百年50部英文烧脑电影赏析：[2]Buried 埋葬

On October 23, 2006, Paul Conroy(Ryan Reynolds), an American civilian truck driver based in Iraq, awakens buried alive in a wooden coffin, bound and gagged, with only a Zippo and a BlackBerry. Although he initially has no idea how he got there, he soon starts to piece together what has happened to him. He remembers that he and several other trucks were ambushed by insurgents, who killed his colleagues before he himself was hit by a rock and passed out. He receives a call from his kidnapper, demanding that he pay a ransom of $5 million or else they will leave him in the coffin to die. Conroy calls the State Department, which tells him that due to their government policy of not negotiating with terrorists, they will not pay the ransom but will try to rescue him regardless. They connect him with Dan Brenner(Robert Paterson), head of the Hostage Working Group, who tells Conroy they are doing their best to find him. His kidnapper calls Conroy back and demands he make a ransom video, threatening to execute one of his colleagues who survived the attack. Despite complying with their demands, the kidnappers execute his colleague and send him the video, which he watches in horror. Shortly afterwards, distant explosions shake the area, damaging his coffin which begins to slowly fill with sand Conroy continues sporadic phonecalls with Brenner, skeptical of the man's promises of help. To reaffirm his wholehearted intentions, Brenner tells Conroy about a man named Mark White who was rescued from a similar situation two weeks prior, telling him that the man was home with his family and likely happy.

Later on, Conroy receives a phone call from his employers, who inform him that he was fired from his job due to his fraternizing with the colleague that was executed, and thus he and his family will not be entitled to any benefits or pension he earned during his time with the company. Brenner calls back and explains that the explosions that had damaged his coffin earlier were in fact several F-15 bombings, and that his kidnappers may have been killed. Conroy begins to lose all hope and does a last will and testament in video form, giving his son all of his clothes and his wife his personal savings. His kidnapper calls back demanding that Conroy video record him cutting his finger off, threatening Conroy's family back home in Michigan if he refuses, saying himself that he lost all of his children. Conroy films himself cutting off one of his fingers and sends the video.

After some minutes, Brenner calls, notifying Conroy that they had found his location and are driving out to find him. After that, his wife Linda Conroy(Samantha Mathis)calls him, who heard it on the news and left her phone at home. She cries with him and begs him to promise her that he will come home. He promises, but hangs up due to needing to attend to the sand which is now filling the coffin to dangerous levels, giving him seconds to live. Brenner calls Conroy again, and reports that they found the site. The group starts to dig up a coffin, but Conroy cannot hear them jumping on the coffin. When they open it, the coffin turns out to be that of Mark White's and not Conroy's, indicating that Mark White was never saved. Paul starts to cry as the battery on the phone runs dead, and he slowly suffocates as the sand fills up the coffin. The last thing he hears is Brenner, repeating, “I'm sorry, Paul. I'm so sorry.”

2006年10月23日，一名美国籍卡车司机保尔·康瑞(瑞恩·雷诺兹饰)在伊拉克遭遇绑架，醒来时发现自己躺在一具被固定密封的棺材里，身边只有一只打火机和一部手机。他开始回想自己是怎么来到这里的，寻找记忆碎片时，他记起来包括他的车在内，有几辆卡车遭到反动派的埋伏，他的同事惨遭杀害，他也被石块砸中昏过去了。这时绑架者打来电话，叫他准备五百万美元的赎金，否则就在棺材里等死。康瑞打给美国政府，依照政府规定，美国是不会和恐怖分子进行谈判的，也不会支付赎金，但是会去解救康瑞。政府把电话转接到人质解救部门主管丹·伯纳(罗伯特·帕特森饰)那里，他表示会尽全力搜救康瑞。绑架者又联系康瑞，叫他制作一段讨要赎金的录像，否则就将其中一名幸存的同事撕票。康瑞满足了他们的要求，然而绑架者并没有遵守承诺，将他的同事撕票并制成了录像发给了他，这让康瑞毛骨悚然。随后，远处发生的数次爆炸影响到棺材所在地，棺材外面开始泻沙进来。康瑞怀疑伯纳是否会履行救助的承诺，不断给他打电话，为了重申自己的诚意，伯纳告诉康瑞，他们就在两周前还成功解救了一名与他情况相似的受害者马克·怀特，此时怀特正在家中和家人享受天伦之乐。

后来，康瑞接到他雇主的电话，通知他，由于他与那名被撕票的同事称兄道弟，公司决定开除康瑞，并且不会给他和他家人支付他工作期间的福利和津贴。伯纳也打来电话说，之前影响到棺材的几次爆炸是来自F-15战斗机的轰炸，绑架者可能已被炸死。康瑞开始陷入绝望，他录制了遗嘱和遗言，把自己的衣物留给儿子，把存款留给妻子。这时候绑架者打来电话，要求康瑞录制一段切除自己一根手指的视频，威胁他如果不这样做，他远在密西根的孩子便会遭遇不测。于是，康瑞按要求录下了视频发给绑架者。

在短暂的几分钟后，伯纳打来电话告知康瑞，他们已经发现棺材所在地，并驱车前往拯救。之后妻子琳达·康瑞(萨曼莎·玛西丝饰)打来电话，她把手机落在家里了，从新闻上得知了丈夫的消息，哭着恳求他一定要活着回来。康瑞一边答应着，另一边由于沙子已经上升到危险的程度，不得不挂断电话。伯纳再次打来电话，告知已经找到棺材埋藏地点，拯救队伍开始挖棺材，而康瑞却听不到他们跳上棺材的声音。当他们打开棺材，发现里面的人不是康瑞而是马克·怀特，这意味着怀特从未被解救。手机的电量不足，康瑞因绝望而开始哭泣，随着沙子一点点漫上来，他逐渐窒息，他最后听到的是，伯纳在电话那头不停地说：“保尔，对不起，对不起。”

ambush['æmbu∫]vt. 埋伏，伏击

coffin['kɔfin]n. 棺材

ransom['rænsəm]n. 赎金;赎身，赎回

sporadic[spə'rædik]adj. 零星的;分散的;不定时发生的

fraternize['frætənaiz]vi. 友善;结有深交

pension['pen∫ən]n. 退休金，抚恤金;津贴;膳宿费

explosion[ik'spləuʒən]n. 爆炸;爆发;激增

testament['testəmənt]n. 遗嘱;圣约;确实的证明

suffocate['sʌfəkeit]vi. 受阻，受扼制;窒息

重点掌握

■ … who killed his colleagues before he himself was hit by a rock and passed out.

pass out是英语中一个固定搭配，主要用于口语中，在文中，它是“失去知觉;昏迷;晕倒”的意思，比如：She passed out when she heard the bad news. 她听到这噩耗后晕了过去。pass out可用于描述人喝酒喝得烂醉，有“醉得不省人事;酩酊大醉”的意思，比如：After three drinks, the man passed out. 酒过三巡,他醉得不省人事。另外，pass out还有“(免费)散发;分发”的意思，比如：The exhibitors at the trade fair passed out free samples to stimulate interest. 参加交易会展览的厂商免费分发样品以引起人们的兴趣。

Ryan Reynolds and Rodrigo Cortés Interviewed by Bill Goodykoontz

Question: It's an obvious question, but how did you get this film made?

Reynolds: I had a similar feeling going into it. My biggest concern going into it was, “There's no way a financier is going to allow us to do this with 100 percent authenticity.” It was Rodrigo who said, in no uncertain terms, “Yes, we are going to do it that way, and only that way.”

Cortés: I was never concerned. I should have(been), but I was not. I just felt enthusiasm when I read the script because I saw the possibility of doing something that had never been done... I did this to trust my guts... I saw that there was a film there. I just had to find a way to shoot it.

Q: For how much of the production were you actually in the coffin?

Reynolds: The whole time. Halfway through the film, I'm buried, quite literally, in the coffin(in sand), so just getting into the set was a challenge. There're guys with shovels putting in all the sand. But above me, the top of the lid is off so that we can see in, I have a camera crew above me. You're feeling pretty stuck in there. There's no getting out.

Cortés: He was always inside a box. He lives everything that you see in the film. Even when you see the sand ... everything is actually happening. People leave the film 4 pounds lighter because it's a physical experience……The blood is his.

Q: It seems like a dream role.

Reynolds: It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that you don't pass up. But in the beginning, I kind of passed it up. I just thought it was impossible.

问题：大家都很好奇，你们是如何拍摄这部影片的?

雷诺兹：我也曾怀疑过，我最关心的问题是：是否有投资商同意我们用百分百真实的手法拍摄?然而罗德里格却很肯定地说：“对，我们就要用真实的手法，而且只能这样拍。”

科特兹：虽然我应该关心这个问题，然而实际上我从未想过。我在看完剧本后非常激动，觉得自己能做一件史无前例的事情，我坚信我的直觉，并且敢于把这个拍成电影，接下来的问题就是如何去拍摄。

问题：片中你有多长时间呆在棺材里?

雷诺兹：我一直在棺材里，影片播到一半的时候，我便被沙子慢慢地活埋，那是真实的场景。因此对我来说，每次进入拍摄现场都是一项挑战。有工作人员用铲子将沙子填入棺材，棺材上面没有盖子以便于拍摄，在我的上方有一组拍摄人员。那种感觉真的是被困在里面，没有办法出来。

科特兹：他一直在箱子里。他在那儿度过所有时间，就像你在影片中看到的那样。即使当你看到那些沙子……一切都在真的发生。人们拍完这部影片都轻了4磅，因为这是对生理的一种考验……那血也是他的。

问题：这似乎是一个梦想中的角色。

雷诺兹：这是一个千载难逢的机会，你不会错过的。但是在开始的时候，我差点错过了。我只是认为这是不可能的。

在2007年之前，罗德里格·科特兹的作品多以短片为主，而且常常短得令人难以置信，一部名为《Dirt Devil》的作品时长仅仅2分钟，这还不算最短的，《Dentro》更是只有1分钟时长。不过，罗德里格·科特兹的短片作品却以巧妙的构思获得评论界好评，或许也是在这样的锻炼和实验过程中，他才构思出了《活埋》这样诡异巧妙的作品。

在这部电影中，罗德里格·科特兹试图营造一种不安和悬疑的氛围，一种不一样的惊悚感觉。为什么男主角在这样一个如同地狱一般的棺材里?他究竟该如何逃出这里?这部影片巧妙地制造了一种求解饥渴，观众被这种气氛深深感染，迫切地想知道真相。