这是和学生一起读<罗密欧与朱丽叶>的60天(4),透过“莎翁情史”看编剧的语言智慧
How smart is the play writer of Shakespeare in Love?
为了激发学生的写作灵感,上周我们看了电影<莎翁情史>。这部以莎翁为主角的电影,套用了<罗密欧与朱丽叶>的主题,情节,人物,叙事,甚至语言,又加入更多丰富的创意,例如,“男扮女装”,“故事情节的反转”,“不同的结局”,给人各种意想不到的有趣体验。一如我读书的时候,“看电影”成了一件快乐的事情,尤其是“爱情主题”。甚至那些以前在下课前的5分钟都在课桌下,垫着篮球,蠢蠢欲动地准备去上体育课的男生们,这次也看的很是认真。但是,作为老师,我并不希望他们看完之后,只是好奇中间跳过的戏份是什么。所以我尝试着带着他们剥离电影的外壳,看看剧本,嗅嗅那些明显莎翁味道的台词,看看编剧的语言智慧。
先传送下莎翁情史的剧情简介· · · · · ·
伊丽莎白一世时期的英国,处处有风花雪月的娱乐活动,然而莎士比亚(约瑟夫•费因斯 Joseph Fiennes 饰)此时却陷入了创作的枯竭期。他笔下的《罗密欧与海盗之女阿丝》因此搁浅。薇拉夫人(格温妮斯•帕特洛 Gwyneth Paltrow 饰)的出现可谓一石激起千 层浪。她酷爱话剧,不顾女人不能登台的世俗观念,不惜女扮男装前来参演莎士比亚的戏剧。莎士比亚洞悉了薇拉夫人的秘密。他从她身上强烈感受到创作的灵感,闻出爱情来到的味道。二人共坠爱海。他笔下开始有了罗密欧与茱丽叶熠熠生辉的故事。好景不长,薇拉要嫁入一个贵族人家。莎士比亚的创作如有神助,感情却陷入无望。但他还在努力用笔,用真情,去改写这一切。
This movie gives much background information about Shakespeare : his best friends, his living ages, and his muse.It was natural to see a lot of familiar big names in the movie, like the actor who played Paris, a famous actor Colin Firth who played King in the movie of < King’s speech >.As this movie is about the greatest writer in English literature, these famous actors did show great performance skills in terms of playing out the characters and emotions.
电影提供了很多关于莎士比亚的背景信息:他最好的朋友,他所生活时代,当然最重要的是,他和他的缪斯女神的爱情故事。因为这部电影讲的是英国文学中最伟大的作家,所以在电影中看到熟悉的大牌明星再正常不过,比如扮演Paris的科林·福斯(科林大叔),就是我很喜欢的一位演员,他在的电影中扮演了King,这位老戏骨在人物演绎(情感方面)表现了很出色的表演技巧。
But Instead of focusing on the performance of these great players. The language genius of the play writer is more worthwhile to appreciate. I bet he must have read thousands of times of Shakespeare’s plays so that he can wave the famous quotes from movies in a smart and beautiful way.A lot of thematic quotes In were waved so smartly into this movie.I can capture so many familiar quotes in a day. I really liked this one monologue that was used in the movie. I managed to find a bit of the text of the monologue of Romeo :
"What light is light, if Silvia be not seen,
What joy is joy, if Silvia be not by? Unless it be to think that she is by
And feed upon the shadow of perfection.
…except I be by Silvia in the night,
There is no music in the nightingale.
Unless I look on Silvia in the day,
There is no day for me to look upon."
但相比较大牌们出色的表演技巧,剧作家的天才更值得欣赏。我敢打赌,他一定是读过数千次的莎士比亚剧本,以便他能以一种聪明的方式,从不同的剧本,包括《罗密欧与朱丽叶》中攫取语言精华,在这部电影中,许多熟悉的语言如同珍珠被聪明的作家,串联成美丽的项链。尤其是电影中的人物独白,如同项链上闪烁的钻石,折射出的光辉,让人有一种莫名的感动。比如罗密欧的爱情独白:
“如果西尔维娅没有看到,还有什么光是明亮的,
如果西尔维娅不在身边,还有什么喜悦是快乐的?
除非她在身边,在我的身边,投下完美的阴影。
除非我看到西尔维娅,不然夜莺的歌唱也不再是音乐。
如果我看不到西尔维娅了,没有一天将另我充满期待。“
When Mercutio died, he cursed his friend ’s family by saying “A plague in both of your house.” Rather, the writer makes the sentence comes from the mouth of a Puritan who scolds the drama and theater which so appropriately fit the context. When Will showed up the balcony scene, I did not expect that he said "I am fortunate ’s fool “ which was originally was said by Romeo when he killed Tybalt to revenge for his best friend Mercutio."Oh I am fortunes' fool” and "If you were married, my grave is going to be the wedding bed” was repeated to strengthen the profound love. It makes me understand the reason why the quotes are classic is that it is transferable, applicable to all the contexts.
当罗密欧的死党Mercutio去世时,他诅咒了罗密欧的家人:“你们两个家庭会遭到瘟疫”,而在电影里,作家恰当地让一个从清教徒说出了这句话,咒骂剧院是散播瘟疫的地方。还有莎翁那句“哦,我是命运的傻瓜”,让人猝不及防,因为原著里面,这句出现在罗密欧杀了Tyblat之后,为他最好的朋友报仇。“哦,我是命运的傻瓜“,这样主旨性的话语,不断被重复着以加强深刻的爱。所以,为什么有些对白会是经典,因为是它提炼了普遍的人类智慧和情感,是可迁移到普遍的场景的。
The writer inherited the tradition of playing with words like "The bill? and not the billing, the bill” makes people just burst it out by the amusement. The extreme metaphor like "Whose soul is stronger than the ocean" is a little bit extravagant but so pleasant to hear as it is so rare in the modern world today.
编剧也继承了莎翁的语言技巧:“ bill”,“ billing”的混淆,另人不禁捧腹。而像“女性的灵魂比海洋更深邃”的隐喻,有一点点奢侈的夸张,而又那么的令人愉快。因为现在这个世界,这样的语言真的很少见了。这样抑扬顿挫的语言,充满诱惑力的对白,伴着他们的肢体动作,配合上男女主角深情的眼神,这样的煽情,让人很容易产生想恋爱的念头,即使他们身处贞操观念浓厚的时代。兴许莎翁如果看了这部剧,也会对这样的改编和拍摄感到满意吧!