双语 | 你还在骂《长城》？英国人发现了其中的隐喻…

接近年尾时，低迷的电影市场迎来一次小小的高潮。迷之大片《罗曼蒂克消亡史》上映了，虽然很多人表示没看懂，但口碑不错。

当然，最受关注也最有争议的，当属同日上映的《长城》无疑。

自从传出张艺谋拍摄《长城》的消息以来，这部片子就引起争议。海报一出，马特·达蒙作为男一号旋即引起人们的质疑：故事发生在中国，难道只有白人才能成为拯救世界的英雄吗？这一度让达蒙喊冤。

影片上映后人们才发现，原来拯救世界的并不是所谓的“白人英雄”，而是“齐心协力”的结果，甚至有人说其实是“景甜拯救了世界”，因此，调侃说片子应该叫《奥运开幕式之景甜拯救世界》……无论如何，“种族主义”的误会是没有了。

但争议依然极端两极化。不少影评人认为“张艺谋的艺术生涯已死”“《长城》中没有人性”“张艺谋严重堕落了”，甚至引来了《长城》的发行方与影评人之间的“撕逼”。还有人说，看到“景甜”果断打了1分……

但与此同时，在一些观众看来，情况似乎并没有那么糟。报道说，16日在全国上映以来，不到4天票房已过5亿。看过片子的观众给出不少好评，表示“特效很棒”，“景甜比想象中好多了”，“景甜要甩掉票房毒药帽子了”，“国师没有影评人说的那么不堪”，此前一直被黑的景甜，在观众眼里，也并非“演技烂”，观众反而觉得景甜在电影里表现很好，演技比之前的作品也有进步，英文流利。

而英国《卫报》则认为，看上去套路简单的“打怪”大片，或许有着极深的隐喻…于是，这又带来另一个问题：不管你的评价高低，你确定真看懂《长城》了吗？

让我们来看看英文媒体的报道↓

Matt Damon’s latest work The Great Wall was once the center of controversy over allegations, but not that the film has hit Chinese mainland theaters on Friday attention has shifted.

马特•达蒙因为最近的新作《长城》而一度备受争议，该电影自12月16日在中国内地正式上映以来，也可谓是各大媒体争相关注的焦点，话题不断。

The Chinese fantasy-action film topped Friday’s mainland box office with opening day earnings of 107.94 million yuan ($15.52 million) - more than five times that of the runner-up The Wasted Times, another Chinese film that premiered the same day.

这部奇幻大作自上周五首映当天就凭借1.0794亿（约合1552万美元）的收入引领票房，该收入是同日上映的另一部电影《罗曼蒂克消亡史》的五倍之多。

While it seems that The Great Wall may come as a ray of light in what has been a gloomy film market this year, opinions towards the film have been divided.

正当很多人认为《长城》为一直疲软低迷的电影市场带来一丝希望之时，人们关于该电影的评论却早已褒贬不一，众说纷纭。

Another Olympic show?

《长城》是张艺谋的另一场奥林匹克开幕式？

One thing happy surprise was the film’s ability to fuse Chinese elements in a rather natural way compared to other joint productions in the past.

和之前中外合作的电影相比，《长城》用一种相对自然且合理的方式将中国元素巧妙融合到情节之中，这可谓是电影的一大亮点。

Set in ancient China, The Great Wall follows two Western mercenaries William Garin (Matt Damon) and Pero Tovar (Pedro Pascal) who plan to steal a sample of gunpowder to take back to the West. However, the two are captured by the Nameless Order, a Chinese troop garrisoned at the Great Wall. Discovering that the troop’s true mission is to defend China from invading monsters known as Taotie and influenced by the soldiers’ selflessness, Garin decides to stay and fight together with them.

故事发生在中国古代，两个计划在中国偷取黑火药的西方商人威廉•加林（马特•达蒙 饰）和佩罗•托瓦尔（派德罗•帕斯卡 饰）误打误撞进入长城，随后被驻扎在长城的无影禁军逮捕。加林后来逐渐认识到这支军队的最终使命就是与无比繁多且凶猛的怪兽饕餮作斗争，免于国内人民受害，并在战争的过程中被战士们勇于牺牲的精神所震撼，最后他决定留在此地，和当地将士共同应对饕餮。

"A large scale Olympic gymnastics show" is what most Chinese critics have been calling The Great Wall, referring to the fact that the film’s director Zhang Yimou also directed the opening ceremony for the Beijing Olympic Games.

国内一些影评人士将该电影称作是“一场大规模的奥运体操表演”，意指导演张艺谋曾经执导过2008年北京奥运会开幕式，而该电影与开幕式无甚区别。

"The Great Wall is a collapsed work," Ye Xindai, a domestic critic said in a long critique of the film posted on Wechat. Cheng Qingsong - chief editor of Youth Film Handbook magazine and the organizer of The Golden Broom awards, which sarcastically awards the worst movies of the year - called The Great Wall the champion of the awards.

国内影评人叶新岱在微信中发表了一篇长影评，直指“该电影是一部烂片”。《青年电影手册》的杂志主编兼“金扫帚奖”（首个为年度最差影片颁发的奖项）组织者程青松则公开表示电影《长城》将当之无愧被授予年度“金扫帚奖”，讽刺意味十足。

"I felt it was still exciting after I watched the film for a second time," Wang Youshi, 22, a college student told the Global Times on Saturday.

22岁的大学生王有石在上周六接受《环球时报》采访时则表示：“这个电影我看了两遍，二刷的时候仍然觉得特别激动。”

"The scenes are great. I never thought a Chinese film could look like a Hollywood blockbuster."

“我觉得电影里面的场面实在是太炫了！原来我们中国电影也能拍出好莱坞大片!”

This split in opinions between critics and general audiences is reflected on two of China’s major film websites Mtime and Douban. While the film has a relatively high grade of 7.3/10 on Mtime, it only holds a 5.3/10 on Douban, a site that attracts more critics and industry insiders.

该电影的相关评价在国内两家电影网站——时光网和豆瓣上截然不同。《长城》在时光网的评分高达7.3分，而在豆瓣上的评分则只有5.3分（满分皆为10分）。一般来说，豆瓣上的影评人大多数为批评人士和业内人士。

Taking aim at the West

意在创作西方好莱坞大片？

The core of The Great Wall is typically Hollywood: A big name director and famous actors and actresses, exciting action scenes, and most of all, a story about a lost man finally finding real meaning in life and becoming a hero.

不难看出，《长城》是一部典型的好莱坞影片：大牌的导演和全明星阵容，震撼人心的动作场景。最重要的一点，该影片讲述了一个迷失自我的人最终找回生活真谛，并成为受人称颂的英雄的故事，基本符合好莱坞经典故事的架构模式。

The Great Wall currently has a 5.6/10 from 245 netizens on Western movie site IMDB, with only one netizen posting a review. In this post from a UK moviegoer who watched the film in Shanghai, the reviewer said he was disappointed by the story yet acknowledged the visuals and action scenes.

西方电影网站IMDB上有245位网友对电影《长城》进行了评分，最终分数为5.6分（满分为10分）。其中只有一位网友写下了影评。这位来自英国的观影人士在中国上海观看了这部电影，他在影评中表示自己对电影的故事情节非常失望，但对影片中的动作场景和视觉特效给予了肯定。

Variety’s review of the film hasn’t been kind either, pointing out the flaws in the film such as a lack of well-developed characters and a rigid performance from the lead actress.

除此之外，还有很多网友对该电影进行大肆吐槽，并指出了很多不足之处，例如人物形象不够饱满，主要演员演技太差，表演生硬，等等。

However, despite critic reviews, the film is still highly anticipated by global audiences. IMDB shows the film rising in popularity and Rotten Tomatoes shows that 95 percent of users want to see the film.

然而，尽管批评的声音不绝于耳，但世界各地观众仍然表示很期待该片。IMDB网站显示该影片的热度正在持续上涨，烂番茄网则显示有将近95%的用户表示想看此片。

The Great Wall reminds many people of The Transformers franchise, the last two films of which were also heavily criticized. Yet considering that these films’ target audiences are people only looking to go to the movies to relax and enjoy themselves, a shallow story is not a barrier to earning tons at the box office.

这部影片不禁让很多人想起《变形金刚》系列，《变形金刚》最后两部电影也是备受诟病。但考虑到很多观众只是把看电影当做消遣和娱乐的一种方式，所以单薄的故事情节并不会对票房造成太大影响。

Another reason that criticism of the film will likely not influence The Great Wall’s final box office is that the film has clearly been made with audiences around the world in mind rather than just for the Chinese market.

此外，《长城》的观影群众并不单单面向中国市场，而是面向世界各国人民，这也是相关批评言论并不会对该影片票房造成多大冲击的另一个原因所在。

Later this month, The Great Wall will head to a number of Asian countries, then over to Europe in January and February, and the North American market on February 17.

该电影将会在本月末进军亚洲其他国家市场，明年一月份和二月份将会入驻欧洲，2月17号将会进入北美市场。

Some aspects of the film which come across as too shallow for Chinese critics may be just the right dish for overseas audiences.

或许一直为国内观众诟病的内容恰恰是海外观众所欣赏的地方。

For example, in China some have felt that naming a film that is only meant to entertain The Great Wall is an insult to the actual architectural masterpiece. However, using the The Great Wall of China as an identifier is the best way for the film’s producers to let non-Chinese audiences know that the story takes place in China - the title is both straightforward and impressive.

例如，一些人认为该电影命名为《长城》是对中国伟大建筑杰作长城的亵渎与侮辱。但事实上将电影取名为《长城》恰好告知了海外观众影片中的故事就发生在中国的长城之上，简单明了，还会使人印象深刻。

Other scenes that Chinese audiences have found a bit overbearing, such as a scene featuring a group of women beating on drums and another scene featuring traditional Chinese folk opera, may be seen as very novel and fresh for audiences outside China.

除此之外，影片中一些被认为比较浮夸的情节，例如一群女兵在城墙边打鼓以及带有中国传统民谣的桥段对外国观众来说却是无比新颖，使其观影期间兴趣盎然。

而在英国《卫报》看来，该电影似乎别有深意：

By its end, The Great Wall leaves you with the feeling that it must be a metaphor – after all, the Taotie were, according to legend, brought down by their own greed – but hazy about what exactly the moral is. Is it a warning over rampant Chinese consumerism? A caution against maraudingforeigners and invading foreign values? A reminder about the power of collectivism over individualism? Or is it really just a good old romp between goodies and baddies?

看到最后，《长城》会让你觉得其中一定存在隐喻，毕竟根据神话记载，饕餮毁在了自己的贪欲上，但对人们道德层面的启示尚不明确。它是对中国蔓延的消费主义加以警示？还是要提防四处劫掠的外国人以及外国价值的入侵？宣传集体主义的力量高于个人主义？亦或是单纯的正邪较量？

而不了解“饕餮”这种怪兽的历史渊源，似乎并不能看到这种隐喻。

饕餮与好莱坞怪兽并不相同，它在中国有着极深的历史渊源，它是传说中的贪食的恶兽。据说贪吃到把自己的身体都吃掉的程度，因此被视为贪欲的象征，所以常用来形容贪食或贪婪的人。

《辞海》在解释饕字时说：饕即“贪，《汉书·礼乐志》：‘贪饕险’颜师古注：‘贪甚曰饕。’特指贪食。”

青铜器上的饕餮

饕餮来自中国古代神话典籍《山海经》，书中是这样介绍它的：其形状如羊身人面，眼在腋下，虎齿人手，大头大嘴。性格贪婪，比喻好吃之徒，常见于青铜像——这也是《长城》中的饕餮为何被设计成青绿色。

影片中的饕餮

而为何又需在长城上防御饕餮呢？据考证，原来也有渊源。

据《左传·文公十八年》记载，上古神话时期就有混沌、穷奇、梼杌和饕餮“四大凶兽”；到了尧舜时期，出现了“四大凶族”：帝鸿氏、少埠氏、领项氏及缙云氏，这“四大凶兽”就成了“四大凶族”的图腾。其中，北部的缙云氏生性凶残，作恶民间，因而被尧流放戍边。民间有说缙云氏首领死后化作饕餮，亦有饕餮是缙云氏图腾的说法。

如此一看，被流放边疆的缙云氏族——饕餮的化身，本身就与北方的游牧民族有扯不断理还乱的关系，而抗击饕餮于长城之外，力保山河于长城之内，也一样能展现出我国历朝历代长期抵御游牧民族的恢弘史诗。

看来，《长城》这部片子里面的确埋了不少东西。正如卫报说的：

While the plot is straightforward and twists largely non-existent, The Great Wall succeeds as a visual extravaganza with plenty of adventure, and has been generally well-received by domestic audiences. Whether it has done enough to differentiate itself and achieve mainstream international success remains to be seen.

不过，电影情节直截了当，基本上不拖泥带水。作为一场充满冒险场面的视觉盛宴，《长城》大获成功，受到了国内观众的广泛好评。至于它是否在实现差异化以及获得国际主流的认可上做得足够好，让我们拭目以待。

综自：爱语吧、沪江英语、卫报、1905电影网、新华娱乐等

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