If I had known what Precious was about, I probably wouldn’t have wanted to see it. Just too dark and depressing. You can’t really tell a story like Precious successfully if you aren’t daring your audience to drive the nearest knife into their wrists. Kudos, then, to screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher and director Lee Daniels for injecting at least some humor and hope into the film. About midway through the movie I was pretty astonished that, despite the rough hand our central character, Precious, was dealt, the movie is undeniably entertaining. It hooked me. I cared. I wanted a happy ending, and even though things got even worse from that point on for her, I believe what the film believes: that the good and strength in people doesn’t always prevail, but it can. I trusted in Precious’ strength, even if we only see it in snippets early on.

　　要是我之前知道《珍爱》这部电影的内容，我很可能就不会去看了，因为该片太过阴郁和令人压抑。如果不敢冒险，让观众有一种似被利刃直接刺入手腕的感觉，该片导演绝对无法成功讲述《珍爱》这个故事。但该片编剧杰弗里·弗莱彻和导演李·丹尼斯令人称道的地方就在于他们至少给电影注入了一些幽默和希望。电影进行到中段的时候，我相当惊讶地发现，虽然影片的主人公“珍爱”受到了粗暴的对待，但影片不可否认地引人入胜。它完全把我吸引住了。我关注情节的发展，我希望能有一个大团圆的结局。即使从那一刻开始，主人公的境遇更加糟糕，我仍然相信这部电影本身所笃信的东西：人们身上的美好和力量或许无法在对抗不公的命运时战无不胜，但它们终会获胜。我相信“珍爱”的力量，即使我们只是在电影开篇时看到了一星半点这种力量的闪现。

　　 Gabourey Sidibe deserves the Oscar nomination. I’ve seen her in interviews, making the rounds of all the talk shows, and she couldn’t be more different than her character. I only point this out because I will admit to wondering if Sidibe — unfair as it might be — was essentially playing a version of herself might be both a tribute to her work and an insult to the actress. She’s bursting with life, where Precious has it buried and burning inside.

　　加伯瑞·斯迪比应该获得奥斯卡奖的提名。我看到过她接受采访，并多次参加脱口秀节目，她同她所塑造的主人公简直太不一样了。我之所以仅仅指出这一点，是因为我想表明，那些怀疑加伯瑞很可能是在进行本色表演的说法是不公正的，这种说法一方面是对她表演到位的褒奖，另一方面也是对她的侮辱。加伯瑞本人充满活力，而影片中的主人公“珍爱”却把对生活的热爱深埋在心底，只让其在心底燃烧。

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As you can guess, a huge reason that this is an effective film is the acting. Mariah Carey is surprisingly effective as a social worker who wants some answers before she starts handing out welfare checks. Paula Patton essentially plays an angel, but we need one in stories like these — especially in stories with someone like Mo’Nique’s wretched mother. In a great assortment of strong female performances, Mo’Nique’s is perhaps the most powerful. I heard all the talk about how good she was, but I almost always take everything I hear with a grain of salt. I was taken aback by her work here. I mean, Mo’Nique?

　　大家应该能想到，这部电影能成功的一个关键原因是演员的表演。玛丽亚·凯莉在片中甚为成功地扮演了一个社会工作者，她在发放福利救济金之前希望搞清楚那些人致贫的原因。波拉·巴顿（饰演的“珍爱”的老师）实质上是个天使角色，但在这样的故事中我们需要有一个这样的人物，特别是故事中还有莫妮卡所饰演的邪恶母亲这种角色。把片中所有女演员的优秀表演审视一遍，可以看出莫妮卡的表演也许是最出彩的。我曾听到大家众口一词地夸赞莫妮卡演得好，但我几乎总是对自己的所闻半信半疑。而这次她的表演让我大吃一惊，我是说，这是莫妮卡吗？真是让我刮目相看啊！

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Watching Precious, I was reminded of another film about the depressive ordeals of women in distress,  Dancer in the Dark. Both films are made with care. Both films contain strong performances. Both films contain a story that is increasingly cruel to its central character. I can understand the admiration for either film and I can understand the bile spewed toward either film. On an objective level, I get it. But movies become personal experiences and where I hate Dancer in the Dark and will not defend it, I will surely defend Precious. I walked out of Lars von Trier’s movie in a state of despair. I left Precious encouraged. There are two worlds here: one hopeless, one hopeful. I choose to live in the latter.

　　看《珍爱》这部电影的时候，我想起了另一部影片，同样是有关不幸的女性遭受令人沮丧的苦难，那部片子叫《黑暗中的舞者》。两部影片都是用心之作，演员的表演也都功力可嘉，同时两个片子的主人公同样都面临越来越残酷的现实环境。我能理解人们对于其中任何一部片子的赞赏，也能理解对其中任何一部片子的指责，客观地说，我完全能理解。但电影故事会让观众感同身受，在这一点上我不喜欢《黑暗中的舞者》，不想为它说话，而一定要为《珍爱》说话；因为我看完拉斯·冯·提尔斯的《黑暗中的舞者》时，是带着一种绝望的心情走出影院的；而当我看完《珍爱》之后，我却非常地振奋。两部影片展示的完全是两个世界：一个是无望，一个是希望。我选择生存在后一个世界之中。

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Vocabulary：

　　1. kudon.（[复]-dos）<口> 称赞，赞扬；奖赏，荣誉

　　2. hook vt. <喻> 引（人）上钩，用计谋把?弄到手

　　3. prevail vi. 获胜，占优势，占上风；成功

　　4. snippet  n. （消息、新闻等的）片段，摘录；（切下的）小片，小部分

　　5. make the rounds = go the rounds 逐一访问；巡回，巡视　　

　　 6. with a grain of salt 半信半疑地　　

　　 7. be taken aback 吃一惊，被弄糊涂

　　8. bile n. 乖戾，坏脾气，怒气

　　9. spew vi. 涌出；呕吐