2018年1月,我第一次看《诺丁山》(1999年),这部上世纪末的片子现在看来仍觉得完美,我无数次地为之动容,在接下来的几天里我一遍又一遍地重看。忽然觉得电影有着特别神奇的力量,仅仅一首开场曲《SHE》就带我们穿越了20载的岁月光阴、走进了相隔万里的伦敦小镇——诺丁山。
《When you say nothing at all》的歌曲单曲循环,成为我工作的背景声,脑海立刻浮起花园里的画面,电影让我相信在那条热闹的街道上,真的有那么两个人William和Anna相遇,他们的爱情实实在在地发生过、此时正在上演着。于是我们绞尽脑汁、千方百计地想找到他们存在的证据,去故事发生的地点,只想穿越时间和空间的距离,触摸他们的温暖。因为这样故事的存在,我们的内心深处便有了安慰。这个故事何尝不是带着体温的拥抱呢?
特别喜欢William家和书店的蓝色门脸,找诺丁山图片的时候,发现好多人都去Notting Hill 的拍摄地旅游,没由来地特别感动,这就是电影的力量,让一个小地方一夜之间蜚声全球,主角曾经呆过的地方是很多人心心念念的梦想之地,日记本的扉页里没准就写下了这句话,“努力学习,以后去伦敦,看诺丁山”。仔细想想多奇怪呀,明知道那是编剧和导演编出来的故事,并没有一个真的William住在那里,但是你就是想去真实的地理坐标去看看Notting hill ,一个美好的爱情故事真的会让人相信奇迹的存在。
就像希望这部电影永不落幕一样,我想尽一切办法增加故事与我的接触面积,皇天不负有心人,除了电影,我们还有剧本,与电影相比对后,我发现了很多画外音。
从电影的宣传海报上,就可以看出制作团队的用心,Anna和William人物比例差别之大体现出他们的社会地位、金钱、荣誉等等的差距,两人之所以可以同框,是因为在爱情的天平上,他们平等。
这部电影给我带来第一个惊喜的台词就是“Surreal but nice”,Anna之于William就是这样的存在,我确实想象不到比这更贴切的表达了。
这句台词的重现确实惊艳到我了,你很难再找到更适合的词表达Anna接受《horse & hound》采访的情绪,与William的邂逅确实美好。同样,《Notting Hill》对于观众的意义也是“超现实却很美好”。看着很多人质疑这个故事的真实性,但我觉得电影就是一场白日梦,带观众去经历此生永不会有的体验,藉由电影生命感知得以拓宽,足矣。
EXT. STREET - DAY
Mix through to William, 35, relaxed, pleasant, informal. We follow him as he walks down Portobello Road, carrying a load of bread. It is spring.
William出场时觉得他给人一种很舒服的感觉,看剧本才知道,人物的设定是35岁,很放松、友好、状态很随意,此时是春天,如果不是读剧本,我不会注意季节的存在。
A fair amount of tension. These two people hardly know each other -- and the first and last time they met, they kissed.
看这段的时候,并没有注意到这个细节,互相不了解的两个人第一次见面就接吻,再次见面时的确很尴尬。
INT. RITZ INTERVIEW ROOM - DAY
Same room same seat, minutes later, with a monolingual foreign actor and an interpreter.
WILLIAM
Did you identify with the character
you were playing?
INTERPRETER
Teidenticaste con el personaje que
interpretabas?
FOREIGNACTOR
No.
INTERPRETER
No.
WILLIAM
Ah. Why not?
INTERPRETER
Por que no?
FOREIGNACTOR
Porque es unrobot carnivoro
psicopata.
INTERPRETER
Because he is playing a psychopathic
flesh-eating robot.
WILLIAM
Classic.
我学过日语、韩语和法语,自认这两个人说的话不是其中任何一种,看了剧本才知道,确实不是我学艺不精,西班牙语。
EXT. MAX AND BELLA'S HOUSE - NIGHT
William and Anna step outside. From inside they hear a massive and hysterical scream of the friends letting out their true feelings. William is a little embarrassed.
WILLIAM
Sorry -- they always do that when I
leave the house.
Anna离开后,朋友们为今天的奇遇尖叫,William觉得窘迫,说了这句化解尴尬。因为影片是中景包二人,没有给William特写,所以认为这只是他开了一句玩笑。
EXT. MAGICGARDEN - NIGHT
They walk around the garden. It's a moonlit dream. We see the lights of the houses that surround the garden. They come across a single, simple wooden bench.
ANNA
'For June,who loved this garden --
from Joseph who always sat beside
her.'
We cut in and see an inscription carved into the wood. She doesn't read the dates, carved below -- 'June Wetherby, 1917-1992.' She is slightly chocked by it.
ANNA
Some people do spend their whole
lives together.
He nods. They are standing on either side of the bench, looking at each other. The camera glides away from them, up into the night sky, leaving them alone in the garden. Music plays.
这是观众印象比较深的一场戏,也是我最喜欢的镜头之一,摄影机从地面升起,倒扣下来,立马给了我们新的时空感,男女主角的位置关系也发生变化。
但是剧本中并没有这句台词,可能是导演根据现场判断加的台词,我很喜欢这种处理,就像有些观众评论所说的那样,即使是当红巨星,仍然希望有心爱的人always sit beside her。
ANNA
Please, please -- let's just leave
it there. I'm sure you meant no harm,
and I'm sure it was just friendly
banter and I'm sure your dicks are all
the size of peanuts. A perfect match
for the size of your brains. Enjoy
your meal. The tuna's really good.
Anna反唇相讥的段落,剧本中还有一句,“A perfect match for the size of your brains.”影片中把这句话剪了,前一句骂人和后一句Enjoy your meal情绪是如此连贯让你几乎注意不到她在骂人,节奏更紧凑,喜感更强。
Jeff slips him a fiver.
JEFF
Thank you, Bernie.
一直很好奇,Anna的男朋友给room service多少钱,反复看了很多遍,没有特写看不清楚,一读剧本才知道5块钱,对于William,this is a fairly strange reality to be faced with.
INT. WILLIAM'S LIVING ROOM - EVENING
William is looking out the window, lost in thought. Spike enters.
这段情节描述在影片中被删除了,William发呆的画面直接切Spike张嘴说话。我想William看向窗外陷入沉思一定特别迷人,但是这个剪辑处理特别好,两张脸的特写作为转场,一个特别帅,一个特别傻,喜感就在落差中产生。
SPIKE
Come on --open up -- this is me --
Spikey -- I'm in contact with some
quite important spiritual vibrations.
What's wrong?
Spike settles on the arm of a chair. William decides to open up a bit...
WILLIAM
Well,okay. There's this girl...
SPIKE
Aha! I'd been getting a female vibe.
Good. Speak on, dear friend.
WILLIAM
She's someone I just can't -- someone
who... self-evidently can't be mine --
and it's as if I've taken love-heroin
-- and now I can't even have it again.
I've opened Pandora's box. And there's
trouble inside.
特别喜欢这段话,“她是一个显然不会属于我的女人,但是就像瘾君子再也不能买到毒品一样。”这是怎样的绝望呀,编剧的功力实在是太强了,短短29个字,却说明了什么叫刻骨铭心。
TESSA
Oh hello, you're in a wheelchair.
血淋淋、赤裸裸的对比,当你生命中出现过那个人时,其他人都会成为将就。
EXT. NEWSAGENT - DAY
William walks past the news agent, heading for home. We see, though he doesn't, a rack of tabloid papers, all of which seem to have very grainy, grabbed pictures of Anna on their front page. Headlines --'Anna Stunna'-- 'It's Definitely Her!' and 'Scott of Pantartica.'
我一直没看清楚报纸上的图片,才知道是故意的,模糊的照片表示是偷拍的。
INT. WILLIAM'S BATHROOM - DAY
William is shaving. The bell goes. He heads out to answer it.
这是我见过最了不起的演员,剧本只写了他在刮胡子,再无其他说明,但是Hugh Grant却演绎出了相思无限。在看他的电影时,不止一次击节赞叹:他的眼睛就是大写的台词。他是我见过第一个用微表情演戏的人,每个表情都是绝对准确的。我觉得根本不是Hugh Grant在演戏,而是此刻的Hugh Grant就是William. 他在处理细微感情和台词方面绝对是当之无愧的影帝。
ANNA
I have thought about you.
WILLIAM
Oh no no --no.
He doesn't think she has to talk about this.
ANNA
Just anytime I've tried to keep
things normal with anyone normal --
it's been a disaster.
WILLIAM
I appreciate that absolutely.
(changing subject
tactfully)
Is that the film you're doing?
看剧本才知道他的潜台词,我帮你,并不是需要你回报什么。我都没注意到他巧妙地转移了话题。现在想来这的确是一个非常好的转场方法。
ANNA
Yes --happiness wouldn't be happiness
without a violin-playing goat.
Spike enters with three pizzas.
SPIKE
Voila. Carnival Calypso, for the
Queen of Notting Hill -- pepperoni,
pineapple and a little more
pepperoni.
ANNA
Fantastic.
WILLIAM
I don't mention that Anna's a
vegetarian,did I?
SPIKE
(pause)
I have some parsnip stew from last week. If I just peel the skin off, it'll be perfect.
两个人讨论画作之后,Spike买披萨的戏被删除了。这就像番外和彩蛋,看剧本的人又感知了一次,Anna被William温柔以待了。
INT. WILLIAM'S BEDROOM - NIGHT
The middle of the night. They are both asleep -- a yard apart.
In sleep, her arm reaches out, touches his shoulder and then she wriggles across and re-settles herself, tenderly, right next to him. He is not asleep and knows how extraordinary this all is.
看剧本才知道注意到William一夜未睡,这一切美好得不可思议,让我感觉他舍不得睡去。看向Anna的那一刻,感觉到“你就是我的全世界”。
ANNA
You really don't get it. This story
gets filed. Every time anyone writes
anything about me -- they'll dig up
these photos. Newspapers last forever.
I'll regret this forever.
He takes this in. That's the end.
WILLIAM
Right. Fine. I will do the opposite,
if it's all right by you -- and always be
glad you came. But you're right -- you
probably better go.
这段对话太精彩了,让我们看到横亘在他们之间的沟壑,一个负面新闻让Anna “I'll regret this forever” 而这件事对于平凡的男人来说,他“always be glad you came”,这个“always”让我无比感动,没说地老天荒,我却嗅到了海枯石烂的味道。
EXT. LONDON -DAY
As full, sad music plays -- William begins to walk through Notting Hill.
This walk takes six months... as he walks, the seasons actually and magically change, from summer, through autumn and winter, back into spring...
First it is summer --summer fruits and flowers --a six-month pregnant woman-- Honey with another leather-jacket boyfriend.
As he walks on the rain starts to fall -- he turns up his coat collar --umbrellas appear. Followed by winter coats - chestnuts roasting--Christmas trees on sale and the first hint of snow.
Then he comes to Blenheim Crescent, which is startling snowscape, for the hundred yards, right across Ladbroke Grove.
By the time here aches the purple cafe, the snow is melting and in a few yards, it is spring again.
He passes Honey again --arguing with her boyfriend, walking away tearful. Then turns past 'the pregnant woman' -- now holding her three-month baby.
The camera holdson her.
这段是所有观众记忆最深的一段,黑屏生冷的“六个月后”被非常有创意的季节变换代替,我的焦点都在William忧郁的表情上,看了剧本才知道画面中原来有那么多细节。夏季的水果和鲜花、竖起大衣领子预示天凉,正在销售中的圣诞树暗示冬天的到来,雪景入目。穿过Ladbroke Grove,不远处积雪融化,春天到来。
HONEY
I've found myself a nice, slightly odd
looking bloke who I know is going to
make me happy for the rest of my life.
Special cut to Bernie -- the shot shows he had special feelings for Honey.
不看剧本,真的没注意到这个细节,原来Bernie喜欢Honey.
EXT. HAMPSTEAD HEATH - DAY
At that moment -- thirty yards away, William sees trailer door open. Out of it comes Anna -- looking extraordinary-- in a velvet dress; full, beautiful make-up; rich, extravagant hair.
She has anecessary cluster of people about her. Hair, make-up,costume and the third assistant who has collected her.
确实是大明星,身边的工作人员都是论群(cluster)的,考究的服饰、精致的妆容、华丽的出场都让人望而却步,爱这样的人需要勇气,能得到这个人的爱却是上天格外的恩宠,这才是童话。何等的难能可贵,你挚爱的人也深深地爱着你。
She walks a few yards, and then casually turns her head. And sees him. Her face registers not just surprise,certainly not a simple smile. His being there is a complicated thing.
Cut back to him. He does a small wave. She pauses as the whole paraphernalia of the upcoming scene passes between them. The movie divides them. But then she begins to walk through it, and followed by her cluster, she makes her way towards him. When she reaches him, the security guard stands back a pace, and her people hold back. She doesn't really know what to say...
这段戏实在是太精彩了,两个人脸上复杂的表情,以及无法言喻的丰富情感让我们感同身受。
ANNA
I said I'm not listening -- and I think,
looking at something that firm, you and
your droopy little excuse for an 'arse'
would bewell-advised to keep quiet.
Back by the desk, William is listening and laughs. That's his girl.
William walks away. The moment of hope is gone.
INT. WILLIAM'S LIVING ROOM - EVENING
William is emptying Anna Scott videos into a box.
SPIKE
What's going on?
WILLIAM
I'm going to throw out these old videos.
SPIKE
No. You can't bin these. They're
classics. I'm not allowing this.
WILLIAM
Right --let's talk about rent...
SPIKE
Let me help. We don't want all this
shit cluttering up our lives.
又一场被删除的戏,还是得看剧本,你的主角才会透露更多的信息。睹物思人,希望彻底毁灭的时候,William决定清理Anna的所有录像带。让人心碎的桥段,编剧点到为止,喜剧元素的介入,故事便不会过于沉重。呼天抢地的不是悲剧,以喜衬悲才更高明。
WILLIAM
Anna. Look -- I'm a fairly level-
headed bloke. Not often in and out of
love. But...
He can't really express what he feels.
WILLIAM
... can I just say 'no' to your kind
request and leave it at that?
ANNA
... Yes,that's fine. Of course. I...
you know...of course... I'll just...
be getting along then... nice to see
you.
WILLIAM
The truth is...
He feels he must explain.
WILLIAM
... with you,I'm in real danger. It
took like a perfect situation, apart
from that foul temper of yours --but my
relatively inexperienced heart would,
I fear, not recover if I was once again
... cast aside, which I would
absolutely expect to be. There are too
many pictures of you everywhere, too
many films. You'd go and I'd be...
well,buggered, basically.
我特别喜欢编剧的节制,William在解释时并没有痛哭流涕、捶胸顿足、痛不欲生地说“我的心死了”等台词,只是说“如果你把我晾在一边,我担心自己可能无法恢复过来”,“我完全能想象得到”就是压倒观众的最后一棵稻草,极为巧妙,我们都看到他是怎样度过了季节的轮转,与此生最爱失之交臂的痛苦如钝刀割肉,持久弥深,无法愈合。
ANNA
I see.
(pause)
That reality is a real 'no,' isn't it?
WILLIAM
I live in Notting Hill. You live in
Beverly Hills. Everyone in the world
knows who you are. My mother has
trouble remembering my name.
ANNA
Okay. Fine. Fine. Good decision.
Pause.
ANNA
The fame thing isn't really real, you
know. Don't forget -- I'm also just a
girl,standing in front of a boy,
asking him to love her.
如果问观众,你对诺丁山印象最深的一句台词,可能就是这句了。这也是本片的视角与主题,不管大明星名气如何地如日中天,她总归是一个人,对爱的渴望和普通人是一样的,也是这部电影感动大家的地方。
William is very grateful. He kisses the Ritz Man. Bernie's also grateful. He kisses him too.
BERNIE
We have lift off!!
A Japanese guest assumes this is the way to behave and the Ritz Man gets kissed a third time.
这个设计特别好玩,但是编剧没有注意到一个日本人在视觉上是无法表达的,所以导演设计了一句台词,“こんにちは,do you have a message from takiyama”.
EXT. GARDEN -DAY
A pretty green communal garden. Children are playing,watched by mothers, one of whom holds a new baby in a papoose. A very old couple wander along slowly.
A small tai chi group moves mysteriously. And as the camera glides, it passes a couple sitting on a single, simple wooden bench overlooking the garden. He is reading,she is just looking out,totally relaxed, holding his hand, pregnant. It is William and Anna.
截图时才注意到,摄影机移动到正面的时候,William单手翻书,另一只手一直没有放开Anna.
搜索这部电影的评论,看到了一条深有感触:
因为这部电影,我在英国留学期间去了伦敦诺丁山三次,以后有机会还会再去。伦敦是个奇妙的城市,可能跟当地悠久的历史与浓郁的艺术气息有关,是一个时尚却不浮夸,充满了惊喜的城市。你从每个地铁口出来都会看到不一样的小小世界,在寻找电影里旅行书店的路上,如果恰逢周末,你会在诺丁山看到充满复古味道的Portobello Market古董市场,在那可以淘到很多绝版的好货。另一个特色,就是一排排彩红色的住宅,特别适合拍照。干净的街道,清新的色彩,可以来一场不赶时间的闲逛。
附送给电影爱好者书店的地址:在伦敦坐地铁到Notting Hill Gate下车,然后步行到Portobello Road附近就可以找到了。
至于电影里的书店,依旧保持小小的店面,人来人往,不为所动。