经济学人63:世界尽头的银幕

 　　Books and Arts; Book Review;New theatre: “Travelling Light”;

　　文艺；书评；新剧院：《轻装上阵》；
　　The screen at the end of the world;Antony Sher plays the part of a lifetime;
　　世界尽头的银幕；安东尼·谢尔：生为犹太身，今演犹太人；
　　Jacob Bindel, the timber merchant in Nicholas Wright's “Travelling Light” at the Lyttelton theatre, is the second of three Jewish roles that Sir Antony Sher has signed up for in less than a year—after decades of parts from other worlds than that of his forefathers 1. First he was Phillip Gellburg in last autumn's production of Arthur Miller's “Broken Glass” at London's Tricycle theatre, a repressed businessman in 1938 New York who tries to ignore the violent pogroms taking place in Germany. And later this summer he will reanimate Sigmund Freud in Terry Johnson's “Hysteria” in Bath.
　　身为犹太人，安东尼·谢尔爵士（Sir Antony Sher）数十年从未演过本民族角色。而最近不到一年，他已接下了三个犹太角色。去年秋季，他在伦敦三轮车剧院首度出演犹太人，于阿瑟·米勒（Arthur Miller）剧《碎玻璃杯》中饰演菲利普·盖尔博格（Phillip Gellburg），一个情感压抑的商人，1938年住在纽约，试图忽视德国残暴的犹太人大屠杀。第二个角色便是在利特尔顿剧院扮演尼古拉斯·赖特（Nicholas Wright）剧《轻装上阵》中的犹太木材商人雅各布·宾德尔（Jacob Bindel）。而今夏，他将在巴斯重新诠释泰利·约翰逊（Terry Johnson）剧《歇斯底里》中的西格蒙德·佛洛依德。
　　Of the three roles, Jacob Bindel may well prove the most memorable 2. It could make the South African-born actor as unforgettable to London audiences as Chaim Topol was as Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof” half a century ago.
　　安东尼的三个角色中，雅各布·宾德尔可能最令人难忘。也许该角能使这位南非出生的演员与哈伊姆·托波尔（Chaim Topol）一样让伦敦观众无法忘怀——托波尔五十年前曾在前音乐剧《屋顶上的小提琴手》中出演泰维（Tevye）一角。
　　Mr Wright has set his new play in a remote village in eastern Europe at the dawn of the 20th century. Motl Mendl (a fluid and captivating Damien Molony) has returned after a long absence to his uncle's photography studio, where he is entranced by the flickering 3 shadows of a motion picture. Jacob enters, intent on having a photograph taken of his wife and their only son before the boy is called upon to don the uniform of the tsar. At least, that is his plan until he decides to have the family farewell filmed as a motion picture and succumbs 4 to the allure 5 of the movies.
　　这部赖特新作中的故事发生在20世纪初叶一个遥远的东欧小镇上。莫特尔·门德尔（Motl Mendl）长相酷似达米恩·莫罗尼（Damien Molony），动作灵活优雅，充满魅力。久别之后，他回到了叔叔的照相馆，在那儿对电影闪烁的光影着了迷。某天，雅各布来到相馆，本想在独子应征加入沙皇的军队前为妻儿照张合照，后来决定将家人的惜别之景摄为电影；电影的魅力征服了他。
　　Orphaned 6 and illiterate 7, the ebullient 8 self-made businessman explains why: “Me, I don't know words. Words for me are like stone wall around God's world. So I am stranger to God's world…Then I see your motion picture, and the door to paradise open for me. I see big light, big sun, big sky! Because no words! No words but all of feelings! Love, happiness, sadness, tears. I see them clear.” Inspired by Anna, Motl's clever and captivating assistant (Lauren O'Neil), the young director begins making films with Jacob as the world's first movie producer.
　　这位白手起家的商人幼时失荫，一字不识，却对电影满腔热情。对此，他解释道：“俺——我不识字。那些字儿跟石头墙似的把我挡在上帝的世界外头。对那里头我啥也不晓得……后来看到你的电影，天堂的大门就开了。我看到好多的光，好大的日头，好宽的天空！爱啊，幸福啊，伤心啊，眼泪啊，全都能看清。”莫特尔从聪慧迷人的女助手安娜（Anna）（Lauren O'Neil饰）身上得到灵感，开始拍摄电影。雅各布与他合作，成为世上第一位制片人。
　　Mr Wright's paean 9 to the earliest days of film-making—a homage 10 to the birth of Hollywood with its Sam Goldwyns and its Louis B. Mayers—is funny and generous. The warmth of the shtetl feeds the creativity of these nascent 11 cinephiles. Together the two men go back to the flood, discovering the power of stories, dramatic montage, captivated audiences and the thrill of the casting couch.
　　这部音乐剧情节有趣，内容丰富，是赖特献给电影制作最初时光的赞美诗，也是赖特对好莱坞诞生的敬意。当时，它拥有许多像山姆·高德温、路易斯·梅耶一样的大人物。在剧中，犹太小镇的温情滋养着两位初出茅庐的电影迷的创造力。他们一同投身事业的洪流，逐渐明白了应该如何讲述故事，如何进行戏剧性剪辑，如何抓住观众，还知道了选角时办公室沙发上发生的那些“让人激动的事儿”。
　　Earthy, wheedling 12 and endlessly instinctive 13, Sir Antony's Jacob is at the heart of it all, whether he is trying to meddle 14 in the directing or keep his wife and daughter out of the film and cast Anna, instead, as the leading lady (“When I look at that girl…I like 18 again. I like tree in springtime with hot sap like kettle rise into every branch. You hear my meaning?”) Or even when he tries surreptitiously to rent out his cow to the studio. In fact, Sir Antony is so powerfully Jacob Bindel that it becomes a problem. The second act takes place in Hollywood 30 years later. Jacob barely appears. The audience feels bereft 15.
　　安东尼深得人物精髓，他的雅各布土里土气、满嘴甜言蜜语、办事依赖直觉，在所有场景中始终表现如一。雅各布试图插手导演，不让妻女涉足影片，反而将安娜定为女主角（“我看着那姑娘……好像又回到了18岁。我像棵春天的树，滚烫的树液像在烧开的水壶里一样扑腾，冲进每根树枝。你听懂我说啥了吧？”），甚至还想偷偷把自己的牛租给制片厂。事实上，他演的雅各布实在太出彩了，反倒成了麻烦。该剧第二幕的背景是三十年后的好莱坞。雅各布很少出现，让观众怅然若失。