经济学人74:流动的盛宴 A Movable Feast

 　　Books and Arts; New cinema; A movable feast; Woody Allen's new film is one of his best;

　　文艺；新电影；流动的盛宴；伍迪·艾伦最新力作颇受好评；

　　Nostalgia¹ isn't what it used to be in “Midnight in Paris”, and neither is Paris. During the musical montage of city scenes at the beginning of Woody Allen's new film there are more cars than people in most of the shots. When the francophile hero, Gil Spender (Owen Wilson: superb), reminds his future mother-in-law that Ernest Hemingway called Paris in the 1920s a “movable feast”, she grumbles²: “With this traffic, nothing can move.” Gil is visiting the City of Lights with Inez (Rachel McAdams, pictured), his bride-to-be, and her obnoxious³ parents. Inez, who has inherited her mother's acid tongue, uses it on her hapless fiancé whenever he suggests that he might be happier here than in Malibu, writing novels instead of the high-priced screenplays that have so far enabled her family to overlook his neurotic⁴ mannerisms, which strangely recall those of Mr Allen.

　　《午夜巴黎》中，怀旧再不是从前的怀旧，巴黎也不再是从前的巴黎了。在伍迪·艾伦的这部新电影里，开场便运用了音乐蒙太奇的手法展示巴黎街景，而在大部分场景中，车比人还多。男主角——一个法国发烧友——盖尔·斯潘得（欧文·威尔逊：我演的棒极了）向他的准丈母娘提起，欧内斯特·海明威把二十年代的巴黎称作“流动的盛宴”时，岳母大人喃喃自语：“堵车堵成这样，谁也别想动。”盖尔和他的准新娘伊内兹（瑞秋·麦克亚当斯饰）及不怎么讨人喜欢的岳父母一起来到了巴黎这座不夜城。遗传了母亲一张利嘴的伊内兹总是对她未婚夫盖尔想要留在巴黎的想法嗤之以鼻。但盖尔却觉得他在巴黎会比在马里布过得更开心，因为他在巴黎可以写些小说，而不是写电影剧本——虽然这些可以带来丰厚收入的电影剧本让伊内兹一家忽略的了盖尔的神经质，而这样神经质的表现却让人不由自主地想起了导演艾伦先生。

　　The writer-wirector's 41st film pretends to debunk⁵ the illusions of nostalgia, but it puts the argument against “the golden age syndrome” in the mouth of a pedantic⁶ ass⁷ (Michael Sheen), who is politely cut off at the knees by a lovely museum guide (France's first lady, Carla Bruni). In short order Gil is transported in a magic cab to a smoky, underlit Paris where it is always just past midnight, some time in the 1920s.

　　本片是编导伍迪·艾伦的第41部影片。影片好像是要戳穿怀旧的假象，但却安排一个老学究（麦克·辛饰）来驳斥“黄金时代症”，而一个漂亮的博物馆导游（法国第一夫人布鲁尼·萨科齐饰）则不咸不淡地将其拦腰截断。紧接着，盖尔被一辆出租车奇迹般地送回了二十年代的巴黎，来到了一个昏暗朦胧的午夜。

　　Because this is a satirical comedy, the present-day characters get the best dialogue while the denizens⁸ of the golden age are reduced to clichéd one-liners about their own history-book images. Only Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston and Alison Pill) are credibly⁹ fleshed-out, as a warning about what will happen if Gil marries Inez. Gil's adventures in the past, including a love affair with Picasso's mistress (Marion Cotillard), eventually supply him with one sensible anti-nostalgia argument (“These people don't even have Zithromax!”) but do nothing to cast doubt on the superiority of his new friends to his future family, who are unmistakably Californians. (Mr Allen's first time-travel fantasy, “Sleeper”, posited¹⁰ a future dystopia that is a surreal vision of California.)

　　由于这是一个讽刺喜剧，来自现代的盖尔字字珠玑，而生活在黄金时代的人们则只能对自己的历史形象开些陈腐的玩笑。只有斯科特和菲茨·杰拉德（汤姆·希德勒斯顿和艾丽森·皮尔饰）的形象是可信且丰满的，因为他们要告诫盖尔婚后可能发生的状况。盖尔与毕加索的情妇（玛丽昂·歌迪亚饰）之间的爱情以及他穿越回过去的一系列经历终于使盖尔产生了一个理性的、毫不感伤的念头——这时候竟然连阿奇霉素都没有！——但这个念头丝毫没能动摇这些新朋友在盖尔心中的地位，他们的地位甚至要比盖尔未来的家庭（那些如假包换的加利福尼亚人）还要高。（艾伦先生的穿越系处女作——《傻瓜大闹科学城》就为加利福尼亚虚构了一个荒诞离奇的未来。）

　　Instead, the discovery that each generation has its own nostalgias ends up fuelling a bittersweet farce¹¹ of a plot, with side-trips to the Belle¹² époque and the Versailles of Louis XIV. “Midnight in Paris” is a movable feast for fans of Woody Allen, and suggests that, at 75, he is enjoying a continuing renaissance¹³.

　　然而，影片所传达的“每代人都有属于自己的怀旧时光”的思想同男主角在法国“美好年代”及路易十四时期凡尔赛宫的旅程一起，为苦乐参半的闹剧情节画上了一个句号。《午夜巴黎》是伍迪·艾伦为影迷们奉上的一场移动的盛宴。与此同时，75岁的导演艾伦也借此享受着一场持续的文艺复兴。

1 nostalgia   

n.怀乡病，留恋过去，怀旧

参考例句：

• He might be influenced by nostalgia for his happy youth.也许是对年轻时幸福时光的怀恋影响了他。
• I was filled with nostalgia by hearing my favourite old song.我听到这首喜爱的旧歌，心中充满了怀旧之情。

2 grumbles   

抱怨( grumble的第三人称单数 )； 发牢骚； 咕哝； 发哼声

参考例句：

• He grumbles at his lot instead of resolutely facing his difficulties. 他不是果敢地去面对困难，而是抱怨自己运气不佳。
• I'm sick of your unending grumbles. 我对你的不断埋怨感到厌烦。

3 obnoxious   

adj.极恼人的，讨人厌的，可憎的

参考例句：

• These fires produce really obnoxious fumes and smoke.这些火炉冒出来的烟气确实很难闻。
• He is the most obnoxious man I know.他是我认识的最可憎的人。

4 neurotic   

adj.神经病的，神经过敏的；n.神经过敏者，神经病患者

参考例句：

• Nothing is more distracting than a neurotic boss. 没有什么比神经过敏的老板更恼人的了。
• There are also unpleasant brain effects such as anxiety and neurotic behaviour.也会对大脑产生不良影响，如焦虑和神经质的行为。

5 debunk   

v.揭穿真相，暴露

参考例句：

• let's debunk some of the most common falsehoods.让我们来揭穿一些最常见的谬误吧。
• Sequences of maps can also debunk misconceptions.一系列的地图，也有助于厘清错误概念。

6 pedantic   

adj.卖弄学问的；迂腐的

参考例句：

• He is learned,but neither stuffy nor pedantic.他很博学，但既不妄自尊大也不卖弄学问。
• Reading in a pedantic way may turn you into a bookworm or a bookcase,and has long been opposed.读死书会变成书呆子，甚至于成为书橱，早有人反对过了。

7 ass   

n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人

参考例句：

• He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
• An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

8 denizens   

n.居民，住户( denizen的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• polar bears, denizens of the frozen north 北极熊，在冰天雪地的北方生活的动物
• At length these denizens of the swamps disappeared in their turn. 到了后来，连这些沼泽国的居民们也不见了。 来自辞典例句

9 credibly   

ad.可信地；可靠地

参考例句：

• I am credibly informed that. 由可靠方面听说。
• An effective management software ensures network to run credibly. 一个高效的网管软件是网络运行的可靠保证。

10 posited   

v.假定，设想，假设( posit的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Several writers have posited the idea of a universal consciousness. 有几个作者都假设存在普遍意识。 来自辞典例句
• All cash receipts should be recorded and de-posited daily. 所有的现金收据应该被每日记录和存放。 来自互联网

11 farce   

n.闹剧，笑剧，滑稽戏；胡闹

参考例句：

• They played a shameful role in this farce.他们在这场闹剧中扮演了可耻的角色。
• The audience roared at the farce.闹剧使观众哄堂大笑。

12 belle   

n.靓女

参考例句：

• She was the belle of her Sunday School class.在主日学校她是她们班的班花。
• She was the belle of the ball.她是那个舞会中的美女。

13 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。