Monday, March 10, 2008
Dame
電影《Hudsucker Proxy》演了一折，女主角在午餐小店後方推門而入，介入男主人公這一段的際遇裏。這時一旁兩個不相干的人開了口，輕哨一聲宣告：”Enter the dame”。
Enter the dame. 下一句是 “There’s one in every story.” 入戲的觀眾這時候醒了醒，意識到說故事的人在直接跟我們說話——很明顯這兩句不是對白，而是故事轉折的提示，是劇本裡用括弧括住的評語，被直接讀了出來。那兩個不相干的人是戲劇工具，本應一聲不響坐在背㬌裏的，這時被導演點上了，一下子神起來，化身成為說書人，在電影的中段為片首的旁白續句。
Enter the dame，好比馬格利特的「這不是一個煙斗」，把觀眾敍述中拉出來，觀眾被打了岔，吊癮的亟想返回故事裡：「接著怎樣了？」往下的一段因劇情需要非常公式化，但是我們全神灌注的聽兩個局外人指指點點，抵死的把這一場的腸逐線逐條畫出來。
Enter the dame也是預告，作用如同每集《包青天》裡都要喊一遍的「包大人到！」觀眾一聽便精神一振，留心劇情怎樣往峰迴路轉裡發展。這Enter the dame裡的dame字也講究，包大人再神通廣大，也敵不過這個子小小意態嫵媚的dame。這稱呼帶點輕浮貶意，你卻不能小看她，因她是未知數，亦正亦邪，可大可小，幾乎是femme fatale。The dame出場了，到底她會毀了男主角呢，還是愛上他，還是愛他又毀了他呢，我們都打起十二分精神看下去。
編導《Hudsucker Proxy》的高安兄弟對自已電影裡的語言極其執著，拿捏也十分精準。他們的對白不似日常對話，卻像是每個獨特角色的完美展現。高安兄弟也偏好加入旁白，相對現在流行的現場收音、現實主義，他們的電影更加像舊式荷里活片，編排奇巧，並標明：「這是一個故事」。他們另一部經典《The Big Lebowski》的開場白便是好例子：
“
A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, like- wise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.
They call Los Angeles the City of Angels. I didn't find it to be that exactly, but I'll allow as there are some nice folks there. 'Course, I can't say I seen London, and I never been to France, and I ain't never seen no queen in her damn undies as the fella says. But I'll tell you what, after seeing Los Angeles and thisahere story I'm about to unfold-- wal, I guess I seen somethin' ever' bit as stupefyin' as ya'd see in any a those other places, and in English too, so I can die with a smile on my face without feelin' like the good Lord gypped me.
Now this story I'm about to unfold took place back in the early nineties-- just about the time of our conflict with Sad'm and the Eye-rackies. I only mention it 'cause some- times there's a man--I won't say a hee-ro, 'cause what's a hee-ro?--but sometimes there's a man.
And I'm talkin' about the Dude here-- sometimes there's a man who, wal, he's the man for his time'n place, he fits right in there--and that's the Dude, in Los Angeles.
...and even if he's a lazy man, and the Dude was certainly that--quite possibly the laziest in Los Angeles County. ...which would place him high in the runnin' for laziest worldwide--but sometimes there's a man... sometimes there's a man.
一開頭就講一大段，而且語氣像個老式牛仔，一點都不像電影的開場，簡直是美國西部開荒時期，大家圍著營火講的某人輾轉相傳的窩囊事，而《The Big Lebowski》裡這個人，正好也在西部，是在「最後邊疆」加尼福尼亞的人，不過身處20世紀90年代。
連線：
- 想聽聽Enter the dame，按連線中劇院第二行中間的圓點便是。
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
部錄銅鑼灣
推薦一個網站：My Causeway Bay (http://www.mycausewaybay.com/)
網站的作者拿起相機，以部錄形式記述他/她眼中銅鑼灣的「兩極」、「平衡」和「善變」（見About Me）。每篇的資料都很詳盡，文筆清順，角度也很新鮮，更難得嘅係一幅幅實地拍的相片；好玩的是以地鐵站出口來分類文章。香港變得好快，用這種方記錄可以從側面看到它的發展。唔，如果全港十八區區區都有一個這樣的部錄就好了。
再次誤信「聯合國於2008年廢止繁體中文」
今天一位好友電郵傳來這封請願書：
Say NO to United Nations' abolishment of Traditional Chinese in 2008/向聯合國於2008年廢止繁體中文說「不」
我想也沒想便簽了，還留言如下：
Traditional Chinese is part of the world's rich heritage. Preserving traditional Chinese gives citizens of the world access to the wealth of past Chinese literature, which in turn keeps us all connected to the traditional Chinese culture.真傻。好在過後做了點考證，才記起是假的（參看：聯合國廢止繁體中文真相）。對，不是發現是記起。我聽過這傳聞了，可能當時已經簽過這請願書。
There's a possible error in the above petition: the explanation of the traditional Chinese word "麵=麥+面 (wheat + surface)" could be debated, for the second component '面' hints at the word's phonetics. So by reading the word '麵' (noodle), we not only know that it's a product of wheat, we get its pronunciation too.
為甚麼我會一而再的誤信這個傳聞呢？我能想到的原因有三：
- 網上的資訊過多，而我的記性太壞。
- 「三人成虎」/"The Internet says so"——隱隱覺得好像聽過這件事，所以可信。也可能我太盲目相信網絡了，尤其非牟利團體的網上消息，覺得「佢無必要呃我呀」。我錯了。
- 我太愛繁體中文。我對繁體中文的熱愛，淹過了我的理性...
我喜歡中國語言的千變萬化、多姿多采。現在中國人大致都能用白話文普通話溝通，我希望習慣簡體的人能繼續讀寫簡體，習慣繁體的人能繼續讀寫繁體，上海人繼續以吳濃軟語讀海上花看張愛玲，北京人繼續用京片子讀王蒙王朔王小波；廣東人用廣東話睇周星馳、念古詩（粵語留不少古音古調）。然後，喜歡的話，廣東人也可學學溫柔的吳濃語，到上海洋場邂逅俊秀的滬男女；上海人可以學習北方官話，晉身官場；北方人可繼「頂你個肺」之後，融入更多廣東俚語，豐富北方豪邁粗的語言。文字語言生生不息，那才好玩。
伸延閱讀：
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Star Wars according to a 3 year old.
Full transcript: (I tried my best; feel free to send in corrections.)
“Well. Well. OK. The sand people have the robots and try (drive?) and sell them in raw sail boat, kindda like raw sail boat except they're selling robots. And no one is going to buy R2 and the signy (shiny?) guy. The signy guy oh he's worried - Luke's gonna buy those. Obi-Kenobi is kindda of a teacher. He's... he's saying "Luke!" how to learn... how to do his little light-up sword to try to block the little pokie ball. He tried to do it without seeing. Obi-Kenobi sometimes move things around. Sometimes he disappears. Princess Leia got out of jail and out in the spaceship? And they got the big thing that blow up stuff... We blow it up together. It blowed up Princess Leia' planet! But don't talk back to Darth Vader. He'll getcha! ...It's an exciting movie.
- It's amazing how much a 3-year old can comprehend. This is a complex story involving a world not directly concerning hers. She was able to follow the plot line, internalize it and retell the story in her own way. Incredible!
- I like how she used metaphors to help herself and her listeners understand unfamiliar concepts.... Reminds us that this is how we deal with this world of enormous complexity and overwhelming information -- we re-interpret something new by connecting it to something we already know: it's just like that thing, except a little different.
- When she had to explain things she can't compare to, she invented new terms to refer to them: the signy guy, the pokie ball, the light-up sword, and "trying to do it without seeing".. What a creative mind! Naming things is one of the human being's special skills. She's demonstrating this skill beautifully.
- And of course, while making connections and creating new ways to say things are fun, she well understood that there were rules to follow. Perhaps that's why we adults all seem to fall for the punchline: "But don't talk back to Darth Vader. He'll getcha!"
Thursday, February 14, 2008
二月二十、二十一，月蝕
從Facebook看到Total Eclipse of of the Moon聯想到Total Eclipse of the Heart聯想到Old School裏在婚禮的浪漫歌聲中爆粗的樂隊，原來叫The Dan Band，可在親愛的YouTube找到：
Once upon a time I was falling in love, now I'm fucking falling apart...
我們依然是這麼無聊。
Happy Valentine's y'all! ^o^
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