我有一本宝琳姬儿(Pauline Kael)的影评集5001 Nights at the Movies(电影的5001夜).老厚的一本书,象字典一样. 宝琳姬儿是当年美国最权威的影评人,文笔犀利,见解精到.可惜90代逝世,她评过的电影我多数没看过.不过”大河边缘”这部片她有评过,我翻译过来,算是一种不同的尝试.别说我偷懒,因为她不愧为头牌影评人,文字致密,涵义蕴籍,翻译起来很不容易,比自己写评论难多了.
River’s Edge (大河边缘) 1987
8/10
评论(by Pauline Kael)
孤僻不合群的青少年与自私腐败,无动于衷的成年人.如果不是片中露骨的低级性趣味和令人眩晕的诗意,本片也许会象是电视剧改编的电影.Neal Jiminez撰写的剧本,取材自1981年发生在加利福尼亚Milpitas的一个真实个案.看上去剧本是想写成一个尽量耸人听闻的情节剧的,但是导演 Tim Hunter采取了一种模糊自然的手法,使影片松散地混合着”重要”与”低调”---一种观众能够领会的模糊状态.
胖子 John(Daniel Roebuck饰),一个吸食大麻的高中生, 勒死了女朋友Jamie,将她裸体陈尸在河畔.不久,他那一伙六七个也吸毒的孩子们都看过了女孩的尸体,却没有人提起报案的事.因为团伙的头儿,整天紧张兮兮的Layne(Crispin Glover)向他们施压,使他们相信向成年人告发此事就是背叛了他们的团体规则.影片并不关注Milpitas那个案子的真实情况.它没提为什么 John要杀Jamie, 很少描写其他孩子对她的死有什么反应.而这种骨子里的空洞正好用来映衬孩子们的毫无心肝.
Glover用古怪的鬼脸和大量手势表演;其他花哨的组合还包括Dennis Hopper饰演的单腿前摩托车骑士,一个跟充气性爱娃娃跳华尔兹的毒贩;以及Joshua Miller饰演的阴森森的12岁男孩,将小妹妹的洋娃娃淹进水里. 其他演员包括 Keanu Reeves, Ione Skye, Jim Metzler饰演老师. 摄影 Frederick Elmes.
原文:
Teen-age anomie and the indifference of selfish, corrupt adults. The subject might suggest a movie made of TV if it weren’t for explicitly sexual pulp elements and the woozy poetry. The script, by Neal Jiminez, which takes off from an incident in Milpitas, California, in 1981, appears to have been conceived as an exploitation melodrama, but the director, Tim Hunter, has a fuzzy, naturalistic approach, and the movie is a slack mixture of “important” and mediocre---a blur that viewers can project onto. Big-bellied John (Daniel Roebuck), a high-school pothead, strangles his girlfriend, Jamie, and leaves her lying nude on the riverbank. Soon all the members of his pack of six or seven stoned kids have viewed their dead friend, but nobody speaks of notifying the authorities, because Layne(Crispin Glover), the high-strung leader of the group, pressures them to believe that it would be a violation of their code to let any adults know what happened. The movie doesn’t deal with the facts of the Milpitas case. It tells us next to nothing about why John killed Jamie and shows us very little of how the other kids react to her death. Then this vacancy at the heart of the film is used as proof of the kids’ heartlessness. Glover gives a weird, grimacing, hand-waving performance; other garish elements include Dennis Hopper as a one-legged ex-biker dope dealer who waltzes with an inflatable sex doll and Joshua Miller as a malicious 12-year-old who drowns his baby sister’s dolly. Also with Keanu Reeves, Ione Skye, and Jim Metzler as the teacher. Cinematography by Frederick Elmes.
K-factor: 这是Keanu初露头角的片子.他的表演青涩淳朴,受到评论界的好评,在那个时候,他们还是喜欢他的.
花痴指数: *****
