匪夷所思的猜想,Jesse只當(dāng)她是在開玩笑。他了解她,這是她愛一個(gè)人的象征——患得患失和自私自利的傲慢。這就是他們愛情里最現(xiàn)實(shí)的部分,這一部分他永遠(yuǎn)也不會把它寫進(jìn)他的小說里,因?yàn)樗粔蛎篮门c誘人。他知道他們的愛情來之不易,他試圖去緩和兩人因兒子的問題引起的緊張關(guān)系。
午時(shí),告別午宴:不同年紀(jì)的愛情
這是個(gè)美麗而寧靜的小島。Jesse喜愛這里的一切,孩子們可以在葡萄園里隨意地采摘葡萄,可以到愛琴海的懷抱里盡情玩耍??傊@是一個(gè)愉快的假期。
在這假日的最后一天,希臘的老友們?yōu)樗麄儨?zhǔn)備了豐盛的告別午宴。在午餐閑聊的間隙,大伙輪流談起了各自的愛情故事。席間有Jesse和Celine這樣的中年夫婦,有正在熱戀的年輕情侶,還有老伴已經(jīng)去世的老人。無論時(shí)代怎么變遷,科技如何發(fā)達(dá),在談?wù)搻矍檫@個(gè)亙古不變的話題時(shí),人們總有說不完的話語。
年輕的情侶談起他們的邂逅,這讓Celine想起了第一次與Jesse在火車上相遇的情景。想起他稚拙的搭訕與她羞澀的回應(yīng),她忍不住要笑出聲來。于是,她談起他們的愛情??粗磉叺乃?,已逐漸蒼老的容顏、漸漸稀疏的頭發(fā),不再英俊的眉宇間流露出深深的焦灼,她知道,因?yàn)樗麄冎暗臓幊?,他還在生她的氣。她是愛他的,只是她不想放棄自己的事業(yè)。于是,當(dāng)談起兩人的愛情,她內(nèi)心感到更多的還是對這個(gè)男人的愛,一種無比自豪和珍視的愛。她以一種獨(dú)有的極其滑稽的表演形式向老友們重現(xiàn)了兩人初次相遇時(shí)的對話,流露著少女的天真與小女人的性感。她知道他會很好地配合她,這種調(diào)侃方式是他們的一種默契,這也是他迷戀她的原因——她有趣的天性和機(jī)智幽默的談吐。
青年和中年時(shí)的愛情總是充滿浪漫與激情的橋段。可是,當(dāng)一段愛情走向暮年,卻只剩下無邊的憂傷。也許在座的人中,除了老太太Natalia,沒有人有資格去評判愛情。丈夫已離開人世,Natalia孤獨(dú)一人活在世間。每一個(gè)呼吸的瞬間,她都在思念著亡夫,思念著和丈夫有關(guān)的每個(gè)細(xì)節(jié)。當(dāng)Natalia談?wù)撈鹚膼矍?,在座的每一個(gè)人都陷入了沉思。因?yàn)橹挥薪?jīng)歷和目睹過最愛之人死亡的人,才真正懂得什么是愛情。
Natalia: Well, when I think of my husband, what I miss the most about him is the way he used to lie down next to me at night. Sometimes his arm would stretch along my chest, and I could not move, I ... I even held my breath. But I felt safe. Complete. And I miss the way he was whistling walking down the street. And every time I do something I think of what he would say—when its cold today, “Wear a scarf.” But lately Ive been forgetting little things. Its sort of fading and Im starting to forget him. And its like ... like losing him again. So sometimes I make myself remember every detail of his face, the exact color of his eyes, his lips, his teeth, the texture of his skin, his hair. That was all gone by the time he went. And sometimes ... not always, but sometimes I can actually see him. Its as if a cloud moves away and there he is, and I could almost touch him. But then the real world rushes in, and he vanishes again. For a while, I did this every morning, when the sun was not too bright outside. But the sun somehow makes him vanish. And he appears and he disappears like a sunrise and a sunset. Anything, so ephemeral. Its just like our life. We appear and we disappear. And we are so important to some. But we are just passing through.
每個(gè)人都有自己的愛情故事,不一樣的場景卻是一樣的百轉(zhuǎn)千回。一席午餐的愛情對話,讓Celine篤信在自己身邊的這個(gè)男人終將是她一生的摯愛。他們相遇,之后一起度過彼此生命最美好的歲月,最后塵歸塵、土歸土,來到生命的盡頭——死亡,一切都將消失于無形,可愛情卻將永恒。
午后,散步閑聊:過去與現(xiàn)在的美好
午餐過后,Jesse和Celine漫步在小鎮(zhèn)的古跡中,穿越迷宮般的羊腸小徑,兩人享受著這難得的悠閑時(shí)刻,他們就像穿越時(shí)光隧道,又回到了過去——18年前的維也納和9年前的巴黎。他們邊走邊聊,沐浴著午后溫柔的陽光。他與她聊起了新婚的那段日子,聊起了童年和青年的歲月,聊起了命運(yùn)的無常等人生的命題。她特別喜歡問他一些假設(shè)性的提問,一種在他看來異常無聊的測試。
Celine: Hey, can I ask you a question?
Jesse: Sure.
Celine: If we were meeting for the first time today on a train, would you find me attractive?
Jesse: Of course.
Celine: No, but really right now as I am. Would you start talking to me? Would you ask me to get off the train with you?
Jesse: I mean youre asking a theoretical (假設(shè)的) question. I mean what would my life-situation be? Technically, it would not be cheating on you?
Celine: OK, why cant you just say yes?
Jesse: I did, I said, of course.
Celine: I wanted to say something romantic and you blew it, OK?
Jesse: OK, OK ... if I saw you on a train, OK, listen I would lock eyes with you and then I would walk right up to you …
“如果現(xiàn)在是第一次相遇,你會覺得我吸引人嗎?你還會與我搭訕嗎?”這類問題聽起來很無聊,但他卻愛這樣的她——像少女一樣不安地試探,流露著對他毫無保留的深愛??傊麄兙褪羌词乖缟线€在爭吵,到了下午又可以像老朋友那樣暢所欲言。而實(shí)際上,除了這個(gè)沒有孩子在身邊的午后,他們已經(jīng)很久沒有這樣聊家長里短、柴米油鹽以外的話題了。
入夜,情人旅館:現(xiàn)實(shí)的焦灼
在日落之際,兩人來到了旅途的最后一站——朋友贈送的度假酒店情人套間。Celine喜歡看日落,卻又害怕日落真正來臨,就如他們曾經(jīng)的分別,總是在日出或日落之際。而這一次,他們終于不用擔(dān)心分離的事情。只是這一次,雖然沒有即將到來的分離,兩人卻各懷心事,想著早晨的爭吵,看上去貌合神離。
進(jìn)入房間,兩人不慌不忙地喝著紅酒,聊著怎么回報(bào)朋友的厚禮,也慢慢開始親熱起來。就在兩人親密的時(shí)候,Jesse的兒子從倫敦打來報(bào)平安的電話。這一通突如其來的電話把他們從來之不易的獨(dú)處中瞬間拽回到理智的現(xiàn)實(shí)。他們不得不再次面對這個(gè)嚴(yán)肅的問題——為了兒子,他們要不要離開巴黎?Jesse又開始在這個(gè)問題上糾結(jié),而Celine又固執(zhí)己見地堅(jiān)持要留在巴黎,堅(jiān)決不會搬去芝加哥生活。矛盾與爭執(zhí)再次爆發(fā),這一次比早晨更加激烈。
Jesse: So that is how you now want spending this evening? I mean, this is what I want to do tonight?
Celine: Well, you started it.
Jesse: Youre the one who will not shut up about it. But if you want to talk about it, I mean, really talk about it, I would prefer to have an unemotional, rational conversation. I mean, do you think we could do that? Would that be possible?
Celine: Here we go. Unemotional, rational. You always play the part of the one and only rational one. And Im the irrational, hysterical, hormone (荷爾蒙)-crazy one. Because I have emotions.
爭執(zhí)中,Celine從兒子的問題一直說到新女性地位的解放。她認(rèn)為,女人不應(yīng)該再為家庭妥協(xié),不應(yīng)該放棄自己的事業(yè)和夢想,她覺得丈夫根本不理解當(dāng)了母親后她有多么辛苦。而Jesse則認(rèn)為她的觀點(diǎn)非常可笑。他們互相指責(zé),甚至翻出了陳年舊賬。她懷疑他曾出軌,他也無法忍受她的不可理喻,用她與前男友的一段曖昧往事攻擊她。他們越吵越兇,誰也不肯讓步。
Jesse: Im giving you my whole life, OK? I got nothing larger to give. Im not giving it to anybody else. If youre looking for permission to disqualify (使不合格) me, Im not gonna give it to you, OK? I love you. And I am not in conflict about it, OK? But if what you want is like a laundry list of all the things about you that piss me off (使生氣), I can give it to you … But I also know that you love me and Im OK with you being a complicated human being. I dont want to live a boring life, where two people own each other, where two people are institutionalized in a box that others created. Because that is a bunch of stifling bullshit.
Celine: You know whats going on here? Its simple. I dont think I love you any more.
于是,兩人徹底談崩,Celine摔門而去,房間里只剩下Jesse一個(gè)人。本來應(yīng)該是一個(gè)浪漫溫馨的夜晚,現(xiàn)在兩人卻鬧得不歡而散。Jesse開始后悔對Celine說了那些氣話。
午夜,海邊咖啡館:最好的愛情
都說婚姻是愛情的墳?zāi)梗彝ガ嵤?、莫名其妙的懷疑、對未來的?dān)憂……都在擊碎曾經(jīng)美好的愛情。當(dāng)Celine離開,Jesse獨(dú)自一人面對酒店的雙人床,感到一絲解脫卻又無比失落。當(dāng)Celine獨(dú)自坐在酒店海邊的咖啡館時(shí),心里五味雜陳。在這樣一個(gè)伊甸園般的小島,她和Jesse卻在無聊地爭吵,看著身邊那些處在熱戀中的人們,她開始懷念起他們美好的過往。
18年前的維也納,同樣的夜晚、同樣的午夜時(shí)分,相識不過24小時(shí)的他們躺在公園的草地上相偎相擁,望著頭頂深邃的星空,不敢想第二天黎明到來時(shí)的分別。他們是兩個(gè)注定要相愛相守的人,他們心里都非常清楚這一點(diǎn)。Jesse決定向Celine妥協(xié),再一次包容她的壞脾氣。他決定去找她,向她道歉。他想逗Celine開心,便自稱是一名來自未來的時(shí)間旅行者,并以信使的身份為Celine讀了一封82歲的Celine寫給她自己的信。
Jesse: Im only here as a messenger. I just traveled all the way from the future. I was just with your 82-year-old self who gave me a letter to read to you. So here I am … Here it is: Dear Celine, I am writing to you from the other side of the woods … Im sending you this young man, yes, young and he will be your escort. God knows he has many problems and hes struggled his whole life connecting and being present, even with those he loves the most. And, for that, he is deeply sorry. But you are his only hope. Celine, my advice to you is this: Youre entering the best years of your life. Looking back from where I sit now, these middle years are only a little bit more difficult than when you were 12 ... Celine, you will be fine, your girls will grow up to become example sand icons of feminism.
Celine: Nice one.
雖然信的內(nèi)容真摯感人,但是Celine還在為剛才的爭吵生氣,并不為其所動,看著Jesse在她面前絮絮叨叨,她變得很不耐煩。兩人剛剛緩和的關(guān)系又要陷入僵局。
Celine: Jesse, can you stop this stupid game? Were not in one of your stories, OK? Did you hear what I said to you back in the room? Did you hear me?
Jesse: Yes, I heard you. What, that you dont love me anymore? I figured you didnt mean it. But if you did then ... You know something? Youre just like the little girls and everybody else you want to live inside some fairy tale, alright? Im just trying to make things better here, alright? I tell you that I love you unconditionally, I tell you that youre beautiful ... Im trying to make you laugh.
Celine: Ok.
Jesse: Ive put up with (忍受) plenty of your shit (胡說八道) and if you think Im just some dog whos gonna keep coming back, then youre wrong. But if you want true love, then this is it. This is real life. Its not perfect, but its real. And if you cannot see it, then youre blind, alright? I give up.
面對Jesse一番發(fā)自內(nèi)心的真情告白,Celine的態(tài)度也緩和了,并和Jesse開起了玩笑。Jesse看到她再次因他的機(jī)智幽默而笑逐顏開,他知道,她還愛著他。這樣,他便放心了。因彼此相愛,他們可以原諒對方犯下的錯誤;也因?yàn)閻?,他們可以連爭吵都樂此不疲;更因?yàn)閻郏瑥睦寺腻忮说揭馔獾闹胤暝俚狡降幕橐?,他們的愛情?8年間像陳釀的美酒般歷久彌新。又一個(gè)午夜時(shí)分,見證著最好的愛情。
人生有幾個(gè)9年?不知在下一個(gè)9年,他們是否依然相守相伴。作為觀眾,我們唯一能懂得并確定的是,電影結(jié)束,生活繼續(xù),請珍惜眼前一直陪在你身邊的親密愛人。