Thursday 2 December 2010

年少輕狂

票的時候知道《年少輕狂》(My Beautiful Lauderette) 是兩屆金像影帝 Daniel Day-Lewis 的舊作,卻不曉得已經是 1985 年的出品,是他憑《無悔今生》(My Left Foot) 第一次得金像獎之前四年的演出。

也不知道這電影從前有沒在香港放映過,或者「年少輕狂」是不是最初放映時的譯名。反正看完這戲,覺得這個中文片名翻譯得很正經。

當年電影獲提名奧斯卡最佳原著劇本獎,導演是後來執導《英女王》(The Queen) 的 Stephen Frears。Daniel Day-Lewis 憑此片(和《翡冷翠之戀》A Room with a View)首次得獎(紐約影評人協會最佳男配角)。他在本片的表現的確搶鏡頭。Daniel Day-Lewis 拍片不多(1982 年至今只拍了 18 部電影),但大部份的角色(和電影)都能讓觀眾留下印象。他也是個方法演員,倒有興趣知道他接拍《年》片時有沒有真的去嘗試同性戀。

《年少輕狂》片長 97 分鐘,不是賣弄色情色的電影,除了同性戀外,故事也牽涉到種族問題、英國的經濟和政治等,兩個男主角的戀愛並不是故事的重點。男主角 Omar(Gordon Warnecke飾)在英國長大,其父是個討厭英國、頗有識見的巴基斯坦記者。在父親的安排下,Omar 替在商場上頗吃得開的叔叔打工。不久,Omar 爭取到為叔叔一家破舊的洗衣場做翻修工作。與此同時,Omar 重遇舊同學(兼舊情人)Johnny(Daniel Day-Lewis 飾),讓 Johnny 協助他做翻裝,並偷了另一叔父販毒的錢來做資本。Johnny 本來游手好閒,跟幾個同樣居無定所的鬅客混,重遇 Omar,決定跟着對方。此時,Omar、Johnny 又跟 Omar 叔叔的女兒 Tania 各有像霧又像花的戀情。洗衣店翻修完畢,重新開業,叔叔和叔叔的生意朋友都對 Omar 另眼相看,Omar 父親卻一直希望兒子上大學多讀書,而 Omar 則開始立志要賺大錢,在商場上展拳腳……

全片的主角是 Omar,當年 Gordon Warnecke 倒算眉清目秀,比《一百萬零一夜》(Slumdog Millioaire) 的 Dev Patel 要俊俏,但演技真的平平。年紀比他大一截的「舊同學兼情人」Daniel Day-Lewis 狂放中帶敏感,夾在鬅客哥兒們和 Omar 之間,總算表達出 Johnny 的內心掙扎。然而,編導安排他對 Omar 那份也挺死心塌地的愛,卻因為 Gordon Warnecke 平淡的演出而失去焦點。

《年少輕狂》介乎喜劇和劇情片之間,編導想通過兩個主流以外的人(邊緣青年 Johnny 和外來移民 Omar)欲追逐理想(愛情、金錢、前途)的故事側寫英國社會的一些問題。濃濃的英國口音、灰暗的天空,加上大部份都有點破落、古老的場景,構畫出一幅那個時代的速寫。

電影給選進「同志電影展」,自然在這方面有點看頭才成。Omar 和 Johnny 的情人關係從何開始或到底有多深刻,劇本沒有清楚說明,就是到結局暗示兩人重修舊好,觀眾也不見得特別替兩人高興,因為片中對這段感情關係的喜怒哀樂愛惡慾的描寫少得可憐。片中有性的場面,但並不大膽(所以本片沒有給列為三級片)。從這兩方面看,《年少輕狂》不是一齣典型的、很有看頭的或容易讓觀眾投入的(同性)愛情電影。

2 comments:

  1. "My Beautiful Laundrette" is one of the two successes in England that opened the door to Hollywood for director Stephen Frears. The other is "Prick Up Your Ears". The last time I watched "My Beautiful Laundrette" was at least 15 years ago and it didn't leave too much impression on me because I was much more impressed with "Prick Up Your Ears". I don't know if PUYE is being included in your film festival but if it was, I would strongly suggest you to catch it. It is not as dreary as MBL but it has much more biting humour as well as insightful look into gay (and straight) relationship. It also had Gary Oldman and Alfred Molina before they became Hollywood stars.

    By the way, a little tidbit. The title "Prick Up Your Ears" is actually a double entendre. In oral English, if a word begins with a vowel, you need to link it with the last consonant of the preceding word when you pronounce it. So "Prick Up Your Ears" actually is pronounced the same as "Prick Up Your Rears" :-)

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  2. I love this film. It didn't strike me as a gay movie, but rather a social commentary. It's about how a foreigner fit into a society in which the measure of success is defiant to one's own culture. The love story is portrayed more in subtext. You know it's always there, but it doesn't steal the show.

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