PBS高端访谈:独立院线联盟提出播映电影《刺杀金正恩》

 　　Less than a week ago, Sony indicated that, under pressure of threats, the moviegoing public wasn't going to be able to see the comedy "The Interview" at a theater today. But that decision hit quickly on a trip wire of criticisms about geopolitics, freedom of expression, terrorism and more.

　　And in a quick reversal of fortune, the movie opened in more than 300 locations today, mostly at small independent art house theaters.

　　JOSH LEVIN, West End Cinemas: Christmas Day is usually a busy day for the movies, but this is unlike any experience we have ever had before.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Even before the first screenings, the film was selling out at smaller theaters. Co-star and co-director Seth Rogen made a surprise appearance at a midnight screening in Los Angeles.

　　SETH ROGEN, Actor: We thought this might never happen at all.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: President Obama, who was on vacation in Hawaii and criticized Sony's initial decision, wouldn't say if he would watch, but he said:

　　PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: I'm glad it's being released.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: The release of the comedy, about a CIA plot to assassinate¹ North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was canceled last week after hackers² threatened potential attacks at theaters. The president has said North Korea is behind the hacking³ of Sony.

　　Moviegoers were out early at Washington, D.C.'s West End Cinemas, including Mohammed Shouman.

　　MOHAMMED SHOUMAN, Washington, D.C.: I decided⁴ to show my personal support for theaters that show it and my personal support for free speech.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Sarah Arlinghaus admitted the Rogen/Franco style wasn't her usual movie fare.

　　SARAH ARLINGHAUS, Washington, D.C.: I wouldn't have seen it if the North Koreans hadn't decided I shouldn't see it. I would like to sit near the exits just in case we have to evacuate⁵ quickly.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: "The Interview" is also available as video on demand. It can be seen on Google Play, YouTube Movies, and Microsoft's Xbox.

　　Still, before major exhibitors pulled out, the movie was originally scheduled to play in 3,000 theaters.

　　Art House Convergence, a coalition⁶ of about 250 independent theaters, wrote an open letter to Sony earlier this week offering to show the movie.

　　I spoke⁷ to the group's director, Russ Collins, yesterday in Ann Arbor⁸, Michigan, where he also runs the State Theatre, that's showing it today.

　　Russ Collins, why did so many of the members of your organization, the independent theaters, decide to run this movie?

　　RUSS COLLINS, Conference Director, Art House Convergence: There were two reasons.

　　One, we initially⁹ reached out to the employees and Sony Corporation, but their employees in particular, who are the folks that we have the interface¹⁰ with, just to express our empathy for the difficulties that they have encountered the last month after their company was hacked¹¹ and their e-mails went down and their telephone went down and all of their records went down.

　　It's just been a very, very difficult time for Sony employees. And we just wanted to express how we felt and that we wanted to support them. And one of the ways we could support them is, if Sony decided to release "The Interview," we as independent theaters would be willing to screen that, or at least we thought we might.

　　And when the word got out among the Art House Convergence group that this might be a possibility or something that we could offer, they were enthusiastic in their response, and it just kind of took off from there.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: OK. No disrespect but a Seth Rogen movie and an Art House Convergence group usually don't go in the same sentence. This isn't usually the fare of an independent movie house.

　　RUSS COLLINS: That's absolutely true.

　　Independent movie houses are dedicated¹² to a diversity of programs, documentary films, foreign language films, independent American films, classic films, but we're also strongly committed to freedom of speech and artistic¹³ expression dynamics¹⁴.

　　This is something that art houses do this on a regular basis. And when this particular exhibition became a freedom of speech issue, it aligned¹⁵ with the values of independent theaters, so making the offer seemed to work with our values and our capabilities¹⁶ and the diversity of the programs and facilities and locations that are out there in North America for independent cinema.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: So one of the things that people might be thinking about, whether they're going to see this movie at one of your theaters or a different one, is, are there additional safety precautions that you're taking into consideration?

　　RUSS COLLINS: We're encouraging each of our theaters to consult with their local law enforcement officials, have the law enforcement officials work their channels to see if there is any concerns.

　　In our particular case, the University of Michigan has a Korean studies program and we have contacted them to get their input¹⁷. So we are out there concerned and vigilant¹⁸ about seeking any unusual telemetry about unusual behavior.

　　So far, we haven't encountered any, at least in our particular market, but I'm sure theaters are going to do what they need to do to assure that their customers and their employees are safe at these screenings.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: We have seen reports that some screenings of this movie are selling out. And I look at some of the Web sites like Rotten Tomatoes and so forth¹⁹, and it's not particularly because this movie is Oscar-worthy, to put it mildly. Do you think it's — is it because of the publicity²⁰ that there are people attracted to this?

　　RUSS COLLINS: I think there's two reasons.

　　One is that, when the initial release was planned, they looked to screen it at 2,000 to 3,000 to 4,000 screens. The way it's turning out, it's going to be 200 or 300 screens that are actually showing "The Interview."

　　But, obviously, all of the national press that's occurred and all of the issues about the film have resonated a particular interest in the notion of this film and the difficulties that Sony has encountered. So I think there's a lot of curiosity. That curiosity will be satiated very quickly, and the film will live and die and be successful and have a long life based depending on how it's received, and both critically and by audiences.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Is this an opportunity? Do you see this as an opportunity for more people to kind of reintroduce themselves to the independent or small theaters that are in their neighborhoods vs. the big chains that usually run a movie like this?

　　RUSS COLLINS: Yes, independent theaters, art houses are out there all over the country. The objective of the Art House Convergence is to increase the quantity and quality of art houses.

　　So, yes, this might be a nice introduction to customers who are more interested in going to a Seth Rogen stoner comedy than those who tend to go to the art house fare. However, who knows. This could be the "Citizen Kane" of stoner comedies.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Right.

　　What about the competition with perhaps the streaming sites? I know that, I think, sites like YouTube and a couple of others are planning to make this available to people. So, really, is the competition shifting away from AMC and Regal vs. art house to art house vs. streaming?

　　RUSS COLLINS: Well, in the art house market, video on demand, day-and-date of video on demand and theatrical²¹ screenings has occurred for a couple of years now. So, we're used to that.

　　Obviously, we like complete theatrical clearance²². If you have a monopoly, you tend to do better. But that's part of the modern cinema world is day-and-date release and all the diversity, availability through online and cable access.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: All right, Russ Collins, thanks so much for your time.

　　RUSS COLLINS: Thank you. And happy holidays.

1 assassinate   

vt.暗杀，行刺，中伤

参考例句：

• The police exposed a criminal plot to assassinate the president.警方侦破了一个行刺总统的阴谋。
• A plot to assassinate the banker has been uncovered by the police.暗杀银行家的密谋被警方侦破了。

2 hackers   

n.计算机迷( hacker的名词复数 )；私自存取或篡改电脑资料者，电脑“黑客”

参考例句：

• They think of viruses that infect an organization from the outside.They envision hackers breaking into their information vaults. 他们考虑来自外部的感染公司的病毒，他们设想黑客侵入到信息宝库中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Arranging a meeting with the hackers took weeks againoff-again email exchanges. 通过几星期电子邮件往来安排见面，他们最终同意了。 来自互联网

3 hacking   

n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动

参考例句：

• The patient with emphysema is hacking all day. 这个肺气肿病人整天不断地干咳。
• We undertook the task of hacking our way through the jungle. 我们负责在丛林中开路。

4 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。

5 evacuate   

v.遣送；搬空；抽出；排泄；大(小)便

参考例句：

• We must evacuate those soldiers at once!我们必须立即撤出这些士兵！
• They were planning to evacuate the seventy American officials still in the country.他们正计划转移仍滞留在该国的70名美国官员。

6 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 arbor   

n.凉亭；树木

参考例句：

• They sat in the arbor and chatted over tea.他们坐在凉亭里，边喝茶边聊天。
• You may have heard of Arbor Day at school.你可能在学校里听过植树节。

9 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

10 interface   

n.接合部位，分界面；v.(使)互相联系

参考例句：

• My computer has a network interface,which allows me to get to other computers.我的计算机有网络接口可以与其它计算机连在一起。
• This program has perspicuous interface and extensive application. 该程序界面明了，适用范围广。

11 hacked   

生气

参考例句：

• I hacked the dead branches off. 我把枯树枝砍掉了。
• I'm really hacked off. 我真是很恼火。

12 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

13 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

14 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。

15 aligned   

adj.对齐的，均衡的

参考例句：

• Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。

16 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

17 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

18 vigilant   

adj.警觉的，警戒的，警惕的

参考例句：

• He has to learn how to remain vigilant through these long nights.他得学会如何在这漫长的黑夜里保持警觉。
• The dog kept a vigilant guard over the house.这只狗警醒地守护着这所房屋。

19 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

20 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

21 theatrical   

adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的

参考例句：

• The final scene was dismayingly lacking in theatrical effect.最后一场缺乏戏剧效果，叫人失望。
• She always makes some theatrical gesture.她老在做些夸张的手势。

22 clearance   

n.净空；许可(证)；清算；清除，清理

参考例句：

• There was a clearance of only ten centimetres between the two walls.两堵墙之间只有十厘米的空隙。
• The ship sailed as soon as it got clearance. 那艘船一办好离港手续立刻启航了。