百年50部英文烧脑电影赏析：[7]Doubt 虐童疑云

Set in 1964 at a Catholic church in the Bronx, New York, the film opens with the progressive-minded Father Flynn(Philip Seymour Hoffman)giving a sermon on the nature of doubt noting that, like faith, it can be a unifying force. The next evening, Sister Aloysius(Meryl Streep), the strict and conservative principal of the attached school, discusses the sermon with her fellow nuns, the Sisters of Charity of New York. She asks if anyone has observed unusuaI behavior that would inspire Father Flynn to preach about doubt, and instructs them to keep their eyes open should any such behavior occur in the future.

Sister James(Amy Adams), a young and naive teacher, observes the closeness between Father Flynn and Donald Miller, the school's only black student and an altar boy. One day during class, Sister James receives a call asking for Donald Miller to meet Father Flynn in the rectory. When he returns, Donald is distraught and Sister James notices the smell of alcohol on his breath. Later, while her students are learning a dance in the gymnasium, she sees Father Flynn placing a white shirt in Donald's locker. Sister James reports her observations to Sister Aloysius.

Under the pretext of discussing the school's upcoming Christmas pageant, Sisters Aloysius and(to a lesser extent)James voice their suspicions that Father Flynn's relationship with Donald may be inappropriate. Several times Father Flynn asks them to leave the matter alone as a private issue between the boy and himseIf, but Sister Aloysius persists. Finally, he is pressured into admitting that Donald had been caught drinking altar wine, and he had promised Donald not to tell anyone about the incident. Having now been forced to break that promise and reveal the truth, he will need to dismiss Donald as an altar boy, which he had been trying to avoid. Before leaving, Father Flynn tells Sister Aloysius he is displeased with her handling of the situation. His next sermon regards gossip and how it is easily spread.

Initially, Sister James is relieved and convinced of Father Flynn's innocence, but Sister Aloysius's belief that he has behaved inappropriately with Donald is unshakable. Sister James later asks Father Flynn about the shirt she saw him leaving in Donald's locker, having not revealed this detail to Sister Aloysius. They discuss his relationship with the boy. Father Flynn offers a reasonable explanation for the situation and Sister James's doubts are assuaged.

Sister Aloysius meets with Donald Miller's mother regarding her suspicions. Mrs. Miller(Viola Davis)shocks Sister Aloysius with her disinterest in the alleged misconduct on Father Flynn's part. As far as she is concerned Donald need only last to the end of the school year, as graduation from a prestigious church school would increase his chances of going to a decent high school. It is hinted that Donald is homosexual and revealed that his father is abusive, with the implication that one causes the other. Mrs. Miller begs that Sister Aloysius drop the matter, feeling that Father Flynn is a source of inspiration to Donald and a shield from the abuse he receives at home. She becomes angry when Sister Aloysius refuses to compromise and threatens to throw Donald out of the school. Mrs. Miller believes that Donald would be punished for a thing he was not the cause of.

Following his final sermon, Father Flynn steps down from the pulpit and shakes hands with the members of the congregation. Some time later, Sisters Aloysius and James are sitting together in the church garden. Sister Aloysius tells Sister James that although Father Flynn resigned, the bishop has appointed him to pastor at a larger church and its parochial school, in essence promoting him to a more prestigious position. She then admits she lied about speaking to a nun at Father Flynn's former church, and thus drove him out with no more than her suspicions; her justification is that if Father Flynn truly were innocent, he would not have given in. Repeating a line from earlier in the film, Sister Aloysius says that “in the pursuit of wrongdoing, one steps away from God.”

Sister Aloysius concludes that one also pays a price in pursuing wrongdoing. She breaks down in tears and says to Sister James: “I have doubts…I have such doubts” And with no actual proof that Father Flynn is or is not innocent, the audience is left with its own doubt.

电影从1964年纽约布朗克斯区的一个天主教堂开始，开明豁达的神父费林(菲利普·赛默·霍夫曼饰)正在布道讲解“怀疑的本性”。他指出，就像信心，怀疑可以成为一种凝聚的力量。第二天晚上，修女爱劳希斯(梅丽尔·斯特里普饰)，严厉、保守的教会附属中学的校长，和纽约慈善机构的修女们一起论道。她问是否有人观察到什么异常行为促使费林神父谈论怀疑，并指示她们今后继续盯紧任何此类行为的发生。

修女詹姆斯(艾米·亚当斯饰)，一个年轻天真的老师，注意到费林神父和当劳·米勒(学校唯一的黑人学生兼祭坛侍童)之间关系亲密。一天上课时，詹姆斯修女接到了一个电话，要当劳·米勒到教区长家去见费林神父。当当劳回来时，显得心烦意乱，詹姆斯修女注意到了他的一身酒气。后来，她的学生在体育馆学习舞蹈，她看到费林神父在当劳的储物柜里放了一件白色的衬衫。詹姆斯修女把她观察到的情况报告给了爱劳希斯修女。

借口要讨论学校即将到来的圣诞庆典，修女爱劳希斯和詹姆斯小范围述说着她们的怀疑，即费林神父和当劳之间可能的不当的关系。费林神父几次要求她们别管这个男孩和他自己之间的私人问题，但爱劳希斯修女仍然坚持。最后，迫于压力，他承认当劳因偷喝圣酒被捉，他答应当劳不把这件事告诉任何人。现在被迫违背诺言，揭示真相，他将不得不辞掉当劳的祭坛侍童之职，之前他一直在努力避免。离开之前，费林神父告诉爱劳希斯修女，他对她的处理表示不满。他的下一次布道是关于流言的，以及流言是如何快速传播的。

最初，詹姆斯修女放下心并相信费林神父是无辜的，但爱劳希斯修女坚定不移地认为他和当劳行为不当。后来詹姆斯修女询问费林神父，她看见他往当劳柜子里放了一件衬衫是怎么回事(之前她并没有把这个细节透露给爱劳希斯修女)。费林神父与詹姆斯修女讨论了他和当劳之间的关系。费林神父为这件事情提供了一个合理的解释，平息了詹姆斯修女的疑虑。

爱劳希斯修女会见了当劳·米勒的母亲，谈起了她的怀疑。让爱劳希斯修女非常震惊的是，米勒太太(维奥娜·戴维斯饰)对费林神父涉嫌的不当行为没有兴趣。她关注的只是等到最后这个学年结束，作为著名的教会学校的毕业生，当劳·米勒会增加去一个像样的高中的机会。她还暗示当劳是同性恋，表明他的父亲因为这个原因打骂他，是因为这个原因才导致那样。米勒太太恳求爱劳希斯修女放弃，她觉得费林神父是当劳的心灵源泉，也是遭受来自家庭打骂的盾牌。她为爱劳希斯修女拒绝让步并威胁要把当劳逐出学校感到非常气愤。米勒太太相信当劳将会受罚，而他并没有过错。

在费林神父的最后一次布道之后，他走下讲坛和会众成员握手。过了一段时间之后，爱劳希斯和詹姆斯修女一起坐在教堂的花园里。爱劳希斯修女告诉詹姆斯修女，虽然费林神父辞职了，但主教已任命他为一个更大的教堂以及教区学校的牧师，实质上将他提拔到一个更显要的位置。然后她承认她撒了谎，谎称自己与费林神父之前所在教堂的一个修女谈过话，然后仅仅出于自己的怀疑而将他赶走;她的理由是，如果费林神父真的是无辜的，他就不会屈服。重复电影早些时候的一句台词，爱劳希斯修女表示，“一个人从事不道德的行为就相当于违背上帝。”

爱劳希斯修女的结论是，一个追求不当行为的人也要付出代价。她流着眼泪对詹姆斯修女说：“我怀疑……我有这样的怀疑。”电影并没有实际证据证明费林神父是或者不是无辜的，把怀疑留给了观众。

sermon['sə:mən]n. 布道;训诫;启示;冗长的讲话

distraught[dis'trɔ:t]adj. 发狂的;心烦意乱的

gymnasium[ʤim'neiziəm]n. 体育馆;健身房

inappropriate[ˌinə'prəupriət]adj. 不适当的;不相称的

gossip['gɔsip]n. 小道传闻;随笔;爱说长道短的人

misconduct[ˌmis'kɔndʌkt]n. 不端行为;处理不当

pulpit['pulpit]n. 讲道坛;高架操纵台;神职人员

congregation[ˌkɔŋgri'geiʃən]n. 集会;集合;[宗]圣会

nun[nʌn]n. 修女，尼姑

重点掌握

■ …the school's only black student and an altar boy.

altar是一个名词，有“祭坛;圣坛”的意思，在罗马天主教会中，an altar boy is a boy who helps the priest during Mass.(祭坛侍者：罗马天主教中协助神父举行弥撒的男孩)，比如：Church in Luther's life played a major role. He would attend mass daily and participated by singing in choir and by being an altar boy. 教堂在路德的生活中起主导的作用。他每天要参加集会，加入唱诗班，担任祭坛孩童。

John Patrick Shanley Interviewed by Emma

Mr. Shanley, you directed your first movie in 1990(Joe Versus the Volcano)and after a long hiatus you returned with Doubt last year. Why so long? In the meanwhile, did you prefer working on theatre?

After the long shoot of Joe vs. the Volcano I just wanted to go home and get back to my roots as a playwright. I adopted two children, which took much of my time, and dealt with advanced glaucoma in both eyes, which caused intermittent blindness and required multiple surgeries. The play Doubt was a phenomenon and there was the opportunity to turn it into the film, with Scott Rudin, so we went with that.

Considering that the movie is based on a play, what were the challenges of staging something that had already been staged?

The first great challenge was turning the play into a screenplay, because the play only had 4 characters. Turning modern plays into films is quite challenging. Much has changed since the days of Inherit the Wind. What at first seemed a difficulty, with the paucity of characters, turned out to be the answer, which was that it was unnatural to leave so many characters out. As a film it made sense to include the children they were arguing about, the congregation and the working class neighborhood.

What do you find so fascinating about doubt and uncertainty?

Doubt is an open door; certainty is a closed door. I'm interested in the open door.

斯坦利先生，1990年你拍了自己的第一部电影《跳火山的人》。时隔很久，你才携《虐童疑云》回归，为什么隔了这么长时间?还有，你是不是更喜欢话剧工作?

在长期拍摄《跳火山的人》之后，我只是想回家，回归我一个剧作家的根。我领养了两个孩子，这花了我很多时间，治疗双眼的晚期青光眼，引起了间歇性失明，需要多次手术。拍《虐童疑云》是一个奇迹，有机会和斯科特·鲁丁一起把它搬上银幕，所以我们去了。

考虑到电影是根据话剧改编的，对已经上演的东西，拍摄的挑战是什么?

第一大挑战是把话剧变成一个剧本，因为这出戏只有四个角色。现代话剧改编成电影是很大的挑战。从《向上帝挑战》开始，已经有很多东西改变了。起初看起来是困难的角色缺乏的问题结果却提供给了我们答案，那就是，将这么多角色省去原本就是不自然的。作为电影，包含教会和工薪阶层领域以及关于孩子的争论是很合理的。

你觉得怀疑和不确定为什么会那么扣人心弦?

怀疑是一扇打开的门;确定是一扇紧闭的门。我感兴趣的是打开的门。

《虐童疑云》的话剧剧本在2005年获得了普利策剧本奖。

本片是导演约翰·帕特里克·斯坦利在十八年后再次执导的电影，并且同话剧版本一样，依然由他自编自导。

《虐童疑云》的戏剧版本在百老汇持续上演了一年多，演出了525场。