《The Help》　相助　斗爭也可以清新而充滿溫情

No.072　《The Help》　相助　斗爭也可以清新而充滿溫情

英文導讀

The Help is a 2011 American drama film adaptation of the novel of the same name (2009) by Kathryn Stockett, adapted for the screen and directed by Tate Taylor.

A 1960s-era Mississippi debutante sends her community into an uproar by conducting a series of probing interviews with the black servants behind some of her community's most prominent families. Skeeter (Emma Stone) has just graduated from college, and she's eager to launch her career as a writer. In a moment of inspiration, Skeeter decides to focus her attention on the black female servants who work in her community. Her first subject is Aibileen (Viola Davis), the devoted housekeeper who has been employed by Skeeter's best friend's family for years. By speaking with Aibileen, Skeeter becomes an object of scorn to the wealthy locals, who view her actions as directly challenging to the established social order. Before long, even more servants are coming forward to tell their stories, and Skeeter discovers that friendship can blossom under the most unlikely of circumstances.

Set in Jackson, Mississippi, it stars Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard, Jessica Chastain, Sissy Spacek, Mike Vogel, Mary Steenburgen and Allison Janney. Produced by DreamWorks Studios and distributed by Touchstone Pictures, the film opened to positive reviews and became a box-office success with a gross of $211.6 million against its budget of $25 million.

The Help received positive reviews from critics. Review aggregators Rotten Tomatoes reported that 76% of 197 professional critics gave the film a positive review, with an average score of 7/10. The site's consensus stated, "Though arguably guilty of glossing over its racial themes, The Help rises on the strength of its cast—particularly Viola Davis, whose performance is powerful enough to carry the film on its own. " Tom Long from The Detroit News remarked about the film:"Appealling, entertaining, touching and perhaps even a bit healing, The Help is an old-fashioned grand yarn of a film, the sort we rarely get these days." Connie Ogle of The Miami Herald gave the film three out of four stars and said it "will make you laugh, yes, but it can also break your heart. In the dog days of August moviegoing, that's a powerful recommendation."

In February 2012, the film received four Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, Best Actress for Davis, Best Supporting Actress for Chastain, and a win for Best Supporting Actress for Spencer. On January 29, 2012, the film won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

獲獎情況

2012年第84屆奧斯卡：最佳女配角獎，并榮獲最佳影片提名、最佳女主角提名。

影片信息

導演：泰特·泰勒

編劇：泰特·泰勒

主演：艾瑪·斯通、維奧拉·戴維斯、布萊絲·達拉斯·霍華德

類型：劇情

制片國家（地區(qū)）：美國、印度、阿聯酋

上映日期：2011-08-10（美國）

片長：146分鐘

又名：《姐妹》《寫出友共鳴》《女仆》《幫助》《幫傭》

劇情簡介

20世紀60年代，在美國南方的密西西比州，這里的社會依舊深受“黑人奴隸制”陰影的籠罩。在許多家庭里，黑傭依舊遭遇著不平等的待遇。22歲的白人女孩史基特·費蘭（艾瑪·斯通飾）是生長在這片土地上的普通女孩兒。在她完成大學學業(yè)回到家鄉(xiāng)之后，發(fā)現從小帶自己長大的黑人女傭不告而別了，這讓從小把這位傭人當做朋友的史基特心里很難受。

機靈能干、內斂沉著，曾帶大17個白人小孩的黑傭愛比琳·克拉克（維奧拉·戴維斯飾），在史基特的朋友家當幫傭，照顧她2歲的女兒。另一名黑傭米妮（奧克塔維亞·斯班瑟飾），是愛比琳最要好的朋友，有著一手好廚藝，但她潑辣的個性使她常常丟掉工作。

個性善良的史基特一直對待黑傭如家人，但她發(fā)現為白人帶大小孩兒的黑傭們，不論在生活或態(tài)度上，都時常得到不平等的待遇，甚至連和白人共用廁所的權利都被剝奪。

對此深感不平的史基特，決意著手一個大膽的寫作計劃：采訪在白人家庭工作的黑傭們的痛苦遭遇，并寫成一本書。以一種平靜而同樣充滿力量的行動，去幫助他們發(fā)起一場民權運動。與此同時，馬丁·路德·金領導的平權運動正在如火如荼地開展，而史基特所在的密西西比州正是斗爭的前沿，因為黑人遭射殺的血案，種族隔離開始，一場膚色之爭在所難免……

制作花絮

本片改編自凱瑟琳·斯托科特出版于2009年的同名小說，這是她的處女作。

在影片中合作的艾瑪·斯通和布萊絲·達拉斯·霍華德都在不同的《蜘蛛俠》電影中扮演過葛溫·斯塔西這個角色。

影片在密西西比的“攝影棚”是一棟當地居民的房子。起先導演還覺得當地的房子不會太大。可是進去一看才發(fā)現僅僅是一個餐廳就有30英尺寬40英尺長（接近110平方米）。

梅麗莎·莫利納羅曾經為了西利亞·富特這個角色來到劇組試鏡。

重點學習

And she's eager to launch her career as a writer

文中的be eager to是英語中的一個固定搭配，是“盼望，渴望要做…”，其后接動詞原形，比如：The staff will be eager to help you through every step of the job search process.（那里的員工會很熱心的指導你求職中的每個步驟。）

And became a box-office success with a gross of $211.6 million

每部影片都會有它的銷售box- office。當人們在談論the box-office, they are referring to the degree of success of a film or play in terms of the number of people who go to watch it or the amount of money it makes.也就是“票房；票房收入，票房價值”的意思，比如：The film has taken ＄180 million at the box office.（這部電影的票房收入已達到1.8億美元。）當我們去看電影，現場買影票時，看著寫有Box Office的房間，那么它就是“售票處”了。另外，box office用于口語中，能表達“能吸引觀眾的演出（或演員）；叫座”的意思。文中的box-office是形容詞，是“票房的”意思。

單詞時間

debutante[?debjut??t] n. 初次參加上層社會社交活動的少女

prominent[?pr?min?nt] adj. 突出的，顯著的；杰出的；卓越的

inspiration[?insp??rei??n] n. 靈感；鼓舞；吸氣；妙計

servant[?s?:v?nt] n. 仆人，傭人；公務員；雇工

blossom[?bl?s?m] vi. 開花；興旺；發(fā)展成

circumstance[?s?:k?mst?ns] n. 環(huán)境，情況；事件；境遇

arguably[?ɑ:ɡju?bli] adv. 可論證地；可爭辯地；正如可提出證據加以證明的那樣地

yarn[jɑ:n] n. 紗線；奇談，故事

moviegoing[?mu:vi?ɡ?ui?] n. 上電影院，看電影；上電影院看電影的習慣

recommendation[?rek?men?dei??n] n. 推薦；建議；推薦信