美国国家公共电台 NPR Attention Must Be Paid To What 'The Salesman' Is Selling

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: 

The executive order banning visitors and refugees from seven majority-Muslim nations is having some unanticipated effects in Hollywood. "The Salesman" has an Oscar nomination¹ for best foreign language film. Its director, Asghar Farhadi, is from Iran and subject to that temporary ban.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: 

Yesterday, Farhadi issued a statement saying he will not attend the Academy Awards ceremony even if he were granted an exception. He said, the similarities among the human beings on this earth far outweigh² their differences.

CORNISH: We have a review of "The Salesman" from our movie critic Bob Mondello. He says the film makes Farhadi's point in an intriguing³ way. It uses an American stage classic to comment on a marriage in Tehran.

BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE⁴: The first thing on screen could be a spread in House Beautiful - a sofa, a table and chairs, a bedroom suite⁵ all arranged just so, lit to a fare-thee-well. They are, in fact, part of a stage set. Real life is messier. High school teacher Emad and his wife Rana, who've been rehearsing "Death Of A Salesman" on that stage set, are awakened⁶ in the middle of the night in their own place by shouts that their apartment building is falling apart. Cracks open up in walls. Gas is leaking. Clearly they need a new place to live.

So it's a relief at rehearsals⁷ when a cast member mentions a just-vacated apartment - as it happens, not entirely⁸ vacated. A woman's cat and belongings⁹ are still there, a woman who neighbors tell them had many male visitors. Still, they're desperate enough to move in anyway. Rehearsals go on, as do their lives. About a week later, Rana hears the intercom and buzzes in someone she assumes is her husband. Emad comes home hours later to find bloody¹⁰ footprints on the stairs.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE SALESMAN")

SHAHAB HOSSEINI: (As Emad Etesami) Rana? Rana?

MONDELLO: It's at this point that the film becomes morally complicated. That's something you'll expect if you've seen filmmaker Asghar Farhadi's other films - his Oscar-winning "A Separation," say, which also puts characters in impossibly uncomfortable situations and then settles back to watch what they do.

"The Salesman" is centrally about an invasive act that shatters a marriage, much as the apartment was shattered at the film's beginning. It has a lot of twinned notions like that. And possibly because Farhadi majored in theater in college, it's also savvy¹¹ about the intersection¹² of stage and screen, fiction and reality, how the formal beats of tragedy in "Death Of A Salesman" contrast with the messier beats of life for the people performing "Death Of A Salesman" to the point that Emad, playing Willy Loman, erupts in unscripted fury onstage at the man who rented them the apartment.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE SALESMAN")

HOSSEINI: (As Emad Etesami, speaking Persian).

MONDELLO: In the play, Willy worries about being able to provide for his family. Emad, playing Willy, worries about being able to protect his family, connections that tell you attention has been paid and that there's what you might call universal value to what Farhadi's "The Salesman" is selling. I'm Bob Mondello.

(SOUNDBITE OF DAMIAK SONG, "ESTE ES MI SECRETO")

1 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

2 outweigh   

vt.比...更重，...更重要

参考例句：

• The merits of your plan outweigh the defects.你制定的计划其优点胜过缺点。
• One's merits outweigh one's short-comings.功大于过。

3 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 suite   

n.一套(家具)；套房；随从人员

参考例句：

• She has a suite of rooms in the hotel.她在那家旅馆有一套房间。
• That is a nice suite of furniture.那套家具很不错。

6 awakened   

v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
• The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 rehearsals   

n.练习( rehearsal的名词复数 )；排练；复述；重复

参考例句：

• The earlier protests had just been dress rehearsals for full-scale revolution. 早期的抗议仅仅是大革命开始前的预演。
• She worked like a demon all through rehearsals. 她每次排演时始终精力过人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

9 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

10 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。

11 savvy   

v.知道，了解；n.理解能力，机智，悟性；adj.有见识的，懂实际知识的，通情达理的

参考例句：

• She was a pretty savvy woman.她是个见过世面的漂亮女人。
• Where's your savvy?你的常识到哪里去了？

12 intersection   

n.交集，十字路口，交叉点；[计算机] 交集

参考例句：

• There is a stop sign at an intersection.在交叉路口处有停车标志。
• Bridges are used to avoid the intersection of a railway and a highway.桥用来避免铁路和公路直接交叉。