经济学人99:一部不大可能成为大片的喜剧

 　　Books and Arts; Book Review;New French film; Friends united;An unlikely comic hit;

　　文艺；书评；新法国电影；朋友一心；一部不大可能成为大片的喜剧；
　　French film-makers are good at turning out silly comedies that foreigners find unwatchable. They have a better export record with highbrow, low-plot movies, set in chic 1 apartments with parquet 2 floors, that feel moodily 3 French. Just occasionally, however, they come up with a comic gem 4. “Intouchables”, directed by Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano, is one of those cleverly pitched, well-scripted, feel-good comic films typically crafted in Hollywood; it is a delight to see that the French can sometimes pull them off too. With more than 4m tickets sold since it opened earlier this month, the film is set to be a boxoffice smash.
　　法国影人善于制作外国人觉得没什么看头的无厘头喜剧。他们在出口平铺直叙的、设定在镶木地板的现代公寓里的、让人感受跃动法兰西的文艺片方面有着较好记录。但他们也偶尔出产喜剧精品：由奥利弗·纳卡切与埃里克·托勒达诺执导的《不可触及》就是那种巧妙定位、精心编写、让人感觉不错的通常是由好莱坞制作的喜剧片。我们乐见法国人有时也能赢得如此评价。自本月上旬首映以来，随着票房超过400万，该片必将成为大热。
　　Based on a true story, it follows the improbable relationship between Philippe, a quadriplegic aristocrat 5 (Fran?ois Cluzet), and Driss (Omar Sy), a gregarious 6 Senegal-born youth from the banlieues, the grim housing estates that ring Paris. On his release from prison, Driss is hired by Philippe in a moment of recklessness as a live-in help at his Paris mansion 7. Philippe is warned that banlieue youths have “no pity”. No pity, replies the wheelchair-bound former paraglider wryly 8, is just what I want.
　　取材于真实故事的影片围绕四肢瘫痪的贵族菲利佩（弗兰科斯·库泽特饰）与来自暴力街区（环巴黎的糟糕的居民区）的爱跟人打交道的塞内加尔裔青年迪瑞斯（奥马尔·塞饰）之间本没什么交集的关系展开。出狱后，菲利佩毅然雇佣迪瑞斯为他巴黎宅邸里的全职护工。有人警告菲利佩说暴力街区的青年不值得“怜悯”。这位在轮椅上动弹不得的前滑翔伞运动员反唇相讥：不值得“怜悯”的青年正是我要的。
　　Less deftly 9 handled, the treatment of such a subject could have fallen into a number of traps. Instead, the film’s light touch finds comedy in both men’s handicaps: the one physical, the other social. Each, in his own unsentimental way, understands the other better than do those around them. This unlikely chemistry is captured in the opening sequence, when Driss roars through the streets of night-time Paris, funk music at full blast and Philippe in the passenger seat, giving his employer the thrill of the Maserati he owns but cannot drive.
　　如果不巧妙处理，这样的题材可能会落入很多固定套数。相反，影片在两个人的缺陷中触及到了喜剧元素：一个是身体上的；一个是社会上的。抛开感情色彩，他们比他们周围任何人都更了解对方。这种不太可能的化学反应发生在开场一幕：迪瑞斯将朋克音乐开到最大音量，驾驶着玛莎拉蒂轰鸣着穿过夜晚的巴黎街道时，他为他的雇主、坐在乘客位子上的菲利佩带来了这部他拥有的却没法开的豪车所带来的快感。
　　French critics have been thoroughly 10 charmed. Le Figaro newspaper called the film “faultless”. Paris-Match described it as “the best scripted, best acted, funniest and most moving that we have seen in a long time”. It has surely launched Mr Sy, a black comedian 11 best-known for a short nightly sketch 12 on Canal Plus, a television channel, on the way to stardom. Bob and Harvey Weinstein, two Hollywood producers, have acquired the rights for America and Britain. Here’s hoping that English-language audiences will get to see the original French version, and not just a remake.
　　法国评论家们完全被迷倒了。《费加罗报》称这部电影“完美无瑕”。《巴黎竞赛画报》将它描述为“有史以来我们看过的编得最好、演得最好、最搞笑、最感人的电影。”这部戏肯定会将塞先生，这位因法国加号频道（canal+）晚间短片出名的黑人喜剧演员推向星光大道。两位好莱坞制片人鲍勃和哈维·温斯坦已经获得英国和美国版版权。英语国家的观众也希望看到法国原版，而不仅仅是翻拍版。