美国国家公共电台 NPR If It's Awkward, 'My Instinct Is To Make Fun Of It,' Says Armando Iannucci

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Armando Iannucci has created some of the most biting political satire¹ on radio, TV and in the movies of the past 25 years. His latest is a political spoof² about the demise³ of dictator Joseph Stalin in 1953.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE DEATH OF STALIN")

SIMON RUSSELL BEALE: (As Lavrentiy Beria) Stalin's dead.

STEVE BUSCEMI: (As Nikita Khrushchev, yelling) Stalin is dead.

MARTIN: "The Death Of Stalin" hits theaters this weekend. NPR's Mandalit del Barco gives us an inside look at Iannucci and what is funny about fascism.

MANDALIT DEL BARCO, BYLINE⁴: Armando Iannucci's MO is to mock pompous⁵, powerful people and the nincompoops who surround them.

ARMANDO IANNUCCI: If something awkward is happening, my instinct is to make fun of it.

DEL BARCO: Which is what happens in his new film.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE DEATH OF STALIN")

ADRIAN MCLOUGHLIN: (As Joseph Stalin, laughing, choking).

(SOUNDBITE OF THUD)

DEL BARCO: Stalin falls lifeless while his cowering⁶ underlings are goofing⁷ off.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE DEATH OF STALIN")

BUSCEMI: (As Nikita Khrushchev) No, no, come on.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character, laughing)

BUSCEMI: (As Nikita Khrushchev) No, not again.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character, laughing)

BUSCEMI: (As Nikita Khrushchev) No, don't you...

DEL BARCO: They rush to his side, then jostle for power.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE DEATH OF STALIN")

BUSCEMI: (As Nikita Khrushchev) All right, can we just stop twittering like fishwives at the market and concentrate?

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters) Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

MICHAEL PALIN: He loves to see the mania⁸ and mayhem in people, especially people in power.

DEL BARCO: Actor Michael Palin is a longtime fan of Iannucci.

PALIN: You know, the kind of energy directed in completely the wrong direction - he's very, very good at that.

DEL BARCO: In this film, Palin stars as Molotov, one of Stalin's loyalists. The actor says Iannucci follows in the tradition of the Monty Python style Palin helped create.

PALIN: We've always been fairly ruthless with our leaders and anyone in Britain who tries to hang on to power. Usually, there will be a protest. And we don't like people becoming too full of themselves. The way to diffuse⁹ pomposity¹⁰ and power is through ridicule¹¹, which is part of British humor.

DEL BARCO: Iannucci's productions poke¹² fun at inept¹³ politicians and dysfunctional bureaucracies. The director says he finds the fact that we're all fallible to be endearing and horrifying¹⁴.

IANNUCCI: I think we place the art of politics on this pedestal, and we assume that it's done by people who know what they're doing. And I just want to show that that's not the case. It's all seat-of-the-pants, off-the-cuff, try and think of something good to say today, or how do we get round the mistake from yesterday, hoping that you're not found out.

DEL BARCO: That's the blueprint¹⁵ for another Iannucci creation, the award-winning HBO series "Veep."

(SOUNDBITE OF L'ORCHESTRA CINEMATIQUE'S "VEEP MAIN THEME")

DEL BARCO: Julia Louis-Dreyfus stars as Selina Meyer, the vice¹⁶ president and briefly¹⁷ president of the United States. She makes many gaffes¹⁸ - unintentionally wearing squeaky shoes, having to vamp nonsensical speeches and endlessly dealing¹⁹ with fools.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "VEEP")

KEVIN DUNN: (As Ben Cafferty) So are you ready for these buzz-cut bozos?

JULIA LOUIS-DREYFUS: (As Selina Meyer) What are you talking about? I'm used to dealing with angry, aggressive, dysfunctional men - i.e., men.

IANNUCCI: With "Veep," I want it to feel almost like we're an uninvited guest seeing what goes on. So I encourage people to talk over each other and not do all the cues beautifully rehearsed.

DEL BARCO: Iannucci says he also used his signature technique for his 2009 film about British politics, "In The Loop."

IANNUCCI: I always do a take when I tell the camera operators to not film anyone talking, just film people listening because sometimes the way somebody just reacts in shock or horror or laughs is actually the funny bit of the routine, as it were.

DEL BARCO: Actress Anna Chlumsky is in "Veep" and was in "In The Loop."

ANNA CHLUMSKY: He'll just, like, shoot double what he needs. You know, and then only about half of it ends up in the edit. And really, what that allows you to do is just play, play, play and not censor²⁰ yourself and not feel judged.

DEL BARCO: She says Iannucci loves to put his actors in uncomfortable situations.

CHLUMSKY: Arm loves to put, like, a short person and a tall person in a scene together. He loves grown people running. He likes to put people in small spaces (laughter).

DEL BARCO: Iannucci lampoons²¹ not just politicians but spin doctors and TV news hosts. In 2005, he created the BBC Four political sitcom²² "The Thick Of It," which became a cult²³ hit and was spun²⁴ off into "In The Loop." Iannucci also created the beloved TV and radio presenter²⁵ Alan Partridge, a self-obsessed buffoon²⁶ played by Steve Coogan. Over the decades, the character has evolved - or devolved - across TV shows and movies, like here in 2013's "Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ALAN PARTRIDGEP: ALPHA PAPA")

STEVE COOGAN: (As Alan Partridge) That was a majestic²⁷ voice. You can keep Jesus. As far as I'm concerned, Neil Diamond will always be King of the Jews. And this was "Mid²⁸ Morning Matters."

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

DEL BARCO: Iannucci grew up in Scotland, where he got his start doing stand-up comedy at school talent shows.

IANNUCCI: And I was about 12 or 13. I'd just steal jokes off the radio, off radio comedy shows.

DEL BARCO: His career took off at the BBC's Radio Scotland.

IANNUCCI: It was sketches²⁹, yeah, and I was doing all the voices, you know. So I was presenting a music show, but I was allowed to write comedy, and then actually direct some performers, and use sound effects and edit it.

DEL BARCO: Here he is in 1993 on BBC Radio 1's "The Armando Iannucci Show."

(SOUNDBITE OF RADIO SHOW, "THE ARMANDO IANNUCCI SHOW")

IANNUCCI: Yeah, hi, fabu, and sit down. This is Armando Iannucci here with 30 minutes of twisted wireless³⁰ excitement. Anything you ever heard on Radio 1 over the past five years is about to be put through a blender and restitched together the wrong way around. Most of the jingles³¹ come off some dodgy cassettes bought down at the market.

DEL BARCO: Iannucci says he learned a lot from working in radio about using words deliberately³² and sparingly. He was also influenced by English poet John Milton. In graduate school, he even began writing his Ph.D. thesis on Milton's epic³³ "Paradise Lost."

IANNUCCI: The character you really like is Satan. God is a bit boring. And clearly, Milton is enjoying writing Satan. His Satan is sort of a politician. He uses words to convince all his followers³⁴ that the state they're in the opposite of how it is because they're in hell, and he's trying to convince them that this'll be fine; don't worry; I can turn this around. That's just using rhetoric³⁵ to pull the wool over people's eyes.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHRISTOPHER WILLIS' "WE CRY FOR YOU")

DEL BARCO: In "The Death Of Stalin," Iannucci mixes comedy and tragedy. He says the film's underlying³⁶ level of anxiety may have a ring to it for today's audiences. He says he started making the movie a year before Donald Trump³⁷ became president.

IANNUCCI: People have commented on the fact that it's strangely prescient because it's about people who want to control the media, the flow of information. There are mentions in it of things like the - a new narrative³⁸ and an old narrative, which brings in the whole business of alternative facts and fake news.

DEL BARCO: Iannucci says despite his satire, he's actually quite sympathetic to politicians who end up compromising their beliefs in order to succeed.

IANNUCCI: That's why I could never be a politician. I wouldn't last for a second. I'd end up just saying the wrong thing, or if an opponent said something, I would say, you know, you put it like that, I can - I think that's a good point, actually.

DEL BARCO: Iannucci's next film will take on "David Copperfield" - the Dickens novel, not the magician. Mandalit del Barco, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF RAYA BRASS BAND'S "UNIFY")

1 satire   

n.讽刺，讽刺文学，讽刺作品

参考例句：

• The movie is a clever satire on the advertising industry.那部影片是关于广告业的一部巧妙的讽刺作品。
• Satire is often a form of protest against injustice.讽刺往往是一种对不公正的抗议形式。

2 spoof   

n.诳骗，愚弄，戏弄

参考例句：

• The show was a spoof of college life.那戏是对大学生活的讽刺。
• That is Tim Robbins's spoof documentary about a presidential campaign.那是蒂姆·罗宾斯关于总统选举的讽刺纪录片。

3 demise   

n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让

参考例句：

• He praised the union's aims but predicted its early demise.他赞扬协会的目标，但预期这一协会很快会消亡。
• The war brought about the industry's sudden demise.战争道致这个行业就这么突然垮了。

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 pompous   

adj.傲慢的，自大的；夸大的；豪华的

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities.他有点自大，自视甚高。
• He is a good man underneath his pompous appearance. 他的外表虽傲慢，其实是个好人。

6 cowering   

v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He turned his baleful glare on the cowering suspect. 他恶毒地盯着那个蜷缩成一团的嫌疑犯。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He stood over the cowering Herb with fists of fury. 他紧握着两个拳头怒气冲天地站在惊魂未定的赫伯面前。 来自辞典例句

7 goofing   

v.弄糟( goof的现在分词 )；混；打发时间；出大错

参考例句：

• He should have been studying instead of goofing around last night. 他昨晚应该念书，不应该混。 来自走遍美国快乐40招
• Why don't you just admit you're goofing off? 偷了懒就偷了赖，还不爽爽快快承认？ 来自辞典例句

8 mania   

n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好

参考例句：

• Football mania is sweeping the country.足球热正风靡全国。
• Collecting small items can easily become a mania.收藏零星物品往往容易变成一种癖好。

9 diffuse   

v.扩散；传播；adj.冗长的；四散的，弥漫的

参考例句：

• Direct light is better for reading than diffuse light.直射光比漫射光更有利于阅读。
• His talk was so diffuse that I missed his point.他的谈话漫无边际，我抓不住他的要点。

10 pomposity   

n.浮华；虚夸；炫耀；自负

参考例句：

• He hated pomposity and disliked being called a genius. 他憎恶自负的作派，而且不喜欢被称为天才。 来自辞典例句
• Nothing could deflate his ego/pomposity, ie make him less self-assured or pompous. 任何事都不能削弱他的自信心[气焰]。 来自辞典例句

11 ridicule   

v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄

参考例句：

• You mustn't ridicule unfortunate people.你不该嘲笑不幸的人。
• Silly mistakes and queer clothes often arouse ridicule.荒谬的错误和古怪的服装常会引起人们的讪笑。

12 poke   

n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• We never thought she would poke her nose into this.想不到她会插上一手。
• Don't poke fun at me.别拿我凑趣儿。

13 inept   

adj.不恰当的，荒谬的，拙劣的

参考例句：

• Whan an inept remark to make on such a formal occasion.在如此正式的场合，怎么说这样不恰当的话。
• He's quite inept at tennis.他打网球太笨。

14 horrifying   

a.令人震惊的，使人毛骨悚然的

参考例句：

• He went to great pains to show how horrifying the war was. 他极力指出战争是多么的恐怖。
• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate. 战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。

15 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

16 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

17 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

18 gaffes   

n.失礼，出丑( gaffe的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The presidential candidate made three mistakes, or gaffes, during his speech. 校长候选人在演讲中出了三次错，或失态。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• When the microphones were on, gaffes gushed from his lips. 而当电话响起，他却口无遮拦，屡屡失言。 来自互联网

19 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

20 censor   

n./vt.审查，审查员；删改

参考例句：

• The film has not been viewed by the censor.这部影片还未经审查人员审查。
• The play was banned by the censor.该剧本被查禁了。

21 lampoons   

n.讽刺文章或言辞( lampoon的名词复数 )v.冷嘲热讽，奚落( lampoon的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

22 sitcom   

n.情景喜剧，（广播、电视的）系列幽默剧

参考例句：

• This sitcom is produced in cooperation with Hong Kong TV.这部连续剧是同香港电视台联合制作的。
• I heard that a new sitcom is coming out next season.我听说下一季会推出一个新的情境喜剧。

23 cult   

n.异教，邪教；时尚，狂热的崇拜

参考例句：

• Her books aren't bestsellers,but they have a certain cult following.她的书算不上畅销书，但有一定的崇拜者。
• The cult of sun worship is probably the most primitive one.太阳崇拜仪式或许是最为原始的一种。

24 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。

25 presenter   

n.（电视、广播的）主持人，赠与者

参考例句：

• Most people think being a television presenter is exciting.很多人认为当电视节目主持人是一件刺激的事情。
• The programme dispensed with its most popular presenter.这个节目最受欢迎的主持人被换掉了。

26 buffoon   

n.演出时的丑角

参考例句：

• They pictured their manager as a buffoon.他们把经理描绘成一个小丑。
• That politician acted like a buffoon during that debate.这个政客在那场辩论中真是丑态百出。

27 majestic   

adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的

参考例句：

• In the distance rose the majestic Alps.远处耸立着雄伟的阿尔卑斯山。
• He looks majestic in uniform.他穿上军装显得很威风。

28 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

29 sketches   

n.草图( sketch的名词复数 )；素描；速写；梗概

参考例句：

• The artist is making sketches for his next painting. 画家正为他的下一幅作品画素描。
• You have to admit that these sketches are true to life. 你得承认这些素描很逼真。 来自《简明英汉词典》

30 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

31 jingles   

叮当声( jingle的名词复数 )； 节拍十分规则的简单诗歌

参考例句：

• Can I give Del and Mr. Jingles some? 我可以分一点给戴尔和金格先生吗？
• This story jingles bells for many of my clients. 这个故事对我许多客户来说都耳熟能详。

32 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

33 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。

34 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

35 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

36 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

37 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

38 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。