電影裏的西雅圖:中國人眼中的美國浪漫之都大綱

Seattleis rarely the first US city that comes to Chinese minds. In fact, few people could probably tell Washington state from Washington DC.

一提起美國的城市，很少有中國人會首先想到西雅圖。其實，很多中國人可能根本分不清華盛頓州和華盛頓特區的區別。

Two romantic comedy films have irrevocably shaped the image of Xiyatu, as the city is known in Mandarin, among the Chinese public, and as a result it would not be a stretch to say Seattle is seen as the American capital of romance, somewhat akin to how the world perceives Paris.

兩部浪漫喜劇無疑塑造了西雅圖在中國公衆心裏的形象。因此，可以毫不誇張地說，西雅圖被國人視爲美國浪漫之都，有幾分類似世界對巴黎的看法。

In Sleepless in Seattle, Nora Ephron's 1993 runaway hit, Tom Hanks' character, Sam, moves with his young son from Chicago to Seattle for a fresh start after the death of his wife. The movie portrays the largest city in the Pacific Northwest not as a canyon of high-rises, but as a bohemian enclave of artists and designers, which possibly did not impress Chinese at the time.

在諾拉·艾芙倫1993年執導的熱門電影《西雅圖夜未眠》中，山姆（湯姆·漢克斯飾）在妻子離世後帶着年幼的兒子從芝加哥搬到西雅圖，尋求一個新生活的開始。影片將這座美國太平洋西北地區最大的城市塑造成了一個放蕩不羈的藝術家和設計師的聚居之處，而非高樓林立之都。當時或許並未給中國觀衆留下什麼印象。

This image may have been altered recently by the screen adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey, which is largely set in the Seattle area and includes frequent aerial shots and the less-than-tasteful flaunting of wealth and kinky sex.

最近上映的小說改編影片《五十度灰》可能改變了人們對西雅圖的認識。這部影片取景地大部分在西雅圖，包含很多航拍、低俗的炫富和性虐的元素。

The narrative setup in Sleepless is almost Chinese to the core: Sam and Annie, played by Meg Ryan, fall in love before actually meeting each other in the flesh. Imagine all those Chinese couples in arranged marriages who were denied the right to face-to-face encounters before their wedding night. This story could have been their silver lining and inspiration.

《西雅圖夜未眠》敘事設定很中式：山姆和安妮（梅格·瑞恩飾）在素未謀面的情況下就相愛了。試想那些接受包辦婚姻的中國夫婦，在新婚之夜前都沒有見面的權利。這部影片有可能給他們帶來了一線希望和鼓舞。

By contrast, the Chinese movie Finding Mr. Right- the title in Mandarin translates as Beijing Meets Seattle - is very Hollywood in its dramatic arc. The 2013 sleeper hit employs the opposites-attract strategy: Boy meets girl and nothing works out, but we know they'll end up together because we've been conditioned by the genre.

相較之下，中國影片《北京遇上西雅圖》則極具好萊塢戲劇的風格。這部2013年的票房黑馬採用了異性相吸的故事策略：男主與女主相遇卻沒有走到一起，但是我們知道他們最終一定會在一起，因爲我們早已習慣了這種題材。

Like with Sleepless, the boy and girl in this story are no youngsters in puppy love. Frank, played by Wu Xiubo, is similar to Sam in that he has a child from a previous marriage, but Tang Wei's Jiajia has nothing in common with Annie. She is a gold digger who is in Seattle to give birth to a child by her wealthy, married boyfriend. The father, who remains unseen, is a symbol of the nouveau riche, whose opulent residence stands in sharp contrast to middle-class living in the Emerald City.

與《西雅圖夜未眠》一樣，這部影片中的男女主角並非初涉愛情的年輕人。吳秀波扮演的弗蘭克同山姆一樣，帶着一個跟前妻生的孩子；不過湯唯飾演的佳佳和安妮的經歷完全不同。她是個拜金女，來到西雅圖是爲了給已婚的富豪男友生子。孩子的父親是暴發戶的象徵，並未在影片中露面。他豪華的住宅與西雅圖中產階級的住所形成鮮明的對比。

For financial reasons, the movie was actually shot in Vancouver, while the generic English title does not even hint at the promotional power of a movie that made 500 million yuan ($78 million) at the box office in China.

由於預算原因，影片實際上是在溫哥華拍攝的。而這部在中國的票房收入達到5億元人民幣（合7800萬美元）的影片的通用英文標題也完全沒有顯示出這部影片會有何等的廣告效應。

The movie Finding Mr. Right is predominantly set in Seattle and even references Ephron's classic when the female protagonist is questioned by a US immigration officer who waves her in as another Sleepless pilgrim.

《北京遇上西雅圖》的故事背景主要設定在西雅圖，美國入境處官員向女主角揮手、准許她入境的情節借鑑了艾芙倫執導的影片的經典橋段，也是對《西雅圖不眠夜》的又一處致敬。

The movie, also written and directed by a woman, is neither a remake nor a sequel to the 1993 classic, but it pays almost slavish homage by setting the final scene in New York's Empire State Building. If I were the mayor of Seattle, I would have persuaded director Xue Xiaolu to change the location to the Space Needle, which would have cemented the city's reputation as a magnet for true love.

這部影片的編劇兼導演薛曉路也是一名女性。但該片並非那部1993年經典電影的重製或續集，但是影片將最後一幕場景設在紐約的帝國大廈，幾乎是對經典最原汁原味的致敬。如果我是西雅圖的市長，我一定會說服薛曉路將最後的拍攝場地改到太空針塔，那麼這座城市的真愛磁鐵之名就會更加鞏固了。

It may not have been necessary anyway. There was reportedly a spike in the number of Chinese tourists in Seattle after the movie was released, and that enthusiasm is unlikely to abate anytime soon, with a sequel on the way next year.

也許大可不必這樣做。據報道，影片上映後前往西雅圖的中國遊客數量激增。而明年《北京遇上西雅圖2》即將上映，這股熱情近期不太可能減退。