《蝙蝠侠：侠影之谜》挖掘漫画英雄的身世

Batman Begins Delves¹ Into Origins of Comic Book Hero

《蝙蝠侠：侠影之谜》挖掘漫画英雄的身世

 

A new action-adventure film takes a fresh look at a veteran comic book character that has been made into movies and TV shows before, but never before with this kind of compelling, dark and almost film-noir drama. Alan Silverman has a look at Batman Begins.

 

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A familiar figure on the pop culture scene, Batman began in 1939 as a comic book by the late Bob Kane. Over the years, Gotham City's caped² crime fighter with his face partially³ obscured by a bat-eared cowl has become more caricature than character. In 1988, however, writer and artist Frank Miller⁴ re-fashioned the story in a graphic⁵ novel titled Batman: Year One. It is those origins that English-born filmmaker Chris Nolan taps into for this fresh look at how - and why - billionaire Bruce Wayne becomes Batman.

 

Nolan: He is the most human of superheroes and he is the one I think we can all most easily relate to. I don't know how I would go about adapting a superhero like Superman who is just other-worldly and omnipotent⁶ and all the rest. I find the character of Batman much easier to relate to and I think a lot of people do. He is ultimately a very flawed human being who is taking his negative impulses and turning them to positive ends.

 

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Christian⁷ Bale stars as Bruce Wayne and, of course, his alter ego⁸, Batman. The physically⁹ demanding role is his first foray into the action movie genre¹⁰ and Bale says he modeled the character after the graphic novels, approaching Batman as though the previous films and the campy 1960's TV series had never been made.

 

Bale: I realized that there was a great character here that had never been defined in any portrayal¹¹. You know, unlike if you look at, say, Christopher Reeve and the way he played Superman - You know, to many people, that is the defining Superman. I don't find that when I look at any of the previous Batman characters, so there was room to be able to try and achieve that.

 

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Of course, the symbol he chooses is the night-flying bat; and Bale says as important as it was for him to develop his physique for the role, he also had to come up with a voice for Batman.

 

Bale: We went for just really want to make a completely different animal. I just could not take seriously Bruce Wayne in a bat-suit, so I said he has to become a different animal completely. You have the obvious need for being incognito¹², you know, so you want to change your voice for that; but also for me it was about him becoming this primal¹³ demon¹⁴ that allowed him to channel all of his rage and years of dissatisfaction everything into this one beast.

 

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Katie Holmes co-stars as Wayne's childhood sweetheart Rachel, who grew up to be a prosecutor¹⁵ trying to fight crime via the legal system.

 

Katie Holmes: It was exciting to play a female character who so strong. At times she needed help and, for lack of better words, was a damsel in distress¹⁶ at moments; but she was a fighter and I liked that. I like fighters.

 

Batman Begins also addresses the issue of using the criminals' own tactics to fight back. He is on the other side of the law, so does that make him hero or vigilante?

 

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Filmmaker Nolan says the story offers no cut-and-dried answer.

 

Nolan: That's really why I made the film, because I think it's a very interesting question and one that can't be answered in a single sentence. I think it's one that has to be felt out and explored through fiction and a great character like Batman who sits on the line between genuine heroism¹⁷ and selfish vigilantism.

 

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The cast also features Michael Caine as the Wayne manor¹⁸ butler, Alfred; Morgan Freeman is the inventor who comes up with all those great gadgets²⁰, including the new and very powerful Bat mobile.

 

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Tom Wilkinson is a crime boss; Cillian Murphy plays "Scarecrow," the first of Batman's bizarre and deadly villains²²; and Gary Oldman plays the quietly dedicated²³ police detective Gordon, who becomes Batman's ally within the law.

 

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Batman Begins is co-written by David Goyer and director Chris Nolan. The musical score is also a collaboration²⁴ of Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard.

 

Alan Silverman for the Voice of America in Hollywood.

 

(Music)

 

注释：

Gotham [5^EutEm] n. 纽约市的别名

obscure [Eb5skjuE] vt. 遮掩

cowl [kaul] n. 蒙头斗篷

caricature [7kArikE5tjuE] adj. 滑稽的

Batman: Year One 《蝙蝠侠之第一年》

filmmaker [5film7meikE(r)] n. 导演

billionaire [biljE5nZE] n. 亿万富翁

adapt [E5dApt] vt. 改变

omnipotent [Cm5nipEtEnt] adj. 全能的，无所不能的

ultimately [5QltimEtli] adv. 基本上

flawed [flC:d] adj. 有缺陷的

negative [5ne^Etiv] adj. 消极的

ego [5i:^Eu] n. 自我

foray [5fCrei] n. 冒险

genre [VB:Nr] n. 类型

graphic novel 绘图小说

portrayal [pC:5treiEl] n. 描写，扮演

physique [fi5zi:k] n.（男子的）体形

incognito [in5kC^nitEu] adj. 隐匿姓名身份的

primal [5praimEl] adj. 最初的

sweetheart [5swi:thB:t] n. 爱人

prosecutor [5prCsikju:tE] n. 检举人，起诉人

via [5vaiE] prep. 通过

damsel [5dAmzEl] n. 少女

distress [dis5tres] n. 危难

tactics [5tAktiks] n. 战术，策略

vigilante [7vidVi5lAnti] n.（美）治安维持会的成员

cut-and-dried 事先准备的，俗套的

genuine [5dVenju:in] adj. 真正的，真实的

heroism [5herEuizEm] n. 英雄主义

vigilantism [7vidVi5lAntizEm] n.（美）治安维持会的政策

manor [5mAnE] n. 庄园

butler [5bQtlE] n. 男管家

gadget¹⁹ [5^AdVit] n. 小玩意

bizarre [bi5zB:] adj. 古怪的

villain²¹ [5vilEn] n. 坏人，反面角色

collaboration [kE7lAbE5reiFEn] n. 合作，合作作品

1 delves   

v.深入探究，钻研( delve的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• That delves the grave duly. 误不了你的洞房。 来自互联网
• The exhibition delves deep into the physics, aromatics and even the timbre of flatulence. 此次展览向人们介绍了人体物理、气味甚至肠胃胀气的声音等各方面知识。 来自互联网

2 caped   

披斗篷的

参考例句：

3 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

4 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

5 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

6 omnipotent   

adj.全能的，万能的

参考例句：

• When we are omnipotent we shall have no more need of science.我们达到万能以后就不需要科学了。
• Money is not omnipotent,but we can't survive without money.金钱不是万能的，但是没有金钱我们却无法生存。

7 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

8 ego   

n.自我，自己，自尊

参考例句：

• He is absolute ego in all thing.在所有的事情上他都绝对自我。
• She has been on an ego trip since she sang on television.她上电视台唱过歌之后就一直自吹自擂。

9 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

10 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

11 portrayal   

n.饰演；描画

参考例句：

• His novel is a vivid portrayal of life in a mining community.他的小说生动地描绘了矿区的生活。
• The portrayal of the characters in the novel is lifelike.该书中的人物写得有血有肉。

12 incognito   

adv.匿名地；n.隐姓埋名；adj.化装的，用假名的，隐匿姓名身份的

参考例句：

• He preferred to remain incognito.他更喜欢继续隐姓埋名下去。
• He didn't want to be recognized,so he travelled incognito.他不想被人认出，所以出行时隐瞒身分。

13 primal   

adj.原始的；最重要的

参考例句：

• Jealousy is a primal emotion.嫉妒是最原始的情感。
• Money was a primal necessity to them.对于他们，钱是主要的需要。

14 demon   

n.魔鬼，恶魔

参考例句：

• The demon of greed ruined the miser's happiness.贪得无厌的恶习毁掉了那个守财奴的幸福。
• He has been possessed by the demon of disease for years.他多年来病魔缠身。

15 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

16 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

17 heroism   

n.大无畏精神，英勇

参考例句：

• He received a medal for his heroism.他由于英勇而获得一枚奖章。
• Stories of his heroism resounded through the country.他的英雄故事传遍全国。

18 manor   

n.庄园，领地

参考例句：

• The builder of the manor house is a direct ancestor of the present owner.建造这幢庄园的人就是它现在主人的一个直系祖先。
• I am not lord of the manor,but its lady.我并非此地的领主，而是这儿的女主人。

19 gadget   

n.小巧的机械，精巧的装置，小玩意儿

参考例句：

• This gadget isn't much good.这小机械没什么用处。
• She has invented a nifty little gadget for undoing stubborn nuts and bolts.她发明了一种灵巧的小工具用来松开紧固的螺母和螺栓。

20 gadgets   

n.小机械，小器具（ gadget的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Certainly. The idea is not to have a house full of gadgets. 当然。设想是房屋不再充满小配件。 来自超越目标英语 第4册
• This meant more gadgets and more experiments. 这意味着要设计出更多的装置，做更多的实验。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史

21 villain   

n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因

参考例句：

• He was cast as the villain in the play.他在戏里扮演反面角色。
• The man who played the villain acted very well.扮演恶棍的那个男演员演得很好。

22 villains   

n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼

参考例句：

• The impression of villains was inescapable. 留下恶棍的印象是不可避免的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some villains robbed the widow of the savings. 有几个歹徒将寡妇的积蓄劫走了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

23 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。

24 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。