《Milk》　米爾克　權(quán)益爭取之路

No.043　《Milk》　米爾克　權(quán)益爭取之路

英文導讀

Milk is a 2008 American biographical film based on the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Dustin Lance Black, the film stars Sean Penn as Milk and Josh Brolin as Dan White, a city supervisor who assassinated Milk.

Academy Award winner Sean Penn takes the title role in Gus Van Sant's biopic tracing the last eight years in the life of Harvey Milk, the ill-fated politician and gay activist whose life changed history, and whose courage still inspires people. When Milk was elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in 1977, he made history for being the first openly gay man in American history to be voted into public office. But the rights of homosexuals weren't Milk's primary concern, as tellingly evidenced by the wide array of political coalitions he formed over the course of his tragically brief career. He fought for everyone from union workers to senior citizens, a true hero of human rights who possessed nothing but compassion for his fellow man. The story begins in New York City, where a 40-year-old Milk ponders what steps he can take to make his life more meaningful. Eventually, Milk makes the decision to relocate to the West Coast, where he and his lover, Scott Smith (James Franco), found a small business in the heart of a working-class neighborhood. Empowered by his love for the Castro neighborhood and the success of his business, Castro Camera, Milk somewhat unexpectedly begins to emerge as an outspoken agent for change. With a growing support system that includes both Scott and a like-minded young activist named Cleve Jones (Emile Hirsch), the charismatic Milk decides to take a fateful leap into politics, eventually developing a reputation as a leader who isn't afraid to follow up his words with actions. In short order, he is elected supervisor for the newly zoned District 5, though this seeming triumph is in fact the catalyst for a tragedy that starts to unfold as Milk does his best to forge a political partnership with Dan White (Josh Brolin), another newly elected supervisor. Over time it becomes apparent that Milk and White's political agendas are directly at odds, a revelation that puts their personal destinies on a catastrophic collision course.

Attempts to put Milk's life to film followed a 1984 documentary of his life and the aftermath of his assassination, titled The Times of Harvey Milk, which was loosely based upon Randy Shilts's biography, The Mayor of Castro Street. (The film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for 1984, and was awarded Special Jury Prize at the first Sundance Film Festival, among other awards.) Various scripts were considered in the early 1990s, but projects fell through for different reasons, until 2007. Much of Milk was filmed on Castro Street and other locations in San Francisco, including Milk's former storefront, Castro Camera.

Milk received positive reviews from film critics. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 94% of critics gave the film a positive review, based on a sample of 209, with an average score of 8.0/10. Todd McCarthy of Variety called the film "adroitly and tenderly observed", "smartly handled", and "most notable for the surprising and entirely winning performance by Sean Penn". He added, "while Milk is unquestionably marked by many mandatory scenes . . . the quality of the writing, acting and directing generally invests them with the feel of real life and credible personal interchange, rather than of scripted stops along the way from aspiration to triumph to tragedy. And on a project whose greatest danger lay in its potential to come across as agenda-driven agitprop, the filmmakers have crucially infused the story with qualities in very short supply today—gentleness and a humane embrace of all its characters."

The film was released to much acclaim, earned numerous accolades from film critics and guilds. Ultimately, it received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, winning two for Best Actor in a Leading Role for Penn and Best Original Screenplay for Black.

獲獎情況

2009年第81屆奧斯卡：最佳男主角、最佳原創(chuàng)劇本獎，并榮獲最佳影片提名、最佳導演提名、最佳男配角提名、最佳剪輯提名。

影片信息

導演：格斯·范·桑特

編劇：達斯汀·蘭斯·布萊克

主演：西恩·潘、喬什·布洛林、詹姆斯·弗蘭科、迭戈·魯納

類型：劇情、傳記

制片國家（地區(qū)）：美國

上映日期：2008-11-26（美國）

片長：128分鐘

又名：《夏菲米克的時代》《自由大道》《哈維·米克》《牛奶分子》

劇情簡介

哈維·米爾克是曾被美國《時代》雜志選為20世紀代表人物之一的同性戀政治家。在1970年，曾作為首個公開同性戀身份的政客參加競選，并成功擔任舊金山市政府官員。隨后，他一直致力于為同性戀者爭取平等的公民權(quán)益。但是，不久之后，米爾克和他的政治盟友——市長喬治·莫斯科恩一起被保守派丹·懷特刺殺身亡。這次悲劇，喚醒了當?shù)氐耐詰僬摺?/p>

20世紀70年代，年屆不惑事業(yè)有成、然而感情生活卻一路坎坷的小商人米爾克（西恩·潘　飾），偶然邂逅了年輕英俊的男子斯科特·史密斯（詹姆斯·弗蘭科　飾），兩人迅速陷入熱戀，米爾克自此也開始認識到自身真正的性取向。不久他們搬到舊金山卡斯特羅街，合力經(jīng)營一家攝影器材商店。隨著兩人戀情的公開化，小店逐漸成為同志們的聚集地，最后擴展到整個街區(qū)。

然而，同性戀在當時仍不為公眾所接受，他們依然受到種種不公平的待遇。米爾克有感于此，決心從政，競選城市監(jiān)察員，以一己之力推動政府改善同性戀者們的境遇。屢戰(zhàn)屢敗的米爾克最終獲得成功，卻也遭到保守勢力的責難與攻擊……

制作花絮

本片原定由馬特·達蒙來飾演片中丹·懷特一角，但拍攝時間與馬特·達蒙已接下的《綠色地帶》一片沖突，所以馬特·達蒙最后放棄了這個角色。

上千名支持同性戀合法權(quán)益的人在本片中免費出演群眾演員角色。

在本片中，影片主角哈維·米爾克為爭取同性戀合法而獻出了自己的生命；30多年后的2008年11月4日，在影片上映前夕，加州議會通過決議，只承認異性結(jié)婚的合法權(quán)益。

男主角西恩·潘為此片減肥約22千克。

電影中米爾克工作的店“castro camera”的場景是在現(xiàn)實中一家叫做“given”的禮品店中拍攝的。電影工作人員和禮品店店主一起改變了店內(nèi)的裝潢擺設(shè)，在這個店中還拍攝了一場影片中出現(xiàn)的照相機店的場景。

重點學習

In short order

In short order是英語中的一個固定短語，是“在短期內(nèi)；迅速，立即；立刻”的意思，比如：Several factors have rocketed the price of cheese higher in short order.（多種因素已造成奶酪價格在短期內(nèi)飆升。）

Over time it becomes apparent that Milk and White's political agendas are directly at odds

在英語中，odds有“相爭，不和”的意思，所以文中的at odds是“爭執(zhí)，意見不一致；爭吵，不和；不相稱，不和諧”的意思，比如：Around the same time, the two were at odds again over a completely different issue.（大概在同一時間，雙方又因一樁完全不同的事件而起了爭執(zhí)。）

單詞時間

supervisor[?sju:p?vaiz?] n. 監(jiān)督人，管理人；檢查員

ill-fated[?il?feitid] adj. 不幸的；厄運的

homosexual[?h?m?u?seksju?l] n. 同性戀者

coalition[?k?u??li??n] n. 聯(lián)合；結(jié)合，合并

union[?ju:ni?n] n. 聯(lián)盟，協(xié)會；工會；聯(lián)合

relocate[?ri:l?u?keit] vi. 重新安置；遷移新址

unexpectedly[??nik?spektidli] adv. 出乎意料地，意外地

outspoken[?aut?sp?uk?n] adj. 坦率的，直言不諱的

charismatic[?kæriz?mætik] adj. 超凡魅力的；神賜能力的

partnership[?pɑ:tn??ip] n. 合伙；合伙企業(yè)；合作關(guān)系；合伙契約

catastrophic[?kæt??str?fik] adj. 災(zāi)難的；悲慘的

collision[k??li??n] n. （意見，看法）的抵觸，沖突

biography[bai??ɡr?fi] n. 傳記；檔案；個人簡介

adroitly[??dr?itli] adv. 熟練地；敏捷地

mandatory[?mænd?t?ri:] adj. 強制的；托管的；命令的

interchange[?int??t?eind?] n. 互換；立體交叉道