暑期檔酣戰正急,據最新統計數據,有117部電影在今年暑期檔上映,目前暑期檔票房已超過43億元。
熟悉追光動畫的粉絲們,應該知道近期熱映的動畫電影《聊齋:蘭若寺》改編自清代名家蒲松齡的《聊齋志異》。雖然原著中有491個故事,但影片《蘭若寺》只是擷取了其中的五個故事,分別是《嶗山道士》(The Master of Laoshan)、《蓮花公主》(Princess Lotus)、《聶小倩》(Nie Xiaoqian)、《畫皮》(Painted Skin)和《魯公女》(Miss Lu),并巧妙地用蒲松齡擔任“故事評委”的方式,串聯起這五個故事。
這是一個腦洞大開的設定,在影片開頭,蒲松齡作為一個膽子大到不怕鬼的書生,充滿了文學創作的熱情。當他歇腳蘭若寺時,卻被兩個另類的“文學愛好者”——靈蟾上人和玄龜子——給帶到一個充滿奇異風情的井底,并被要求點評他倆講的故事。這種讓原著作者在電影里,對自己寫作文本做“閱讀理解”的方式,令人忍俊不禁。
In the animated film
Curious Tales of a Temple, novelist Pu Songling unexpectedly falls into an abandoned well in an ancient temple where he meets two celestial beings — a frog and a turtle — each possessing supernatural powers and a passion for literature. Trapped, Pu is forced to serve as the arbiter of their creative rivalry, tasked with judging whose tales reign supreme.
As the two rivals each tell two stories, Pu rediscovers his passion and narrates the fifth himself. Interestingly, all five short stories were originally written by Pu in his classic
Liaozhai Zhiyi (Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio)in the real world beyond the screen.
五個故事以不同的動畫技術娓娓道來,譬如《嶗山道士》采用毛氈風格,《畫皮》靈感來源于宋代畫作中的意境和留白技巧。每個故事既熟悉又新鮮,在大銀幕上重現經典的鬼怪故事。
The first in the five stories is The Master of Laoshan, recounting a man's journey to the titular mountain, located in Qingdao, Shandong province, to learn magic from a powerful Taoist priest. Under the priest's guidance, he masters one spell: the ability to walk through walls. But when he attempts to demonstrate this power before his wife and neighbors, his skill fails him—leaving him to question whether his pursuit was worth the trouble.
In a nostalgic nod to the golden age of Chinese animation, The Master of Laoshan is rendered in wool-based stop-motion, with characters and sets crafted from wool-covered puppets and props. Painted Skin tells the story of a monstrous creature who disguises herself as a beautiful woman by wearing human skin, drawing artistic inspiration from paintings of the Song Dynasty (960–1279).
當國產片用最新的電影科技為傳統文化和“志怪小說”注入獨屬于數字時代的活力時,好萊塢大片也在這個暑假紛至沓來。
超人——這個已經87歲“高齡”的超級英雄,通過導演詹姆斯·古恩(James Gunn)的獨有風格,在全新構想的DC宇宙中再次被演繹。從某種意義上,這是一部讓超人走下神壇、回歸人性的富有新意之作。這一次,超人不僅有摯愛的露易絲·萊恩,還為了自己的愛犬小氪不惜以身犯險。
有趣的是,身披紅斗篷的小氪的形象來自導演自己收養的“拆家”小狗小津(Ozu),其實這個名字也是向已故日本電影大師小津安二郎致敬。導演當初收養它時,小津才八個月大,當時和其他60只待領養的救援犬擠在一個后院,導演卻一眼選中了這只瘦小怯懦的幼犬。他說正是小狗顯而易見的恐懼吸引了他——但有趣的是,這種膽怯在小津在新家安頓下來后,便似乎迅速消失了。
Another big "star" who almost steals the spotlight from the flying alien superhero is his super-powered, red-cape-wearing pet, Krypto. The dog, brought to life through computer-generated imagery, is modeled on a 3D scan of the director's real-life pet, Ozu—named in tribute to the late Japanese film master Yasujiro Ozu.
Director James Gunn adopted Ozu when the dog was just eight months old, choosing the scrawny, skittish puppy from among some 60 rescue dogs confined to a single backyard. The pup's visible fear, he says, was what drew him in—a timidity that quickly vanished once Ozu settled in and seemed to take command of the household.
"它靠毀掉我所有東西來影響我的生活。我收養了這只糟糕的狗,它進來就啃壞我所有物品,還不讓我摸它。它就這么富有松弛感地各種搗蛋:隨意跑出去,渾身沾滿泥巴,把狗狗不該做的壞事全做了。我當時想,幸好它沒有超能力。就在那時我決定讓它‘參演’電影。從那時起我開始創作劇本。這一切確實始于小津——我的狗激發了所有靈感。它不知道(它‘演’了《超人》這事兒),但它無處不在。”談起小津的種種“惡劣”行徑,導演的語調里倒是充滿慈父般的寵溺。
"He influences my life by destroying all my things. I adopted this terrible dog, and he came in and chewed up all my stuff, and he wouldn't let me pet him. He was just casually being terrible: casually going outside, getting mud all over himself and doing all the bad things dogs shouldn't do," says Gunn, with a big smile.
"I thought, I'm glad he doesn't have superpowers. And that's when I put him in the movie. I just started writing the movie at that point. That was really the beginning — it was all spurred on by Ozu, who is my dog. He doesn't know it, but he's everywhere," he adds.
如今,暑期檔還有一個多月,大量新片也集結待戰。
你對暑期檔還有怎樣的期待?
歡迎和雙語君分享。截至7月25日中午11點,留言排名前6的讀者,每人將按照排名獲得《超人》和《聊齋:蘭若寺》的2張觀影券(注:獲獎讀者將按照點贊順序領取對應電影票,無法自行挑選,請理解;《聊齋:蘭若寺》憑券/碼在萬達電影APP/萬達電影+小程序兌換;《超人》在淘票票平臺兌換),歡迎大家踴躍留言。
記者:徐帆
China Daily精讀計劃
每天20分鐘,英語全面提升!
特別聲明:以上內容(如有圖片或視頻亦包括在內)為自媒體平臺“網易號”用戶上傳并發布,本平臺僅提供信息存儲服務。
Notice: The content above (including the pictures and videos if any) is uploaded and posted by a user of NetEase Hao, which is a social media platform and only provides information storage services.