禁片導演執導《狼圖騰》令人意外
BEIJING — Ten years ago, when producers at the state-run Beijing Forbidden City Film Corporation began searching for a director for the movie adaptation of the Chinese novel “Wolf Totem” by Jiang Rong, they had no plans to look beyond China’s homegrown stable. It was a Chinese story, after all, written by a Chinese author, and had sold more than a million copies in the country in the year since its publication in 2004. (It has sold four million more there since.)
北京——十年前，國營的北京紫禁城影業公司的製片人們決定將姜戎的小說《狼圖騰》搬上銀幕，尋找導演時，他們並沒考慮在中國電影圈之外找人。畢竟這是一箇中國的故事，由中國作家所創作，2004年出版時在中國賣出了100萬本以上（其後又賣出了400萬多本）。
But almost every big-name Chinese director the producers approached, including Zhang Yimou and Ang Lee, turned them down, some citing their reluctance to work with wolves. It probably didn’t help that the novel, a not-so-thinly-veiled critique of Chinese civilization, dealt with topics deemed sensitive by the government, such as ethnic Relations in China and the environmental costs of the country’s breakneck industrialization.
但是製片人們接觸的所有著名華人導演都令他們大失所望（其中也包括張藝謀和李安），其中有人不大願意和狼一起工作。況且，這本書對於中國文明有些較爲露骨的批評，涉及一些對政府來說比較敏感的題材，諸如中國的民族關係，以及中國的快速工業化帶來的環境代價。After several years of searching, producers finally found their man: Jean-Jacques Annaud. The choice was an unexpected one, since it was widely reported that the French director had been banned from China for his 1997 film “Seven Years in Tibet.”
歷時數年，製片人們終於找到了合適的人選：讓-雅克·阿諾(Jean-Jacques Annaud)。這個選擇非常出人意料，因爲這位法國導演因其1997年的《西藏七年》(Seven Years in Tibet)在中國遭禁，這件事曾被廣泛報道過。
The movie “Wolf Totem” finally arrived in theaters in China on Thursday, the first day of the Chinese New Year, and will open in France on Wednesday. (Sony’s Columbia Pictures has acquired its North America distribution rights.)
星期四，即春節的大年初一，電影《狼圖騰》在中國上映，下週三亦將於法國上映（索尼哥倫比亞電影公司獲得了該片的北美髮行權）。The book — reported to be the best-selling contemporary novel of all time in China — tells the story of a young Han Chinese student named Chen Zhen (played in the movie by Feng Shaofeng), who goes to live among nomadic herdsman in Inner Mongolia during the Cultural Revolution. There he learns about nomadic culture and becomes fascinated with wolves, even capturing and raising a cub.
據報道，這本書是中國最暢銷的當代小說，它講述了漢族青年學生陳陣（由馮紹峯飾演）在“文化大革命”期間，下放到內蒙古與牧民生活在一起，在那裏學習了遊牧民族的文化，並且迷上了狼，甚至捕獲並撫養了一隻小狼崽。Both the film and the book depict the encroachment of the Han Chinese population on the Mongol plains, which leads to the killing off of the wolves and the gradual destruction of the grasslands.
影片和書中都描寫了漢族人口對蒙古平原的侵入，導致狼羣被殺，草原逐漸遭到破壞。“There has without question been no one single novel in China with as great of an impact before or since ‘Wolf Totem,”’ said Jo Lusby, managing director of Penguin China, which published the book in English.
“毫無疑問，在中國，無論是之前還是之後，都沒有一本小說有着《狼圖騰》這樣的影響，”這本書英文版的出版者、企鵝中國的總經理周海倫說。The book, which is semi-autobiographical, quickly resonated across the demographic spectrum in China. Political dissenters found in it anti-Communist Party messages, for example, while corporations gave it to employees to encourage them to work together like wolves. The book has also been translated into 39 languages for 110 countries. “It was one of those black swan events in publishing,” Ms. Lusby said.
這本書帶有半自傳性質，很快在中國的各種人羣中激起了反響。比如，政治異見者們在其中找到了反對中國共產黨的信息，與此同時，公企業也把這本書發給僱員們，鼓勵他們像狼羣一樣合作。這本書被翻譯成39種語言，在110個國家發行。“這是出版界的黑天鵝現象之一，”周海倫說。Despite the book’s political undertones, the process of making the $45 million Chinese-French co-production was a relatively smooth one by most accounts — somewhat unexpected, some said, given Mr. Annaud’s unflattering portrayal of the People’s Liberation Army’s 1949 invasion of the region in “Seven Years in Tibet.”
儘管書中蘊含着政治的弦外之音，這部斥資4500萬美元的中法合拍片的拍攝過程堪稱順利。鑑於阿諾在《西藏七年》中曾經坦率地展示了中國人民解放軍1949年入侵西藏的過程，這樣的結果不免令人意外。“The idea that a story many viewed as critical of the Chinese government would be directed by a foreigner who had previously made a film that criticized China’s policies is rather astonishing,” Rob Cain, who runs , a blog about China’s film industry, wrote in an e-mail. But in this case, Mr. Cain said, Mr. Annaud’s directorial experience and technical expertise may have superseded his past actions. “China’s film industry is awash in cash, hungry for success, and eager to partner with people who possess know-how and international access,” Mr. Cain added.
“一本很多人都覺得是在批評中國政府的書，由一個曾經批評中國政策的外國人執導，這本身就很令人吃驚了，”網站的甘敏中(Rob Cain)在接受記者的電子郵件採訪時說道；該網站是一個關於中國電影工業的博客。不過，甘敏中說，中方可能看中阿諾的導演經驗與技術技巧，因此才無視他過去的行爲。“中國電影業金元氾濫，渴望成功，他們希望能和懂行、有國際聲望的人合作，”甘敏中說。In an interview, Mr. Annaud acknowledged that he, too, was taken aback when representatives of the Beijing Forbidden City production company approached him at his office in Paris. He said the producers told him: “China has changed and we are practical people. We don’t know how to do what you do and we need you.”
在採訪中，阿諾說，當北京紫禁城影業的代表到他巴黎的辦公室和他進行接觸時，他也大吃一驚。他記得那些製片人們告訴他，“中國已經變了，我們是實幹家。我們不知道該怎麼做你的工作，我們需要你。”La Peikang, chairman of the state-owned China Film Group, which took over the film’s production duties from Beijing Forbidden City, said that while “Seven Years in Tibet” had indeed “hurt the feelings of the Chinese people” only the film — and not the director himself — had been banned in China. “It was important to us to find someone who could make this movie well and tame the wolves,” said Mr. La, citing Mr. Annaud’s previous experience working with animals. “With regard to films that he made in the past, I don’t think this is very important.”
國有的中國電影公司總裁喇培康從北京紫禁城影業手中接下了拍攝這部片子的職責，他說，《西藏七年》這部影片確實“傷害了中國人民的感情”，在中國遭禁的是電影，而非導演本人。“我們應該找能拍好電影、又能馴服狼羣的人來，這非常重要，”喇說。他引述阿諾之前拍攝動物的片子，“看過他之前拍的那些電影，我覺得這沒什麼大不了。”Mr. Annaud said he was given “carte blanche” throughout the process. He also insisted on making the movie in Mandarin and Mongol (not English, as the film’s producers had suggested) and cast both Chinese and Mongol actors.
阿諾說，他在工作中得到了“全權委任”。他堅持影片要在東北和蒙古拍攝（而不是像影片製片人們建議的那樣，在英國拍攝），而演員必須既有中國人，也有蒙古人。And just as many have expressed surprise that Mr. Jiang’s original book was able to escape the red pens of censors, Mr. Annaud said he was surprised at the apparent leniency of China’s censors. “The film went through censorship with no problem at all,” he said. “I enjoyed a level of freedom that is almost inexplicable.” Throughout the creative process, Mr. Annaud said he sought input from Jiang Rong, the pen name of Lü Jiamin, a 78-year-old retired professor at the China Institute of Industrial Relations in Beijing who spent time in prison for participating in the 1989 Tiananmen Square democracy protests.
姜戎的原作竟然能夠通過審查，這令很多人都表示驚訝；阿諾也說，當前中國審查制度表面上的寬鬆也讓他震驚。“影片過審完全沒有問題，”他說。“我享受的自由程度幾乎是令人費解的。”在創作過程中，阿諾說，他從作者姜戎處求教。“姜戎”是78歲的退休教授呂嘉民的筆名，他曾在北京的中國勞動關係學院任教，曾因參加1989年天安門廣場民主抗議活動入獄。A French beret worn by one of the Han Chinese characters in the film, for example, was nixed by Mr. Jiang. (“Are you kidding me?” he said. “During the Cultural Revolution if you were seen wearing a beret you would be subject to criticism.”) Mr. Jiang said he also signed off on major changes to the plot, such as the inclusion of a love story between the main character, Chen Zhen, and a Mongol woman, played by Ankhnyam Ragchaa, as well as a reworking of the film’s ending to make it more uplifting.
比如說，姜戎不許電影中的漢族人物戴法式貝雷帽。“你開玩笑？”他說，“在‘文革’期間，被人看見戴貝雷帽肯定要遭到批判的。”姜戎說，他也同意了電影中重大的情節變化，比如片中兩個主角——陳陣和由昂哈瑪尼飾演的蒙古女人——之間的愛情故事，此外還有影片的新結局，它令故事變得更加振奮人心。“The book is the book and the film is the film,” said Mr. Jiang, who won the inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize in 2007 for the English translation of the book.
“書是書，電影是電影，”姜戎說，2007年，他曾因此書的英譯本獲得英仕曼亞洲文學獎。Shot on location in Inner Mongolia, the 3-D film is packed with stunning vistas and action scenes featuring real Mongol wolves that were trained over three years — making the film’s message about the ecological perils of modern China’s development all the more vivid.
影片採取3-D形式，在內蒙古拍攝，充滿壯麗的奇景和動作場面，使用了經馴化三年的蒙古狼羣，令片中關於現代中國發展造成的生態危機問題更加鮮明生動。“My fear was it was just going to end up being a pretty film about animals,” said Ms. Lusby of Penguin China. “But it was a lot more blunt than I’d expected it to be on the environmental side of it. I was really quite shocked.”
“我原本擔心它最後拍出來只是一部關於動物的漂亮影片，”企鵝中國的周海倫說，“但它在反映環境問題方面，比我原本想像得要直率得多。我感到非常震驚。”
