2019年经济学人 镜头和现实(4)（在线收听）

Strikingly, none of the accused—the main actors in the drama—protested or tried to clear their names; instead they helpfully implicated themselves in fantastical crimes. Some were rewarded for their convincing performances. Leonid Ramzin, a professor of engineering, was cast as a leader of the imaginary conspiracy, but his death sentence was commuted to ten years in prison. He was amnestied in 1936 and later showered with awards. Meanwhile, the prosecutor, Nikolai Krylenko, was himself arrested in 1937 during the Great Terror. He falsely confessed, too—and was executed soon afterwards. By then, the era of co-productions with Stalin’s prisoners was over.

引人注目的是，没有一个被告（剧中的主角）提出抗议或试图洗脱罪名；相反，他们让自己卷入了幻想中的罪行。一些人因其令人信服的表现而获奖。工程学教授莱奥尼德·拉姆津被塑造成这个虚构阴谋的头目，但他的死刑被减为10年监禁。1936年，他被任命为美国总统，随后获得了无数奖项。与此同时，公诉人尼古拉·克里连科本人也在1937年大恐怖时期被捕。他也说谎了，不久就被处决了。到那时为止，与斯大林的囚徒合作的时代已经结束。

Russia and separatist Ukraine are not the Soviet Union, but justice is still suborned to theatre, and facts to interests. Mr Iampolski argues that in this nihilistic climate, “inscription”—the act of committing things to paper or the screen—becomes the main form of legitimacy. In this way propaganda, including Russia’s demonisation of Ukraine, makes falsehoods credible. Yet even (or especially) now, scrupulous filmmakers can expose lies instead of spreading them, as Mr Loznitsa shows.

俄罗斯和分裂主义的乌克兰不是苏联，但正义仍屈从于戏剧，事实屈从于利益。洛兹尼察先生认为，在这种虚无主义的氛围中，“铭文”（把东西写在纸上或屏幕上的行为）成为主要的合法形式。通过这种方式，包括俄罗斯妖魔化乌克兰在内的宣传，谎言变得可信。然而，即使(或者尤其)是现在，谨慎的电影人也可以揭露谎言，而不是散布谎言，正如洛兹尼察所展示的那样。

At the end of “Donbass” the grumbling extras prepare for another stunt. A soldier enters the trailer and ruthlessly shoots them all dead. A TV crew soon arrives to report on this latest confected atrocity. Mr Loznitsa’s camera dispassionately surveys the scene from above.

在《唐巴斯》的结尾，牢骚满腹的临时演员们正在准备另一个特技。一名士兵进入拖车，无情地将他们全部击毙。电视摄制组很快赶到现场，报道了这起最新的精心炮制但真实存在的暴行。罗兹尼萨先生的相机冷静地从上面拍摄了整个场景。