美国国家公共电台 NPR In 'Only The Brave,' The True Story Of Fated Wildland Firefighters

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

The fires in Northern California have reminded many Americans of the courage, the heroism¹ of the men and women who fight fires in forests and wilderness².

A film called "Only The Brave" is based on the true story of the 19 Granite³ Mountain Hotshots crew who battled and lost their lives in Arizona's Yarnell Hill fire on June 30, 2013. Hotshots are those elite⁴ crews that attack and try to contain fires with chainsaws, shovels⁵ and flames to make firebreaks in a wildfire. Josh Brolin plays Eric Marsh⁶, the supe, supervisor⁷, of the crew.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ONLY THE BRAVE")

JOSH BROLIN: (As Eric Marsh) And I'm not going to sugarcoat it. This first season as Hotshots is going to be tough. We're going be traveling all over the country. You're going to be working harder, going longer. So it's important that this Granite Mountain family pulls together and looks out for each other because we can't do this without your support. No supe could be prouder right now of his boys than I am of you guys.

SIMON: "Only The Brave" is directed by Joseph Kosinski. It also stars Miles Teller⁸, Jeff Bridges and Jennifer Connelly. Josh Brolin joins us from New York. Thanks so much for being with us.

BROLIN: Thanks for having me, Scott.

SIMON: Have recent events in Northern California have made this story a little bit more urgent in your mind?

BROLIN: I mean, it does. I'm so happy that the movie exists as it does. I think its heart is in the right place. You know, every time I see this movie - it's a very visceral movie that deals with both what the firefighters go through but also, equally, their families and their wives and their kids waiting at home and what they go through.

With what's happening in California right now, I've had extended family, you know, be evacuated⁹ from their homes. It's very close to home. So you know, I think it's very apropos¹⁰ in that we can - we have something to bring more awareness¹¹ to what these people go through every day - these common people doing very uncommon¹², very dangerous things in order to assure the safety of their communities.

SIMON: There's a scene in the film when the Granite Mountain Hotshots save a famous tree in Prescott, Ariz.

BROLIN: The juniper tree, yeah.

SIMON: And they're hanging off the side of a mountain, all smudged and sweaty and exhausted¹⁴ and watching the sunset and choking on smoke. And then, I believe, it's your character who says, this is the best job in the world. Really?

(LAUGHTER)

BROLIN: Absolutely. You know, it's funny we just got - we've had amazing reviews. And we had one guy who - I don't - he wanted to stand out or whatever. And he had the one review saying nobody would ever say that.

Me, I was a volunteer firefighter for three years in my 20s, and I've been around the firefighting community for 30 years. So I know these guys extremely well. And I've heard that said many times - many times.

Firefighters love what they do because there's a brotherhood¹⁵. It's like saying, you know, going to war. Guys - troops who are in war will tell you that the brotherhood in war is unlike anything you will ever experience outside of that situation. And I think it's - the same thing goes for firefighters.

SIMON: One of the themes of the film is the contest, if you please, between duty and family.

BROLIN: Yeah.

SIMON: You've got firefighters and their families in there - in the film, and certainly in real life - where it's hard on the family. The family serves, too.

BROLIN: Yeah. I mean, it deals with the realities, with the tensions that exist when you have somebody in such a heightened reality coming home to somebody who's living this kind of domesticated¹⁶ existence and trying to keep things, you know, moving forward on the homefront. And there's no way that you're not going to have some kind of clash, some kind of compromise that needs to come out of that reintegrating, or trying to reintegrate.

You know, when I brought on all these guys, these actors, to play Hotshots, it was very important for me to kind of strip down, you know, that entitlement or that vanity that actors always (laughter) - bring with them on some level. You know what I mean? It's just impossible not to.

SIMON: How do you - forgive me - break down an actor's ego¹⁷ short of using nuclear weaponry?

(LAUGHTER)

BROLIN: There you go. During the training of what we did, you know, they had 45-pound packs. And I made sure that they were always 45 pounds. They had shoes that they had to break in, so it was a very bloody¹⁸ two weeks of breaking in those Nicks. We were hiking maybe 6 to 8 miles a day, we were going from 8,000 feet elevation¹⁹ to 11,000 feet.

I mean, they did. They really - they truly went through - they had an experience. And what came out of that is a brotherhood and a camaraderie²⁰ that I don't know if I've ever felt in any other movie to that extent.

SIMON: Boy. As I don't have to tell you, there's an overwhelming story going on in Hollywood now that we have to ask any Hollywood figure about, and that's the allegations of rape²¹ and sexual abuse against Harvey Weinstein. Do you know him?

BROLIN: I've known him.

SIMON: Yeah. Had any feeling this was going on? Ever heard stories? How do you feel about what's going on now?

BROLIN: I have a very strong feeling about anybody who's in a position of power who abuses that power. I don't care what position it is - whether it's the military, whether it's the police force, whether it's the presidency²², whether it's somebody who's, you know, supposedly a big wig²³ in Hollywood - and can manipulate the insecurities of the supposedly less powerful and use that to their advantage, I think, deserves any consequence that comes with that.

And, you know, and I'm a big believer in karma - what comes around goes around - and if that's what you're doing with your life, it's going to bite you in the ass¹³. And it's biting him in the ass.

SIMON: Josh Brolin, his film, "Only The Brave." Thanks so much for being with us.

BROLIN: Scott, thank you so much for having me on. I appreciate it.

(SOUNDBITE OF JOSEPH TRAPANESE'S "GROWING")

1 heroism   

n.大无畏精神，英勇

参考例句：

• He received a medal for his heroism.他由于英勇而获得一枚奖章。
• Stories of his heroism resounded through the country.他的英雄故事传遍全国。

2 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

3 granite   

adj.花岗岩，花岗石

参考例句：

• They squared a block of granite.他们把一块花岗岩加工成四方形。
• The granite overlies the older rocks.花岗岩躺在磨损的岩石上面。

4 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

5 shovels   

n.铲子( shovel的名词复数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份v.铲子( shovel的第三人称单数 )；锹；推土机、挖土机等的)铲；铲形部份

参考例句：

• workmen with picks and shovels 手拿镐铲的工人
• In the spring, we plunge shovels into the garden plot, turn under the dark compost. 春天，我们用铁锨翻开园子里黑油油的沃土。 来自辞典例句

6 marsh   

n.沼泽，湿地

参考例句：

• There are a lot of frogs in the marsh.沼泽里有许多青蛙。
• I made my way slowly out of the marsh.我缓慢地走出这片沼泽地。

7 supervisor   

n.监督人，管理人，检查员，督学，主管，导师

参考例句：

• Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说，我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
• He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。

8 teller   

n.银行出纳员；(选举)计票员

参考例句：

• The bank started her as a teller.银行起用她当出纳员。
• The teller tried to remain aloof and calm.出纳员力图保持冷漠和镇静。

9 evacuated   

撤退者的

参考例句：

• Police evacuated nearby buildings. 警方已将附近大楼的居民疏散。
• The fireman evacuated the guests from the burning hotel. 消防队员把客人们从燃烧着的旅馆中撤出来。

10 apropos   

adv.恰好地；adj.恰当的；关于

参考例句：

• I thought he spoke very apropos.我认为他说得很中肯。
• He arrived very apropos.他来得很及时。

11 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

12 uncommon   

adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的

参考例句：

• Such attitudes were not at all uncommon thirty years ago.这些看法在30年前很常见。
• Phil has uncommon intelligence.菲尔智力超群。

13 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。

14 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

15 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

16 domesticated   

adj.喜欢家庭生活的；（指动物）被驯养了的v.驯化( domesticate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He is thoroughly domesticated and cooks a delicious chicken casserole. 他精于家务，烹制的砂锅炖小鸡非常可口。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The donkey is a domesticated form of the African wild ass. 驴是非洲野驴的一种已驯化的品种。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 ego   

n.自我，自己，自尊

参考例句：

• He is absolute ego in all thing.在所有的事情上他都绝对自我。
• She has been on an ego trip since she sang on television.她上电视台唱过歌之后就一直自吹自擂。

18 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

19 elevation   

n.高度；海拔；高地；上升；提高

参考例句：

• The house is at an elevation of 2,000 metres.那幢房子位于海拔两千米的高处。
• His elevation to the position of General Manager was announced yesterday.昨天宣布他晋升总经理职位。

20 camaraderie   

n.同志之爱，友情

参考例句：

• The camaraderie among fellow employees made the tedious work just bearable.同事之间的情谊使枯燥乏味的工作变得还能忍受。
• Some bosses are formal and have occasional interactions,while others prefer continual camaraderie.有些老板很刻板，偶尔才和下属互动一下；有些则喜欢和下属打成一片。

21 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

22 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

23 wig   

n.假发

参考例句：

• The actress wore a black wig over her blond hair.那个女演员戴一顶黑色假发罩住自己的金黄色头发。
• He disguised himself with a wig and false beard.他用假发和假胡须来乔装。