中英双语新闻——240 《一九四二》：冯小刚的成与败

 　　Feng Xiaogang is perhaps China’s most clever commercial movie director. He hasn’t directed one movie that failed to make a handsome profit in recent years, including Assembly in 2007, If You Are the One in 2008 and Aftershock in 2010.

 

　　冯小刚也许是中国最精明的商业片导演了。近年来他所执导的影片部部卖座，从未失手，包括2007年的《集结号》、2008年的《非诚勿扰》以及2010年的《唐山大地震》。

 

　　For some, Feng may be too commercial at times – product placement in his movies is often conspicuous¹ and has even become a laughing stock.

 

　　对于一些人而言，冯小刚有时太过商业化了——他影片中的植入广告往往十分显眼，甚至这已经成为了一个笑柄。

 

　　But with his new epic² Back to 1942, Feng might avoid such criticism.

 

　　而凭借最新史诗巨制《一九四二》，冯小刚导演或许可以摆脱这些骂名。

 

　　Based on a novel by Liu Zhenyun, Back to 1942 tells the true story of the devastating³ Henan province famine that claimed more than 3 million lives in 1942, a time when China was engaged in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression⁴ (1937-1945).

 

　　该片根据刘震云小说改编而成，讲述了一个真实的故事——1942年正值中国人民的抗日战争（1937-1945年），河南省遭遇严重饥荒，超过300万人丧生。

 

　　This historic background provides the perfect material to create a blockbuster movie. And Feng is no stranger to using exciting elements, such as devastating natural disasters (as seen in Aftershock) and thrilling battle scenes (as seen in Assembly).

 

　　这一历史背景为炮制大片提供了绝佳的题材。而冯小刚在调动这些激动人心的元素上已经是位老手了，如《唐山大地震》中毁灭性的自然灾害以及《集结号》中那些惊心动魄的战争场景。

 

　　Combined with a strong cast, which includes Xu Fan, Zhang Guoli, Chen Daoming and Zhang Hanyu, it is almost certain that these elements will ensure the movie becomes a major box office hit, at least in China.

 

　　加上徐帆、张国立、陈道明以及张涵予这些超强的演员阵容，可以断定的是，这几大要素必保本片票房大卖，至少在国内绝对。

 

　　But this time, Feng seems to have set his eyes on the international market as well. Joining the strong Chinese cast are two big names from Hollywood: Tim Robbins (who plays a Catholic priest) and Adrien Brody (who plays American journalist Theodore White).

 

　　而这一回，冯小刚似乎将目光同时投向了国际市场。除了一种华语演员外，他还力邀了好莱坞双雄的加盟：扮演天主教神父的蒂姆?罗宾斯以及饰演美国记者白修德的亚德里安?布劳迪。

 

　　Many of the movie’s scenes, like the ones showing the bombing attacks by the Japanese army, are very Hollywood-style, both in terms of their scale and technical level.

 

　　片中，包括日军轰炸场面在内的有许多镜头，就规模及技术层面而言，都是十足的好莱坞范。

 

　　But somehow, despite the cast mostly bearing up to the challenge of delivering their roles, the movie, like many of its kind, such as White Deer Plain, falls short on generating an emotional impact. It seems to confirm the old saying “one man dying is a tragedy, but a million deaths is a statistic⁵ figure”.

 

　　但不知为何，尽管应付起这些富有挑战性的角色来，演员们大都驾轻就熟。同《白鹿原》等同类型影片一样，该片却无法打造出情感上的震撼。这似乎也印证了那句老话：“死一个人，是个悲剧；死一百万人，那就不过是个统计数据罢了。”

 

　　In the end, the movie portrays⁶ a saga⁷ that will undoubtedly⁸ be treasured at home and, most likely, be filed abroad as yet another lesson in modern Chinese history–but one well worth remembering and learning from.

 

　　说到底，该片成功描述了一部长篇历史故事，这个故事毫无疑问将受到国人的重视，并且很可能被西方整理成中国近代史的又一课——而这个故事也记得人们铭记并从中学到些什么。

1 conspicuous   

adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的

参考例句：

• It is conspicuous that smoking is harmful to health.很明显，抽烟对健康有害。
• Its colouring makes it highly conspicuous.它的色彩使它非常惹人注目。

2 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。

3 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

4 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

5 statistic   

n.统计量；adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• Official statistics show real wages declining by 24%.官方统计数字表明实际工资下降了24%。
• There are no reliable statistics for the number of deaths in the battle.关于阵亡人数没有可靠的统计数字。

6 portrays   

v.画像( portray的第三人称单数 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• The museum collection vividly portrays the heritage of 200 years of canals. 博物馆的藏品让运河200 年的历史再现眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The film portrays Gandhi as a kind of superman. 这部电影把甘地描绘成一个超人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 saga   

n.(尤指中世纪北欧海盗的)故事，英雄传奇

参考例句：

• The saga of Flight 19 is probably the most repeated story about the Bermuda Triangle.飞行19中队的传说或许是有关百慕大三角最重复的故事。
• The novel depicts the saga of a family.小说描绘了一个家族的传奇故事。

8 undoubtedly   

adv.确实地，无疑地

参考例句：

• It is undoubtedly she who has said that.这话明明是她说的。
• He is undoubtedly the pride of China.毫无疑问他是中国的骄傲。