Borat - Make fun apathetic nation of US and A

Fri, 01 Dec 2006 18:56:21 GMT

It was nearly two years ago, I was channel surfing one night. On the screen a tall white man, in his early 30s, dressed in bright yellow jump suit, wearing a shiny gold chain as thick as my thumb, moving his hands like a black gangsta rapper coming straight out of MTV, was interviewing Buzz Aldrin, the 2nd man ever walked on the moon.

The tall white man was Sacha Boran Cohen, aka Ali G, aka Borat, aka Bruno, and his interview was CRAZY:

ALI G: When you went to da moon, was da moon people friendly, or did they scare you?
BUZZ ALDRIN: We had no hopes of finding any life there whatsoever.
ALI G: When is man going to walk on de sun?
BUZZ ALDRIN: It's much too hot on the sun; we can never go there.
ALI G: We could go in de winter, when it's colder.

Later Ali G would mix Louis Armstrong with Neil Armstrong, compare Michael Jackson's move to Buzz's walk on the moon. You get the idea.

Since then I was hooked with the show, and learned about Cohen's other alter egos: Borat the Kazakh reporter and Bruno the Austrian gay fashion journalist. They were all outrageously ignorant and out of place - to the extend that people let down their guards and show their true selves.

That was totally what had happened in the Borat movie.

The movie is simply a series of Borat episodes sew together, with very little plot. Some scenes are almost straight out of the Ali G show - like singing the national anthem in a rodeo game, or messing with a group of frat boys. And granted, lots of scenes were dim-witted and simply were there for the sake of being funny (but not much so).

In my mind's eye, I have this strange association of Ali G/Borat/Bruno with Robert Frank, the great photographer who relentlessly showed the unflattering side of the US when lots of Americans were in a mood of extreme supremacy. Both from Europe, both Jewish, the two artists (I know some would not agree on this) poured freezing cold showers to the Americana. Let it be the black passengers sitting at the end of a bus or the homophobic rodeo owner who agreed gay people should be hung, 50 years ago or yesterday, realistic or absurd, the same ironic message was sent. However, one thing is different - how the Americans are treating the two - RF's "the American" was doomed with ill fate for years, not even Jack Kerouac's introduction could save it; on the other hand, Cohen was hailed by film critics and fans as a great comedy genius for his outrageously "brave" acts. Sure, we are becoming more open minded since the last 50 years, but have we learned from our mistakes and become less apathetic? That's the question.

三个W一台戏

Mon, 23 Oct 2006 20:38:16 GMT

1999年, Wachowsky兄弟凭着"the Matrix"横空出世, 把一本漫画演变成一个后现代版的庄周梦蝶的科幻传奇,还顺带把Keavu Reevs从"Dude Where's My Car"这类水深火热的SB角色中拯救出来(课外读物: Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure), 让人好不激动了一回. 但是可惜好景不长,趁热打铁的Reload和Revolution即没有重整旗鼓,更没有继承其革命传统,让人觉得这哥俩不是吸了太多大麻,就是已经江郎才尽.

结果,这种怀疑到昨晚被"V for Vendetta"一扫而空. 事实证明W兄弟的才华比两把刷子还要多至少一把: V的故事其实很俗,无非是一个未来黑暗世界里的受害者挺胸而出英雄救美并发动群众力量捣毁了邪恶的统治. 这些都可以忽略不计, 真正要赞的是整出电影里精心策划的对白和第三个W - Hugo Weaving老到得近乎无懈可击的演技. 由于其地下工作者的身份, 老W整出电影里都没有露出庐山真面,害得我猜了半天到底好莱钨什么时候出了个这么文武双全的老戏骨. 跟Matrix里的Agent Smith相比,V少了些狡猾,多了些文雅, 但是不变的是丫特有节奏的咬文嚼字和W兄弟们较真得近乎痛苦的措辞. 找本字典出来,然后看看下面的对白:

"...a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of Fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a by-gone vexation, stands vivified and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin van-guarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta, held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous.”

(一个微不足道的老小丑, 被命运无情的捉弄, 忽而变成受害者,忽而成为恶人. 这副浮华的面具, 尤如被曲解的民声, 已经变得没有意义, 消失无踪. 然而, 这曾经英勇的神圣力量依然不屈, 必要征服那滋生病毒,腐败,贪婪和暴力的源泉. 对天指誓, 唯有血债血还, 方可一日保还道德,警醒与真理的价值. )

怎么样,不得不服了吧? 四句话里用了四十个V字词,还不带重的, "V"onderful.

Ken's Space: Entertainment

Borat - Make fun apathetic nation of US and A

三个W一台戏