美国国家公共电台 NPR France's New 'Les Misérables' Film Is Not The 'Les Mis' Musi

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

The new film "Les Miserables" is not another adaptation of the Victor Hugo novel. It's definitely not a musical by BJ Leiderman, who writes our theme music. It is set in the same Paris suburb that inspired part of the 19th century classic, and it is about the neighborhood's impoverished² residents. But this film is a modern-day cop thriller³. It's France's entry to the Oscars. Rebecca Rosman reports from Paris.

REBECCA ROSMAN, BYLINE⁴: As "Les Miserables" opens, the residents of Paris are anything but miserable¹.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LES MISERABLES")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters, cheering).

ROSMAN: France has just won the 2018 World Cup, and an ecstatic group of black teenagers is making its way into central Paris.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LES MISERABLES")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) Yay.

ROSMAN: The streets are flooded with people from all backgrounds draped in the colors of the French flag.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LES MISERABLES")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTORS: (As characters, speaking French).

ROSMAN: This is the France the country's politicians love to idealize, a country where people of all classes, colors, and religions can feel united under a common French fierte. But then the scene shifts to the dreary⁵ working-class suburb of Montfermeil, where these boys spend most of their days.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LES MISERABLES")

ROSMAN: It's a place plagued by police violence, ethnic⁶ clashes, and little opportunity. Lined with high-rise housing projects, factories and dingy⁷ kebab shops, it looks nothing like the Paris audiences are used to seeing on screen. And that's exactly why Director Ladj Ly wanted to make this film, his first major feature.

LADJ LY: (Through interpreter) The film is about the daily misery⁸ shared by everyone in Montfermeil.

ROSMAN: Everyone from the inhabitants of the graffitied high rises to the cops who patrol them. The story follows a day in the life of Montfermeil's anti-street crime unit.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LES MISERABLES")

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character, speaking French).

ROSMAN: After trying to arrest one teen, the unit is confronted by the same kids we saw celebrating France's World Cup victory. And they're not smiling. They're throwing stones.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LES MISERABLES")

ROSMAN: Many of these scenes are taken directly from the pages of director Ladj Ly's own life.

LY: (Through interpreter) There used to be this big tower just over there when I arrived here in the 1980s, and that's where I lived.

ROSMAN: Standing⁹ on the balcony of his apartment in Montfermeil, Ly describes the neighborhood where he was raised by immigrant parents from Mali and where he still lives today.

LY: (Through interpreter) Forty years later, they got rid of the tower, and here I am still living here today.

ROSMAN: Ly says that since the November release of "Les Miserables" in France, the country is finally being confronted with a problem people have long been aware of but refuse to address head on, the problems immigrants pushed to the city's suburbs face as they struggle to make better lives for themselves in a new country.

LY: (Through interpreter) That's why the film has had such an impact. People may not want to see certain part of this film, but I'm going to make you see what real life looks like in this neighborhood. I've lived through this.

ROSMAN: So have many of the first-time actors in the film. That's why Ly and several other established artists started a film school in the nearby suburb of Clichy-sur-Bois in 2018.

LY: (Through interpreter) Getting access to film schools can be expensive and complicated. So we decided¹⁰ to give up on other schools and open our own.

ROSMAN: Students come from all over France to study here under some of the country's top filmmakers, all free of charge.

YASSINE LASSAR: (Speaking French).

ROSMAN: Yassine Lassar is a 29-year-old math teacher who lives in the neighborhood.

LASSAR: For the first time I told myself maybe there's a way to tell or own stories, stories of people who are not heard most of the time.

ROSMAN: For Mbathio Beye, originally from Senegal, Ly is providing students like herself with opportunities they'd never thought they'd have.

MBATHIO BEYE: It's just, like, he went to the window, you know? When the door is not open, you have to go to the window, and this is what he did. And now the door is open. You can go get in. You can go make it.

ROSMAN: But opening windows has also made Ly a target of backlash. Last month, two right-wing newspapers reported Ly was once convicted for taking part in a murder. That was proven to be fake news. But another paper later verified that he was convicted of complicity in an attempted kidnapping, for which he served a two-year sentence. Ly says that like the teen actors in his film, he's a product of his surroundings, and he wants to help them rise above their misere the way he has. He says the accusations¹¹ are part of an attempt from the far-right to crush him ever since it was announced "Les Miserables" would be representing France at the Oscars.

LY: (Through interpreter) Every time we lift our head above water, there is always these same groups that try and squash us. But we are stronger than that.

ROSMAN: Ladj Ly said he's proud to be representing France at the Oscars, and he'll do all he can to help his country win.

For NPR News, I'm Rebecca Rosman in Paris.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

2 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 thriller   

n.惊险片，恐怖片

参考例句：

• He began by writing a thriller.That book sold a million copies.他是写惊险小说起家的。那本书卖了一百万册。
• I always take a thriller to read on the train.我乘火车时，总带一本惊险小说看。

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 dreary   

adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的

参考例句：

• They live such dreary lives.他们的生活如此乏味。
• She was tired of hearing the same dreary tale of drunkenness and violence.她听够了那些关于酗酒和暴力的乏味故事。

6 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

7 dingy   

adj.昏暗的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• It was a street of dingy houses huddled together. 这是一条挤满了破旧房子的街巷。
• The dingy cottage was converted into a neat tasteful residence.那间脏黑的小屋已变成一个整洁雅致的住宅。

8 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

9 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

10 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

11 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。