2020年经济学人 家庭娱乐专栏--回到水中(1)

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文艺板块

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家庭娱乐专栏

Back in the water

回到水中

Hidden depths

隐藏的深渊

Bungling¹ officials confront an invisible threat in a blockbuster about a fish. “A film about ashark” was Steven Spielberg’s description of “Jaws”, the movie released in 1975 thatestablished his box-office power as a director. More elaborate interpretations² abound³ for histale of a ravenous⁴ great white terrorising the genteel seaside town of Amity⁵ on Long Island. Isit a comment on corruption⁶ after Watergate, a parable⁷ of the Vietnam war or an illustrationof Freudian castration anxiety? Fidel Castro, in an excursion into film criticism, reckoned it wasa devastating⁸ Marxist critique of American capitalism⁹.

在一部关于鱼的大片中，拙劣的官员们面临着无形的威胁。史蒂文·斯皮尔伯格将《大白鲨》描述为“一部关于鲨鱼的电影”，这部电影于1975年上映，奠定了他作为一名导演的票房号召力。这部电影讲述了一只非比寻常的巨大白鲨威胁着一个叫艾米蒂长岛的幽静的滨海小镇的故事，人们对这个故事的解释众说纷纭。它是在水门事件发生后针对腐败问题进行评论吗？它是表示对越南战争的隐喻吗？还是为了例证弗洛伊德阉割焦虑症？菲德尔·卡斯特罗在一次尝试影评时，认为这部电影是一部宣扬马克思主义，批判美国资本主义的伟大作品。

The movie supports so many theories because of its layered plot and styles—one reason it isamenable to repeated viewings. Nerve-tingling suspense¹⁰ is intercut with picket- fencemelodrama and humour. It is a buddy¹¹ movie crossed with an adventure on the high seas. From the perspective of the pandemic, though, “Jaws” seems at heart to be a film about theuntameable power of nature. An invisible, relentless¹² assailant makes no distinction as towhom it attacks. Like some leaders today, the officials who must confront it are vacillating andhelpless.

这部电影之所以支持着这么多的理论，是因为它的情节和风格层次分明，这也是它容易让人反复观看的原因。神经紧绷的悬念与栅栏式的情节与幽默交织在一起。这是一部在公海上冒险的伙伴电影。不过，从大流行的角度来看，《大白鲨》在本质上似乎是一部关于大自然不可估量的力量的电影。存在一个看不见的，无情的袭击者，它会无差别进行袭击。官员们必须去面对这个袭击者，他们就像今天的一些领导人一样，摇摆不定，束手无策。

Much of the tension is achieved through the power of suggestion. The shark is not fully¹³ seenuntil long into the story (mostly because the mechanical models constantly malfunctioned). As in the lockdown, when the streets outside are the domain¹⁴ of a deadly bug¹⁵, the sea that givesthe beast its cover is the enemy, too, made ominous¹⁶ and forbidding by the spare andportentous score. Where can you turn when a killer¹⁷ might be anywhere?

这部影片中大量的紧张感是依靠联想的力量进行塑造的。故事开始了很久，人们才完整地看到这只鲨鱼（主要是因为机械模型经常出现故障）。就像是在封锁时期时，外面的大街被某种致命的微生物占据，为野兽提供庇护的大海也是敌人，电影中额外的且充满预兆性的配乐营造了不详和可怕的氛围。凶手可能会出现在任何地方，这时你能朝向哪里？

1 bungling   

adj.笨拙的，粗劣的v.搞糟，完不成( bungle的现在分词 )；笨手笨脚地做；失败；完不成

参考例句：

• You can't do a thing without bungling it. 你做事总是笨手笨脚。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• 'Enough, too,' retorted George. 'We'll all swing and sundry for your bungling.' “还不够吗？”乔治反问道，“就因为你乱指挥，我们都得荡秋千，被日头晒干。” 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛

2 interpretations   

n.解释( interpretation的名词复数 )；表演；演绎；理解

参考例句：

• This passage is open to a variety of interpretations. 这篇文章可以有各种不同的解释。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The involved and abstruse passage makes several interpretations possible. 这段艰涩的文字可以作出好几种解释。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 abound   

vi.大量存在；(in，with)充满，富于

参考例句：

• Oranges abound here all the year round.这里一年到头都有很多橙子。
• But problems abound in the management of State-owned companies.但是在国有企业的管理中仍然存在不少问题。

4 ravenous   

adj.极饿的，贪婪的

参考例句：

• The ravenous children ate everything on the table.饿极了的孩子把桌上所有东西吃掉了。
• Most infants have a ravenous appetite.大多数婴儿胃口极好。

5 amity   

n.友好关系

参考例句：

• He lives in amity with his neighbours.他和他的邻居相处得很和睦。
• They parted in amity.他们很友好地分别了。

6 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

7 parable   

n.寓言，比喻

参考例句：

• This is an ancient parable.这是一个古老的寓言。
• The minister preached a sermon on the parable of the lost sheep.牧师讲道时用了亡羊的比喻。

8 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。

9 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

10 suspense   

n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑

参考例句：

• The suspense was unbearable.这样提心吊胆的状况实在叫人受不了。
• The director used ingenious devices to keep the audience in suspense.导演用巧妙手法引起观众的悬念。

11 buddy   

n.（美口）密友，伙伴

参考例句：

• Calm down,buddy.What's the trouble?压压气，老兄。有什么麻烦吗？
• Get out of my way,buddy!别挡道了，你这家伙！

12 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

13 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

14 domain   

n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围

参考例句：

• This information should be in the public domain.这一消息应该为公众所知。
• This question comes into the domain of philosophy.这一问题属于哲学范畴。

15 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

16 ominous   

adj.不祥的，不吉的，预兆的，预示的

参考例句：

• Those black clouds look ominous for our picnic.那些乌云对我们的野餐来说是个不祥之兆。
• There was an ominous silence at the other end of the phone.电话那头出现了不祥的沉默。

17 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。