至愛梵高·星空之謎

Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman

Cast

Douglas Booth…Armand Roulin （voice）

John Sessions…Père Tanguy （voice）

Eleanor Tomlinson…Adeline Ravoux （voice）

Saoirse Ronan…Marguerite Gachet （voice）Jerome Flynn…Doctor Gachet （voice）

Robert Gulaczyk…Vincent van Gogh （voice）

說起梵高，你首先想到什么？孤苦一生、窮困潦倒的畫家？懷才不遇、生不逢時的天才？割掉了自己耳朵的瘋子？這些都是梵高，也不是他。時間橫斷一筆，將真正的梵高留在了歷史煙云里，但這并不妨礙我們憑借畫家留下的傳世杰作一窺他的靈魂。為紀(jì)念梵高誕辰125周年，英國著名動畫工作室BreakThru Films打造了全球首部油畫風(fēng)格動畫長片——《至愛梵高·星空之謎》，片中有6.5萬幀畫面均采用梵高當(dāng)年的油畫技巧繪制，影片重要人物的原型也均來自梵高的原畫作品。

影片以一封無法投遞的信為脈絡(luò)，借多人之口為我們拼出了一個尚算完整的梵高，并抽絲剝繭般地講述了畫家的死亡之謎。郵差約瑟夫·魯林之子阿爾芒·魯林受父親所托為死去的梵高送信。他輾轉(zhuǎn)多地，從巴黎畫材鋪老板唐吉老爹、奧維爾客棧老板之女愛德琳及加歇醫(yī)生一家等人口中聽到了不同的梵高：藝術(shù)界一顆冉冉升起的新星、溫和有禮的紳士、被抑郁癥折磨的驚世天才……但去掉種種形容詞，我們只看到了一個孤獨的靈魂。那么文森特·梵高到底為何而死？問題的答案或許并不重要，我們只需知道，畫家生前深沉地?zé)釔壑@個世界，在他眼中，萬物有靈且美，沒有什么太渺小，他既能欣賞星河浩瀚，也會盛贊嬌花纖柔。若你能讀懂他為何而生，或許就能明白他緣何赴死。

1.阿爾芒的郵差父親是已故畫家文森特·梵高的好友。畫家臨終前給弟弟提奧寫了一封信。受父所托，阿爾芒踏上了送信之路，幾經(jīng)周折，他找到了與文森特相識的畫材鋪老板唐吉老爹……

Père: I’m afraid you’ll never deliver that letter to Theo van Gogh.

Armand: Oh, I see. Well, how come?

Père: “Two hearts, one mind.” That’s what Vincent told me. Maybe that was the case after all, because after Vincent died, Theo went into sharp decline. He’d been poorly before, but Vincent’s death destroyed him.He had actually been with him a whole day at the end, but Vincent insisted they use the time to discuss life, not death. And, no1）suicide [?su??sa?d] n. 自殺suicide note either, so it stayed a mystery. And Theo just kept asking “Why?” Six months after we buried Vincent, Theo was dead too.

Armand: Wow, the two of them. So how did Vincent die?

Père: He shot himself, in the fields above Auvers, by his2）easel [?i?z（?）l] n. 畫架easel, doing what he loved,painting to the end.

Armand: Do you know why?

Père: No. Theo thought his unhappiness went right back to childhood. He tried so hard to fit into his family. But he never succeeded in this. Vincent picks up a brush for the first time at 28,and with Theo’s support, there is no stopping him.Armand: So what happened then?

Père: Paris happened. He came here of course. They all do. Everyone does—Monet, Toulouse, Seignac,Bernard, Manet注, everybody, because everything that happens in art happens here. And where do they all buy their paints? Père Tanguy’s, of course.

For many artists, Paris is a final destination, but not for him. It was a3）stopover [?st?p??v?（r）] n. 中途停留地stopover to learn what he needed to learn, and then he was off in search of his own path.

I saw him once more after two years. He was calmer, more4）assured [?????d] adj. 自信的，確定的assured. And I thought this is a man whose story will end well. His star finally rising, his revolution won. So think how shocking it was to be standing over Vincent’s coffin just six weeks later. So sad. For many, he died a5）martyr [?mɑ?t?（r）] n. 烈士，殉道者martyr for art, but for me, it seems6）odd [?d] adj. 奇怪的，古怪的odd.

Armand: Why?

Père: In only eight years, he had travelled from amateur to an artist of influence, unbelievable. Monet declared him the shining star of the Independent Artist’s Fair. And he was cured according to his doctor,Dr. Gachet, who had looked after Vincent in Auvers.

見招拆招

…there is no stopping him.

這句話的意思是“不可能阻止他”，本句句型是there be結(jié)構(gòu)幾個慣用句型中的其中一個：There is (was)+ no + 動詞ing，意為“不可能，無法”，相當(dāng)于“It is (was) impossible to + 動詞原形”。如：

● There is no knowing what might happen. = It is impossible to know what might happen.（我們無法得知可能發(fā)生什么。）

● There is no denying the fact. = It is impossible to deny the fact.（該事實不容否認(rèn)。）

注：幾人均為法國當(dāng)時有名的畫家，也是后世知名的藝術(shù)巨匠。

2.阿爾芒來到了奧維爾鎮(zhèn)，聽說文森特與加歇醫(yī)生之女瑪格麗特過從甚密，但遭到后者否認(rèn)。文森特生前所住客棧的老板之女愛德琳向阿爾芒透露了不少有關(guān)畫家的事情……

Armand: You actually gave me an idea, the idea to7）confront [k?n?fr?nt] v. 與對質(zhì)confront Marguerite Gachet.

Adeline: Oh, so you ran off to be with the lady of the8）manor [?m?n?（r）] n. （中世紀(jì)歐洲的）莊園manor? How did that9）work out 進展順利，得到預(yù)期的結(jié)果work out for you?

Armand: She told me she didn’t know Vincent, hadn’t barely exchanged on a few formal words with him.

Adeline: I told you, you can’t believe a word the Gachets say. I remember when Vincent moved in. People were asking him if he was a relative of Gachet. Maybe they were similar on the outside. They had the same red hair,and that same sad look in his eyes. But, on the inside, they were chalk and cheese.Vincent wasn’t10）snobbish [sn?b??] adj. 勢利眼的snobbish like Gachet. He was really polite and kind.

Armand: Marguerite said the brother came here. Did you meet him?

Adeline: No, I heard he came at Gachet’s invitation. Vincent was always saying that they might come here. Always checking if we had rooms at weekends, but they never did come.

Armand: So did Vincent visit them ever?

Adeline: No, you know he’d spend hours on hours writing those letters to his brother when he could’ve just11）hop [h?p] v. 跳上（汽車、火車等），搭乘hopped on a train.Oh no, he did go once. He said…h(huán)e said that his brother’s baby was ill. But, I don’t think the visit went that well.

Armand: Why not?

Adeline: The12）tea towel 擦拭杯盤用的抹布tea towels. He said that canvases were too expensive. And so now he’s only gonna paint on these old rags.

Armand: But what’s the brother got to do with tea towels?

Adeline: I13）reckon [?rek?n] v. 估計，猜想reckon they argued over money.Because it was the brother that bought all Vincent’s painting things. I know because of the last letter Vincent sent.

The day before he killed himself. When he handed it to me, he said it was14）urgent [?з?d??nt] adj. 緊急的，急迫的urgent.And, you know I asked if there was anything wrong. And he said he’d run out of paints,and he placed a big order for some more,’cause he had lots of paintings planned. Don’t you think that is odd to place an order with his brother if money was an15）issue [???u?] n. 問題，爭議issue between them and then to kill himself the next day?

Armand: It depends, you know, on how16）balanced [?b?l?nsd] adj. 沉著冷靜的，下文的unbalanced（心神不定的）是其反義詞。balanced he was.

Adeline: All seemed fine with him. I mean,something must’ve happened pretty suddenly for him to become unbalanced.

Armand: Like what?

Adeline: I don’t know exactly what. I’m sure it’s got something to do with Gachet.

見招拆招

詞匯學(xué)習(xí)：chalk and cheese 截然相反

兩個單詞chalk（粉筆）和cheese（奶酪）都以輔音[t?]開頭，且兩種物質(zhì)均為白色，但奶酪質(zhì)軟而粉筆質(zhì)硬——兩者雖相似，構(gòu)成和味道卻截然不同，這就是chalk and cheese這個短語所表達的意思。該短語屬英式英語，用來形容兩個事物或人完全不同或完全無法兼容，常用句式為“l(fā)ike / as different as chalk and cheese”。如：Although they are brothers,they are as different as chalk and cheese.（雖然他們是兄弟，但兩人完全不一樣。）

3.阿爾芒對文森特的死因生疑，懷疑是鎮(zhèn)上的流氓害死了他，并痛毆了對方。隨后阿爾芒在據(jù)傳是文森特開槍自殺的麥田試圖重現(xiàn)現(xiàn)場，瑪格麗特找到了他……

Marguerite: If it isn’t the Provence17）pugilist [?pju?d??l?st] n. 拳擊手，格斗士pugilist.Should I be scared?

Armand: I thought you didn’t18）go in for 對……感興趣go in for village gossip.

Marguerite: I don’t. That’s why one employs19）servant [?sз?v?nt] n. 仆人servants. They get it for you.

Armand: Did you also hear that your friendly local20）gendarme [???dɑ?m] n. （法國）警察gendarme21）put sb. up 讓某人留宿put me up for the night?Marguerite: So now you’re up here22）contemplate [?k?ntemple?t] v. 沉思，思忖contemplating your future.

Armand: No, actually, I was thinking how come you lied if you’ve got nothing to hide?Marguerite: What makes you think I have any duty to tell you the truth? Maybe I just thought my life was none of your business.

Armand: I wasn’t asking about your life. I was asking about Vincent’s death.

Marguerite: You thought that his death and my life were linked?

Armand: Yes, but...but I don’t think that anymore.

Marguerite: The truth is I’m not important.He wasn’t some23）lovelorn [?l?vl??n] adj. 失戀的，害相思病的lovelorn teenager.

Armand: I know.

Marguerite: Did you know he was a genius?Armand: No, I can’t say that I did.

Marguerite: Well, I did. And, so did my father. All his life he has tried so hard to be an artist. And, then this24）gruff [ɡr?f] adj. 脾氣差的，不友好的gruff awkward man without any proper training, who’d only been painting a few years, comes25）barge in 闖入，沖進barging in and rushes off in a couple of hours what poor Father couldn’t dream of painting in two lifetimes. My dad would lock himself away and copy them for hours. Father told me I was26）distract [d??str?kt] v. 使分心，使分散注意力distracting Vincent from important work, asked if I really wanted to be responsible for preventing masterpieces from being born. And, of course I didn’t. So I started to not be in or not be well when Vincent called. Soon after that, they had an argument, a terrible27）row [ra?] n. 爭吵row. It wasn’t about me, but, maybe my withdrawal had28）sour [?sa??（r）] v. 使惡化soured things. The next time my father saw him, he had a29）bullet [?b?l?t] n. 子彈bullet in his belly.

Are you satisfied now? You want to know so much about his death, but what do you know of his life?

Armand: I know that he tried hard to prove he was good for something.

Marguerite: Yes, he did. That’s why I take flowers to his grave. That’s all I can do for him now. He would appreciate the delicate beauty of their30）bloom [blu?m] n. 花，花朵bloom, even each31）blade [ble?d] n. 葉片blade of their32）grassy [?ɡrɑ?s?] adj. 草綠色的grassy stems. No detail of life was too small or too33）humble [?h?mb（?）l] adj. （重要性等）低下的，微末的humble for him. He appreciated and loved it all.

見招拆招

Maybe I just thought my life was none of your business.

None of one’s business，意思是“不關(guān)某人的事”，business具有“個人私事”的含義，該表述可追溯到約1600年。None of your business的意思就是“干你何事”，意思近似的還有mind your own business（管好你自己的事/別多管閑事），兩個短語的語氣都不太客氣。該短語相關(guān)的動詞表達是have no business，后跟動名詞，意為某人不應(yīng)干涉某事，如：He has no business discussing the will with outsiders.（他不該跟外人討論遺囑。）

1

唐吉老爹：恐怕你永遠(yuǎn)無法把這封信交給提奧·梵高了。

阿爾芒：噢，這樣啊。那是怎么回事兒？

唐吉老爹：“兩副軀體，一個靈魂，”文森特是這么跟我說的。也許他說的沒錯，因為在文森特死后，提奧立馬垮了。他之前的身體狀況就不大好，但文森特的死將他徹底擊垮了。其實，提奧在文森特死前跟他呆了整整一天，但文森特堅持要用最后的時間探討生命，而不是死亡。他也沒留下遺書，所以這場自殺就成了一個謎。提奧也不停地問“為什么？”文森特下葬六個月后，提奧也跟著去了。

阿爾芒：天哪，兩兄弟都走了。那文森特是怎么死的？

唐吉老爹：開槍自殺，在奧維爾附近的麥田里，就在他的畫架邊上，做著他熱愛的事，畫到最后一刻。

阿爾芒：你知道原因嗎？

唐吉老爹：不清楚。提奧認(rèn)為文森特的痛苦可以追溯到童年時期。他曾努力嘗試融入自己的家庭，但從未成功。文森特在28歲那年第一次拿起畫筆，有了提奧的支持，他前進的步伐簡直不可阻擋。

阿爾芒：那后來怎么樣了？

唐吉老爹：巴黎。不用說，他來到了巴黎。他們?nèi)珌砹耍腥恕?、圖盧茲、賽涅克、貝爾納、馬奈，所有人都來了，因為藝術(shù)界的一切風(fēng)吹草動都發(fā)生在巴黎。那這些人都上哪兒買顏料呢？當(dāng)然是到我唐吉老爹這兒。

對很多藝術(shù)家來說，巴黎就是他們的旅程終點。但對文森特來說，巴黎就只是旅途中的一站，掌握了必要的知識后，他繼續(xù)上路，尋找他自己的道路。

我再見到他是兩年后。他變得更沉穩(wěn)、更自信了。我當(dāng)時就想，這個人最后一定會成功，他的運氣終于來了，他發(fā)起的藝術(shù)革命取得了勝利。所以你可想而知，短短六個星期后我就站在了文森特的棺木旁，這是多么令人震驚。太傷感了。很多人都說他是藝術(shù)的殉道者，但就我看來，這似乎說不通。

阿爾芒：怎么說？

唐吉老爹：僅僅八年，他就從一個業(yè)余愛好者成為一位極具影響力的藝術(shù)家，簡直難以置信。莫奈曾稱他是獨立藝術(shù)家畫展上的耀眼明星。而且據(jù)他的醫(yī)生——就是在奧維爾照顧文森特的加歇醫(yī)生——所說，他已經(jīng)康復(fù)了。

2

阿爾芒：實際上是你提醒了我，去找瑪格麗特·加歇問清楚。

愛德琳：噢，那么說你是跑去見那位莊園大小姐了？結(jié)果還滿意嗎？

阿爾芒：她告訴我，她跟文森特不熟，幾乎沒正經(jīng)說過幾句話。

愛德琳：我早跟你說了，加歇一家人就沒一句實話。我記得文森特剛搬來的時候，大家都在問他是不是加歇的親戚。或許他倆從外表上看還挺像的，一樣的紅頭發(fā)，一樣憂郁的眼神。但其內(nèi)里完全是兩路人。文森特并不像加歇那么勢利眼。他是真的非常有禮、非常和善。

阿爾芒：瑪格麗特說他弟弟來過這兒，你見過他嗎？愛德琳：沒有，我聽說他是應(yīng)加歇的邀請才來的。文森特總是念叨他們可能會來這兒看他，總是問我們周末有沒有空房，但他們從沒來過。

阿爾芒：那文森特去找過他們嗎？

愛德琳：沒有，你知道，他總是花好幾個小時給他弟弟寫信，他本來可以用這些時間搭個火車去看他。噢，不對，他確實去過一次。他說……他說他弟弟的孩子生病了。但我感覺那次會面似乎不太愉快。

阿爾芒：怎么說？

愛德琳：那些抹布。他說畫布太貴了，所以他現(xiàn)在只能在舊抹布上畫畫。

阿爾芒：但他弟弟和舊抹布有什么關(guān)系？

愛德琳：我猜他們?yōu)榱隋X的事情吵過一架。因為文森特的作畫工具都是他弟弟給買的。我是從文森特最后寄出的一封信上知道這個的。

那里他自殺的前一天，他把信遞給我的時候說，這封信非常緊急。我就問他是不是出什么事了，他說他的顏料都用光了，所以訂了一大批新顏料，因為他要畫很多的畫。如果這兩人為錢吵過，他為什么還要弟弟幫他買顏料，接著第二天就自殺了呢？你不覺得這很奇怪嗎？

阿爾芒：很難說，你知道，得看他當(dāng)時的心理狀態(tài)了。

愛德琳：他看起來沒什么事啊。我的意思是，肯定是突然發(fā)生了什么，才讓他失去了理智。

阿爾芒：比如？

愛德琳：我也不清楚具體是什么。但我敢肯定加歇跟這事脫不了干系。

3

瑪格麗特：這不是那個普羅旺斯來的格斗士嗎？我是不是該感到害怕？

阿爾芒：我還以為你對打聽村里的八卦不感興趣?，敻覃愄兀捍_實沒興趣。這就是人們雇傭仆人的原因，他們會替你打聽。

阿爾芒：那想必你也聽說了是你們村里好心的警官收留了我一晚？

瑪格麗特：那你現(xiàn)在是在這兒思考你的將來嗎？

阿爾芒：不，實際上，我是在想，要是你真沒什么好隱瞞的，為什么要對我撒謊？

瑪格麗特：你為什么覺得我有義務(wù)向你坦白事情的真相呢？或許我只是認(rèn)為我的生活與你無關(guān)。

阿爾芒：我并沒有過問你的生活，我只是想弄清楚文森特的死因。

瑪格麗特：你認(rèn)為他的死和我的生活有關(guān)？

阿爾芒：對，但……但我已經(jīng)不那么想了。

瑪格麗特：事實就是我并不重要，他也不是什么為情所困的毛頭小子。阿爾芒：我知道。

瑪格麗特：那你知道他是個天才嗎？

阿爾芒：不，我不敢說我清楚這個。

瑪格麗特：我清楚，我父親也清楚。他這輩子拼了命地想成為一名藝術(shù)家，然后這個壞脾氣的笨拙男人就這么闖了進來，他從未接受過像樣的訓(xùn)練，開始畫畫也不過幾年時間。而他用短短幾個小時匆匆而就的畫作卻是我可憐的父親自認(rèn)花上兩輩子都畫不出來的。我父親會把自己鎖在屋里，對著它們臨摹好幾個小時。父親跟我說，我分散了文森特在要緊事上的注意力，質(zhì)問我是否真想承擔(dān)妨礙藝術(shù)杰作誕生的后果。我當(dāng)然不想。所以之后文森特再來找我的時候，我就開始假裝不在或不舒服。這之后不久，他倆就大吵了一架，吵得不可開交。那不是因為我，但也許我的回避導(dǎo)致了事情的惡化。我父親再見到他的時候，他肚子里已經(jīng)多了一顆子彈。

現(xiàn)在你滿意了嗎？你這么想知道他是怎么死的，可你對他活著的時候又了解多少？

阿爾芒：我知道他曾經(jīng)非常努力地想證明自己并非一無是處。

瑪格麗特：沒錯，確實如此。所以我才會帶著花去他的墓地。這是我現(xiàn)在唯一能為他做的了。他會欣賞鮮花盛放時嬌弱的美，甚至為青青葉莖上的每一片綠葉而贊嘆。沒有哪個生命的細(xì)節(jié)對他來說是微不足道或無足輕重的。他欣賞并熱愛著這世間萬物。