懷念Roger Ebert，睹文思人。老年人的心酸，後勁最強。羅傑叔叔的影評值得一看，讀完這篇學會「默契」的英文。
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| 照片中右手邊戴眼鏡的就是教練的偶像Roger Ebert。左手邊則是Gene Siskel。教練在美國念書的時候，最喜歡看他們的影評介紹。兩人喜歡在節目中鬥嘴，感情與默契都很好。Gene Siskel於1998年被診斷出腦部惡性腫瘤，1999年先Roger 一步離世。以前在美國租錄影帶的時候，都要看看這部片有沒有Two thumps up這樣的字眼。因為這其中的一個大拇指thumb是Gene比的，另外一個則是來自Roger的肯定，這兩個人經常意見相左，唇槍舌戰是節目的大賣點，尤其早些年兩人會做奧斯卡得獎預測，教練每次都會收看這節目。如果難得有部電影讓兩人都豎起大拇指，這肯定是部好片。 |
我的偶像之一、美國知名影評人Roger Ebert三年前過世了。
生前飽受癌症折磨。羅傑叔叔罹患的是甲狀腺乳頭癌( Papillary Thyroid Cancer )，病魔把他折騰得不成人形，但一直到死前，他都樂觀地面對他的每一天。我喜歡看評論，Roger Ebert在芝加哥太陽報The Chicago Sun-Times所寫的影評，是我寫作時的靈感與資糧。他的文筆犀利中戴著細膩，評論裡有著溫暖的人情，這些年因為忙碌的關係，我看過的影評其實比電影還要多(看過的書評也比書本多)。
部落格裡面有一個叫做「熱門影評」的單元，大多都是Roger Ebert的大作。他的文字非常流暢洗練，但並不艱澀難懂，如果你想鍛鍊自己的英文寫作實力，培養觀點，評論性的作品非常適合你。
下面這篇是四年前，Ebert在他的電影專欄裡評了「桃姐」這部片，外國影評人甚少評論華語片。我上一次注意到Roger Ebert評論亞洲電影，而且給予極高評價的，是2001年宮崎駿的動畫片神隱少女，英文片名叫做Spirited Away.
桃姐這部電影溫馨感人，得了很多獎，片中的洋蔥很多。Roger Ebert的這篇影評，一反常態的寫得很淡，淡的像白開水，可是這不是普通的白開水，這是用感情加持過的一杯水。喝起來有一點心酸的感覺。我雖然還沒有很老，可是這些年也經歷了不少生命中的一些生老病死。突然覺得，老年人的心酸，後勁是非常強的。尤其寫這篇影評時，他的生命已經走到尾聲，之前鬼門關前走了一趟，老婆一路挺他，對他不離不棄，我想他對於情感的體認一定因此更加深刻。不曉得為什麼，看這篇影片我真是特有感覺。同學這篇看完了收起來，二十年後再拿出來讀一讀，感觸一定不同。
上過我寫作課的同學都知道，教練一直強調一件事，那就是最好的文章不是由華麗的詞藻堆砌而成，文章真正的亮點，其實是一種誠實的態度。這種東西寫作模板真的沒法子加持。Honesty(真誠)是最好的表達，但那是性格的一部分。我覺得這篇文章有做到這點。整篇影評沒有什麼難字，可是非常真誠，十分令人動容。
這是一篇小品的影評，簡單誠懇。跟Ebert之前評論蝙蝠俠與暮光之城的氣勢跟風格迥然不同。行文最末，Ebert淡淡地說，這是他認為今年最棒的一部電影。就這樣，連修飾都不用了It
is one of the year's best films。如此簡單且又直接的恭維，我很久沒有看到了。這樣的評論只證明了一件事，那就是好的電影其實不受語言限制，因為有些東西，確實只需心神領會就足夠。
Well, Enjoy!
BY ROGER EBERT / August 8, 2012
"A
Simple Life" paints portraits of two good people in
gentle humanist terms溫柔敦厚的互動. It filled me with an unreasonable
affection莫名的情感 for both of them. Here is a film with the clarity of
fresh stream water, flowing without turmoil to shared destiny. No plot
gimmicks劇情沒有耍花槍. No twists and turns沒有起承轉合峰迴路轉. Just
a simple life.
The life is that of Ah Tao, who was orphaned(孤兒的動詞)
during the Japanese occupation日本殖民統治 of Hong Kong, spent her entire life in the
service of four generations of a Chinese family, and is now the servant of the
only family member still living in China. He is Roger, a movie producer. They
have a settled routine如常的慣例: During a meal, he puts out his hand,
knowing she will be standing behind him with a bowl of rice. No words.
But this meal, which opens Ann Hui's film, doesn't contain the full truth of their relationship. That is something we discover at the same time they do, when Ah Tao (Deanie Ip) suffers a stroke中風了, and Roger (Andy Lau) takes charge of her care. He assumes she will continue to live with him and says he will hire her a caregiver幫她請個看護. She wants nothing to do with that. She wants to live in an old folks home養老院, and that's that.
Throughout the film, she resists his money堅持不拿他的錢, protests that his presents cost too much買東西給桃姐會被她罵，抱怨男主角亂花錢, tells him to spend more time at his job and less on his visits to her. This despite the fact that she literally has no one else in her life (all the members of Roger's family now live in America).
Is she angry? Not at all. She eagerly awaits his visits. But having spent a lifetime caring for others, she now feels badly about being cared for一個習慣照顧人一輩子的女人，對於要被人照顧這件事情感到非常內疚. The retirement home at first seems a grim and barren place一個陰森簡陋的地方, with toothless old people staring vacantly into space. Although the supervisor tells her she has the "coziest" private room, it is a sterile cubicle with no ceiling簡陋且連天花板都沒有, so the cries and calls of others can easily be heard.
She doesn't complain. Deanie Ip, who won half a dozen "best actress" awards for this role, achieves the miracle of giving Ah Tao integrity正直, humanity敦厚(厚道) and lovability令人憐愛 without seeming to try. She is a beautiful and serene安靜沉穩的 woman. The role of Roger is taken by由…飾演 Andy Lau, a big Hong Kong star, who here seems more ordinary and less heroic than in most of his roles.
We see that although they have never articulated it, they have become dependent on each other. She raised him from infancy從小把他拉拔大. When we meet his mother, she seems perfectly nice, but there isn't the same unspoken bond默契. Neither Ah Tao or Roger is demonstrative; I found myself waiting for a hug that never came. But they care.
Life in the nursing home seems less grim than at first. Ah Tao recovers from her stroke, and there is a wonderful scene when they go on a walk and he teases her that old Uncle Kin (Paul Chun) has a crush on her. She tries to hit him for that — playfully, like a girl.
What we understand is that "A Simple Life" is content to regard these two inward people內斂的人 as they express love and care in their quiet ways用安靜的方式去表達感情與默默付出. A movie in which the old lady is forgotten by the family would have been predictable melodrama灑狗血的老梗, but how much more moving it is when she is remembered. The movie has an emotional payoff I failed to anticipate之前沒有預期這部片會帶來勁道如此之強的情感爆點 It expresses hope in human nature. It is one of the year's best films.
But this meal, which opens Ann Hui's film, doesn't contain the full truth of their relationship. That is something we discover at the same time they do, when Ah Tao (Deanie Ip) suffers a stroke中風了, and Roger (Andy Lau) takes charge of her care. He assumes she will continue to live with him and says he will hire her a caregiver幫她請個看護. She wants nothing to do with that. She wants to live in an old folks home養老院, and that's that.
Throughout the film, she resists his money堅持不拿他的錢, protests that his presents cost too much買東西給桃姐會被她罵，抱怨男主角亂花錢, tells him to spend more time at his job and less on his visits to her. This despite the fact that she literally has no one else in her life (all the members of Roger's family now live in America).
Is she angry? Not at all. She eagerly awaits his visits. But having spent a lifetime caring for others, she now feels badly about being cared for一個習慣照顧人一輩子的女人，對於要被人照顧這件事情感到非常內疚. The retirement home at first seems a grim and barren place一個陰森簡陋的地方, with toothless old people staring vacantly into space. Although the supervisor tells her she has the "coziest" private room, it is a sterile cubicle with no ceiling簡陋且連天花板都沒有, so the cries and calls of others can easily be heard.
She doesn't complain. Deanie Ip, who won half a dozen "best actress" awards for this role, achieves the miracle of giving Ah Tao integrity正直, humanity敦厚(厚道) and lovability令人憐愛 without seeming to try. She is a beautiful and serene安靜沉穩的 woman. The role of Roger is taken by由…飾演 Andy Lau, a big Hong Kong star, who here seems more ordinary and less heroic than in most of his roles.
We see that although they have never articulated it, they have become dependent on each other. She raised him from infancy從小把他拉拔大. When we meet his mother, she seems perfectly nice, but there isn't the same unspoken bond默契. Neither Ah Tao or Roger is demonstrative; I found myself waiting for a hug that never came. But they care.
Life in the nursing home seems less grim than at first. Ah Tao recovers from her stroke, and there is a wonderful scene when they go on a walk and he teases her that old Uncle Kin (Paul Chun) has a crush on her. She tries to hit him for that — playfully, like a girl.
What we understand is that "A Simple Life" is content to regard these two inward people內斂的人 as they express love and care in their quiet ways用安靜的方式去表達感情與默默付出. A movie in which the old lady is forgotten by the family would have been predictable melodrama灑狗血的老梗, but how much more moving it is when she is remembered. The movie has an emotional payoff I failed to anticipate之前沒有預期這部片會帶來勁道如此之強的情感爆點 It expresses hope in human nature. It is one of the year's best films.
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