"Let's Go to the Movies!"

"Let's Go to the Movies!"

— A Speech Given by Tom Hanks at Accepting the AFI Life Achievement Awards

(Applause)

Thank you! Thank you!

There is a place on the moon, we’ve all heard of the Sea of ¹⁾Tranquility, maybe the Ocean of Storms, the Fra Mauro Highlands – there’s an area of the moon called the Lake of Dreams. To have you all here tonight, to be ²⁾placed up with the names of the other honorees, turns out I’ve walked on the moon; I’ve explored the Lake of Dreams. It’s a good place because they all come true. You folks are just so ³⁾swell¹! (Laughter) You’re all so nice, you know.

Hey, I got an idea -- let’s go to the movies! I wanna go to the movies. I want to take you all to the movies. Let’s go and experience the art of the cinema! Let’s begin with the Scream Of Fear, and we are going to ⁴⁾haunt us for the rest of our lives. And then let’s go see The Great Escape, and spend our summer jumping our bikes, just like we’ll McQueen, over ⁵⁾barb² wire. And then let’s catch The Seven Samurai for some reason on ⁶⁾PBS and we feel like we can speak Japanese because we can read the ⁷⁾subtitles and hear the language at the same time. And then let’s lose sleep the night before we see 2001: A Space Odyssey⁴ because we have this idea it’s going to change forever the way we look at films. And then let’s go see it four times in one year. And let’s see Woodstock three times in one year and let’s see Taxi Driver twice in one week. And let’s see Close Encounters of the Third Kind just so we can freeze there in mid-popcorn. And when the kids are old enough, let’s sit them together on the sofa and screen City Lights and Stage Coach and The Best Years of Our Lives and On The Waterfront and Midnight Cowboy and Five Easy Pieces and The Last Picture Show and Raging Bull and Schlinder's List. (Applause) So that they can understand how the human condition can be captured by this ⁸⁾amalgam⁵ of light and sound and literature we call the cinema.

What a great job! If you’re fortunate, you’re a part of cultural events, more immediate⁶, more lasting⁷ and even more ⁹⁾enlightening than most anything else is that man has ever created. You get to make movies. The truth is that I have been blessed beyond the definition of good fortune for a long, long while for the most of my life. I’ve made friends like you all. I’ve become a better artist by ¹⁰⁾collaborating with each one of you. And if we haven’t worked together, I’ve seen your stuff and I’ve stolen from you. ( Laughter ) ¹¹⁾Ripped you off.

And I’ve been rewarded for my ¹²⁾larceny⁸ with my ¹³⁾longevity⁹. You see, when you work in the movies, part of you gets to live forever. The idea that you can ¹⁴⁾single out one’s life achievement in work, of course, cannot be considered a ¹⁵⁾substitute for one’s achievements in life and there already my friends I have been blessed beyond deserving.

And I’m here because of my wife, Rita Wilson. (Applause) As you’ve seen again and again just in tonight, she is the motivation of my best work. (Applause) I wish everyone could share their life with as good a friend, as passionate¹⁰ a lover, as close a partner, and as beautiful a woman, as I have been able to with the mate of my soul, Rita Wilson. (Applause)

In order to cap off this once-in-a-life-time ¹⁶⁾beer bust¹¹ you’ve thrown for me, I had to choose between two ¹⁷⁾distinctive¹² quotes from a lesser¹³ example of the art of cinema, but a movie nonetheless. Two quotes from the film, That Thing You Do. Somewhere in, I don’t know, the 3rd or the 4th, I don’t know where, it’s somewhere in there. One quote is “Skitch, how did I get here?” and the other quote is “Table 19, your pizza is ready!” ( Laughter )

I have great reason to say, God bless you all, God bless America! Thank you, and good night! (Applause)

 

“让我们看电影去！”

——汤姆·汉克斯接受美国电影协会终身成就奖的讲话

（掌声）

谢谢！谢谢！

我们都听说过，月球上有一处地方叫“宁静海”，或者叫“风暴洋”；在月球的弗摩拉高地上，还有一处地方叫“梦之湖”。今晚各位亲临此处，我能有幸与别的获奖人并提，这些都使我犹如在月球上漫步一般飘飘然。那真是个好地方啊，因为梦想全部成真了。你们太了不起了！（笑声）你们对我真是太好了。

嗨，我有个主意——我们看电影去吧！我想看电影。我想和你们大家一起看电影。让我们去观赏并体验一番电影艺术吧！先看一看《惊魂噩耗》，让我们余生都感到颤栗；然后看《大逃亡》，在夏天学麦昆骑车飞越铁丝网。接下去看美国公共广播公司放的《七侠四义》，我们一边读字幕一边听日语，于是自以为能听懂日语；看《2001太空漫游》的前一天晚上会失眠，因为我们感到它就要永远地改变我们对电影的看法了，这部片子一年看上四遍也不为过；一年还可以看《伍德斯托克音乐节》三遍，一个星期里看两遍《出租车司机》；看《第三类接触》让我们在吃爆米花时动作停顿；等孩子们都长得够大了，让我们和他们一起坐在沙发上，看《城市之光》和《黄金时代》，还有《岸上风云》、《午夜牛郎》、《天涯浪子》、《最后一场电影》、《狂牛》和《辛德勒的名单》。（掌声）好让孩子们明白到，人类的生活是怎样通过灯光、音响、文学的集合来表现的——我们将这种方式称为“电影”。

多么了不起的工作啊！如果幸运的话，你就能参与到文化大事中去，相比于人类一切创造活动来说，这更直接、更持久、更有启发性。事实上，我一生当中很长时间以来一直受到幸运的眷顾。我交到你们大家这样的朋友。和你们每位的合作使我在艺术上不断提升。对于没有合作过的人，我也看过你们的杰作并从你们身上偷师。（笑声）大偷特偷。

长期从你们身上偷师，成全了我艺术的永生。电影人的一部分在电影中长存。一个人工作上的成就是取代不了一生的成就的，朋友们，在这方面，我的确是不枉此生了。

我今天的成就要归功于我的爱妻——丽塔·威尔逊。（掌声）正如你们今晚一次又一次见证过的，她就是我成功之作的推动力。（掌声）我希望每个人的一生中，都能找到他们的挚友兼热烈情人兼亲密伴侣兼美女一起分享此生，正如我和我的精神伴侣丽塔·威尔逊一样。（掌声）

作为这个百年一次的盛宴的结束语，我要从一个电影艺术的小小例子中引用两句很有特色的话，那是一部电影的台词。从《那一天传奇》摘下的两句话——我不记得是哪场戏的了，我不记得了，可能是第三或第四场。第一句是“斯科奇，我是怎么来到这里的？”，第二句是“19号桌，你的披萨好了！”（笑声）

我衷心祝福：愿上帝保佑你们大家，上帝保佑美国！谢谢大家，再见！（掌声）

 

注释:

1)      tranquility [trAN5kwiliti]n. 宁静             

2)      place up with 放置           

3)      swell [swel] a. 了不起的，第一流的

4) haunt [hC:nt] v. 萦绕，闹鬼

5) barb [bB:b] n.倒刺

6) PBS 美国公共广播公司，即Public Broadcasting Service。

7) subtitle³ [5sQbtaitl] n. 字幕

8) amalgam [E5mAl^Em] n. 混合物

9) enlightening [in5laitniN] a. 启蒙的

10) collaborate¹⁴ [kE5lAbEreit] v. 合作

11) rip sb. off 模仿，偷窃

12) larceny [5lB:sni] n. 盗窃罪

13) longevity [lCn5dVeviti] n. 长命

14) single out 从一群当中挑选

15) substitute [5sQbstitju:t] n. 替代品

16) beer bust （美国俚语）啤酒盛宴

17) distinctive [dis5tiNktiv] a. 与众不同的，有特色的

1 swell   

vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强

参考例句：

• The waves had taken on a deep swell.海浪汹涌。
• His injured wrist began to swell.他那受伤的手腕开始肿了。

2 barb   

n.（鱼钩等的）倒钩，倒刺

参考例句：

• The barb of his wit made us wince.他那锋芒毕露的机智使我们退避三舍。
• A fish hook has a barb to prevent the fish from escaping after being hooked.鱼钩上都有一个倒钩以防上了钩的鱼逃走。

3 subtitle   

n.副题（书本中的），说明对白的字幕

参考例句：

• His new book has a subtitle.他的新书有一个副标题。
• Ah!I don't know why they don't subtitle these movies.唉！我不知道这些电影为什么不打字幕。

4 odyssey   

n.长途冒险旅行；一连串的冒险

参考例句：

• The march to Travnik was the final stretch of a 16-hour odyssey.去特拉夫尼克的这段路是长达16小时艰险旅行的最后一程。
• His odyssey of passion, friendship,love,and revenge was now finished.他的热情、友谊、爱情和复仇的漫长历程，到此结束了。

5 amalgam   

n.混合物；汞合金

参考例句：

• To counter this myth,we explained that we're really an amalgam of little guys.为了打破这个神话，我们解释说，我们确实是由一群小小的老百姓所组成的混合体。
• American literature is to our eyes a curious amalgam of familiar and strange.我们认为，美国文学把我们所熟悉的和陌生的东西奇妙地结合起来了。

6 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

7 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

8 larceny   

n.盗窃（罪）

参考例句：

• The man was put in jail for grand larceny.人因重大盗窃案而被监禁。
• It was an essential of the common law crime of larceny.它是构成普通法中的盗窃罪的必要条件。

9 longevity   

n.长命；长寿

参考例句：

• Good habits promote longevity.良好的习惯能增长寿命。
• Human longevity runs in families.人类的长寿具有家族遗传性。

10 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

11 bust   

vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部

参考例句：

• I dropped my camera on the pavement and bust it. 我把照相机掉在人行道上摔坏了。
• She has worked up a lump of clay into a bust.她把一块黏土精心制作成一个半身像。

12 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

13 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

14 collaborate   

vi.协作，合作；协调

参考例句：

• The work gets done more quickly when we collaborate.我们一旦合作，工作做起来就更快了。
• I would ask you to collaborate with us in this work.我们愿意请你们在这项工作中和我们合作。