《Changeling》　換子疑云　塵埃落定不代表真相大白

No.016　《Changeling》　換子疑云　塵埃落定不代表真相大白

英文導(dǎo)讀

Changeling is a 2008 American drama film directed by Clint Eastwood and written by J. Michael Straczynski.Changeling explores female disempowerment, political corruption, child endangerment, and the repercussions of violence. Ron Howard intended to direct, but scheduling conflicts led to his replacement by Eastwood. Howard and his Imagine Entertainment partner Brian Grazer produced Changeling alongside Malpaso Productions' Robert Lorenz and Eastwood. Universal Pictures financed and distributed the film.

Inspired by actual events that occurred in 1920s-era Los Angeles, Clint Eastwood's The Changeling tells the story of a woman driven to confront a corrupted LAPD after her abducted son is retrieved and she begins to suspect that the boy returned to her is not the same boy she gave birth to. The year was 1928, and the setting a working-class suburb of Los Angeles. As Christine (Angelina Jolie) said goodbye to her son, Walter, and departed for work, she never anticipated that this was the day her life would be forever changed. Upon returning home, Christine was distressed to discover that Walter was nowhere to be found. Over the course of the following months, the desperate mother would launch a search that would ultimately prove fruitless. Yet just when it seemed that all hope was lost, a nine-year-old boy claiming to be Christine's son seemed to appear out of thin air. Overcome with emotions and uncertain how to face the authorities or the press, Christine invites the child to stay in her home despite knowing without a doubt that he is not her son. As much as Christine would like to accept the fact that her son has been returned to her, she cannot accept the injustice being pushed upon her and continues to challenge the Prohibition-era Los Angeles police force at every turn. As a result, Christine is slandered by the powers that be, and painted as an unfit mother. In this town, a woman who challenges the system is putting her life on the line, and as the situation grows desperate, the only person willing to aid her in her search is benevolent local activist Reverend Briegleb (John Malkovich).

After hearing about the case from a contact at Los Angeles City Hall, Straczynski spent a year researching the historical record. He said he drew 95% of the script from around 6,000 pages of documentation. The shooting script was Straczynski's first draft and his first produced film screenplay. Several actors campaigned for the lead; Eastwood cast Jolie partly because he felt her face fit the period setting. The film also stars Jeffrey Donovan, Jason Butler Harner, John Malkovich, Michael Kelly, and Amy Ryan. Most of the characters were based on real life people, while some were composites. Principal photography began on October 15, 2007, and concluded in December 2007; filming took place in Los Angeles and throughout Southern California. Eastwood's low-key direction led actors and crew to note the calmness of the set and the short working days. In post-production, scenes were supplemented with computer-generated skylines, backgrounds, vehicles and people.

Changeling premiered at the 61st Cannes Film Festival on May 20, 2008, to critical acclaim. Further festival appearances preceded a limited release in the United States on October 24, 2008. The film opened in general release in North America on October 31, 2008, in the United Kingdom on November 26, 2008, and in Australia on February 5, 2009.

The film earned $113 million in box office revenue worldwide, of which $35.7 million was earned in the United States and Canada.

Changeling was nominated for three Academy Awards in 2009, including Best Actress in a Leading Role (Angelina Jolie), Best Art Direction (James Murakami, Gary Fettis) and Best Cinematography (Tom Stern).

獲獎(jiǎng)情況

2009年第81屆奧斯卡：最佳女主角提名、最佳攝影提名、最佳藝術(shù)指導(dǎo)提名。

影片信息

導(dǎo)演：克林特·伊斯特伍德

編?。篔·邁克爾·斯特拉辛斯基

主演：安吉麗娜·朱莉、加特林·格里菲斯、米歇爾·岡、約翰·馬爾科維奇

類(lèi)型：劇情、懸疑、驚悚

制片國(guó)家（地區(qū)）：美國(guó)

上映日期：2008-10-31（美國(guó)）

片長(zhǎng)：141分鐘

又名：《陌生的孩子》《換命謊言》《調(diào)包嬰兒》《換嬰記》《換親子迷霧》

劇情簡(jiǎn)介

在電話(huà)局接線(xiàn)臺(tái)工作的克莉斯汀·柯林斯（安吉麗娜·朱莉　飾），獨(dú)自撫養(yǎng)著兒子沃特（加特林·格里菲斯　飾），這樣的生活簡(jiǎn)單而幸福。

然而，他們的生活很快被打亂。某天當(dāng)克莉斯汀下班后，發(fā)現(xiàn)兒子不見(jiàn)了。她尋求警察的幫助，卻被以“在24小時(shí)內(nèi)不接受報(bào)案”的借口拒絕。24小時(shí)之后，警方接手案件，卻遲遲沒(méi)有進(jìn)展，一直杳無(wú)音信，這一現(xiàn)象引起了廣大民眾的質(zhì)疑。

在公眾輿論的壓力下，腐敗的洛杉磯警方在5個(gè)月后找回沃特，但克莉斯汀發(fā)現(xiàn)這并不是自己的兒子。她一再跟警方解釋?zhuān)缶匠吻迨聦?shí)，幫其尋找真正的沃特，卻一次次受到阻撓和指責(zé)。最后，甚至以妨礙警方公務(wù)的罪名被送入精神病院。

在這里，克莉斯汀才發(fā)現(xiàn)精神病院里關(guān)著很多和她一樣、與警方作對(duì)的女人們。一向以揭露警方暴行為己任的牧師古斯塔夫·布里格拉伯（約翰·馬爾科維奇　飾），為這個(gè)可憐女人的不幸遭遇奔走呼告。

另一方面，探員萊斯特在偵辦一件偷渡案時(shí)，無(wú)意中發(fā)現(xiàn)了一起重大的連環(huán)兒童殺人案。少年沃特的失蹤案似乎漸露眉目……

克莉斯汀的兒子沃特會(huì)回到她的身邊嗎？還是另有隱情？

制作花絮

本片是2008年戛納電影節(jié)的參賽片。

本片是克林特·伊斯特伍德自1997年以來(lái)第一次拍攝華納兄弟公司以外的電影。

《換子疑云》本來(lái)并不在戛納電影節(jié)的競(jìng)賽名單之內(nèi)，直到伊斯特伍德本人確認(rèn)可以出席參加電影節(jié)，影片才被確定會(huì)參賽，而此時(shí)離電影節(jié)開(kāi)幕還有一周的時(shí)間，影片仍在剪輯室里進(jìn)行后期制作。

重點(diǎn)學(xué)習(xí)

A nine-year-old boy claiming to be Christine's son seemed to appear out of thin air

文中的out of thin air常常用于口語(yǔ)表達(dá)中，它是“荒唐無(wú)稽；無(wú)中生有，憑空地；不知道從什么地方”的意思，比如：The magician waved his wand and a rabbit appeared out of thin air.（魔術(shù)師把他的小棒一揮，一只兔子突然出現(xiàn)了。）

Continues to challenge the Prohibition-era Los Angeles police force at every turn

At every turn是英語(yǔ)中的一個(gè)固定短語(yǔ)，做副詞使用，是“事事，處處；每次，經(jīng)常，老是”的意思，比如：In fact most people with disabilities face obstacles at every turn in their lives.（事實(shí)上，患有殘疾的大多數(shù)人都會(huì)在其生活的每一個(gè)轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn)遇到障礙。）

單詞時(shí)間

endangerment[in?deind??ment] n. 危害，受到危害

repercussion[?ri:p??k???n] n. 反響；彈回；反射

violence[?vai?l?ns] n. 暴力；侵犯；激烈；歪曲

fruitless[?fru:tlis] adj. 不成功的，徒勞的；不結(jié)果實(shí)的

injustice[in?d??stis] n. 不公正；不講道義

slander[?slɑ:nd?] vt. 誹謗；造謠中傷

benevolent[bi?nev?l?nt] adj. 仁慈的；慈善的；親切的

documentation[?d?kjumen?tei??n] n. 文件，證明文件，史實(shí)

principal[?prins?p?l] adj. 首要的；最重要的

calmness[?ka:mnis] n. 冷靜，鎮(zhèn)靜；平靜，安寧

supplement[?s?plim?nt] vt. 補(bǔ)充，增補(bǔ)

skyline[?skailain] n. 地平線(xiàn)；空中輪廓線(xiàn)；架空索