百年50部英文烧脑电影赏析:[28]National Treasure 国家宝藏

Benjamin Franklin Gates（Nicolas Cage）is a historian and amateur cryptologist, and the youngest descendant of a long line of treasure hunters. Though Ben's father, Patrick Henry Gates, tries to discourage Ben from following in the family line, as he had spent over 20 years looking for the national treasure, attracting ridicule on the family name, young Ben is encouraged onward by a clue, “The secret lies with Charlotte”，from his grandfather John Adams Gates in 1974, that could lead to the fabled national treasure hidden by the Founding Fathers of the United States and Freemasons during the American Revolutionary War that was entrusted to his family by Charles Carroll of Carrollton in 1832 before his death to find, and protect the family name. In the present, with an expedition funded and led by Ian Howe, Ben and his friend, a computer expert, Riley Poole（Justin Bartha）track down a Colonial ship that is trapped in Arctic ice, the Charlotte. Aboard the ship they discover a meerschaum pipe engraved with a Knights Templar riddle that Ben connects to an invisible map written by Timothy Matlack on the back of the Declaration of Independence. When Ian reveals he will go to any lengths to find this treasure including stealing the Declaration, Ben takes a stand against him. fight ensues, during which spilled gunpowder is ignited. Ian escapes the ship, leaving it to explode before departing with his team. Ben and Riley are trapped inside but survive the explosion by hiding in a smugglers hold, and return to the United States determined to stop Ian.
When Ben and Riley try to tell various authorities, including the FBI, and Dr. Abigail Chase（Diane Kruger）at the National Archives, they dismiss their claims, considering the Declaration impossible to steal. Ben and Riley concoct their own plan to steal the Declaration during a gala event, and execute it just before Ian and his own team arrive. Abigail, suspicious of Ben's presence at the gala, becomes caught up with Ben and Riley as they escape from Ian and the authorities. Ben's identity is tracked to the theft, and they are forced to go to his father's home, much to Patrick's surprise and dismay. Ben and Abigail find an Ottendorf cipher on the back of the Declaration which, using the riddle on the pipe from the Charlotte, they connect to the Silence Dogood letters, written by Benjamin Franklin, at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. Decoding the message, it points to where the Liberty Bell was, they then head to the top of Independence Hall at a specific time 2:22 where the trio find a pair of spectacles with multiple colored lenses invented by Franklin that reveal additional clues on the back of the Declaration, “Here at the Wall.” The group is caught by Ian, and even though they split up, Riley and Abigail and the Declaration are caught by Ian, while Agent Peter Sadusky captures Ben, still with the glasses.
Ian, under the guise of a prisoner exchange, lures the FBI into a trap aboard the USS Intrepid, allowing them to grab Ben. Holding Riley, Abigail, and Patrick hostage, Ian forces Ben to use the bifocals and find the next clue, which leads the group to Trinity Church in New York City. Beneath the church through a secret tunnel behind the coffin of Parkington Lane they find an enormous shaft with an elevator system. When walking down the stairs the shaft began to collapse a little but manage somehow. At the bottom of the shaft, they find a room lit only by a lantern, which Ben and Patrick trick Ian into thinking that it refers to Paul Revered Ride, and indicates the treasure to be at the Old North Church in Boston. Ian and his men strand Ben, Riley, Abigail, and Patrick as they ascend to the surface, unaware that Ben has purposely tricked them. Ben pushes a button of the unfinished pyramid the all-seeing eye on the wall and opens a secret door to an empty room. Patrick apologizes to Ben and admits himself that the treasure is real. Ben believes there's another way out to the surface and keeps searching then finds a strange keyhole and uses the pipe from the Charlotte to open yet another secret door to reveal the vast treasure trove, for which he has been searching his entire life, as well as a route to the surface.
When the four ascend back to the church, Ben calls in Agent Sadusky, who reveals he is part of the Freemasons. Ben and Sadusky arrange a deal: with the safe return of the Declaration and identifying where Ian and his men can be found, Sadusky will clear all of their names; the treasure will be distributed among museums throughout the world, and the Gates family will receive credit for the discovery. Ian is captured by the FBI at the old North Church and charged with kidnapping, attempted murder, and trespassing on government property.
The film ends showing that Ben chose to accept from the US government only a 1% finder's fee for himself and his team. That is still enough to make him and his friends quite wealthy, given that Ben's estimated value of the find is US $10,000,000,000. In addition, Ben has begun a romantic relationship with Abigail and bought a mansion they will be living in, and Riley bought himself a Ferrari.
本杰明·富兰克林·盖茨（尼古拉斯·凯奇饰）是一名历史学家、业余密码学家和寻宝家族最年轻的后裔。本的父亲帕特里克·亨利·盖茨试图阻止本沿袭家族传统寻宝，因为他本人曾花20年寻找国家宝藏，导致他们家族成为众人的笑柄。然而年轻的本为了保护家族名誉并不放弃，他得知祖父约翰·亚当斯·盖茨在1974年留下了寻宝线索，“秘密与夏洛特有关”能带领他找到传说中的国家宝藏。国家宝藏由美国开国元勋和共济会在美国独立战争时埋藏，1832年，来自卡罗敦的查尔斯·卡罗尔在死前将宝藏交给盖茨家族托管。 现在，伊恩·豪出资并带领着本和他的朋友电脑专家莱利·普尔（贾斯汀·巴萨饰）开始了探险旅程，他们找到一艘被困在北极冰河上的名叫夏洛特的殖民船。在船上，他们发现在一支海泡石烟斗上刻有圣殿骑士的谜语，本认为这个谜语和蒂莫西·梅拉克在《独立宣言》后面画的隐形地图有关。这时伊恩透露说他会不惜一切代价找到宝藏并窃取《独立宣言》，伊恩和本产生了分歧，在他们打斗的时候，不小心引燃了火药，伊恩在火药爆炸前甩下他们两人逃走了。本和莱利被困，但他们躲在走私物品储藏室得以幸存，出来后赶回美国试图阻止伊恩的行动。
本和莱利找到联邦调查局和国家档案馆的艾比加尔·查斯博士（黛安·克鲁格饰）等官方机构人员寻求帮助，但大家都认为《独立宣言》不可能失窃，没有人相信他们的话。于是本和莱利计划在节日庆典时赶在伊恩一伙人之前偷到《独立宣言》。在庆典上，艾比加尔发现本形迹可疑，在本和莱利摆脱了伊恩和警方追捕后将他们抓住，并把他们交还给本的父亲，帕特里克得知儿子的所作所为后既吃惊又失望。本和艾比加尔在《独立宣言》后面发现了奥腾多夫密码，这与在夏洛特船上发现的海泡石烟斗上的谜语刚好吻合，这让他们联想到了在费城富兰克林研究所存放的本杰明·富兰克林写的关于赛勒斯·杜古德的信，所有的信息放在一起，目标指向美国独立钟所在地。本、莱利和艾比加尔三人在2点22分同行前往独立大厅的顶端，他们发现富兰克林发明的多色镜片的眼镜，透过眼镜看到了《独立宣言》后面的另一条线索“宝藏在墙上”。这时伊恩一伙人追来，本三人分头行动，莱利和艾比加尔带着《独立宣言》，本带着眼镜，但最终还是被伊恩和特工彼特·塞德斯基分别抓住。
伊恩假借交换囚犯的名义，骗联邦调查局人员登上美国军舰去追捕本。伊恩将莱利、艾比加尔和帕特里克抓为人质，威胁本继续用双光眼镜寻找下一条线索，于是本带他们来到纽约的三一教堂，在教堂地下帕金顿·兰的棺材后面找到一条秘密通道，穿过通道便看到一个带有升降机的巨大的竖井。他们乘升降机慢慢下降，这时升降机发生了细微的颤动，但还能运行。竖井的底端是一个只用灯笼照明的房间，本和帕特里克骗伊恩说，这和骑士保罗有关，意味着宝藏在波士顿的旧北教堂，伊恩一伙人果然上当，抛下本、莱利、艾比加尔和帕特里克回到地面。本按下在一座未完工的金字塔上的按钮，眼前的墙展开了一扇门，通往另一间空房，帕特里克向本道歉，称确有宝藏存在。本认为肯定有通往地面的另一条通道，在继续寻找中发现了一个奇怪的锁眼，用在夏洛特船上找到的烟斗插进去打开了另一扇秘密的门，这就是宝藏埋藏的房间，这正是他毕生寻找的宝物，房间的另一侧是通往地面的通道。

他们四人回到教堂地面后，本打电话给特工塞德斯基，原来塞德斯基是共济会成员，之前他与本约定：只要本安全归还《独立宣言》，并且把伊恩一伙人找到，塞德斯基就会为他们澄清罪行，宝藏将会捐赠给世界各地的博物馆，盖茨家族将会荣获寻宝的美誉。联邦调查局人员在旧北教堂逮捕了伊恩，伊恩被指控绑架、谋杀未遂和擅闯政府领域的罪名。
影片的最后，本接受了美国政府给予他和他朋友的宝藏百分之一份额的奖赏，本估算宝藏总价值约一百亿美元，因此这些奖赏足以让他和他的朋友们生活富足。除此之外，本和艾比加尔相恋了，两人共同买了一栋宅邸，而莱利则为自己买了一辆法拉利。

descendant［di'sendənt］n. 后裔；子孙
meerschaum［'miəʃəm］n. 海泡石；海泡石烟斗
smuggler［'smʌglə］n. 走私者；走私犯；走私船
cipher［'saifə］n. 密码；暗号；零
spectacle［'spektəkl］n. 景象，奇观；眼镜
hostage［'hɔstiʤ］n. 人质；抵押品
shaft［ʃɑ:ft］n. 拍杆；轴；箭杆；杆状物
pyramid［'pirəmid］n. 金字塔；角锥体
重点掌握
■ the treasure will be distributed among museums throughout the world,
文中，throughout the world是英语中一个固定短语，是“全世界”的意思，比如：Live up to the expectations of our own people and the people throughout the world. 不辜负全国人民和全世界人民对我们的期望。
可以表达“全世界”这个意思的其他短语主要有：around the world, across the world, all over the world等。

Nicolas Cage Interviewed by Stella Papamichael
What challenge did this role present to you?
I see myself as very much a student of acting, and I always see the chance to grow in some way. I've taken chances that have been uncomfortable for me, and I think at times for audiences, and I think that's a good thing. Even my idea to go into action adventure was uncomfortable in the beginning, but it's something that's kept me on my toes — as long as I stay fresh with it. If I can stay interested — and I have — then I think I can keep audiences interested as well.
Do you enjoy these big budget action movies as much as the smaller, more emotionally intense roles?
I have very eclectic tastes, and I have to say that both types of films are organic in me, they're part of my chemistry. I grew up watching adventure movies. Charles Bronson was a hero, Bruce Lee, Clint Eastwood, and I would fantasise that I was in those movies when I was a boy. Then as I got older I discovered James Dean and De Niro and I wanted to be that kind of an actor, so I tried to find my way. But the truth is I have very eclectic tastes, I don't have an identity, I think my identity is that I don't have an identity. I don't want to be put in a box — I need to stay uncomfortable, I need to stay challenged to keep interested.
Is it also important to have camaraderie off the set?
Yeah, that kind of energy translates to the film, and hopefully to the audience. We kept it playful. We went to New Orleans with Justin Bartha（who plays sidekick Riley）, and we'd go down to Koreatown in Los Angeles and karaoke, and do things like that just to keep it loose. That fit into Jon's vision, to keep it like a confection, with a lighter touch the way the great old stars used to do. 这个角色给你带来什么挑战？
我觉得自己还在学习如何表演，从某种角度说我总会发现学习的机会。我接拍了一些让我感觉不舒服的角色，可能有时观众也这么认为，但我觉得这是好事。我一开始以为冒险行动的角色会让我不舒服，但开拍后我发现它对我来说很新鲜，让我保持活力。我想既然我自己很感兴趣，那么我也能让观众感兴趣。
你喜欢这种大制作的动作电影，还是喜欢扮演小制作的感情细腻的角色？
我的品味折中，我必须要说这两种类型的电影都是我的器官，是我体内化学的一部分。我成长中一直在看冒险电影。少年时期就喜欢查尔斯·布朗森、李小龙和克林特·伊斯特伍德，我会幻想自己置身于电影中。长大后我更欣赏詹姆斯·迪恩和德尼罗，希望成为那样的演员并为之努力。但事实上我的品味折中，我并没有特有的标签，我想我的标签就是没有标签。我不希望被局限，我希望扮演自己感觉不舒服的角色，我需要不断挑战并保持兴趣。
在片场外保持友情是否也很重要？
是的，那种能量会带到电影里，希望能带给观众。我在游玩中保持友情，我和贾斯汀·巴萨（伙伴莱利扮演者）一起去新奥尔良，接着我们去洛杉矶的韩国城唱卡拉OK,一起做些类似的轻松的事情。这符合乔恩的愿景，像一味调味剂，调和了以前巨星的做法。

影片的导演是曾指导过《第三类奇迹》和《本能反应》等片的乔·德特杜巴，而他同时也参与了本片的编剧，影片的原本故事就是由他构思的。
在影片的拍摄过程中，为了达到真实的效果，影片中的宝藏全部都使用的是真实的钱币。
影片的外景地主要是纽约、加州和犹他州等地，不过导演乔·德特杜巴表示在华盛顿拍摄时最为头痛，说：“如果你们在华盛顿街头开枪，他们（政府）要清楚知道你们在做什么。我们要确保其他人知道不是真有枪战发生。”他同时表示在首都的林肯纪念碑取景时，吸引了不少游人围观，令拍摄大受影响。