【英语听和读】水中女妖

 Callum: Hello, I'm Callum Robertson and this is Entertainment.

In the programme today I'm going to be looking at different views of a new

film Lady in the Water. We'll hear from the writer and director as well as the

critic.

In 1999 the film The Sixth Sense brought the name of M. Night Shyamalan to

the attention of the international cinema audience. He was hailed as the new

Spielberg and became known for films which have magical and supernatural

elements as well as surprising twists.

M. Night Shyamalan's latest film, Lady in the Water, is described a modern

day fairy tale. It began as a bedtime story he used to tell his children and he's

adapted it to become a movie.

However the process of turning the story into a film wasn't an easy one. A film

written down is called a script and usually every script gets re-written a number

of times – things are changed, corrections are made, problems fixed¹ and so on.

Each different version of the script is known as a draft. How many drafts did it

take M. Night before he was finished and what does he think of the completed

script?

M. Night Shyamalan

It took a lot of drafts, it took 13 drafts, which is obviously a sign that I was in the wrong

direction at first. But by the time we got to thirteen drafts we had one of those very special 

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kind of things that could exist all by itself without even shooting a movie, it could exist and

you could put it in front of somebody and they would read it and become enchanted² by it, it

had it's own language, you know.

Callum: It took 13 drafts before the final script was finished but he was very happy with

the end result. He said that people would be enchanted by the script alone, they

would find it magical, interesting and enjoyable. Enchanted. And what does he

think of the finished movie?

M. Night Shyamalan

I love the movie, I love the movie. The cast and crew love the movie, the studio loves the

movie and there's a great deal of audience that loves the movie, standing³ ovations⁵ and stuff

like that.

Callum: He is very pleased with the movie, he loves it. But that’s not all. He says that

the cast and crew love the movie. The cast and crew is a useful expression for

the people who act in and are involved in the making of the movie, the cast and

crew. He also said that the studio – the company that gave him the money to

make the film – loves it and that audiences have loved it, giving it a 'standing

ovation⁴'. A standing ovation is when the audience stand up at the end and cheer

and clap.

In the film Lady in the Water someone or something appears in the swimming

pool of an apartment complex. This character is not a human character but is a

fantasy character from a fantasy land who has to return to her own world.

We've heard that the author of story and director of the film, M. Night

Shyamalan thinks it's an enchanting⁶ story but what do the critics think?

Mark Kermode is a reviewer who never hides his true feelings about the

movies he sees. This is what he thought about the Lady in the Water.

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Mark Kermode

Absolutely idiotic⁷ script that nobody in their right mind would turn into a movie. It's awful, a

whole career going down in flames in the sheer awfulness of it all. It is absolute self-indulgent

waffle.

Callum: Oh dear. Not one of Mark's favourite films. The script that M Night Shyamalan

describes as 'enchanting', Mark describes as 'idiotic'. He actually likes his other

films but this one he thinks is so bad it is like a plane crash for M. Night's

career. He describes it as being self-indulgent waffle. Waffle is a noun and a

verb for when people talk or write a lot but without giving any important. By

using the adjective self-indulgent Mark shows that he believes the writer

allows himself to do exactly what he wants even if that is not necessarily the

best thing.

Listen again to Mark Kermode's comments.

Mark Kermode

Absolutely idiotic script that nobody in their right mind would turn into a movie. It's awful, a

whole career going down in flames in the sheer awfulness of it all. It is absolute self-indulgent

waffle.

Callum: Well that's all from this edition of entertainment. If you've seen this film I

wonder what you think – is it enchanting or idiotic! 

1 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

2 enchanted   

adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She was enchanted by the flowers you sent her. 她非常喜欢你送给她的花。
• He was enchanted by the idea. 他为这个主意而欣喜若狂。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 ovation   

n.欢呼，热烈欢迎，热烈鼓掌

参考例句：

• The hero received a great ovation from the crowd. 那位英雄受到人群的热烈欢迎。
• The show won a standing ovation. 这场演出赢得全场起立鼓掌。

5 ovations   

n.热烈欢迎( ovation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Everywhere they appeared there were ovations. 他们出现在哪儿，哪儿就是一片欢呼声。 来自辞典例句
• There were notable standing ovations for the Iraqi and the Palestinian teams. 而且引人注目的是，伊拉克和巴勒斯坦代表团还受到了持久的掌声欢迎。 来自互联网

6 enchanting   

a.讨人喜欢的

参考例句：

• His smile, at once enchanting and melancholy, is just his father's. 他那种既迷人又有些忧郁的微笑，活脱儿象他父亲。
• Its interior was an enchanting place that both lured and frightened me. 它的里头是个吸引人的地方，我又向往又害怕。

7 idiotic   

adj.白痴的

参考例句：

• It is idiotic to go shopping with no money.去买东西而不带钱是很蠢的。
• The child's idiotic deeds caused his family much trouble.那小孩愚蠢的行为给家庭带来许多麻烦。