美国国家公共电台 NPR What's 'Casablanca' Without Nazis? After WWII, German Audiences Found Out

 

RAY SUAREZ, HOST:

The classic World War II film "Casablanca" premiered 75 years ago. It's a story of romance, intrigue¹ and sacrifice. It's also a passionately² anti-Nazi³ movie. But in Germany, "Casablanca" was edited to create a very different film. Reporter Izzy Ross has that story.

ISABELLE ROSS, BYLINE⁴: "Casablanca" was released in the U.S. in 1942 in the middle of the Second World War. It was released in Germany in 1952 after the war was over. In the German version, Warner Brothers deleted all scenes with the Nazis⁵ and almost all mention of the war. Remember, "Casablanca" is a movie about Nazis and the war. It became a completely different story. Nils Daniel Peiler co-authored a book on film dubbing⁶ in Germany.

NILS DANIEL PEILER: Everything had to be changed for this first version, even in very tiny details.

ROSS: The scene where customers at Rick's drown out German soldiers with the French anthem⁷, La Marseillaise?

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "CASABLANCA")

UNIDENTIFIED SINGERS: (Singing in French).

ROSS: Gone. In the German version, characters were also rewritten. Resistance fighter Victor Laszlo is turned into a Norwegian atomic physicist⁸ renamed Victor Larsen, who discovers mysterious delta⁹ rays and is on the run from Interpol.

PEILER: So all this dialogue had to be changed for this first German-dubbed versions.

ROSS: Here's Rick talking to the corrupt¹⁰ French policeman, Louis Renault, in the original.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "CASABLANCA")

PEILER: (As Captain Louis Renault) Rick, Laszlo must never reach America. He stays in Casablanca.

HUMPHREY BOGART: (As Rick Blaine) It will be interesting to see how he manages.

PEILER: (As Captain Louis Renault) Manages what?

BOGART: (As Rick Blaine) His escape.

PEILER: (As Captain Louis Renault) Or what I just told you...

BOGART: (As Rick Blaine) Stop it. He escaped from a concentration camp. The Nazis have been chasing him all over Europe.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "CASABLANCA")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As Rick Blaine, speaking German).

ROSS: In the German version, Rick doesn't mention the Nazis or say concentration camp. Instead, the dubbing actor says - he broke out of jail and has escaped many people before you. The film was released in what was then West Germany, and Warner Brothers made these changes to appeal to German audiences and to get approved by the FSK, an industry-run German film board similar to the Motion Picture Association.

JENNIFER KAPCZYNSKI: I think there were certainly plenty of West German audiences that were not eager to be confronted with certain aspects of the Second World War, but the notion that West Germans were not remembering the Second World War is simply patently false.

ROSS: Jennifer Kapczynski's a professor of German Studies at Washington University in St. Louis. After the war, people were reticent¹¹ to talk about Naziism¹². And governmental and cultural organizations were cautious.

KAPCZYNSKI: There is this sense that in showing characters from the Nazi past and the figure of Hitler absolutely, there is this danger of perhaps awakening¹³ in people a desire for a period of time, a period in history from which they are absolutely cut off. It might reawaken these lingering desires for a fascist¹⁴ history.

KAPCZYNSKI: Because of these edits, the German "Casablanca" was about 25 minutes shorter than the original? When it was released, it did well at the box office. According to Peiler, German movie critics gave it lukewarm reviews.

PEILER: It was considered just a typical Warner Brothers picture starring Ingrid Bergman.

ROSS: In the decades since, Germany openly confronted its role in World War II in schools, public memorials and laws. It took until 1975 for redubbed "Casablanca" to air in Germany, which was true to the original. For NPR News, I'm Izzy Ross.

1 intrigue   

vt.激起兴趣，迷住；vi.耍阴谋；n.阴谋，密谋

参考例句：

• Court officials will intrigue against the royal family.法院官员将密谋反对皇室。
• The royal palace was filled with intrigue.皇宫中充满了勾心斗角。

2 passionately   

ad.热烈地，激烈地

参考例句：

• She could hate as passionately as she could love. 她能恨得咬牙切齿，也能爱得一往情深。
• He was passionately addicted to pop music. 他酷爱流行音乐。

3 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 dubbing   

n.配音v.给…起绰号( dub的现在分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• There are mainly two forms of film translation: dubbing and subtitling. 电影翻译通常主要表现为两种形式：配音和字幕翻译。 来自互联网
• Its auspices, dubbing the program has won national awards in China. 其主持配音的节目多次获得中国全国奖项。 来自互联网

7 anthem   

n.圣歌，赞美诗，颂歌

参考例句：

• All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played.奏国歌时全场肃立。
• As he stood on the winner's rostrum,he sang the words of the national anthem.他站在冠军领奖台上，唱起了国歌。

8 physicist   

n.物理学家，研究物理学的人

参考例句：

• He is a physicist of the first rank.他是一流的物理学家。
• The successful physicist never puts on airs.这位卓有成就的物理学家从不摆架子。

9 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

10 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

11 reticent   

adj.沉默寡言的；言不如意的

参考例句：

• He was reticent about his opinion.他有保留意见。
• He was extremely reticent about his personal life.他对自己的个人生活讳莫如深。

12 Naziism   

n.纳粹主义，德国国家社会主义

参考例句：

13 awakening   

n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的

参考例句：

• the awakening of interest in the environment 对环境产生的兴趣
• People are gradually awakening to their rights. 人们正逐渐意识到自己的权利。

14 fascist   

adj.法西斯主义的；法西斯党的；n.法西斯主义者，法西斯分子

参考例句：

• The strikers were roughed up by the fascist cops.罢工工人遭到法西斯警察的殴打。
• They succeeded in overthrowing the fascist dictatorship.他们成功推翻了法西斯独裁统治。