EZCNN 易英网

Elia Kazan’s A Streetcar Named Desire 伊力卡山的「欲望街车」

课文朗读

课文讲解

繁體中文譯本

Beneath his tight white undershirt, Marlon Brando’s muscles ripple with barely controlled anger. Vivian Leigh cowers fearfully before him as he throws a radio through the window in a fit of rage. This act of passion, from the 1951 movie adaptation of Tennessee Williams’s play A streetcar Named Desire, heralded a new era in Hollywood acting. Brando’s portrayal of Stanley Kowalski, a first-generation Polish-American living in a derelict apartment in New Orleans, became an instant benchmark for actors wishing to explore their emotional range.

在马龙白兰度白色紧身内衣下，肌肉贲起的怒气几难扼抑；当他在狂暴下把收音机丢到窗外，费雯丽在他面前心惊胆颤地缩着。这场激情演出，出自由田纳西威廉斯的「欲望街车」剧本改编的1951年电影，开启了好莱坞表演的新纪元。由马龙白兰度饰演的史坦利考威斯基，住在纽奥良破败公寓的第一代波裔美人，立时为想探索情绪深度的演员设下了标竿。

Prior to Streetcar, Hollywood performances were characterized by a glamour and elegance which set actors apart from the average Joe. But Elia Kazan, who directed Streetcar, wanted his characters to be as true-to-life as possible. He wanted to show the underclass of society as it was. To wring authentic performances out of his actors, he employed a technique known as method acting.

在「欲」片之前，好莱坞的表演特色在于演员异于凡夫俗子的那种魅力和优雅。但是执导「欲」片的伊力卡山要求他的角色要尽可能贴近生活。他想要表现下层社会的真实面。为了从演员身上拧出真实的表演，他运用了知名的方法演技。

Method acting requires actors to exploit their own life experiences to elicit performances that are as natural as possible. Human emotions are complex; to convey that complexity, the feelings audiences see running across a character’s face must be based on the actor’s own natural reactions. By introducing America to method acting, A Streetcar Named Desire earned Kazen a seminal position in cinema history.

方法演技要求演员开发他们自己的生活经验，以带出生动自然的表演。人的情绪是复杂的；想要传达那份复杂性，观众看到在演员脸上呈现的情绪必须以演员本身的自然反应为基础。藉由把方法演技带到美国，「欲」片使卡山在影史上占有开创性的地位。

Vocabulary

单词发音

undershirt [ˋʌndɚ͵ʃɝt] n.【主美】（尤指男子、孩子的）汗衫，贴身内衣

ripple [ˋrɪp!] v.（使）呈波状起伏

cower [ˋkaʊɚ] v. 抖缩；蜷缩；畏缩

herald [ˋhɛrəld] v. 预示……的来临

portrayal [porˋtreəl] v. 扮演; 表现

derelict [ˋdɛrə͵lɪkt] adj.〔建筑物﹑土地〕破旧的﹐弃置的

benchmark [ˋbɛntʃ͵mɑrk] n. 水平点；基准

glamour [ˋglæmɚ] n.〔由财富与成功产生的〕魅力﹐诱惑力

Average Joe  平常人；平庸之人 the terms Average Joe, Ordinary Joe, John Doe, Joe Sixpack (for males) and Ordinary or Average Jane (for females), are used primarily in the United States to refer to the average American

true-to-life 逼真的

underclass [ˋʌndɚ͵klæs] n. 下层阶级；下层社会

wring [rɪŋ] v.〔经过很大努力从某人处〕逼取〔钱财﹑信息﹑协议等〕

exploit [ɪkˋsplɔɪt] v. 利用; 开发

elicit [ɪˋlɪsɪt] v.〔从某人处〕套出〔信息〕; 引起〔某人的反应〕; 引出；诱出

convey [kənˋve] v. 传达，传递，表达

seminal [ˋsɛmən!] adj.【正式】〔书﹑乐曲等〕开创性的﹐ 有重大影响的

Sentence of the Day

He taught actors to pour their hearts out.

他教导演员要掏心挖肺地演出真感情。

课文讲解

Kim and Arthur run the film society at their university. They are discussing which movies to put on their spring schedule:  琴和阿瑟在他们的大学里办电影社。他们正讨论着该在春季的放映表中放哪些电影：

K: Since we’ve already chosen A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront, maybe we should have an Elia Kazen film festival this spring.

因为我们已经选了「欲望街车」和「岸上风云」，或许我们应该在春季办一场伊力卡山电影节。

A: That’s a fitting choice, given that he passed away last September. I know students who might object, though. He was a controversial figure.

他在去年九月过世了，这倒是很适当的选择。虽然我知道有些学生会反对。他是个具争议性的人物。

K: You can say that again. Some in Hollywood have never forgiven him for betraying people to Senator McCarthy’s Un-American Activities Committee in the fifties.

你说得没错。因为他在五０年代背叛朋友向麦卡锡参议员的非美活动委员会输诚，某些好莱坞人士至今仍不能原谅他。

A: Right. And when he won a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Oscars in 1999, almost half the audience refused to applaud him.

是的。而当他在一九九九年的奥斯卡典礼上领取终生成就奖时，几乎有一半的观众拒绝为他鼓掌。

K: I wish more people were able to separate the art from the man, though. That award was for his movies, not his politics.

不过，我希望更多的人能把艺术和个人分清楚。那个奖项是针对他的电影，不是他的政治理念。

A: I’m not sure those whose careers he destroyed would agree. But you certainly can’t deny the importance of his oeuvre in Hollywood.

我可不清楚那些一生事业被他摧毁的人会同意。但你的确无法否认他的作品在好莱坞的影响力。

K: No way. He had a way of coaxing brilliant performances out of everyone from James Dean to Warren Beatty.

可不是。他总有办法跟每一个演员，从詹姆斯迪恩到华伦比提，煨炼出精彩耀眼的表演。

A: He was remarkable for adapting the techniques he himself used with New York’s Actor’s Studio.

他改造自己在纽约演员工作室当演员时所用的技巧，真是太杰出了。

K: Basically, he raised the bar for Hollywood performances.

基本上，他把好莱坞的表演推到更高的水平。

A: And cineastes can only thank him for that.

而电影爱好者及工作者不得不为此感谢他。

－by Francoise Raunet

Vocabulary

单词发音

society [səˋsaɪətɪ] n. 社团

fitting [ˋfɪtɪŋ] adj. 适当的，合适的；相称的

you can say that again 我同意你的意见

betray [bɪˋtre] v. 背叛；出卖

applaud [əˋplɔd] v. 向……鼓掌；向……喝采

oeuvre [ˋjuvɚ] n. 作品；毕生之作；全部作品

coax [koks] v. 劝诱; 哄; 诱导

adapt [əˋdæpt] v. 使适应（新用途或新情况）

raise the bar 提高标准; 更上一层楼 to set a higher standard

cineaste [ˋsɪnɪ͵æst] n. 热爱电影者

Sentence of the Day

We must be careful not to throw out the baby with the bath water.

我们得小心不要在丢拉圾时也把贵重的东西丢掉了。

throw out the baby with the bath water  把婴儿和洗澡水一齐倒掉(在把不想要或不需要的东西扔掉的同时, 也愚蠢地抛弃了有价值的意见、计划等); 在去其糟粕的同时, 也丢掉了精华

Reference:

Marlon Brando~'You Must Be Stanley' ~Streetcar Named Desire