【英语听和读】佩内洛普克鲁兹

 Amber¹: Hello, I'm Amber, and you’re listening to bbclearningenglish.com.

Today, we listen to parts of an interview with film star Penelope Cruz! She

talks about her new movie, ‘Volver’, what she likes about working with

Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, and what kind of film she’d like to make

next.

Now, Penelope Cruz’s acting³ career is certainly on a roll – if you say

something is on a roll, you mean it’s very successful. Last year Penelope Cruz

stared in the Hollywood movie ‘Sahara’, and this year she’s just picked up an

award at the Cannes film festival for her role in the Spanish language film

‘Volver’.

‘Volver’ is directed by Pedro Almodovar and Penelope Cruz has worked with

him before on other films. As you’ll hear, she thinks he’s a remarkably⁴ good

director, in fact, she says - ‘He’s the reason why I decided⁵ to become an actress

when I was a little girl.’

Notice too how she stresses Almodovar’s courage when it comes to creating

characters and how true to life he wants them to be.

Also, she uses a word to describe Almodovar which she says she doesn’t like

to use a lot, but she thinks it’s right to describe him. What does she call him?

Now here is Penelope Cruz talking about why she thinks Pedro Almodovar is

such a clever director. 

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Penelope Cruz

‘For me, I would say, truth is the mark. He really sees everything and is not afraid of

exploring it and he never judges his characters. He’s completely brave, and for me, he’s a

genius and I don’t like using that word that a lot but with him, I really think he is. He’s the

reason why I decided to become an actress when I was a little girl.’

Amber: So Penelope Cruz describes Pedro Almodovar as a genius – a person with a very

great and rare natural ability. And she says he ‘never judges his characters’. If you

don’t judge people, you let them be the way they are and don’t try to influence

other people’s opinion of them.

‘Volver’ – which means ‘Return’ in English – is very funny and extremely sad.

The film is the story of a rural⁶ Spanish family moving to Madrid, and Penelope

Cruz plays a woman whose husband has been murdered and her dead mother

returns as a ghost. As you listen to the next part of the interview with Penelope

Cruz, try to catch how her character is feeling and why.

Penelope Cruz

‘My character has big regrets about not having solved a lot of things with her mother but her

mother comes back to life as a ghost and she’s able to solve a few things!’

Amber: So Penelope Cruz’s character ‘has big regrets’ – if you have regrets about

something you feel a sadness about them and wish they could have been

different and better. Her character is struggling with problems she didn’t

solve with her mother when she was alive, and the film explores what it’s

like to be haunted⁷ by family secrets. It’s also about the importance of family

love.

 

Penelope Cruz is unusual because she is a successful Hollywood actress

and, as ‘Volver’ shows, she’s also a successful arthouse film star. An 

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arthouse film is made for artistic⁸ reasons – not commercial ones. So will she

keep moving between Hollywood and arthouse films? And what does she

look for when she considers new scripts⁹ or ‘material’?

Penelope Cruz

‘I think it’s fun, you know, for me. And I learn about both sides of the industry and it’s really

interesting. In the future, when I’m 50, 60, will I plan to still be working? Well, actually the

same as now, just looking for material that means something, and maybe different things will

mean something for me at that moment, but trying to find something that feels new.’

Amber: So Penelope Cruz likes learning about ‘both sides of the industry’. And she looks

for ‘material that means something’ and ‘feels new’.

Here again is the language we focussed on in today’s programme and then,

Penelope Cruz again.

to be on a roll, never judges his characters, a genius, to have regrets, arthouse

Penelope Cruz

‘For me, I would say, truth is the mark. He really sees everything and is not afraid of

exploring it and he never judges his characters. He’s completely brave, and for me, he’s a

genius and I don’t like using that word that a lot but with him, I really think he is. He’s the

reason why I decided to become an actress when I was a little girl.’

‘I think it’s fun, you know, for me. And I learn about both sides of the industry and it’s really

interesting. In the future, when I’m 50, 60, will I plan to still be working? Well, actually the

same as now, just looking for material that means something, and maybe different things will

mean something for me at that moment, but trying to find something that feels new.’ 

1 amber   

n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的

参考例句：

• Would you like an amber necklace for your birthday?你过生日想要一条琥珀项链吗？
• This is a piece of little amber stones.这是一块小小的琥珀化石。

2 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

3 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。

4 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 rural   

adj.乡下的，田园的，乡村风味的

参考例句：

• He lived a rural life.他过着田园生活。
• We left the city for a rural home.我们离开城市，去农村安家。

7 haunted   

adj.闹鬼的；受到折磨的；令人烦恼的v.“haunt”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• There was a haunted look in his eyes. 他眼中透露出忧虑的神色。
• The country is haunted by the spectre of civil war. 内战仿佛一触即发，举国上下一片恐慌。

8 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

9 scripts   

剧本( script的名词复数 )； 文字； 笔迹； （一种语言的）字母系统

参考例句：

• Many felt he was prostituting his talents by writing Hollywood scripts. 许多人觉得他给好莱坞写剧本是滥用自己的才华。
• The scripts had a rather tired plot. 这部陈旧的剧本的情节是非常俗套的。