影视听力 第16期:The Visitor不速之客

剧情简介

Walter（理查·詹金斯 Richard Jenkins 饰）的生活一成不变，20多年来教同一门课程，与别人一起合著自己没有出过半分力的书，请私人教师学钢琴又难以与人相处。生活沉闷如一潭死水。直到与他合著出书的shelly待产而无法前去参加学术年会换成Walter出席，他的生命才赢来转变。
　　
由于妻子去世而极少去纽约的Walter一回到纽约的家赫然发现家里有两个陌生人！误会过后才明白这对小情侣是被人所骗才租了这间屋子。Walter让他们留下，Tarek是来自叙利亚的热情的小伙子，热爱打鼓，他的女友则是来自塞内加尔的黑人。Walter被Tarek的开朗所打动，跟他学打鼓，还跟着他去公园参加少数族裔的打鼓练习。
　　
这天Walter与Tarek练习过后赶着回家，过地铁时因为要过鼓Tarek错过了最好的过关卡的机会，从关卡上跳过时被警察逮捕拘留。Walter这才知道他们是非法移民，他为他聘请律师东奔西跑，毫无进展之际Tarek的母亲Mouna（西亚姆·阿巴斯 Hiyam Abbas 饰）因为担心儿子而上门，Walter安抚这位母亲焦急的情绪，带她去纽约四处散心，二人产生一种互相懂得理解的情愫。Walter从学校请了长假，决定留在纽约，去做他认为真正有意义且值得去做的事。
 

对话文本:(系普特网友整理，文本只包括旁白影评部分，不包括电影原声。)

The Visitor is the second film written and directed by Tom McCarthy. The first was The Station Agent. In this film, Richard Jenkins plays a professor of economics named Walter Vale. He is a widower¹ and he's kind of reached a point in his life where he is a little bit bored, maybe a little depressed². He doesn't seem to be acutely in mourning for his wife but seems to be adrift and subject to a kind of ennui³.

That changes in a rather abrupt⁴ and unexpected way when he comes down to New York, where he keeps an apartment that he never really goes to and finds that two people are living there unbeknownst to him. They are Tarek, a young man from Syria and his girlfriend, Zainab who is from Senegal.

Zainab and Tarek are in this country illegally and they support themselves by doing various artistic⁵ things. She makes jewelry⁶ that she sells in flea⁷ markets. He plays the drums in jazz clubs, also in subway stations and the Central Park.

First Walter is understandably appalled⁸ to find these people living in his apartment. But he kind of gets to like them and he feels a little bit of compassion⁹ for them. And he and Tarek, in particular, strike up a friendship and Tarek even teaches him to play the drums.

Now the story that The Visitor tells could have been a very sentimental¹⁰ predictable one about an uptight¹¹ square white guy who meets these two soulful people from the third world and is sort of loosened up and gets in touch with himself through his friendship with them. And it is that story but the thing is that Tom McCarthy's direction is very subtle and unsentimental, a little bit dry, but in the best way just lets the story and the characters kind of take shape and unfold against the backdrop of New York.

And the main thing that makes this movie, I think, really special, in spite of some of its limitations is the performance of Richard Jenkins .I would also mention the performance of Hiam Abbass, a Palestinian actress who plays Tarek's mother who shows up later in the film.

But it is really Richard Jenkins as Walter who gives a very quiet, understated restrained performance as a man who's fundamentally decent but repressed, a little out of touch with his own emotions, who changes. He doesn't change in a dramatic, transformational overdone¹² Hollywood way, but the way that people actually change by noticing things about himself and by slightly correcting some of his views of other people. And it's really his performance and this character that make The Visitor such a satisfying and interesting movie.

ennui: weariness of mind caused by lack of anything interesting or exciting to do; feeling of boredom unbeknownst: happening or existing without the knowledge of someone specified ― usually used with to

flea market: 跳蚤市场

1 widower   

n.鳏夫

参考例句：

• George was a widower with six young children.乔治是个带著六个小孩子的鳏夫。
• Having been a widower for many years,he finally decided to marry again.丧偶多年后，他终于决定二婚了。

2 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

3 ennui   

n.怠倦，无聊

参考例句：

• Since losing his job,he has often experienced a profound sense of ennui.他自从失业以来，常觉百无聊赖。
• Took up a hobby to relieve the ennui of retirement.养成一种嗜好以消除退休后的无聊。

4 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

5 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。

6 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

7 flea   

n.跳蚤

参考例句：

• I'll put a flea in his ear if he bothers me once more.如果他再来打扰的话，我就要对他不客气了。
• Hunter has an interest in prowling around a flea market.亨特对逛跳蚤市场很感兴趣。

8 appalled   

v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• They were appalled by the reports of the nuclear war. 他们被核战争的报道吓坏了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

10 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。

11 uptight   

adj.焦虑不安的，紧张的

参考例句：

• He's feeling a bit uptight about his exam tomorrow.他因明天的考试而感到有点紧张。
• Try to laugh at it instead of getting uptight.试着一笑了之，不要紧张。

12 overdone   

v.做得过分( overdo的过去分词 )；太夸张；把…煮得太久；（工作等）过度

参考例句：

• The lust of men must not be overdone. 人们的欲望不该过分。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The joke is overdone. 玩笑开得过火。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》