美国国家公共电台 NPR Dee Rees And Mary J. Blige Dug Into Their Roots To Make 'Mudbound'

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Finally today, I'll be honest with you, we debated long and hard about how to introduce this next conversation. It's Black History Month, so this is a time when a lot of people remember firsts such as Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme¹ Court justice. Well, now the Oscar season has given us two new names to join those ranks. Filmmaker Dee Rees is the first black woman nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay. Singer and actor Mary J. Blige is the first anyone ever to be nominated for an acting² performance and an original song for the same film.

And that would be noteworthy enough, but "Mudbound," the film that they made, is so much more than that. Critics have raved³ about the film, the story of two families of sharecroppers - one white, one black - trying to scratch out an existence in post-World War II Mississippi. The New York Times called it a work of historical imagination that lands in the present with disquieting⁴, illuminating⁵ force. And they've raved about how singer Mary J. Blige disappears into the role of Florence Jackson, the matriarch of the black family whose oldest son has gone off to fight in the war and finds more dignity overseas than he does at home.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "MUDBOUND")

MARY J. BLIGE: (As Florence Jackson) They say it's bad luck to watch somebody leave. I held his heartbeat in my hand. I remember every beat. He was warm and alive. I know every place in him. And it was all I can do to not look back.

MARTIN: And Dee Rees and Mary J. Blige are with us now from NPR West in Culver City, Calif. Thank you both so much for speaking with us. Congratulations to you both.

BLIGE: Thank you.

DEE REES: Thanks for having us.

MARTIN: Your first movie, Dee, was the more intimate coming-of-age film "Pariah⁶," focused on a young African-American woman and how she's trying to figure out how to kind of be in the world. This film is on a much broader canvas. It's a war film. It's a tale of two families. I mean, many, many people have used the word epic⁷, but it's still intimate in its own way, right? And you've drawn⁸ upon some of your own family history to help you inform the story. Would you talk a little bit about that?

REES: Yeah, totally. For me, you know, no matter the size of the film, it always comes down to the performances. And so, for me, the performance is about finding what's honest about each character. And so for Florence and for the Jackson family in particular in "Mudbound," I really drew upon my grandmother's experiences. She was born in 1925 in Ferriday, La. And so she would tell me stories about her and her little brother would ride on her mother's cotton sack because her mother didn't want to leave them in the cabin. And so based on that, my grandmother felt like she never wanted to pick cotton. She said she wasn't going to clean anybody's house. She wanted to be a sonographer. And so that's one of the things that I injected into the story, making Florence's daughter want to be a sonographer, to be this thing kind of like beyond what she can see in her everyday life.

MARTIN: What is it that made you want to make this film?

REES: It was the chance to really get into like Florence Jackson and Hap⁹ and just really show them as people that had agency, that had ideas about their lives. Like, they weren't just waiting for something to happen. Like, this idea of like wanting ownership of land, like, that's something that's big in my family. Like, when I first moved to New York, in fact, and I had bought a co-op, my parents came to visit. They're like, this is good, but where's your land? And I was like, no, no, no. It's a co-op. Like, there's no land involved. And they were just thinking like I made the biggest mistake of my life.

And so I wanted to bring all that to these characters and give them like depth. And like Ronsel Jackson, like, here's a guy whose like, you know, biggest battle is at home. And like "Pariah" and like "Bessie," I think I'm always exploring this idea about the battle being bloodier¹⁰ at home. You know, sometimes it's easier to, like, win elsewhere.

MARTIN: Mary J., how did you prepare for this particular experience?

BLIGE: I prepared. You know, of course I went and got an acting coach. I went and got someone that can help me bring all these things that I was feeling and that I have even lived as a child. When I was a young girl, my mom used to send us down to Georgia every summer. So I knew what it felt like to have my hands in the dirt and to pick beans and to pick whatever was in the field and to watch my grandmother, who was a sharecropper and a sharecropper's wife, you know, they had a farm. They had chickens. And whatever they killed, we had to eat. Whatever they pulled out of the field, we had to shell beans. We had to pick peas. We had to cut greens. We had to do all of that stuff.

And so I guess it was already in my DNA¹¹ and embedded¹² in me because every woman - my aunt Sadie (ph), my aunt Helen (ph), all of my aunts were these women. So I think I was prepared, you know, honestly, just through experience. And just having Dee just being, you know, one of the most amazing directors, one of the most sure, confident women to come up to you every time she wanted you to do something and her direction was just everything I needed to, you know, make Florence come to life. And, of course, once you strip Mary J. Blige out of the picture and you throw on the dress and them shoes and, you know, you tear away the wigs¹³ and the weaves and the hair color and no perm, and it's all just you, and it's all just Florence. So I think, once all those things were added, Florence was able to live.

MARTIN: You know, it sounds like - this is so interesting to me to hear because, as I say, anybody who's been to one of your concerts feels that you kind of strip yourself bare anyway. But it sounds to me as though you really got to a level of vulnerability in doing this that even you did not expect.

BLIGE: Yeah. I didn't even know that I was that vain until I had to go there. I'm serious. ANd because I'm so used to - all right, you see me. You see me not being afraid to share, just rip into - relive "No More Drama" or relive "Not Gon' Cry," relive, relive, you know, whatever it is - embarrassment¹⁴, humility¹⁵, whatever you see me live through.

But I just didn't know that I was so vain, you know, until I had to take away these things or I was that insecure, you know, that I had to take away these things, you know, like wigs and weaves and lashes¹⁶ and nails. And these are little things I was hanging onto that made me be like, wait, a minute. Are you really, really deep or not? It just really opened me up. And it freed me. And it made me see myself in a deeper way because I did not know I was hanging onto these things so tight. And so Dee said, no, let them go. Florence needs to live.

MARTIN: Do you think that your film stands for something else, particularly in this environment where, you know, we are learning and hearing so much about the way women have been mistreated in your industry? And this film is seen as a triumph, like, on every level. Do you have any thoughts about that?

REES: I think that this film demonstrates that, like, when art is kind of received, viewed and critiqued based on the merits of the craft rather than who made it, it necessarily opens the door up to a lot more makers¹⁷. You know, and you look at this film and, like, a woman DP shot it, a woman director shot it, a woman composer, a woman editor. All of those things, like, become undeniable.

And so even when the film, you know, I'd say the conversation from when this film premiered at Sundance in 2017 to when it, you know, came to Toronto, like, that fall changed because I think that people just had a different critical distance to it. And they were able to kind of like acknowledge it and see it. And, you know, I think, at first, there's maybe a doubt, like, are we really seeing what we're seeing? Is it really this good? And that the film was able to last, you know, I think spoke¹⁸ volumes. It became this force. It became undeniable. And, like, as people compared it to everything else that came out, the craftwork of these women, of these actors and actresses, it stood up.

MARTIN: Well, congratulations to you both. It's wonderful to talk with you. And happy birthday, Dee Rees, I understand.

BLIGE: Happy birthday, Dee.

REES: 41, march toward 50.

MARTIN: Maybe there will be a statue for - maybe you'll get a statue for a present. Maybe that'll be one of the birthday presents.

REES: We'll see. We'll see.

MARTIN: Dee Rees is the director of "Mudbound." It's been nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Supporting Actress for Mary J. Blige, who was also with us from our studios in Culver City, Calif., NPR West. Dee Rees, Mary J. Blige, thank you both so much for speaking with us today.

REES: Thanks for having us.

BLIGE: Thank you.

1 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

2 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

3 raved   

v.胡言乱语( rave的过去式和过去分词 )；愤怒地说；咆哮；痴心地说

参考例句：

• Andrew raved all night in his fever. 安德鲁发烧时整夜地说胡话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They raved about her beauty. 他们过分称赞她的美。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 disquieting   

adj.令人不安的，令人不平静的v.使不安，使忧虑，使烦恼( disquiet的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The news from the African front was disquieting in the extreme. 非洲前线的消息极其令人不安。 来自英汉文学
• That locality was always vaguely disquieting, even in the broad glare of afternoon. 那一带地方一向隐隐约约使人感到心神不安甚至在下午耀眼的阳光里也一样。 来自辞典例句

5 illuminating   

a.富于启发性的，有助阐明的

参考例句：

• We didn't find the examples he used particularly illuminating. 我们觉得他采用的那些例证启发性不是特别大。
• I found his talk most illuminating. 我觉得他的话很有启发性。

6 pariah   

n.被社会抛弃者

参考例句：

• Shortly Tom came upon the juvenile pariah of the village.不一会儿，汤姆碰上了村里的少年弃儿。
• His landlady had treated him like a dangerous criminal,a pariah.房东太太对待他就像对待危险的罪犯、对待社会弃儿一样。

7 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

8 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

9 hap   

n.运气；v.偶然发生

参考例句：

• Some have the hap,some stick in the gap.有的人走运, 有的人倒霉。
• May your son be blessed by hap and happiness.愿你儿子走运幸福。

10 bloodier   

adj.血污的( bloody的比较级 )；流血的；屠杀的；残忍的

参考例句：

11 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

12 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

13 wigs   

n.假发，法官帽( wig的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They say that wigs will be coming in again this year. 据说今年又要流行戴假发了。 来自辞典例句
• Frank, we needed more wigs than we thought, and we have to do some advertising. 弗兰克，因为我们需要更多的假发，而且我们还要做点广告。 来自电影对白

14 embarrassment   

n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫

参考例句：

• She could have died away with embarrassment.她窘迫得要死。
• Coughing at a concert can be a real embarrassment.在音乐会上咳嗽真会使人难堪。

15 humility   

n.谦逊，谦恭

参考例句：

• Humility often gains more than pride.谦逊往往比骄傲收益更多。
• His voice was still soft and filled with specious humility.他的声音还是那么温和，甚至有点谦卑。

16 lashes   

n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• Mother always lashes out food for the children's party. 孩子们聚会时，母亲总是给他们许多吃的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Never walk behind a horse in case it lashes out. 绝对不要跟在马后面，以防它突然猛踢。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。