VOA标准英语2009-Director Lee Daniels Delivers A Hard-Edged F

Lee Daniel's low-budget film, "Precious," is based on the award-winning novel "Push" by the African American author Sapphire¹. Like the book, the movie tells the story of an obese² 16-year-old girl from Harlem, the traditionally African American neighborhood of New York City that was once poverty stricken and dangerous. Precious rises above the physical and emotional abuse her family inflicts³ on her and takes back her life

Penelope Poulou | Washington DC 20 November 2009

 
Photo: Lionsgate
Precious, an uplifting drama about the human condition

There's no ray of hope for Precious. She waits on her mother hand and foot and receives not a kind word. She's kicked out of school because she's pregant by her own father. But Precious does not give up. She enrolls⁴ at an alternative school.

There, for the first time,  Precious forms bonds.

The dialogue is spare.  Whatever goes unsaid is communicated in looks, gestures, and body language. Colors are subdued⁵, depressing. The scenes are only occasionally punctuated⁶ with color: A red sweater, a turquoise⁷ necklace, an orange scarf. They imply a sliver⁸ of hope.

Only the young girl's fantasies, where she escapes at her darkest moments, are in vivid color.

This is the first movie role for Gabby Sidibe who plays Clareece Precious Jones and she is already being mentioned as a possible Oscar nominee⁹. Her acting¹⁰ is as hearfelt as it is heartbreaking.

But the one who is really expected to make the short list is Mo'nique. She interpets Mary, the mother of Precious, a woman with no conscience. 

Singer Mariah Carey is almost unrecognizable in the film. She sheds her usual glamour¹¹ to play Ms. Weiss, the plain and stern social worker.

The film is uncompromising, relentless¹². It has come under criticism for allegedly showing African Americans in a negative light. But director Lee Daniels, in a VOA interview, said the story transcends¹³ race.

"We come in all different colors," says the filmmaker. "We're colored people. So, we have athletes, we have drug dealers¹⁴, we have doctors, we have murderers. We are people. You are people. It's a segment of life."

Precious beats the odds¹⁵. She learns to read and write, defies her family and stands on her feet, stoically, quietly.

"If you leave the theater feeling sorry for Precious then you missed something," says newcomer Gabby Sidibe. "I want people to feel very uplifted by the story."

This is a gut-wrenching film that shows how resilient humans are. Painful and inspiring at the same time, it is impossible to leave the theater indifferent.

1 sapphire   

n.青玉，蓝宝石；adj.天蓝色的

参考例句：

• Now let us consider crystals such as diamond or sapphire.现在让我们考虑象钻石和蓝宝石这样的晶体。
• He left a sapphire ring to her.他留给她一枚蓝宝石戒指。

2 obese   

adj.过度肥胖的，肥大的

参考例句：

• The old man is really obese,it can't be healthy.那位老人确实过于肥胖了，不能算是健康。
• Being obese and lazy is dangerous to health.又胖又懒危害健康。

3 inflicts   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Bullfrog 50 Inflicts poison when your enemy damages you at short range. 牛娃50对近距离攻击你的敌人造成毒伤。
• The U.S. always inflicts its concept of human nature on other nations. 美国总是把自己的人权观念强加于别国。

4 enrolls   

v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的第三人称单数 )；登记，招收，使入伍（或入会、入学等），参加，成为成员；记入名册；卷起，包起

参考例句：

• Enrolls the newborn register of names to print afterward and to mail. 录取新生名册随后打印并寄发。 来自互联网
• The association enrolls 100, 000 members. 该协会拥有10万名会员。 来自互联网

5 subdued   

adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He seemed a bit subdued to me. 我觉得他当时有点闷闷不乐。
• I felt strangely subdued when it was all over. 一切都结束的时候，我却有一种奇怪的压抑感。

6 punctuated   

v.（在文字中）加标点符号，加标点( punctuate的过去式和过去分词 )；不时打断某事物

参考例句：

• Her speech was punctuated by bursts of applause. 她的讲演不时被阵阵掌声打断。
• The audience punctuated his speech by outbursts of applause. 听众不时以阵阵掌声打断他的讲话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 turquoise   

n.绿宝石；adj.蓝绿色的

参考例句：

• She wore a string of turquoise round her neck.她脖子上戴着一串绿宝石。
• The women have elaborate necklaces of turquoise.那些女人戴着由绿松石制成的精美项链。

8 sliver   

n.裂片，细片，梳毛；v.纵切，切成长片，剖开

参考例句：

• There was only one sliver of light in the darkness.黑暗中只有一点零星的光亮。
• Then,one night,Monica saw a thin sliver of the moon reappear.之后的一天晚上，莫尼卡看到了一个月牙。

9 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

10 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

11 glamour   

n.魔力，魅力；vt.迷住

参考例句：

• Foreign travel has lost its glamour for her.到国外旅行对她已失去吸引力了。
• The moonlight cast a glamour over the scene.月光给景色增添了魅力。

12 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

13 transcends   

超出或超越（经验、信念、描写能力等）的范围( transcend的第三人称单数 )； 优于或胜过…

参考例句：

• The chemical dilution technique transcends most of the difficulties. 化学稀释法能克服大部分困难。
• The genius of Shakespeare transcends that of all other English poets. 莎士比亚的才华胜过所有的其他英国诗人。

14 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

15 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？