Legends of the fall 《燃情岁月》（视频精讲之一）

影片对白

Samuel: And the German military is ready to use chaos¹ in Croatia as justifications² for actions that could plunge³ the entire civilized⁴ world into...

Colonel Ludlow: Samuel! The word "civilized" has no place in any discussions of the affairs of this world.

Alfred: Miss Finncannon, Mother has told us of your sympathy for the social reformers.

Susannah: You make it sound like a disease.

Alfred: No, no, no, on the contrary, I'm in agreement.

Susannah: Your mother told me all about One Stab. She says that he was a great warrior⁵.

Alfred: Oh yes. He has a bag of scalps sitting away somewhere to prove it too, but don't worry, he's...haha... he's devoted⁶ to father now.

Samuel: Or rather, they're devoted to each other. 

Susannah: Can he speak English?

Alfred: Stab? Speak English? He wouldn't lower himself to speak English. Would you, Stab? But watch out. Because he understands it perfectly⁷ well.

Samuel: Hey, there's Tristan.

Samuel: Don't they feed you up there?

Tristan: Not much.

Samuel: You smell.

Tristan: Miss me, did you?

Samuel: Still hung over?

Tristan: Still drunk.

Samuel: Isn't she amazing?

Susannah: So this is Tristan. And does he speak English?

Alfred: Tristan, for God's sake.

Tristan: Miss Finncannon. It's a pleasure to meet you. I hope you and Ugly here find every happiness together.

Alfred: Don't mind my brother. Your dog has more breeding than he has.

妙语佳句，活学活用

1. plunge into

“卷入，陷入”的意思。Samuel的意思是说“整个文明世界都被卷入到战争中”。 Plunge 还可以指“全神贯注地投入到某件事情中”，例如：The kids plunged⁸ into the story. 孩子们整个被这个故事迷住了。

2. Has no place in

“‘文明'这个词根本不能用来形容这个世界。”在Colonel Ludlow看来，这个世界虚伪又残忍，根本谈不上“文明”。Has no place in 通常的意思是 inappropriate （不适合/不应该……），但语气要比它强许多。例如：Fast food has no place in hospitals. 快餐不应该卖到医院里。

3. One Stab

叙述整个故事的印第安老人，是美国屠杀印第安人后的幸存者，Colonel Lodlow 的朋友， Tristan 的师父。

4. Rather

“更确切地说”的意思。例如：He is my friend, or rather he was my friend. 他是我的朋友，更确切的说，他曾经是我的朋友。

5. Lower oneself

“降低自己的身份，做出有损道德、有损尊严的事”，例如：I won't lower myself to do such kind of things. 我才不会降低身份做这种事呢！

影片简介

“有些人能清楚地听见自己内心的声音，并按这个声音的指引生活。这样的人，不是疯了，就是成了传说。”在悠扬的乐声中，老印第安人开始讲述这个漫长而又忧伤的故事。那故事是从一个洒满银色月光的秋夜开始的，Tristan 也从此开始了他传奇的一生。

Legends of the fall 是1994年的经典电影之一。那一年著名的电影还有《阿甘正传》、《肖申克的救赎》、《低俗小说》……在如此众多的精彩影片之中，Legends of the fall 以优美的西部风光、悠扬苍茫的音乐和荡气回肠的爱情故事打动了无数人的心。 在西部片日渐式微的时候，Legends of the fall 是好莱坞制作的独辟蹊径的西部片典范。它没有通常西部片中的枪林弹雨和救世英雄，情节叙述也是缓慢推进，夹杂了长长的旁白，但是配上风景如画的西部风光和James Horner的经典配乐，这部散文诗般的影片赢得了大众的心。

Legends of the fall这部电影是根据吉姆·哈里森的同名小说改编的。但是改编后的电影和小说又大有不同，也因此使它成为“好莱坞”式的大片。原著中着重描述父子四人之间的感情和纠纷，女主角苏珊娜则是一个比较虚无缥缈的人物。而在电影中，苏珊娜与三兄弟的感情纠葛则是贯穿电影的主线内容。这也是好莱坞大片一贯的商业风格。

考考你

What does Alfred mean by "He has a bag of scalps somewhere to prove it"?

1 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

2 justifications   

正当的理由，辩解的理由( justification的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• If he a vulgar person, she does not have justifications for him. 如果他是个低级趣味的人，她早就不会理他了。
• It depends on their effect on competition and possible justifications. 这则取决于它们对于竞争的影响和可能存在的正当抗辩理由。

3 plunge   

v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲

参考例句：

• Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。
• That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。

4 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

5 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

6 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

7 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

8 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。