20130910

《一代宗師》美國版

《一代宗師》正在美國公映,昨天和兩位同事去看了;這個版本跟在中港台看到的(下稱「亞洲版」)有頗明顯的分別,值得談一談。

首先,亞洲版片長 130分鐘,美國版只有 108分鐘;不過,美國版不是將亞洲版剪短便算,還加了一些亞洲版所無的戲和場面,因此,從亞洲版剪去的,遠遠超過 22分鐘。

章子怡的戲份少了,在美國版跟梁朝偉是分庭抗禮,不似亞洲版那樣,好像葉問只是個大配角,宮若梅才是主角。然而,儘管章子怡的戲份少了,在美國版她仍然是搶盡梁朝偉鏡頭,演出的層次和細膩,仍然將梁朝偉大大比了下去。

張震的戲份在亞洲版本來已少,在美國版是更少了。他飾演的一線天在美國版只是一個流落香港的武術宗師,特務身份在旁白輕輕帶過,不是重點,理髮店的戲也刪了;這一刪,卻令整體貫串得較好,沒有支離破碎的感覺。在亞洲版中一線天與葉問並無交手,美國版則加了一場剃刀對鐵筷子的對打;當然是一線天用剃刀,葉問用鐵筷子抵擋他凌厲狠辣的招數,打得很好看,而且很好聽(看過便知這是甚麼意思),真不明白王家衛爲何在亞洲版剪去了這麼精彩的一場戲!

宮若梅和張永成(葉問妻子)之美,在美國版形成對比,這對比在亞洲版卻沒那麼明顯。飾演張永成的宋慧喬在兩個版本都被拍得很美,但美國版裏加了好幾個大特寫,每一個都令人有驚為天人的感覺;然而,那美是平面的,沒有個性,沒有複雜性(拍全家照那一場讓這個角色立體了一點點)。對比之下,宮二的美是有血有肉的美,是會隨環境和際遇而變的美;在宮二跟葉問見最後一面那場戲裏,宮二那略帶病容、無可奈何花落去的淒美,令人心碎,單看那張臉,已讓人感到曾經滄海、人生如寄的無奈。(我以前從不覺得章子怡美,《一代宗師》令我改觀了。)

美國版加了不少交帶劇情和人物身份的字幕,那是為了幫助老外觀眾理解,無可厚非。對白的英文翻譯當然有不妥善的地方,但整體來說還是不錯的,我唯一特別不滿意的,是「見自己、見天地、見眾生」被譯成 ‘being, knowing, doing’,完全不是那回事。

不喜歡《一代宗師》的人,相信無論看亞洲版還是美國版,一樣會給予劣評。至於我,兩個版本都喜歡,認為各有長短,還希望能看到將兩個版本合併的更完整的「終極版」。念念不忘,必有回響;我選擇留在王家衛的電影世界了。

7 則留言:

  1. 无巧不成书。我们dulinews.com这几天也是在流行写影评。我们的几位博主在谈论Hannah Arendt和 Django Unchained。不知道是不是可以邀请王教授也来参与一下?

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    1. 多謝邀請,但我還未看 Django Unchained 啊!

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  2. Interestingly, a friend of mine has watched the US version and, as a huge fan of WKW, he was greatly disappointed. Recently he watched the blueray HK version and he totally loves the movie. He was in LA to watch the first screening of the grand master in America, where WKW and Zhang Ziyi were also there to promote the movie. As sometimes the distributor would adjust the cuts after the first screening, based on the audience reaction, so maybe the version you watched is different from him. Talking about the English translation, I think it's too literal and too long. Without the knowledge of Chinese I don't think the gweilos can get much out of the subtitles. In fact our westerner friend who watched the HK blueray version with us together fell into asleep in 20 minutes...

    f

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  3. How would Dr Wong translate 見自己, 見天地, 見眾生? I'm ashamed to admit that I don't really understand the Chinese myself.

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    1. It's not easy to translate, and I don't think the three "見" can be translated by the same English expression. I would translate it this way: "Know thyself, discover the world, and be aware of all living beings."

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  4. unrelated:

    "Pope Francis assures atheists: You don’t have to believe in God to go to heaven"
    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-francis-assures-atheists-you-dont-have-to-believe-in-god-to-go-to-heaven-8810062.html

    "Catholic Church confirms atheists still go to hell, after Pope Francis suggests they might go to heaven"
    http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/catholic-church-confirms-atheists-still-go-to-hell-after-pope-francis-suggests-they-might-go-to-heaven-8634479.html

    又玩嘢?
    -zpdrmn

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  5. 和兩位同事去看?是歐美人嗎?
    我倒想知從他們的角度,對電影有何感想。

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