∷宋云峰 編寫
法國和意大利合拍的《少年斯派維的奇異旅行》(The Young and Prodigious T. S. Spivet, 2013)改編自賴夫·拉森(Reif Larsen)的同名小說,由法國著名導演讓-皮埃爾·熱內(Jean-Pierre Jeunet)執(zhí)導。熱內以其富含人文精神、奇特想象和唯美畫面的文藝片《天使愛美麗》(Amélie, 2001)為人所熟知。這部影片也不例外。除了壯觀的美國中西部風光之外(其實外景主要在加拿大拍攝),影片的突出特色是“奇”和“異”——奇特的人物、故事、講述方式和啟示,富有童話和超現(xiàn)實的色彩。熱內對電影的熱愛及其電影特色均來自歐洲的藝術電影傳統(tǒng)。與美國好萊塢電影不同,歐洲電影往往不太考慮電影的娛樂性和商業(yè)性,而是專注于導演自己對故事的詮釋和展示(主題與風格),在獨特性和細節(jié)上下功夫。正如熱內所言:
“When you are in love with a story, you have to take your time to follow it and to fall in love again one time. You need some time. And I need to be in love with a story because I am going to spend four years of my life inside without pleasure, without seeing anybody, you work 16 hours per day and at the weekend and I need to be in love with each detail.”
由于導演獨特的主題與風格,這部電影上映后的反響基本都是積極正面的(positive)。爛番茄網站對影片精美的鏡頭畫面贊賞有加,而另一家大眾影評網站Metacritic則評價不高。
The Young and Prodigious T. S. Spivet received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the f ilm has a rating of 79%, based on 43 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10. The site's critical consensus reads, “The Young And Prodigious T. S. Spivet brings its bestselling source material beautifully to life, offering a blend of visual thrills and poignant pathos (激起同情的因素,傷感力)that help tie the f ilm together despite an occasional surfeit(過量)of quirk(怪異).” On Metacritic, the f ilm holds a score of 53 out of 100, based on 11 reviews, indicating “mixed or average reviews.”
《少年斯派維的奇異旅行》劇照
少年T. S. 斯派維出生于美國蒙大拿州的一個偏遠牧場。雖然年僅十歲,但他卻聰明絕頂,酷愛制圖學和科學圖解。最令人驚奇的是,他發(fā)明了無數(shù)科學家夢寐以求的永動機,并將圖紙寄給了著名的史密森學會。斯派維的父親是個狂熱的牛仔迷,搜集關于西部牛仔的一切;母親是一位生物學博士,潛心于昆蟲研究;而姐姐則是一個再普通不過的正常人,著迷于美國小姐選美大賽,并常常為生在這個一屋子怪人的家庭而煩惱。斯派維原本還有一個異卵雙胞胎弟弟萊頓,喜歡動物和射擊,但一年前因槍支意外走火而死亡。由于斯派維當時就在現(xiàn)場,他為弟弟的死感到萬分內疚,但家里所有人對此事絕口不提。一天,斯派維接到來自史密森學會的電話,告知他因設計永動機而被授予了久負盛名的科學大獎——貝爾德獎,還邀請他到華盛頓參加授獎儀式并發(fā)表演講。于是,十歲的科學奇才斯派維偷偷爬上了貨運火車,獨自踏上了穿越美國的奇異旅行。完成這次旅行后,斯派維從自己的心理陰影中走了出來,實現(xiàn)了從孩童到少年的轉變。
T. S. Spivet is a 10-year-old prodigy(神童)with a passion for cartography(制圖學)and scientif ic inventions. He lives on a ranch(牧場)in Montana(蒙大拿州)with his mother who is obsessed with the morphology(形態(tài)學)of beetles; his father, a cowboy born a hundred years too late; and his 14-year-old sister who dreams of becoming Miss America. His twin brother Layton died in an accident involving a f irearm(槍支)in the family's barn(谷倉), which no one ever speaks of. T. S. was with him, measuring the scale of the gunshots for an experiment, and he doesn't understand what happened. One day, T. S. receives an unexpected call from the Smithsonian Institute, telling him that he is the winner of the very prestigious Baird Award for his invention of a perpetual motion machine(永動機)and that he is invited to a reception in his honor where he is expected to give a speech. Without telling anyone, he sets out on a freight train(貨車)across the United States to reach Washington, D.C.
During his journey, he meets a hobo(流浪漢,無業(yè)游民)in the train yards(火車站)of the Midwest, outruns or outwits(智勝)a number of railroad security guards, and then is picked up hitchhiking(搭車)by an 18-wheeler trucker who lets him off at the Smithsonian in Washington. He ultimately gives his speech for the Baird Award to a room full of well-dressed guests, and discusses the death of his brother. After the speech is over, T. S.'s mother and father arrive down in D.C. and interrupt him while he is on a talk show. His mother tells T. S. that it wasn't his fault that Layton got killed, to which the TV interviewer pesters(糾纏,追問)them with further questions up until T. S.'s father punches him and they leave for their home in Montana.
說起熱內,可能很多觀眾都是從《天使愛美麗》開始熟悉他的。熱內在這部電影中將現(xiàn)實世界和詩意的表達結合起來,打造出了一個艷麗的臆想世界(imagined world)?!渡倌晁古删S的奇異旅行》中的斯派維等角色都延續(xù)了熱內塑造角色的特點,帶有超現(xiàn)實主義(surrealism)色彩,給人耳目一新的感覺。這部關于小男孩斯派維的影片并沒有著重演繹某一個故事,而是通過一幅幅明亮而美麗的畫面來講述一個荒誕不經但又充滿溫情的關于愛的故事。超現(xiàn)實主義的表達中最重要的是色彩的運用和處理,力求在真實的基礎上最大程度地發(fā)揮色彩的表現(xiàn)功能。在這部電影中,熱內用了大量飽和度很高的暖色調來構筑一個屬于孩子的明麗世界。熱內電影中的故事環(huán)境并不是一個真實的環(huán)境,而是具有童話的色彩。也正是基于此,電影中的荒誕和夸張都演變成了邏輯上的自然。
不管是文本表達還是影像表達,人物總是非常重要的,而且導演的創(chuàng)作意圖、情感表現(xiàn)都會通過人物的遭遇、行為等來體現(xiàn)。熱內將怪誕的人物形象生動地呈現(xiàn)給觀眾,令人在反常態(tài)的強烈震撼和沖擊之下獲得獨特的審美愉悅感,或許這也是熱內電影魅力的關鍵。在這部電影里,小男孩斯派維的家庭成員構成非常怪誕——偏執(zhí)而頭腦簡單的母親,生活在臆想中的19世紀的牛仔父親,喜歡演戲、夢想參加選美比賽的姐姐,以及酷愛射擊、百發(fā)百中的雙胞胎弟弟。這些人物都帶有非常鮮明的個性和特點,構筑了影片整體奇特的基調。
斯派維眼中的家人都是獨特甚至怪誕的人:
關于Layton: “Layton's favorite pastimes was shooting anything that moved. My father loved Layton more than anything in the world.”
關于Father: “My father was born a hundred years too late. He has the soul, stature and mindset of a cowboy.”
關于Mother: “Crickets and insects were my mother's specialty. Dr. Claire spent most of her time studying tiny creatures with magnifying glass and classif ied them into species and sub-species.”
關于Parents: “How my parents ever fell for each other was a mystery. They were like day and night.”
《少年斯派維的奇異旅行》的敘事主要以T. S. 斯派維的視角來觀察人際關系和整個世界,通過家庭成員互動與旅行等人生經歷,克服喪失同胞弟弟的心理陰影,逐漸形成理性的自我意識,從而實現(xiàn)從懵懂孩童向自我意識清晰的青少年的轉變。發(fā)明永動機并且到華盛頓的史密森學會領獎只不過是這一切的由頭。這部電影的敘事是一個很好的心理分析(psychoanalysis)案例,我們更可以從“符號互動理論”(symbolic interactionism)的角度來分析斯派維的“自我”意識從模糊到清晰的轉變過程。不考慮大的社會和時代環(huán)境,符號互動理論認為,個人的自我意識和身份的形成是他/她與周圍環(huán)境(主要是人際關系)互動的結果,在兒童和少年時期尤為重要。該學派的創(chuàng)始人米德(George Herbert Mead)認為,人的自我(self)或者說身份意識(identity)由主體的“我”(I)與客體的“我”(me)共同構成。主體的“我”是指自己對自我的自然認知,而客體的“我”則是指想象中別人眼中的自己,美國社會學家?guī)炖–harles Horton Cooley)將它比喻為“鏡像中的自我”(the looking-glass self)。一個人會根據(他/她認為或想象的)別人對他/她的態(tài)度及其變化而改變自己的行為。所以,一個人的自我評價和行為很大程度上取決于他/她認為周圍的人是如何看待他/她的(即使周圍人的看法并不一定如此)。一個人自我意識或身份的形成是兩者(I & me)互動的結果?!渡倌晁古删S的奇異旅行》形象地說明了這一點。
The term “the looking-glass self” was created by American sociologist Charles Horton Cooley in 1902, and introduced into his own work Human Nature and the Social Order. It is described as our ref lection of how we think we appear to others. To further explain would be how oneself imagines how others view him/her. According to Lisa McIntyre's The Practical Skeptic: Core Concepts in Sociology, the concept of the “l(fā)ooking-glass self” expresses the tendency for one to understand oneself through the perception which others may hold of them. Essentially, how one views oneself and acts heavily depends on what the individual believes other people think of the individual. This process is theorized to develop one's sense of identity. Therefore identity, or self, is the result of learning to see ourselves through what we perceive to be the perceptions of others.
斯派維認為,同胞弟弟萊頓從精神和氣質上繼承了父親的一切,喜愛自然、動物以及射擊,而自己對科技的擅長在牧場則派不上任何用場,尤其是父親對他的發(fā)明創(chuàng)造絲毫不感興趣,更使他認為父親更喜愛弟弟。所以,當萊頓死于槍支走火事故時,斯派維感到很內疚,認為自己當時在場,沒有盡到阻止事故發(fā)生的責任。弟弟死后,家人對此絕口不提,更使他認為大家都在心里責怪他:“Layton died last year of a gun accident in the old barn. I don't know what went wrong. I was there too, measuring gun shots. No one ever talked about it. No one.”
走火事故成為斯派維的巨大心理陰影,在整個影片中,萊頓不停地在他的腦海里出現(xiàn)。他黎明前離家出走時,本想搭父親的車去火車站,但父親卻直接把車開走了,就像沒有看見他似的。這讓斯派維確信父親因弟弟的死而怨恨他:“To know that my father had to resort to asking help from me, his only remaining son, the pointless and useless on the ranch, f illed me with sadness.”
《少年斯派維的奇異旅行》電影海報
經過這場奇異的旅行(包括逃脫鐵路保安的追逐、與流浪工人相遇、搭貨車司機的車、應付史密森學會虛偽的女干事和對付電視媒體主持人的采訪等),斯派維對這個復雜的世界有了更多的了解,也認識到主體的自我認知與客觀世界之間的差異,從而變得成熟起來。然而,萊頓的死仍然是個巨大的心理陰影,使他快樂不起來。所以,他利用頒獎典禮的致辭說出此事,希望能從陰影中走出來。但是,關鍵還是父母的原諒和認同。直到母親告訴他,萊頓死于事故不是他的錯,作為母親讓孩子玩槍,自己也未盡到監(jiān)管責任。父親也向他說明了那天沒讓他搭車去火車站的真相——因為當時低頭找東西,確實沒有看見路邊的斯派維。得到父母的原諒后,斯派維終于放下了自己的心理負擔,一家人愉快地回到了蒙大拿牧場的家。一切都恢復了正常。