美国国家公共电台 NPR Danish Filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg Gets Deeply Personal In 'The Commune'

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

Thomas Vinterberg is not an easy filmmaker to pin down. In English, he's leapt from science fiction to the costume drama "Far From The Madding Crowd." In his native Denmark, he tends to make intensely intimate films, like his Oscar nominee¹ "The Hunt." Critic Bob Mondello says Vinterberg's new film is his most personal. It's called "The Commune."

BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE²: When Erik inherits his father's house in Copenhagen, his first instinct is to sell. It's huge, he tells his wife, Anna, way too expensive to maintain on a professor's salary. But it's the 1970s, and Anna has what was back then a trendy thought. Invite some friends, his buddy³ Ole, for example...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE COMMUNE")

ULRICH THOMSEN: (As Erik, speaking Danish).

TRINE DYRHOLM: (As Anna, speaking Danish).

THOMSEN: (As Erik) Ole.

DYRHOLM: (As Anna) Ja.

MONDELLO: ...To live with them and share costs.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE COMMUNE")

THOMSEN: (As Erik, speaking Danish).

DYRHOLM: (As Anna, speaking Danish).

MONDELLO: Come on, old man, it'll be fun. Their daughter Freja agrees, and suddenly Erik is interviewing friends - first Ole, who has no job and can't pay.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE COMMUNE")

THOMSEN: (As Erik, speaking Danish).

LARS RANTHE: (As Ole, laughter).

MONDELLO: Then a couple who can pay but are rules freaks and have a 6-year-old with a heart condition.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE COMMUNE")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character, speaking Danish).

MONDELLO: "I'm going to die when I turn 9," he tells 14-year-old Freja with a soulful look. It is, they all agree, quite a come-on. Then there's a friend who's a laugh riot and a little nuts.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE COMMUNE")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character, laughter).

MONDELLO: And a stranger who bursts into tears when they ask him about money.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE COMMUNE")

FARES FARES: (As Allon, crying).

MONDELLO: What could possibly go wrong, right? Anyone who's ever lived in a group house will have an inkling. Filmmaker Thomas Vinterberg lived in a commune from the age of 7 until he was 19, a time when he remembers being, quote, "surrounded by beer, genitals and high-level academic discussions," which is more or less what he serves up in the movie, plus the occasional dramatic development, as when Erik, the master of the house, embarks⁴ on an affair with a student, blonde like his wife Anna but a generation younger, then proposes that she move in...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE COMMUNE")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: (As character) Hello.

MONDELLO: ...With their many housemates. You see in Anna's eyes that her idealism is being tested. This living arrangement was her idea, remember. But she rises to the occasion.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE COMMUNE")

DYRHOLM: (As Anna) Hi.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTRESS: (As character) Hi.

DYRHOLM: (As Anna) Hi. (Speaking Danish).

MONDELLO: The notion that the family that matters is the family you choose is fashionable in movies at the moment. The characters in "Guardians⁵ Of The Galaxy⁶ Vol. 2" and "Fate Of The Furious" talk endlessly and sentimentally⁷ about the family units they're creating.

Vinterberg is more clear-eyed in "The Commune," with actors who are capable of bringing nuance⁸ to notions of what makes for a family of choice, a family gathered and nurtured⁹ in adulthood¹⁰. Having lived through the process himself, the filmmaker knows the pitfalls¹¹. Still, his upbringing gave him insights into character and behavior and group dynamics¹² in stressful situations, and those insights arguably have stood him in good stead for the communal¹³ task of filmmaking. I'm Bob Mondello.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

2 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。

3 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！

4 embarks   

乘船( embark的第三人称单数 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• Patricia is a free-spirited girl who embarks on an erotic odyssey. 翠茜亚是个任性少女、毅然踏上一次性爱之旅。
• Passenger train driver: Punctually embarks. 客车司机：准时出发。

5 guardians   

监护人( guardian的名词复数 )； 保护者，维护者

参考例句：

• Farmers should be guardians of the countryside. 农民应是乡村的保卫者。
• The police are guardians of law and order. 警察是法律和秩序的护卫者。

6 galaxy   

n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)

参考例句：

• The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
• The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。

7 sentimentally   

adv.富情感地

参考例句：

• I miss the good old days, ' she added sentimentally. ‘我怀念过去那些美好的日子，’她动情地补充道。 来自互联网
• I have an emotional heart, it is sentimentally attached to you unforgettable. 我心中有一份情感，那是对你刻骨铭心的眷恋。 来自互联网

8 nuance   

n.(意义、意见、颜色)细微差别

参考例句：

• These users will easily learn each nuance of the applications they use.这些用户会很快了解他们所使用程序的每一细微差别。
• I wish I hadn't become so conscious of every little nuance.我希望我不要变得这样去思索一切琐碎之事。

9 nurtured   

养育( nurture的过去式和过去分词 )； 培育； 滋长； 助长

参考例句：

• She is looking fondly at the plants he had nurtured. 她深情地看着他培育的植物。
• Any latter-day Einstein would still be spotted and nurtured. 任何一个未来的爱因斯坦都会被发现并受到培养。

10 adulthood   

n.成年，成人期

参考例句：

• Some infantile actions survive into adulthood.某些婴儿期的行为一直保持到成年期。
• Few people nowadays are able to maintain friendships into adulthood.如今很少有人能将友谊维持到成年。

11 pitfalls   

（捕猎野兽用的）陷阱( pitfall的名词复数 )； 意想不到的困难，易犯的错误

参考例句：

• the potential pitfalls of buying a house 购买房屋可能遇到的圈套
• Several pitfalls remain in the way of an agreement. 在达成协议的进程中还有几个隐藏的困难。

12 dynamics   

n.力学，动力学，动力，原动力；动态

参考例句：

• In order to succeed,you must master complicated knowledge of dynamics.要取得胜利，你必须掌握很复杂的动力学知识。
• Dynamics is a discipline that cannot be mastered without extensive practice.动力学是一门不做大量习题就不能掌握的学科。

13 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。