Sunday 1 January 2012

金正日葬礼是史诗级电影的制作范本——大卫•科恩(David Cohen)

译者 小蔡译牒

We shouldn't be surprised by the cinematic touches to the Dear Leader's funeral – he did write a book on the art of directing

这位朝鲜人民“敬爱的领袖”的葬礼竟然极富大片韵味,但这也不足为奇,因为金正日在世时确实写过一本关于电影导演艺术的专著。

Cecil B DeMille would have admired the funeral of Kim Jong-il. Its staging owes much to the Hollywood movies that the Dear Leader so loved.

就算西塞尔·B·戴米尔(Cecil B DeMille)本人也会对金正日的葬礼赞不绝口:这场葬礼几乎与这位“敬爱的领袖”所钟爱的好莱坞大片不相伯仲。

It's worth noting that the scenes coming out of North Korea are probably only the second time live images have been broadcast from the hermit nuclear state. The first time was in 2000, when Kim Jong-il met the South Korean president Kim Dae-jung as part of the stuttering reconciliation process.

值得一提的是,朝鲜是一个与世隔绝的有核国家,而这也许是朝鲜第二次对外现场直播本国的情景——第一次是在2000年,朝鲜播放了金正日与韩国总统金大中举行会晤的场面,为两国关系的改善迈出了艰难的一步。

State funerals are exercises in symbolism, and one thing was abundantly very clear in Pyongyang yesterday: Kim Jong-il's youngest son, in long black coat but no hat, was leading the mourners. When Kim Il-sung, the founder of the world's only hereditary Marxist "republic", died in 1994, Kim Jong-il was not even present. Today's message is crystal clear. The new succession is not in doubt: Kim Jong-un has the lead.

昨日在平壤举行的国葬意味深远。葬礼由金正日幼子金正恩率众参加,其意义也是不言自明。当时金正恩身着黑色大衣,没戴帽子;而当金日成,这个世界上唯一一个世袭制的、信奉马克思主义的“共和国”的开国领袖于1994年逝世时,金正日甚至都没有出席葬礼。这场葬礼很明确地传达出一条信息:由金正恩接任国家领导人,这一点不容置疑。

The funeral offered a good lesson in epic film-making. The grand long shots – cars with flashing lights, giant picture of the Dear Deceased carried like the Ark of the Covenant, jack-boot soldiers – were intercut with intimate shots. The grieving son, head bowed, eyes down, hand on the car carrying the coffin, and then weeping faces in the crowd.

金正日的葬礼为制作史诗级的电影提供了绝妙范本。远近景镜头切换间,一幕幕宏伟的场面展现在我们面前:车灯闪烁,战士们脚踩长筒靴,灵车载着 “敬爱的领袖”的巨幅照片,如同载着约柜(古代以色列民族的圣物)一般;而这位领袖悲痛欲绝的儿子低眉垂目,向灵车致意。随后出现在屏幕上的,是人们哭泣的面孔。

Those who have followed Kim Jong-il's career shouldn't be surprised by the cinematic influences. When I co-produced a film about the North for the French TV station Arte, a North Korean diplomat gavehanded me and the film's director, David Carr-Brown, a surprising little brown book: The Cinema and Directing, written by Kim Jong-il.

其实,一直关注金正日政治生涯的人们对这种电影效果并不陌生。我曾经与当地合作,为法国艺术台拍摄一部关于朝鲜的电影。当时一名朝鲜外交官送给我和导演大卫·卡尔-布朗每人一本书,书名是《电影与导演》,而作者则是金正日。

This 70-page course starts aggressively. "If cinematic art is to be developed to meet the requirements of the Juche age, it is necessary to bring about a fundamental change in film-making." Kim Jong-il went on to claim that "capitalist and dogmatic ideas" still bogged down the "system and methods of direction".

这本书有七十页,开头就气势逼人,“如果电影艺术应当得到发展、满足‘主体时代(Juche age)’的需要,那么电影拍摄就必须经历一次彻底的变革。”进而他又提出,“资本主义与教条主义思想”仍旧禁锢着“电影的导演系统与方法”。

Kim Jong-il was a narcissistic monster. So perhaps it's not surprising that he should have had some insight into how Hollywood works. In the socialist cinema the director is the "commander of the creative group".

金正日是一个怪人,有些自恋,因此他也许应当对好莱坞电影的拍摄多做些了解。他认为在社会主义电影事业中,导演是“创作团体的指挥官”。

Kim Jong-il compares him to a platoon leader. Actually it's not a bad comparison, though of course, many directors think they are more general than sergeant.

他将自己比作一名排长,其实这个比喻还算贴切——当然,认为自己是将军而非军士的导演也不在少数。

"Just as victory in battle depends on the leadership ability of the commander, so the fate of the film depends on the director's art of guidance." The book adds that while the director conceives the film, it cannot be finished without "the collective efforts and wisdom" of the whole crew.

“指挥官的领导能力决定了是否能在战场上取胜,而导演的指导艺术则决定了电影的命运。”这本书随后又补充道,尽管导演要对电影制作进行构思,但如果没有整个团队“共同的努力与智慧”,拍摄也是不可能完成的。

The book contrasts the integrity of North Korean cinema – and at one time they were producing 60 feature films a year – with ghastly Tinseltown where it's all smoke, mirrors and producer's scissors. Supervision and control in Hollywood "is entirely in the hands of the tycoons of the film-making industry who have the money", while the schmuck directors "are nothing but their agents".

这本书认为,朝鲜电影十分淳朴,与浮华城(Tinseltown,指好莱坞)的作品形成了鲜明的对比——后者病态恐怖,充斥着烟雾与镜面,完全由制作人剪辑拼接而成,而且好莱坞电影的审查与控制权完全“掌握在电影业富豪大亨的手中”,那些愚蠢的导演“不过是他们的傀儡而已”。

The book offers advice, basic but generally sound, on how to use music, direct actors and edit. I wasn't surprised the camera work at the funeral was so well orchestrated. I'm sure it's no comfort to his long-suffering people, but Kim Jong-il, a disaster for his country, knew a thing or two about directing – and it showed at his funeral.

金正日的这本书还针对如何使用电影音乐、指导演员、剪辑电影提出了一些简单但又中肯的建议。他的葬礼编排得如此巧妙,但我却一点也不惊讶。我知道他的去世会让历经孤寒的朝鲜人民悲痛不已,但身为一个饱受苦难的国家的领导人,金正日确实对电影的导演艺术有所了解,而且他的葬礼也恰恰表明了这一点。



from 译言-每日精品译文推荐 http://article.yeeyan.org/view/276961/243202