Hi, Winki, nice to hear from you. Too bad you can’t read my Chinese. Keep learning! How are u? Have u grown? There aren’t too many good films around. Woody Allen’s MATCH POINT is good, but must have been pulled down in Canada. The DVD is just out, maybe u can catch it on DVD. I’ll be seeing MI:3 on Tuesday. Will let u know if u visit my blog. Regards to your mom!
I must say I hated ISABELLA, though less than AV and BEYOND MY KEN. I walked out of AV after 30 minutes into the film. ISABELLA was actually better: I stayed for around 40 minutes. Sorry…
Gay-Themed Film Gives Closet Door a Tug (New York Times)
SEOUL, South Korea — “King and the Clown” lacked a single top star from South Korea’s booming film industry, or the other usual ingredients of a surefire blockbuster.
And in a country where homosexuality was removed from the Youth Protection Commission’s list of “socially unacceptable” acts only in 2004, the film centered on a gay love triangle in a 16th-century royal court: a young male clown torn between his love for a fellow clown and an amorous king.
But to everyone’s surprise, not least the director’s, in mid-March the movie became the most popular ever in South Korea’s history, seen by more than 12 million people, or one in four residents. In American terms, it would perhaps be the equivalent of “Brokeback Mountain” — to which this movie has been loosely compared — grossing as much as “Titanic.”
As a cultural phenomenon, “King and the Clown” has led to sometimes confused, sometimes uncomfortable discussions here about the nature of homosexuality, something that was rarely discussed publicly until a few years ago.
At the core of the movie, which the producers hope to take to the United States, are two male clowns, a masculine one named Jang Saeng and a feminine, delicate-looking one named Gong Gil, who assumes the female part in skits. Itinerant performers who depend on handouts for their survival, they are condemned to death one day for a bawdy skit insulting Yonsan, a king remembered in Korean history for his tyranny. But after succeeding in making the king laugh, the clowns are pardoned and allowed to become court jesters.
The king becomes enamored of Gong Gil, and the ensuing relationship fuels Jang Saeng’s jealousy. Physical displays of affection are subtle: the king kisses the sleeping clown in one brief scene; in another showing the two clowns sleeping next to each other, Jang Saeng gently tucks in his partner.
All tame perhaps, but many here consider the movie a taboo-breaker in its matter-of-fact portrayal of homosexuality. Popular culture had long ignored gays or, in more recent years, relegated them to caricatured roles.
“One or two films tried to describe gay relationships in a serious way, but were unsuccessful commercially,” said Tcha Sung-Jai, one of the country’s best-known producers and a professor of film at Dongkuk University. “That’s why everyone in the industry was so surprised when ‘King and the Clown’ became a hit.
“I cried when I saw the movie,” Mr. Tcha added, “and I’m a very strong heterosexual.”
In addition to homosexuality, other previously taboo subjects, like human rights violations during South Korea’s military rule and North Korea-related themes, have been broached recently in film. Movies have mirrored, and sometimes tried to stay abreast of, a South Korean society that has been socially and politically transformed in the last decade.
Until a decade ago, when a tiny gay rights movement was started by Korean-Americans on a few college campuses here, most Koreans had been completely unaware even of the existence of gays. Even though Seoul has long had two neighborhoods with small clusters of gay bars, Itaewon and Chongno, they remained hidden, and homosexuality went unmentioned.
Then, in 2000, the issue was tossed into the public area when a well-known television actor, Hong Suk Chon, became the first major figure to declare his homosexuality. Mr. Hong was immediately dropped from his show, and his career appeared over. But in 2003, in a sign of changing attitudes, the actor began a successful comeback.
“We feel that the last 10 years is the equivalent of a hundred years because so many changes occurred in such a short period,” Oh Ga Ram, an official at the Korean Gay Men’s Human Rights Group, said in an interview in the organization’s office in Chongno.
No other public figure has come out of the closet, and most Korean gays remain hidden. But Mr. Oh said “King and the Clown” was a “positive step” because “there is a discourse now that did not exist before.”
The discourse, though, was often confused, Mr. Oh said. Because the love triangle hinges on a feminine male clown, some viewers say the relationship is not a gay one at all. “In the minds of many Koreans now, ‘pretty males’ equal gay,” he said.
The movie’s title in Korean is more direct about the nature of the relationship: “The King’s Man.”
Still, its director, Lee Jun Ik, was hesitant to define his movie as a gay-themed one and played it down as breaking taboos.
“This is not homosexuality as defined by the West,” Mr. Lee said in an interview. “It’s very different from ‘Brokeback Mountain.’ In that movie, homosexuality is fate, not a preference. Here, it’s a practice.”
Mr. Lee said he had been more interested in evoking the world of itinerant clowns, many of whom were involved in same-sex relationships.
One person the director consulted was Kim Gi Bok, 77, who is considered the last surviving itinerant clown. Mr. Kim was amused at the attention he had gotten because of the film.
“Before, we were treated as beggars, but now we are considered traditional artists,” he said in an interview in Anseong, a town two hours north of Seoul, where a center to keep alive his craft was established.
Intense relationships developed among itinerant clowns, Mr. Kim said, because they worked in all-male troupes and traveled together all the time.
“It was also difficult to get a wife,” he said. “We were beggars. Who would marry a beggar?”
As in the movie, a masculine clown and a feminine clown often became a couple. The masculine clown showed his love by buying his partner, called biri, a watch, Mr. Kim said.
“They would stay together all the time, sleeping in the same room, helping each other out,” he said. “The biri would go into people’s kitchens and even beg for food for both of them.”
“Some of the biris were extremely beautiful — they had hair down to here,” Mr. Kim said, pointing to his waist, as his eyes lit up at the memory. He added that some clowns who did manage to marry would sometimes leave their wives for fellow clowns.
Mr. Kim himself married and had one son. He said he, too, had biris during his life, though he said the relations had not been sexual.
“Relations between men were very sincere and genuine,” Mr. Kim said. “It was an amazing, remarkable relationship, much closer than anything between a husband and wife.”
其實就故事本身而言,【王】片的情色賣點還是很聳動的:皇帝愛上男扮女裝的戲子,無論從性別或階級差異的角度來看,都是引人注目的話題。不過好就好在【王】片並非只想賣弄這個元素,這從電影的開場就看得出來,繩索上的戲碼,除了直接了當就說明兩位主人翁孔吉、張生的表演功力,也把庶民文化的魅力表露無遺。導演很明顯地把眼光投注在這對「戲子」身上,也說明了所謂平民與皇族的階級,其實無法阻隔戲劇魅力的單純迷人。因此最後他們誤打誤撞的「博君一笑」,就與【莎翁情史】(Shakespeare in Love)中伊莉莎白女王在平民劇場裡被莎士比亞的戲所感動一樣,頗有異曲同工之妙。
Dear Shu Kei
I have written a philosophical article on Wong Kar-Wai and would like to interview him. But as a clumsy academic I do not know how to approach him. Can you help?
Jenny, I think very few of the present short courses in film production around town are very good and useful (of course, this is just a very personal opinion.) It all depends on what level you are thinking of to attain to. When you’re talking about “film production”, do u mean shooting on DV or 35mm? They make huge differences. For me, the best way is always to go to school. The next best way, I’d suggest, is to start from reading, then get a DV cam and do it yourself.
中国香港影视导演、影评家。原藉广东宝安,生于香港。高中时代起为杂志写电影评论,后入香港大学英文系。在校期间曾为电视连续剧写过剧本《花劫》、《冤狱》。不久任香港《电影双周刊》杂志总编。同时写作电影剧本,当助理导演。1981年执导《两小无猜》获国际天主教金巨奖。1986执导《老娘够骚》Soul于1988年送日本香港电影博览会展映,1990执导记录片《一个香港电影人的天安门》,又名《没有太阳的日子》Sunless Days 1990、曾受委托为《霸王别姬》Farewell to My Concubine 1993、《悲情城市》A City of Sadness 1989作电影市场宣传,他是一位经写作影评论而走上导演道路的电影人,因而具有和某些与欧美新电影导演同等的经历。在香港电影界曾把许鞍华、徐克称作第一代新电影代表作家。舒琪是第二代新电影的代表作家。 很高兴你,我可以常来坐坐吗?
ET
I am a film writer and I interviewed you on the movie Sunless Days couples years ago in APA for HK Magazine.
I am currently researching and writing for a book on Hong Kong Documentary Films, and I am hoping to get a copy of your Sunless Days, and a further interview later.
If you can kindly let me know where i can get the copy via email, I will be most thankful.
1. Similar to Shyamalan, French director Luc Besson, a pivotal figure in the Cinéma du look movement, has been usually under-estimated by critics. (”When the film (Le Grand bleu) had its premiere on opening night at the Cannes Film Festival, it was mercilessly drubbed, but no matter; it was a smash,” observed the International Herald Tribune in a 2007 profile of Besson.)
2. Luc Besson’s film language is unique, innovative and consistent over time. (You could conclude this by comparing Léon the Professional with The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc - two films supposingly different in visual style.)
3. There are two abstracts from Léon the Professional (derived from Youtube). Please enjoy.
1. When critic Joseph Gelmis asked Stanley Kubrick about the meaning of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Kubrick replied:
“They are the areas I prefer not to discuss, because they are highly subjective and will differ from viewer to viewer. In this sense, the film becomes anything the viewer sees in it. If the film stirs the emotions and penetrates the subconscious of the viewer, if it stimulates, however inchoately, his mythological and religious yearnings and impulses, then it has succeeded.”
2. Luc Besson’s Le Grand bleu(The Big Blue) has the same power to penetrate into our sub-consciousness as 2001: A Space Odyssey.
3. The opening of Missing the Movie(深海尋人) seems like (a tribute to) Le Grand bleu. Has Tsui Hark been inspired by the film?
After reading your article about the “crisis” of American indie films (dated on 13 July 2008), I would like to share the followings:
1. With the technological development of the Internet, new distribution channels/platforms for indie films would certainly appear at a much lower cost than now, particularly in such developed countries as the United States.
2. On the other hand, in recent years, the survival of indie films produced in the developing countries largely depends on the willingness and ability to co-operate with overseas film production units.
3. A typical example for the international co-operation mentioned above is Xiao Wu (小武), the first feature by Jia Zhangke (and, in my opinion, a film with artistic value comparable with Federico Fellini’s Nights of Cabiria).
4. By observation, we could conclude that one of the important forms among indie films is documentary.
5. For a film director, documentary is important because it accumulates insights and keeps him/her “fresh”. (Jia Zhangke’s two documentaries, Dong and Useless, are examples.)
「但沙馬蘭最大的優點,仍是他對電影語言的注重與運用。這方面大衛·博維爾(David Bordwell)有一段話說得最好,但不好譯,所以原裝節錄在這裡。他說:“Shyamalan is a genuine filmmaker; he thinks in shots. Unlike the filmmakers who believe in interrupting every shot by another one, Shyamalan tries for a natural curve of interest as the image unfolds to its point of maximal interest.”《破天·慌》依然充滿了這樣的特色。老婦人的身影從窗外閃過,房子受到硬物撞擊,直到她兩度用頭撞破窗戶的一段戲,足為明證。」
Shu Kei I can not get your blog in english. help
ditto
會談談伊莎貝拉這一齣香港電影嗎?
倘若舒琪的文章能見諸於報章便好了…
會否談談今年香港國際電影節的電影?
例如選一些值得評論和欣賞的.
Hi, Winki, nice to hear from you. Too bad you can’t read my Chinese. Keep learning! How are u? Have u grown? There aren’t too many good films around. Woody Allen’s MATCH POINT is good, but must have been pulled down in Canada. The DVD is just out, maybe u can catch it on DVD. I’ll be seeing MI:3 on Tuesday. Will let u know if u visit my blog. Regards to your mom!
I must say I hated ISABELLA, though less than AV and BEYOND MY KEN. I walked out of AV after 30 minutes into the film. ISABELLA was actually better: I stayed for around 40 minutes. Sorry…
a bit surprise when the world all praise ISABELLA which even gained reward …
Gay-Themed Film Gives Closet Door a Tug (New York Times)
SEOUL, South Korea — “King and the Clown” lacked a single top star from South Korea’s booming film industry, or the other usual ingredients of a surefire blockbuster.
And in a country where homosexuality was removed from the Youth Protection Commission’s list of “socially unacceptable” acts only in 2004, the film centered on a gay love triangle in a 16th-century royal court: a young male clown torn between his love for a fellow clown and an amorous king.
But to everyone’s surprise, not least the director’s, in mid-March the movie became the most popular ever in South Korea’s history, seen by more than 12 million people, or one in four residents. In American terms, it would perhaps be the equivalent of “Brokeback Mountain” — to which this movie has been loosely compared — grossing as much as “Titanic.”
As a cultural phenomenon, “King and the Clown” has led to sometimes confused, sometimes uncomfortable discussions here about the nature of homosexuality, something that was rarely discussed publicly until a few years ago.
At the core of the movie, which the producers hope to take to the United States, are two male clowns, a masculine one named Jang Saeng and a feminine, delicate-looking one named Gong Gil, who assumes the female part in skits. Itinerant performers who depend on handouts for their survival, they are condemned to death one day for a bawdy skit insulting Yonsan, a king remembered in Korean history for his tyranny. But after succeeding in making the king laugh, the clowns are pardoned and allowed to become court jesters.
The king becomes enamored of Gong Gil, and the ensuing relationship fuels Jang Saeng’s jealousy. Physical displays of affection are subtle: the king kisses the sleeping clown in one brief scene; in another showing the two clowns sleeping next to each other, Jang Saeng gently tucks in his partner.
All tame perhaps, but many here consider the movie a taboo-breaker in its matter-of-fact portrayal of homosexuality. Popular culture had long ignored gays or, in more recent years, relegated them to caricatured roles.
“One or two films tried to describe gay relationships in a serious way, but were unsuccessful commercially,” said Tcha Sung-Jai, one of the country’s best-known producers and a professor of film at Dongkuk University. “That’s why everyone in the industry was so surprised when ‘King and the Clown’ became a hit.
“I cried when I saw the movie,” Mr. Tcha added, “and I’m a very strong heterosexual.”
In addition to homosexuality, other previously taboo subjects, like human rights violations during South Korea’s military rule and North Korea-related themes, have been broached recently in film. Movies have mirrored, and sometimes tried to stay abreast of, a South Korean society that has been socially and politically transformed in the last decade.
Until a decade ago, when a tiny gay rights movement was started by Korean-Americans on a few college campuses here, most Koreans had been completely unaware even of the existence of gays. Even though Seoul has long had two neighborhoods with small clusters of gay bars, Itaewon and Chongno, they remained hidden, and homosexuality went unmentioned.
Then, in 2000, the issue was tossed into the public area when a well-known television actor, Hong Suk Chon, became the first major figure to declare his homosexuality. Mr. Hong was immediately dropped from his show, and his career appeared over. But in 2003, in a sign of changing attitudes, the actor began a successful comeback.
“We feel that the last 10 years is the equivalent of a hundred years because so many changes occurred in such a short period,” Oh Ga Ram, an official at the Korean Gay Men’s Human Rights Group, said in an interview in the organization’s office in Chongno.
No other public figure has come out of the closet, and most Korean gays remain hidden. But Mr. Oh said “King and the Clown” was a “positive step” because “there is a discourse now that did not exist before.”
The discourse, though, was often confused, Mr. Oh said. Because the love triangle hinges on a feminine male clown, some viewers say the relationship is not a gay one at all. “In the minds of many Koreans now, ‘pretty males’ equal gay,” he said.
The movie’s title in Korean is more direct about the nature of the relationship: “The King’s Man.”
Still, its director, Lee Jun Ik, was hesitant to define his movie as a gay-themed one and played it down as breaking taboos.
“This is not homosexuality as defined by the West,” Mr. Lee said in an interview. “It’s very different from ‘Brokeback Mountain.’ In that movie, homosexuality is fate, not a preference. Here, it’s a practice.”
Mr. Lee said he had been more interested in evoking the world of itinerant clowns, many of whom were involved in same-sex relationships.
One person the director consulted was Kim Gi Bok, 77, who is considered the last surviving itinerant clown. Mr. Kim was amused at the attention he had gotten because of the film.
“Before, we were treated as beggars, but now we are considered traditional artists,” he said in an interview in Anseong, a town two hours north of Seoul, where a center to keep alive his craft was established.
Intense relationships developed among itinerant clowns, Mr. Kim said, because they worked in all-male troupes and traveled together all the time.
“It was also difficult to get a wife,” he said. “We were beggars. Who would marry a beggar?”
As in the movie, a masculine clown and a feminine clown often became a couple. The masculine clown showed his love by buying his partner, called biri, a watch, Mr. Kim said.
“They would stay together all the time, sleeping in the same room, helping each other out,” he said. “The biri would go into people’s kitchens and even beg for food for both of them.”
“Some of the biris were extremely beautiful — they had hair down to here,” Mr. Kim said, pointing to his waist, as his eyes lit up at the memory. He added that some clowns who did manage to marry would sometimes leave their wives for fellow clowns.
Mr. Kim himself married and had one son. He said he, too, had biris during his life, though he said the relations had not been sexual.
“Relations between men were very sincere and genuine,” Mr. Kim said. “It was an amazing, remarkable relationship, much closer than anything between a husband and wife.”
March 31, 2006
Seoul Journal
By NORIMITSU ONISHI
【王的男人】包裹著韓國古裝宮闈電影的傳統特質:色彩華麗、情感壓抑、權謀鬥爭、綺情艷色,又帶有窺奇式的異國情調,加上「男男相戀」的議題設定,很容易被誤以為又是另一幅虛有其表、不見血肉的風景空畫。其實不然!全片從街頭藝人的表演出發,在刻意設計的戲中戲形式之下,呈現的反倒是一場起承轉合、辛辣赤裸的政治嘲諷。相對而言,片中三個男人之間的愛情,變得像是點綴其間的「純愛」副線;不過以人戲不分的情感投射,做為在這條副線的主支撐點,倒是成功在電影結尾產生了煽情而不過份矯情的催淚效果。
韓國電影過去一向有誇大情色議題的傾向,表面上看來壓抑保守,實則更刻意偏重這方面的著墨,尤其是古裝片。這兩年在台上映過的【醜聞】與【醉畫仙】,都有相同類似的毛病,過於放大性愛與情色奇觀的結果,反倒嚴重削弱戲劇性與人物刻畫的深度。【王的男人】除了捧紅李準基可男可女的陰柔氣質,導演李俊益也以紮實的戲劇實力證明,它在韓國颳起票房旋風,並非只有明星魅力使然。
其實就故事本身而言,【王】片的情色賣點還是很聳動的:皇帝愛上男扮女裝的戲子,無論從性別或階級差異的角度來看,都是引人注目的話題。不過好就好在【王】片並非只想賣弄這個元素,這從電影的開場就看得出來,繩索上的戲碼,除了直接了當就說明兩位主人翁孔吉、張生的表演功力,也把庶民文化的魅力表露無遺。導演很明顯地把眼光投注在這對「戲子」身上,也說明了所謂平民與皇族的階級,其實無法阻隔戲劇魅力的單純迷人。因此最後他們誤打誤撞的「博君一笑」,就與【莎翁情史】(Shakespeare in Love)中伊莉莎白女王在平民劇場裡被莎士比亞的戲所感動一樣,頗有異曲同工之妙。
不過【王】片絕非只意欲如此。片中的老太監引劇團入宮,演出一場又一場媲美「全民大悶鍋」般的爆笑諷刺劇碼,其實更大的用意是政治鬥爭。少年皇帝愛上平民妓女就已先招惹是非,然後又夾在前朝老臣、後宮后妃之間不得動彈,沒想到這一齣齣辛辣的模仿秀,竟能助王剷平異己,更激化他獨裁、弒血的內在慾望。導演藉此詠嘆戲劇的強大能量,更是不言自明。
相對於燕山君被激出的暴戾之氣,孔吉的陰柔特質反倒成為一種對比,被描寫成一種寄託與逃避。皇帝對他的傾慕,與其說是「愛」,還不如是一種情感與心靈上的補償與慰藉,也更能以「三角關係」的張力,更加凸顯孔吉與張生之間真正的愛情關係。從電影開始與最後的互相捨命相救,兩人練字排戲的默契,以及張生不忍孔吉被剝削靈肉的激動氣憤,在在都把這段看來像是「師兄弟」般的戀情,處理的看似含蓄、實則明晰。
電影裡把同志愛情處理的完全浪漫化,尤其最後張生、孔吉再重回繩索上的感慨喟嘆,藉著人、戲/本人、角色之間的模糊地帶,輾轉隱約地讓兩人做出驚人動地的情感告白,卻又沒有任何同志異色在其中,這部份確實與陳凱歌的【霸王別姬】些許神似。而最後一個鏡頭宛如夢境/天堂般的超現實畫面,除了呼應兩人互約「下輩子還要再演戲」的心願,更有同志理想國般的暗喻隱隱浮動,溫柔而情感豐沛,又不過度前衛挑釁,是個頗堪玩味的曖昧結尾。
整部電影只有當燕山君對孔吉深情一「吻」之際,是真正在直觀上最情色的一場戲,但其實孔吉這個角色在戲裡、戲外都被視為慾望體的投射,卻也是不爭的事實,這也難怪李準基能成為全片最具話題性的人物。不過另外兩位算不上太帥的男主角甘宇成、鄭鎮榮,其實才更有水準以上的純熟演技,尤其甘宇成既能演出豪邁灑脫的雜耍藝人本色,又能深情詮釋道不出愛意的內在掙扎,技壓全場。
影評人:塗翔文 撰文
http://movie.kingnet.com.tw/movie_critic/index.html?r=5796&c=BN0024
只是虛空–”王的男人”
很久沒看到這麼好看的電影了,有含糊曖昧的情感,有庶民文化的趣味,奸滑的權力鬥爭,有死傷,有英雄救美…該有的全有了,卻無法一言以蔽之的點破這齣戲究竟主題是什麼。這麼的困擾,究竟因為什麼?因為它是一場又一場的戲中戲,每個角色都隨時在出場退場,轉換角色和台詞,到最後,不只是戲中人物眼睛瞎了,我們這些觀眾也眼花的可以。
孔吉是這樣的一個代表人物,他內向溫和,下了戲之後,除了對師兄長生報以溫柔微笑以外,我們很少看見他講什麼關於內心的話,顯露什麼感情,然而就因為他是這樣的人,他與長生之間相知相惜又生死與共的那份情感,才能在舞台的掩護下被遮蓋的密密實實。
這兩人的對手戲多半台詞粗鄙,要說是庶民文化的特色也可以,但即使皇帝妃子看了也會笑,不管你是如貴族般掩面偷笑呢,還是像市井小民一樣笑的毫不掩飾,大家都是人,一樣的心知肚明,情慾本就粗鄙,作為文明化第一個要壓制的人類現象,情慾要是不粗俗直接,其實也沒人能從中獲的滿足。在一場一場追逐調笑的戲碼中,流動的卻是長生和孔吉那不能道破的情感關係,也只有在台上,兩個男人藉著扮演別人,才能這麼褲子一拉裙子一撩的,勾引與被勾引。
由此看來,戲是假的也是真的,演戲將真實中不能言說的一切宣洩出來,比真實還真實。在一開始戲碼尚且侷限於市井人物,這層真與假的流動關係,除了兩個戲中人演的非常滿足,還有戲裡戲外的觀眾看的哈哈大笑以外,並不會帶來什麼危險。我們看到這一對師兄弟,台上台下都充滿默契,一場兩個瞎子彼此找尋的戲碼,戲假情真,兩人心中都雪亮的是相互的依賴,當然很輕易就有美好大結局。在這裡我們也看到了受壓抑者的願望是這麼的小,為社會所不見容的情感,只要能在戲台上表達,他們也就能滿足了。
然而當戲被帶進了宮廷,可就沒這麼簡單了。人人都想藉由戲碼,操縱真實的一些什麼。楚善想藉著戲碼讓燕山君有所警醒,孔吉藉著毒殺的戲碼表達他對燕山君的同情與安慰,綠水藉著自編自導的毀皇書想陷害孔吉,卻又因為長生把罪犯的角色搶過來演而計謀失敗了,臣子們演一場狩獵大會的戲,還有長生想要藉著毀掉戲班子道具(暗示的當然是罷演),來表達他對孔吉和燕山的關係的不滿,還有逼迫孔吉走下戲台(兩層意思,一個是停止扮演燕山君的母親角色,還有一層是將真實情感從虛假轉回到真實)。在自以為可以的操縱過程中,本來就模糊的,那層真實與虛假的界線,現在更是成不了兩人的保護,想要操縱這界線的人都遭到了它的反撲。
燕山君扮演著皇帝這個戲偶,本來是個有名無實,處處都受到先皇留下來的老臣置肘,但在戲班子一齣齣演出宮廷內幕的同時,他一步步將實權掌握過來,這一變化自然惹怒了演著賢君良臣戲碼的臣子們,在假意勸諫的台詞下,實則是要逼迫燕山君退回作為皇帝戲偶的角色,其具體手段也是藉著一場狩獵大會的戲碼,要將無意間由於演了燕山君母親而實權在握的孔吉給斬除。
孔吉出於同情而演出燕山君被毒殺的母親,頓時讓這個走不出喪母之痛還有對父親的權威懼怕的燕山君著迷不已,然而這份著迷畢竟是將孔吉作為母親的替代,溫柔呵護的母親當然不能是男的,這也是為什麼,後來當燕山君聽見長生嘲弄他︰「看上比女人還嬌的小男人」時,臉上的表情瞬間從興致盎然變的殺氣騰騰。
孔吉作為一個角色扮演,他的真實身分(男性)對沉浸於母子戲碼的燕山君而言,是有極大衝突的,他對孔吉的寵愛並不像一般的戀情,那些在我們看來異常幼稚的舉動,其實若想作一個小孩在對母親撒嬌,就是很理所當然。總之當他選擇以孔吉作為母親的替代,孔吉真實的男性身分就是一個禁忌,綠水誤以為燕山君是迷上了男色,用這個為嘲弄燕山君,還想剝掉孔吉的衣服(脫掉=揭示),這一樣也破壞了燕山君心中的劇本。
孔吉處於這之間的無能為力,恰恰展現了皇帝在真實世界的的權威—他叫你演什麼,你就得是什麼。然而權力是既強悍又脆弱的,它能夠從外在去否認一個人的真實,明明是在的,說成不在。但它的脆弱就在於,否認真實,恰恰好證明的是真實之不可否認,即使將孔吉視為母親的替代,燕山君最依戀的那個母親是已經不在了,即使殺死了說穿這一點的長生,孔吉也終究是個男的。權力是無能為力的一體兩面,人性並無能承受這樣的雙面刃,更何況是向來藉著種種否認來活下去的燕山君。
而燕山君對長生的態度,由於孔吉介於其中,顯得較間接模糊,但是事實上,從第一場在皇帝面前演的戲碼,長生作為”父親”的角色就已經點明了,一方面他是孔吉的心之所繫,且我們不要忘記宣傳海報上,長生在左而孔吉在右,一人一邊的站在燕山君的椅子後面,這一對夫妻與親子關係的暗示是很明顯的。
燕山君只要在戲班子面前,就停止扮演威嚴的皇帝角色,表情回復孩子般直率,但戀母-母親作為父親的所有物-母親被父親所殺-無法犯抗的父親權威,這樣的經歷很自然讓燕山君成為戀母弒父情結的典型。
父親原本該形成的,作為嚴苛社會規範的超我形象,在燕山君心中變的過分擴張,可怖又無從逃避(這點從他演的皮影戲就表達出來了,而一直到他成人成為君王,先皇的臣子繼承了父親的權威性,對他處處拘束)而母親作為孩子的本能需要,這份需要的未獲滿足讓燕山君無法走出孩童期,父親=暴君=權威,母親=溫柔=安全,這兩者之間未獲平衡,燕山君只能透過同時扮演群臣眼中的暴君(對父親的模仿)和孔吉面前的孩子,作為自我的治療和宣洩。
燕山君無法違抗自己的真實父親,然而對這粗曠,作為男性典型,或說父親典型的長生可就不是那一回事,長生一再想戳破燕山的戲碼(對著他點破孔吉是個男人,可不是他的女人,更不是他的母親),這項舉動如同父親從孩子身邊奪走母親,燕山君在殺掉具體代表著父皇權威的臣子和後宮的下一步,就是把弒父情結對上了長生。
至於孔吉,他始終是只能藉由戲劇來表達真心的,對長生固然一往情深(原諒我用了這麼灑狗血的詞),但再怎麼生死相許,唯一針對長生說出最具體的要求,也不過就是一句︰「我不准你走」,這樣一句明眼人都看的出是情意纏綿的詞,由於長生正因為皇帝的權威介入正感到窩囊憤怒,並不以這句話為告白,搶過刀子氣極了就要毀壞戲班子道具,表明了他已不願再演。
不再演戲對長生而言,也許是從虛假企圖走向真實,少了舞台層層掩護,說不定他是有勇氣去揭露真實情感的(他後來也這麼做了,雖然是站在作為舞台的高空繩上,卻也是非常誠實的一句告白)。從長生種種行事看來,他一向笑看人生,而且也看的十分透徹,除了宮中鬥爭以外,代表舞台的那條繩子,作為真實與虛假,同時也是社會規範容忍範圍之代表的界線,作為他們情感的徒勞掩護的這條繩子,在那上面會是什麼,長生早看清楚了︰「不用怕,那不是天,不是地,繩子上只是虛空。」只是說即使明白虛空這層道理,孔吉作為他唯一的擁有,人一但有了”擁有”,就註定要癡迷,這又是接下來要說的了。
孔吉和長生並不同,他是被引領上了戲子這條路,對於規範和權威,他始終是消極順從的,從一開始自己站起身來去陪客,我們就看到了他這樣的個性。這種畏懼權威的性格混雜了對燕山的同情(兩人都同樣藉演戲獲得安慰),讓他幾度要走卻走不開,卻也讓長生因看不清楚他的態度而氣惱。
破壞戲班子道具,不願再演這樣的暗示,對長生而言,最現代的說法也許是出櫃,不演了,散戲了,要回到真實。然而對孔吉而言,只怕是被拒絕了。他對長生的情感,由於他對規範天性的順從,恐怕從未想過在戲劇外能有什麼表達,雖然這樣的情感狀態下已經沒人能獲的滿足,(長生替他蓋被那曖昧的一幕,誰都看見了欲求不滿四個字),但是對孔吉而言,扮演敬愛師兄的師弟,這戲子身分是束縛又是保護,要捨棄這個角色,他並不敢,於是以自己的立場來想像長生的用意,將不演戲解讀成對他的拋棄。
這裡我們不得不要掉回老套,卻又無比確實的論調︰一談上感情,再聰明的人也瞎了眼。
長生和孔吉既依賴著戲劇,又被戲劇矇蔽了眼睛,曾經清清楚楚的真實(兩個人的相互依賴),一但需要費力去辨認,立刻就失去了真實的性質,再也沒辦法提供什麼安全感和信賴,兩個人先前演過瞎子,當時心中雪亮,現在卻是兩個明眼人看不清楚在他們之間,我們觀眾看的明明白白的羈絆(一開始就為他殺了人了,兩個人都老是搶著爲對方赴死,要說不相愛啊,又能夠騙誰呢)。即使是專業的戲子,也不能清楚戲與真實之間的關係,就像六甲說的︰怎麼我們一演戲,就會死人呢。
繩子上是虛空,也是長生和孔吉真真實實的感情世界(所以最終告白一定是要回到這繩子上的),皇帝一度想要介入,但最終是證明了即使是皇帝,戲碼也不是可以介入的,正因為再大的權力,都是附著在角色上的權力,(因此皇帝可以輕鬆地對著扮演高官的長生跪了下去而不覺得受辱,因在這戲台上,長生是權力較大的角色)。超出了這個角色之外,皇帝與戲子的關係之外,即使他可以強迫孔吉留在身邊,即使孔吉一度因為同情和畏懼權威接受了皇帝的劇本,但最終燕山君的追求是注定徒勞的。
這一切就像伊底帕思的神諭,伊底帕思從知道了神諭之後就極力想要避免自身的宿命,但最終還是弒父娶母,燕山君這樣一個人格停留在孩童期的暴君,想藉演戲完成弒父娶母的情節,但那終究是戲,他真實人生的宿命,我們說劇本,是在父親的權威和喪母的痛苦下孤獨地活著,這並不是什麼權力可以改變的。人作為角色,總是徒勞地想去改寫劇本,這過程像楚善費盡心思,最後不得不承認︰「怎麼能看的到天命呢?」選擇上吊去了。就是這般的惘然。
在殺掉幾個臣子之後,燕山君想要安撫難過的孔吉,哄著孔吉扮演臨死前的臣子,(燕山一直是用這種將真實演出來的作法,來緩解真實的沉痛性的,很自然地也會想用這套方法來安慰孔吉),然而結果是,孔吉藉著原本該要是虛假的台詞,說出真心話來,讓燕山大為震驚,畢竟真實和虛假之間並不能輕鬆來去,失去母親的真實哀痛,並不能藉由沉溺虛幻獲的救贖(當然認清是一回事做到又是另一回事,後來他還是鑽進綠水裙子去了)。
戲劇同時作為真實與虛偽,對這齣戲裡所有角色都既是救贖又是沉重的負荷,一開始孔吉和長生的相知相惜,到戲的最終兩人終於又心意相通,這段過程中種種痛苦誤會癡迷,在這一笑之中,就像是演了一場戲一般煙消雲散。他們是回到了舞台上,卻也是回到了自己人生的真實,沒有了別人給的劇本,也不爲了逗任何人笑或著哭,不以虛假作掩護,真實反而能夠完滿。孔吉不改其藉著演戲訴情的個性,先問了長生下輩子要作什麼,待他回答戲子之後,才用自己的聲音,而非扮演角色時的聲音,大聲地說出他當然也要做戲子,這其中真實的心意,承諾的是下輩子也要相守,卻是沒人看不出來。
在他們回到舞台的時候,卻同時也是這齣戲散戲的時候,都說看戲的是傻子演戲的是瘋子,這麼說來,從戲院走出來之後,孔吉的真實身分(李準基)都被揭穿的時候,還執著於寫這篇影評的我,當真是傻的可以了。
http://www.wretch.cc/blog/minaself&article_id=5664581#comment42597861
Mr. Sukei
若有适合的作品,请多多向我们 推荐
我们只找作品,不找商品
只找新锐,不找大师
荷兰的阿姆斯特丹 每年十一月 有一个 于 IDFA这个纪录片大超市同时的电影节叫 Shadow Festival, 已经办了六年了, Shadow是一个真正为了独立 电影人聚会和近距离交流而办的影展,入选的片子会在市内各电影院及历史悠久的电影博物馆上映,我们要找的片子是非议题导向的创意DV 或胶片作品,我们的影展更适合独自探索中的纪录片或先锋电影小作坊
选委会地址如下
Shadow Festival
Ceintuurbaan 13-3F
1072ER Amsterdam
Holland
0031-206715982
我们的网址是 www.shadowfestival.nl
我们的信箱是 info@shadowfestival.nl
谢谢
孙晗
Postbus 56719
1040AS Amsterdam
0031-(0)649745747
sunhaninindia@yahoo.com
舒琪 先生你好。
我是一個港產片迷,經常在找有關資料。
在此想問閣下執導作品”兩小無知”現今電影版權屬誰?
尚有機會看得到嗎?
先謝。
琛: ”兩小無知”版權屬嘉禾公司. 看到的機會大概很微了(我也不大敢看). 連DVD也一直沒有被選上出版, 可以想像多爛… 謝謝!
老孙: 我會請我的同事與你們電影節聯絡. 你也可直接電郵至Helen Ko
請她送片子給你們. 謝謝!
老孫: Helen 的email是 helenko@hkapa.edu.
Dear Shu Kei
I have written a philosophical article on Wong Kar-Wai and would like to interview him. But as a clumsy academic I do not know how to approach him. Can you help?
舒琪先生你好!
“詢問課程意見”
本人是 演藝Movie Master class 短期課程的學生, 盼望你能給予有關繼續電影進修課程的意見.
本人在澳洲完成電影及廣告學位,現在一間影視發行公司工作.對電影文化及制作有濃厚興趣, 由於大學時期主要學習電影文化思想及理念,發覺自己實際的電影制作技術不足夠, 所以想尋找一些有關課程能幫助提升制作技術. 故籍此機會盼你能推介適合的課程.
謝謝! Thank you!
Thorsten, please check the telephone no. of Jet Tone Productions and call. I have a no.: 2336 1102 but am not sure if it’s still valid.
Good luck.
Shu Kei.
Jenny, I think very few of the present short courses in film production around town are very good and useful (of course, this is just a very personal opinion.) It all depends on what level you are thinking of to attain to. When you’re talking about “film production”, do u mean shooting on DV or 35mm? They make huge differences. For me, the best way is always to go to school. The next best way, I’d suggest, is to start from reading, then get a DV cam and do it yourself.
Shu Kei:
不知道你能不能看懂简体中文,我是北京电视台你的fans,关注和欣赏你很久了,我们有过一面之缘(你来北京宣传《怪物》)。
很希望能多和你有些交流,关于电影关于友谊,有机会来北京记得发通告。
你的影迷:ET
ET外星人, 你又搞錯了. 我是舒琪, 不是舒淇. “怪物”那樣的爛電影, 我恐怕拍不出來.
中国香港影视导演、影评家。原藉广东宝安,生于香港。高中时代起为杂志写电影评论,后入香港大学英文系。在校期间曾为电视连续剧写过剧本《花劫》、《冤狱》。不久任香港《电影双周刊》杂志总编。同时写作电影剧本,当助理导演。1981年执导《两小无猜》获国际天主教金巨奖。1986执导《老娘够骚》Soul于1988年送日本香港电影博览会展映,1990执导记录片《一个香港电影人的天安门》,又名《没有太阳的日子》Sunless Days 1990、曾受委托为《霸王别姬》Farewell to My Concubine 1993、《悲情城市》A City of Sadness 1989作电影市场宣传,他是一位经写作影评论而走上导演道路的电影人,因而具有和某些与欧美新电影导演同等的经历。在香港电影界曾把许鞍华、徐克称作第一代新电影代表作家。舒琪是第二代新电影的代表作家。 很高兴你,我可以常来坐坐吗?
ET
ET外星人, 抱歉抱歉!(但”怪物”的確不是我拍的)
我很喜欢电影,看您的评论.(怪物就是你拍的,呵呵)
ET外星人, 對不起, 忘了你的名字…難怪你對怪物一見鍾情.
你好,Shu Kei
去年在釜山電影節上就想看《花之武者》,結果今晚才實現,呵呵。在查閲該片評論時很幸運能看到您的文章,才發現您對韓國片也很有見地^^真是幸會!
我目前居住在韓國,在大陸的《看電影》上寫有關韓國電影的專欄,請多指教哦!
若有機會來韓國,請聯係!晚安
謝謝, vivi. 最近韓國有好電影嗎? 有空多提供情報!
舒琪老師:
你好!還記得我嘛?我是你於牛棚教高達、杜魯福、布紐爾時的學生;就算你不記得也不要緊,反正見面時就知道了。能在這個網址看到你對電影那股虔誠而永恒的熱情,真教人鼓舞。
這個學年,我和一個好友在新校舍搞了一個電影欣賞學會,一個月放兩套電影,以歐洲及華語電影相間,我負責後者,可惜收視率很低啊!最低指數只有三位觀眾而已!幸好,我對電影仍有青春的動量,仍會繼續堅持。將會播《最好的時光》、《重慶森林》及《三峽好人》,講電影之餘,還會說說中港台的當代歷史。
友人展鳳曾推薦你講的Laurent Tirard(第一課),但上課時間「撞正」我上法文的時間,只好等到電影節有緣碰上了(如往年一樣)。
我最近迷上了賈樟柯,竟然追上北京借做訪問之名找他談天,內容主要圍繞「文學與電影」,真興奮。看了你對是枝裕和的評論後,相信他將成為我的下一位目標。哈哈!
另,有一件公事想找你幫忙(學校搞了一個錄像比賽,想向你的學生推廣),將會致電到貴校找你,到時再談。謝謝。
祝好!
想念你的人
瑞琴
Hi, Shu Kei
很想看由你翻譯字幕的>(Doc Hollywood),但到HMV及香港唱片也找不到,你知道哪裏有機會找到呢?
十分謝謝
tom
嘩!你居然知道並記得, 難得難得!我也不知道當年發行video or LD時是否有用我翻的字幕呢!如果你能找到,也請給我一個拷貝啊!
謝謝!謝謝!
舒琪
瑞琴, 我當然記得你.很抱歉,這次沒法幫到你的忙!相信你是明白的.Laurent Tirard? 我沒有講過他的電影啊!連他是誰也是剛查imdb才知道!搞錯了!哈哈! 舒琪
Hi, Shu Kei
又有一事想請教你,由於我看完你於明報的專欄的一篇文章,很想了解一下你的粵語字幕,除了無間道風雲外,你可以介紹一下你的作品嗎?
十分謝謝。
TOM
舒琪先生 你好,有一段時間沒來留言了。
首先謝謝回覆關於 兩小無知 的情況;
然而從 星空傳媒 所擁有版權片目內並未見此片,不知何解?
幸好近日終尋獲當年所發行錄影帶之拷貝 -
雖然畫面由 2.35 放大至 Fullscreen,但起碼可以有機會看到嘛...
而上文有網友說的 Doc(tor) Hollywood,是 米高霍士 那套嗎?
再談,謝謝。
TOM: 謝謝。無間道風云外,我近期翻譯的電影還有活地阿倫的Scoop和Shortbus.工作纏身,只能偶一為之。(近日重看寇比力克的Full Metal Jacket,很想抽空把它翻一翻,玩玩,應該很過癮。
璨:哇,連兩小無知的錄影帶也給你找到,真了不起!真汗顏!對,我說的那部Doc Hollywood,就是米高霍士的那部。 謝謝。
To Vivi:我八月會到韓國參加一個學生影展。有空可以見面!
shukei
你好
我很喜歡導演格斯.范.桑特
希望有機會你能談談他的電影
比如
…….
只是推薦
謝謝
Leecho, I’m a fan of Van Sant, too. Loved almost all his films. OK, let me find some time n talk abt them. Dying to see Paranoid Park.
哇~刚才看到您的留言,太好了。不知您有否听说过韩国的富川国际幻想电影节,是7月份的,您不会来么?^^
舒琪先生,不知您對韓國富川國際fantastic電影節是否感興趣?請參見http://www.pifan.com/main.html
今年是7月12~21日間舉行。因爲可以邀請新聞界人士,若您有興趣,請儘快給我寫信^^
thanks, vivi. 7月我沒空,因為要supervise學生的短片。謝謝。我要去的是Inchon的一個學生電影節,30號到,8月5日離開。
可直接e-mail我:mikionaruse@gmail.com
謝謝!
舒生,你與明報的合作關係是否結束了?
有事商討,可以給我電郵嗎?謝。
joenieh@gmail.com
舒琪先生,本人是布烈遜的影迷,從前亦是讀電影的學生。知道你有意重譯電影筆記一書,為對大師有更深了解,本人希望能夠參與閣下之工作當中。如有可效勞之處,請隨時聯絡本人。
Hello Mr. Shu Kei,
I am a film writer and I interviewed you on the movie Sunless Days couples years ago in APA for HK Magazine.
I am currently researching and writing for a book on Hong Kong Documentary Films, and I am hoping to get a copy of your Sunless Days, and a further interview later.
If you can kindly let me know where i can get the copy via email, I will be most thankful.
Yvonne
After reading your critics regarding The Happening on Ming Pao, I would like to share the followings:
1. I totally agree with your analysis dated on 22 June.
2. In fact, The Happening is a homage to The Birds by Hitchcock.
3. More interestingly, in the meanwhile, Johnnie To’s Sparrow is also a homage to Hitchcockian humor (and to Vertigo as well).
1. Similar to Shyamalan, French director Luc Besson, a pivotal figure in the Cinéma du look movement, has been usually under-estimated by critics. (”When the film (Le Grand bleu) had its premiere on opening night at the Cannes Film Festival, it was mercilessly drubbed, but no matter; it was a smash,” observed the International Herald Tribune in a 2007 profile of Besson.)
2. Luc Besson’s film language is unique, innovative and consistent over time. (You could conclude this by comparing Léon the Professional with The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc - two films supposingly different in visual style.)
3. There are two abstracts from Léon the Professional (derived from Youtube). Please enjoy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUl3nVn9YcY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlbSDqa5DtU
1. When critic Joseph Gelmis asked Stanley Kubrick about the meaning of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Kubrick replied:
“They are the areas I prefer not to discuss, because they are highly subjective and will differ from viewer to viewer. In this sense, the film becomes anything the viewer sees in it. If the film stirs the emotions and penetrates the subconscious of the viewer, if it stimulates, however inchoately, his mythological and religious yearnings and impulses, then it has succeeded.”
2. Luc Besson’s Le Grand bleu(The Big Blue) has the same power to penetrate into our sub-consciousness as 2001: A Space Odyssey.
3. The opening of Missing the Movie(深海尋人) seems like (a tribute to) Le Grand bleu. Has Tsui Hark been inspired by the film?
《赤壁》觀後感:
一. 《三國演義》中有關赤壁之戰的情節豐富, 值得著墨的人物眾多, 要透過影像(而非語言文字)把故事濃縮在四至五小時內, 並做到人物具立體感、節奏的拿捏徐疾有致、「手足情義」的命題突出, 殊不容易, 吳宇森的《赤壁》可說已基本完成目標.
二. 戰爭場面可觀, 影像凌厲, 節奏明快, 剪接出色, 其中以開場第一幕血戰長板坡, 以及周瑜與孔明攜手指揮八卦戰陣, 大破曹軍步騎先鋒兩場最為優異.
三. 有別於《投名狀》, 《赤壁》未有刻意營造沉重的悲劇氛圍, 相反, 戲中加插了不少幽默的小插曲, 一反近年華語古裝大片的悲劇取向, 值得留意.
四. 林志玲(飾小喬)的表演尚為幼嫩, 相對而言, 趙微飾演的孫尚香則更為討好.
五. 目前為止, 曹營與孫劉聯軍的鬥智鬥力, 只屬「隔靴抓癢, 點到即止」, 好戲應該還在後頭.
After reading your article about the “crisis” of American indie films (dated on 13 July 2008), I would like to share the followings:
1. With the technological development of the Internet, new distribution channels/platforms for indie films would certainly appear at a much lower cost than now, particularly in such developed countries as the United States.
2. On the other hand, in recent years, the survival of indie films produced in the developing countries largely depends on the willingness and ability to co-operate with overseas film production units.
3. A typical example for the international co-operation mentioned above is Xiao Wu (小武), the first feature by Jia Zhangke (and, in my opinion, a film with artistic value comparable with Federico Fellini’s Nights of Cabiria).
4. By observation, we could conclude that one of the important forms among indie films is documentary.
5. For a film director, documentary is important because it accumulates insights and keeps him/her “fresh”. (Jia Zhangke’s two documentaries, Dong and Useless, are examples.)
「但沙馬蘭最大的優點,仍是他對電影語言的注重與運用。這方面大衛·博維爾(David Bordwell)有一段話說得最好,但不好譯,所以原裝節錄在這裡。他說:“Shyamalan is a genuine filmmaker; he thinks in shots. Unlike the filmmakers who believe in interrupting every shot by another one, Shyamalan tries for a natural curve of interest as the image unfolds to its point of maximal interest.”《破天·慌》依然充滿了這樣的特色。老婦人的身影從窗外閃過,房子受到硬物撞擊,直到她兩度用頭撞破窗戶的一段戲,足為明證。」
上述特色/技巧明顯師承希治閣, 詳見下列片段(摘自《鳥》):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kM_VFBdzREw&feature=related
Gary:十分感謝sharing. 沒有查閱這裡的留言多時,歉甚!以後留言,不妨放在最新的文章裡,比較方便。再謝謝。
文正,Yvonne, 謝謝。請聯絡mikionaruse@gmail.com.
明報專欄沒有了嗎?
沒有了!我猜我是給裁了!
源启结识,缘能皆是?
文章写不错。