美国国家公共电台 NPR 'Tulip Fever': A Lush Portrait Of A Florid Affair

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

The movie "Tulip Fever" opens today in more than 700 theaters across the country more or less undercover. If you haven't seen any reviews of the movie yet, it's because the Weinstein Company placed an embargo¹ on them until this afternoon. Ours is out now. Here's NPR critic Bob Mondello's take on the costume drama "Tulip Fever."

BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE²: Amsterdam 1634 - a town gripped by tulip mania³. But the film's first order of business isn't bulbs. It's babies. A wealthy merchant's much younger wife is visiting a doctor.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TULIP FEVER")

ALICIA VIKANDER: (As Sophia) Cornelis is so old, but he's very willing. Still, he saved me from a life of poverty, and I must repay him. He wants a son, and I've not been blessed. Mrs. Overvalt said you can help me.

TOM HOLLANDER: (As Dr. Sorgh) Of course. This way.

MONDELLO: He leads her to the next room, marveling at his own good fortune - a wealthy client, attractive.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TULIP FEVER")

VIKANDER: (As Sophia) Thank you.

HOLLANDER: (As Dr. Sorgh) There's the bed - on your back or your front - up to you.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TULIP FEVER")

MONDELLO: She realizes what he intends.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TULIP FEVER")

HOLLANDER: (As Dr. Sorgh) A thousand apologies.

VIKANDER: (As Sophia) How dare you?

MONDELLO: Her husband, meanwhile, though not entirely⁴ giving up on having children is looking for other ways to live on after he's gone. A portrait might do the trick, he thinks.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TULIP FEVER")

CHRISTOPH WALTZ: (As Cornelis) And when everything else about me has been forgotten, they'll say, look there at that lucky, old dog. Didn't he have a lovely, young wife?

MONDELLO: To keep the price down, he hires a promising⁵, young painter. But handsome, young painter, lovely, young wife - different problem.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TULIP FEVER")

VIKANDER: (As Sophia) What are you looking at?

DANE DEHAAN: (As Jan Van Loos) What am I looking at?

MONDELLO: It doesn't take many posing sessions before the painter is doing more than just looking.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TULIP FEVER")

DEHAAN: (As Jan Van Loos) God help me. I'm in love.

MONDELLO: And a few sittings later, when a pedal drops from a tulip in a vase and the merchant murmurs⁶...

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TULIP FEVER")

WALTZ: (As Cornelis) First to flower, first to fall.

MONDELLO: ...His wife and the painter exchange alarmed glances. Could they have been found out? Director Justin Chadwick keeps them dashing through Amsterdam's teeming⁷ streets and markets to avoid detection, lingering a while in the ones where traders calculate dividends⁹ while bidding up speculative¹⁰ tulip futures¹¹. Plain tulips are a florin a dozen. But let there be a crimson¹² streak¹³ in a white bloom, and as a bulb-savvy nun¹⁴ played by Judi Dench can tell you, there's money to be made.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "TULIP FEVER")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Why are you weighing them?

JUDI DENCH: (As Abbess) The more they weigh, the more they're worth - also the more babies. Look. These little nodes - each one will become a bulb. Here is a node from our best bulb. It sold for 920 florins at auction¹⁵. Unfortunately we had already sold it privately¹⁶ for 18 - hidden amongst ordinary, simple-colored flowers. But it's found its way home by the generosity¹⁷ of the next purchaser, who had sentimental¹⁸ memories of me from many years ago. Never underestimate God. He forgets nothing.

MONDELLO: Based on the best-seller "Tulip Fever" by Deborah Moggach, the screenplay blends virtue¹⁹ and vanity, God and gilders, bulbs and blackmail²⁰. And if it has too much of some of those to fit comfortably in one movie, it has still been cleverly penned - I'm picturing with actual quills²¹ - by Moggach and by playwright²² Tom Stoppard. His "Shakespeare In Love," remember, brought wit and romance to this same period a while back. "Tulip Fever" is not in that league, but it's lush and boisterous²³ and crammed²⁴ with the sort of arts, gossip and commerce trivia that go nicely with gilded²⁵ frames and talk of tulip futures. Where else would you learn, for instance, that Renaissance²⁶ painters dressed the Virgin²⁷ Mary in blue not because it was the color of purity but because it was the color that cost the most.

Ultramarino, explains our lovesick painter, means blue from across the sea. Count that little tidbit as a dividend⁸ paid by a movie that lets its characters get perhaps too feverish²⁸ over blooms but that has the good sense to dress its leading lady in ultramarine when she is sitting for that portrait. I'm Bob Mondello.

1 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

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 mania   

n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好

参考例句：

• Football mania is sweeping the country.足球热正风靡全国。
• Collecting small items can easily become a mania.收藏零星物品往往容易变成一种癖好。

4 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。

5 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

6 murmurs   

n.低沉、连续而不清的声音( murmur的名词复数 )；低语声；怨言；嘀咕

参考例句：

• They spoke in low murmurs. 他们低声说着话。 来自辞典例句
• They are more superficial, more distinctly heard than murmurs. 它们听起来比心脏杂音更为浅表而清楚。 来自辞典例句

7 teeming   

adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注

参考例句：

• The rain was teeming down. 大雨倾盆而下。
• the teeming streets of the city 熙熙攘攘的城市街道

8 dividend   

n.红利，股息；回报，效益

参考例句：

• The company was forced to pass its dividend.该公司被迫到期不分红。
• The first quarter dividend has been increased by nearly 4 per cent.第一季度的股息增长了近 4%。

9 dividends   

红利( dividend的名词复数 )； 股息； 被除数； （足球彩票的）彩金

参考例句：

• Nothing pays richer dividends than magnanimity. 没有什么比宽宏大量更能得到厚报。
• Their decision five years ago to computerise the company is now paying dividends. 五年前他们作出的使公司电脑化的决定现在正产生出效益。

10 speculative   

adj.思索性的，暝想性的，推理的

参考例句：

• Much of our information is speculative.我们的许多信息是带推测性的。
• The report is highly speculative and should be ignored.那个报道推测的成分很大，不应理会。

11 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。

12 crimson   

n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色

参考例句：

• She went crimson with embarrassment.她羞得满脸通红。
• Maple leaves have turned crimson.枫叶已经红了。

13 streak   

n.条理，斑纹，倾向，少许，痕迹；v.加条纹，变成条纹，奔驰，快速移动

参考例句：

• The Indians used to streak their faces with paint.印第安人过去常用颜料在脸上涂条纹。
• Why did you streak the tree?你为什么在树上刻条纹？

14 nun   

n.修女，尼姑

参考例句：

• I can't believe that the famous singer has become a nun.我无法相信那个著名的歌星已做了修女。
• She shaved her head and became a nun.她削发为尼。

15 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

16 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

17 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。

18 sentimental   

adj.多愁善感的，感伤的

参考例句：

• She's a sentimental woman who believes marriage comes by destiny.她是多愁善感的人，她相信姻缘命中注定。
• We were deeply touched by the sentimental movie.我们深深被那感伤的电影所感动。

19 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

20 blackmail   

n.讹诈，敲诈，勒索，胁迫，恫吓

参考例句：

• She demanded ＄1000 blackmail from him.她向他敲诈了1000美元。
• The journalist used blackmail to make the lawyer give him the documents.记者讹诈那名律师交给他文件。

21 quills   

n.（刺猬或豪猪的）刺( quill的名词复数 )；羽毛管；翮；纡管

参考例句：

• Quills were the chief writing implement from the 6th century AD until the advent of steel pens in the mid 19th century. 从公元6世纪到19世纪中期钢笔出现以前，羽毛笔是主要的书写工具。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Defensive quills dot the backs of these troublesome creatures. 防御性的刺长在这些讨人厌的生物背上。 来自互联网

22 playwright   

n.剧作家，编写剧本的人

参考例句：

• Gwyn Thomas was a famous playwright.格温·托马斯是著名的剧作家。
• The playwright was slaughtered by the press.这位剧作家受到新闻界的无情批判。

23 boisterous   

adj.喧闹的，欢闹的

参考例句：

• I don't condescend to boisterous displays of it.我并不屈就于它热热闹闹的外表。
• The children tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play.孩子们经常是先静静地聚集在一起，不一会就开始吵吵嚷嚷戏耍开了。

24 crammed   

adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式)

参考例句：

• He crammed eight people into his car. 他往他的车里硬塞进八个人。
• All the shelves were crammed with books. 所有的架子上都堆满了书。

25 gilded   

a.镀金的，富有的

参考例句：

• The golden light gilded the sea. 金色的阳光使大海如金子般闪闪发光。
• "Friends, they are only gilded disks of lead!" "朋友们，这只不过是些镀金的铅饼！ 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡

26 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。

27 virgin   

n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的

参考例句：

• Have you ever been to a virgin forest?你去过原始森林吗？
• There are vast expanses of virgin land in the remote regions.在边远地区有大片大片未开垦的土地。

28 feverish   

adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的

参考例句：

• He is too feverish to rest.他兴奋得安静不下来。
• They worked with feverish haste to finish the job.为了完成此事他们以狂热的速度工作着。