百年50部英文烧脑电影赏析:[19]Identity 致命ID

Malcolm Rivers(Pruitt Taylor Vince)awaits execution for several vicious murders that took place at a motel. His psychiatrist, Dr. Mallick, has discovered his journal that may explain why he committed the murders. With this late evidence brought forth, a new hearing takes place.

A group of 10 strangers find themselves stranded in the middle of a storm in a remote motel, run by Larry Washington. They are a limo driver, Ed Dakota(John Cusack); an 1980s movie star, Caroline Suzanne; a cop, Officer Rhodes(Ray Liotta), who is transporting a serial killer, Robert Maine; a prostitute, Paris Nevada(Amanda Peet); a pair of newlyweds, Lou and Ginny Isiana; and a family in crisis, Alice York who has been hit by Ed's car and her husband and son George, and Timmy. The group prepares to spend the night; however, they quickly find that there is an unknown murderer present, killing off each of the guests. Caroline is the first to be killed. Ed thinks that Maine killed her and when they check the convict, they discover he has escaped.

All the others become worried, and Ginny runs to her room. Her husband Lou chases after her but is also murdered. Ed and Rhodes find the con, knock him out, and put Larry on duty guarding him. However, he is later found dead. Paris discovers a dead body in Larry's freezer. Larry attempts to escape in his truck, claiming he did not kill anybody. He then accidentally runs over George, killing him. Each body is accompanied by a room key, which appear to represent a countdown. The survivors tie Larry up, and as he tells them his story the others start to believe that he really did not kill anyone. Ginny and Timmy both die when their car blows up, but their bodies are nowhere to be seen. The remaining four discover that all the bodies have disappeared and that all 10 share the same birthday, and have surnames the same as US states. Paris also discovers that Rhodes is a convict as well, having killed the corrections officer transporting him and Maine across state and assumed his identity as a police officer. Rhodes attempts to kill her, but she is saved by Larry, who in turn is shot dead by Rhodes.

Back at the hearing, the contents of Malcolm's journal are revealed, indicating the prisoner suffers from an extreme case of dissociative identity disorder, harboring 10 distinct personalities. Mallick is able to bring forth one of Malcolm's personalities, Ed, revealing that the events at the motel are occurring inside Malcolm's mind, each personality represented by one person at the motel. Mallick explains to that the events at the motel are a result of treatment Malcolm is receiving——i.e. the killings at the motel being Malcolm's mind's attempt to eliminate nine excess personalities. Mallick further gives “Ed” the mission of making sure that the hostile personality(i.e. the one responsible for Malcolm committing the crimes for which he is being tried)be eliminated to prevent Malcolm from being executed. In the motel setting, Ed believes that Rhodes is the murderer, and sacrifices himself to kill Rhodes, leaving only Paris alive. When Mallick demonstrates that the homicidal personality is dead, the Judge decides to place Malcolm in a mental institution under Mallick's care.

As Malcolm is driven along with Mallick to the institution, in Malcolm's mind, Paris has driven away from the motel to her hometown, Frostproof, Florida. As she tends an orange grove, she discovers the Room 1 motel key, and finds Timmy behind her. Timmy, the true homicidal personality, had orchestrated all the deaths at the motel, and made it appear that he had been killed as well; he finishes his task by killing Paris. Now driven only by Timmy, Malcolm strangles Mallick, and the van runs off the side of the road.

马尔科姆·里夫斯(普路特·泰勒·文斯饰)因为数起发生在汽车旅店的凶残谋杀案而正等着执行死刑。他的心理医生马利克博士发现了他的日记，这本日记也许可以解释为什么他实施了谋杀行为。因为这一新证据的发现，又举行了一的听证会。

10个陌生人因一场暴风雨被困在拉里·华盛顿开的一家偏僻的汽车旅馆。其中包括：豪华轿车司机爱德华·达科特(约翰·库萨克饰);20世纪80年代的电影明星卡罗琳·苏珊娜;正押送连环杀手罗伯特·梅因的警官罗德斯(雷·利奥塔饰);妓女帕瑞斯·内华达(阿曼达·皮特饰);新婚夫妇路威与基尼·伊斯安娜;正处于危机中的一家人：被爱德华的车撞了的艾丽丝·约克与她的丈夫和儿子乔治与蒂米。这人想在这里过一晚，但很快发现有一个潜伏的杀手正在谋杀每一个客人。卡罗琳是第一个被杀的。爱德华认为梅因杀了她。当他们检查这个嫌疑犯时，发现他已经跑了。

所有人都开始担心。基尼跑回她的房间。他的丈夫路威跟了过去，但也被杀了。爱德华与罗德斯发现了罪犯，并打倒了他，他们让拉里负责看守他。然而过了一会儿就发现他死了。帕瑞斯在拉里的冰箱中发现了一具尸体。拉里试图驾驶他的卡车逃脱，并声称自己没有杀任何人。这时他意外地撞死了乔治。每个人都有一把房间钥匙，它似乎代表的是倒计时。幸存者们把拉里绑了起来，拉里把自己的遭遇告诉了他们，他们开始相信拉里确实没有杀任何人。基尼与蒂米在他们的车中被炸死了，但他们的尸体没有被找到。剩下的四个人发现所有的尸体都消失了，而且十个人都是同一天生日，甚至发现名字中都有某个州的名字。帕瑞斯发现罗德斯也是一个罪犯。他杀了真正要跨州押运他们的警官，并使用他的ID假扮作警官。罗德斯试图杀死她，但她被拉里救了，而拉里则被罗德斯射杀了。

回到听证会现场，马尔科姆日记的内容显示，他患有严重的分离性身份认知障碍，他体内隐藏着10个不同的人格。马利克引出了马尔科姆的人格之一，爱德华，这显示在汽车旅店中发生的事件是发生在马尔科姆的头脑中。每一个人格代表着汽车旅店中的一个人。马利克向爱德华解释说，发生在汽车旅馆中的事件是因为马尔科姆正在接受的治疗所致。例如，汽车旅店中的谋杀是因为马尔科姆的思想试图杀死其他九个多余人格。马利克进一步向爱德华下达命令，让他确保怀有敌意的人格已被消灭，以防止马尔科姆被执行死刑(例如，那个支配马尔科姆犯下谋杀罪并被审判的人格)。在汽车旅馆场景中，爱德华确信罗德斯是凶手，他以牺牲自己的方式杀死了罗德斯，只留下帕瑞斯活着。当马利克表明杀人的人格已经死了后，法官决定把马尔科姆送入精神病院，并让马利克看护他。

马尔科姆与马利克驾车去精神病院时，在马尔科姆的思想中，帕瑞斯已经驾车从汽车旅店回到了她位于佛罗里达州福罗斯特普鲁夫的家乡。她在打理橘园时，发现了汽车旅馆中1号房间的钥匙，并发现蒂米就在她后面。蒂米是真正的杀手人格。他策划了汽车旅店中所有死亡，并让自己看起来像是被杀了。他最终杀死了帕瑞斯。现在蒂米是唯一的人格了。他杀死了马利克并驾着面包车冲出了公路。

James Mangold Interviewed by Stephen Applebaum

What drew you to Identity?

I've always loved films that take place in closed and claustrophobic environments, whether they're old Hitchcock films — like Lifeboat or Rear Window — or newer ones like Alien or The Others. I think single location films, in a funny way, actually defy conventional wisdom in that they're more, not less, cinematic.

Your cast is unfamiliar in this genre. What made you pick actors like Ray Liotta and John Cusack?

I haven't made a horror film before, so I wanted to use the same calibre of actors that I was work with in dramas. Also the genre, at least in the United States, had become solely for teenagers, and starring teenagers. So the second you start casting grown ups, you suddenly are dealing with some wonderful actors and ones who are interested in exploring that wilderness.

The rain plays a huge part in the film. How difficult was that element to control?

Well, the motel is all built indoors, on one of the largest sound stages in Los Angeles. It's actually the same stage that the Emerald City in The Wizard of Oz was built on, and also the large sets from Singing in the Rain. So the entire motel swimming pool, parking areas, even the desert around it, was all a set with an amazing rig of sprinklers which made rain that we could turn on and off like lights.

The film asks questions about the death penalty. What's your position on this issue?

The film asks whether pure evil exists and what we should do about it. Do we destroy it, or do we try to love it into goodness? That question, I think, is a question that every country and every person debates all their life. It's a tough question and, personally, one that confuses me. As a matter of course, I don't support the death penalty. But if someone did something to my wife or to my family, God forbid，the rage you'd feel as the victim is very different.

是什么吸引你参演《致命ID》?

我一直都很喜欢发生在封闭环境中的电影，不管他们是像《救生艇》和《后窗》那样的希区柯克式老电影，还是像《异形》和《小岛惊魂》那样的新片。我认为单一场景电影，用一种有趣的方式，实际上颠覆了传统观念。相比而言，它们更富有戏剧性。

你所选择的演员并不常出演这一类型电影。你为什么选择雷·利奥塔和约翰·库萨克他们?

我以前从来没拍过恐怖电影，所以我想选择那些和我一起做话剧时与我有同样水准的演员。而且至少在美国，这种类型的影片已经成为了青少年专属影片，主演也都是青少年。因此，只要你开始拍摄关于成长的影片，你忽然间就要面对一些很棒的演员和那些希望能够激发野性的演员们。

雨在电影中发挥着巨大的作用。控制雨这个因素有多困难?

整间汽车旅馆都建在洛杉矶最大的摄影棚内。它实际上同《绿野仙踪》中的翡翠城使用的是同一摄影棚，也是拍《雨中曲》时设立的场景。因此，整个汽车旅馆的游泳池，停车场，甚至连周围的沙漠，都在一组惊人的洒水装备制造出的雨中，我们可以像控制灯那样打开和关闭它。

这部戏涉及到了死刑的问题。在这个问题上你的立场是什么?

这部电影提出这样一个问题：纯粹的邪恶存在吗，以及我们应该怎这类问题。我们是它还是努力用爱感化它?我认为这个问题国家、每个人都要永远争论下去的。这个问题很难回答，起码说一直困扰着我。当然我不支持死刑。但如果有人伤害了我的妻子或家庭中其他成员，上帝啊，你作为受害者的愤怒会完全不同。

大多数影片都要有50个以上的场景，而该片只有一个——沙漠中的旅馆。所以布景师努力将这个唯一的场景布置出多个层次来。内景选在索尼公司第27号外场地，也是该公司第二大的布景地。参照加州的帕姆代尔市以东的一处真实沙漠旅馆的外景而建。布景师们用了8周的时间来搭建布景，因为影片需要营造暴风雨的效果，所以这个布景的地板必须防水、排水性能要好。在这个大的旅馆之下，是一层巨大橡胶做成的防雨地板。而旅馆更是采用了建造游泳池的材料，压力喷浆。

为了隐藏真正结尾的秘密，一共拍摄了几个结局。

被拉里藏在冰箱里的旅馆老板的尸体是斯图尔特·贝瑟扮演的，他也是这部影片的执行制片人和监制人。