2007年VOA标准英语-New Romantic Thriller 'Premonition' Delves Into

By Alan Silverman
Hollywood
18 March 2007

 
 
Sandra Bullock stars in a new romantic thriller¹ as a woman caught between what she knows is reality and a nightmare that she fears will come true. Alan Silverman has a look at Premonition.

The apparently² idyllic³ life of suburban⁴ housewife Linda Hanson is devastated⁵ by what the police officer at the door tells her. Then she awakens⁶ the next morning to find her husband Jim in bed next to her and very much alive.

But when the pattern starts to repeat ...when she wakes up to find her family in mourning ...Linda begins to believe that she is experiencing a "premonition" and becomes determined⁷ to change the tragic⁸ fate it foretells⁹.

 
Sandra Bullock in scene from Premonition
Sandra Bullock stars as Linda and says she had to come to terms with her own beliefs about the unsettling feeling that something is about to happen.

"I do think that there is something to human nature. You can call it intuitiveness or 'gut¹⁰ instinct' ...people who know things that have happened. It has happened to a lot of people, so when someone says to me 'I had a bad feeling that something is going to happen and then it did,' I don't know how to explain it. It can't be explained by science, but I believe in that happening," Bullock says.

 
Julian McMahon in scene from Premonition
Julian McMahon, a co-star of the edgy¹¹ TV series Nip/Tuck, plays Linda's husband, Jim. The Australia-born actor says his character is unaware¹² of the fate his wife believes awaits him.

 "He had to live his life normally, but with this wife of his who is becoming a little strange, telling him 'don't go to work tomorrow, don't go there, don't do this ...' crazy stuff and particularly at a point in time when their relationship is pretty far on the rocks. So I felt like my part was kind of to solidify¹³ things a little bit, just in regards to the fact that we were, at some point, a normal family and this is the way we live our life. While she's going all haywire, living days out of order and doing all that kind of stuff, still whenever she came back to us it was just kind of normal life," he says.

If it seems confusing to describe, Sandra Bullock says imagine what it was like to act that out.

 
Sandra Bullock and Julian McMahon in scene from Premonition
"I had a really hard time. I thought I was going to lose it. I went to the director and said 'I'm having a hard time. I don't know what to do.' There was a smile on his face when he heard that and he said 'no, this is exactly where you need to be.' I answered 'no, it's not' ...but in my unraveling we played the levels right. We played the levels right. Is she just pure grief here? When does the grief go into denial and anger? And when does she get angry at [events]? You have to start infusing ...it just wasn't pretty," she says.

"For me it was important that you believe her emotional journey," says Director Mennan Yapo. He says he could not worry about loose ends in the plot that might confuse the audience. The German-born filmmaker says the film balances on believing in the emotions that Bullock's character is going through.

 "Once you believe that, the details and all that become less important ...and they should, because at some point the story and the film should elevate into something else, and I feel it does. It goes to a place where you clearly understand that it's not only a thriller about this-and-that; it's about loss [and] much more. It's about what goes on inside of her."

 
Scene from Premonition
Bullock says that once she accepted that premise¹⁴ and stopped questioning the details, she could take the character's emotional journey. "

It was all about 'what is Linda going through at this point? What did she do with her kids? What wouldn't she say? Why doesn't she say anything to him, because he's going to think she's crazier.' So you feel it when you see it, but you don't know it until the pieces get together. Then, at the end, there's that feeling of 'what would I have done? Would I have gone back and changed or would I have let him die?' What would you have done?"

Premonition is written by Bill Kelly. The cast also features Peter Stormare as a psychiatrist¹⁵ to whom Linda turns for answers; and Amber¹⁶ Valletta is a woman in the husband's life who may hold a key to averting¹⁷ the tragic outcome.

1 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。

2 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

3 idyllic   

adj.质朴宜人的，田园风光的

参考例句：

• These scenes had an idyllic air.这种情景多少有点田园气氛。
• Many people living in big cities yearn for an idyllic country life.现在的很多都市人向往那种田园化的生活。

4 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

5 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

6 awakens   

v.（使）醒( awaken的第三人称单数 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到

参考例句：

• The scene awakens reminiscences of my youth. 这景象唤起我年轻时的往事。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The child awakens early in the morning. 这个小孩早晨醒得早。 来自辞典例句

7 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

8 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

9 foretells   

v.预言，预示( foretell的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• It is a kind of oracle that often foretells things most important. 它是一种内生性神谕，常常能预言最重要的事情。 来自互联网
• What the Old Testament foretells the New Testament fulfils, in part. 旧约圣经的预言在新约圣经中部分实现了。 来自互联网

10 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

11 edgy   

adj.不安的；易怒的

参考例句：

• She's been a bit edgy lately,waiting for the exam results.她正在等待考试结果，所以最近有些焦躁不安。
• He was nervous and edgy, still chain-smoking.他紧张不安，还在一根接一根地抽着烟。

12 unaware   

a.不知道的，未意识到的

参考例句：

• They were unaware that war was near. 他们不知道战争即将爆发。
• I was unaware of the man's presence. 我没有察觉到那人在场。

13 solidify   

v.(使)凝固，(使)固化，(使)团结

参考例句：

• Opinion on this question began to solidify.对这个问题的意见开始具体化了。
• Water will solidify into ice if you freeze it.水冷冻会结冰。

14 premise   

n.前提；v.提论，预述

参考例句：

• Let me premise my argument with a bit of history.让我引述一些史实作为我立论的前提。
• We can deduce a conclusion from the premise.我们可以从这个前提推出结论。

15 psychiatrist   

n.精神病专家；精神病医师

参考例句：

• He went to a psychiatrist about his compulsive gambling.他去看精神科医生治疗不能自拔的赌瘾。
• The psychiatrist corrected him gently.精神病医师彬彬有礼地纠正他。

16 amber   

n.琥珀；琥珀色；adj.琥珀制的

参考例句：

• Would you like an amber necklace for your birthday?你过生日想要一条琥珀项链吗？
• This is a piece of little amber stones.这是一块小小的琥珀化石。

17 averting   

防止，避免( avert的现在分词 )； 转移

参考例句：

• The margin of time for averting crisis was melting away. 可以用来消弥这一危机的些许时光正在逝去。
• These results underscore the value of rescue medications in averting psychotic relapse. 这些结果显示了救护性治疗对避免精神病复发的价值。