《A Serious Man》　严肃的男人　那些关于意义和信仰的事

No.035　《A Serious Man》　严肃的男人　那些关于意义和信仰的事

英文导读

A Serious Man is a 2009 dark comedy written, produced, and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. The film stars Michael Stuhlbarg as a Minnesota Jewish man whose life crumbles both professionally and personally, leading him to questions about his faith.

The film tells a story about an ordinary man who searches for clarity in a universe. It is 1967, and Larry Gopnik (Michael Stuhlbarg), a physics professor at a quiet Midwestern university, has just been informed by his wife Judith that she is leaving him. She has fallen in love with one of his more pompous acquaintances, Sy Ableman, who seems to her a more substantial person than the feckless Larry. Larry's unemployable brother Arthur (Richard Kind) is sleeping on the couch, his son Danny is a discipline problem and a shirker at Hebrew school, and his daughter Sarah is filching money from his wallet in order to save up for a nose job. While his wife and Sy Ableman blithely make new domestic arrangements, and his brother becomes more and more of a burden, an anonymous hostile letter-writer is trying to sabotage Larry's chances for tenure at the university. Also, a graduate student seems to be trying to bribe him for a passing grade while at the same time threatening to sue him for defamation. Plus, the beautiful woman next door torments him by sunbathing nude. Struggling for equilibrium, Larry seeks advice from three different rabbis. Can anyone help him cope with his afflictions and become a righteous person—a mensch—a serious man?

As of February 10, 2010, it has had worldwide gross earnings of $31,312,437.

It has received mostly positive reviews from critics, with an aggregate score of 89% from Rotten Tomatoes, based on 194 reviews. Roger Ebert, of the Chicago Sun-Times, rated the film four out of four stars, feeling that it "bears every mark of a labor of love", and Variety's Todd McCarthy commented that "the Coens' filmmaking skills are sharply attentive", and that A Serious Man is "the kind of picture you get to make after you've won an Oscar". Claudia Puig of USA Today writes, "A Serious Man is a wonderfully odd, bleakly comic and thoroughly engrossing film. Underlying the grim humor are serious questions about faith, family, mortality and misfortune."

The film attracted a positive critical response, including a Golden Globe nomination for Stuhlbarg, a place on both the American Film Institute's and National Board of Review's Top 10 Film Lists of 2009 and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Picture.

获奖情况

2010年第82届奥斯卡：最佳影片提名。

 

影片信息

导演：伊桑·科恩、乔尔·科恩

编剧：乔尔·科恩、伊桑·科恩

主演：迈克尔·斯图巴、理查德·坎德、弗雷德·迈拉麦德、萨林·莱尼克

类型：剧情、喜剧

制片国家（地区）：美国、英国、法国

上映日期：2009-10-02（美国）

片长：105分钟

又名：《正经好人》《较真之人》《严肃的人》《正经人》

剧情简介

拉里·戈普尼克是美国明尼苏达州双城区某大学的物理教授，在学校正决定是否颁发给他终身教授资格时，一位韩国学生向拉里抱怨考试评分不公，遭拒绝后，则向拉里行贿。与此同时，拉里的妻子朱迪斯说她爱上了她的同事，要求离婚。

在这个非常时期，拉里无业、神经质的哥哥亚瑟越来越成为拉里生活的负担，儿子的犹太成人礼在即，女儿偷钱准备为鼻子做整容手术，而一封匿名信更是要将他的前程毁掉。焦头烂额的拉里求助于犹太牧师拉比，但信仰是否能帮他走出困境？

制作花絮

影片里和小丹尼一起乘坐校车的同学的名字都来自于导演科恩兄弟的童年玩伴。

拉里后来去找的刑法方面的律师罗恩·麦斯德席尔其实就是明尼阿波利斯当地的律师。至于那个写在学生贿赂金信封上的地址，其实就是这个律师在市区的地址。

拉里在影片最后拿出来了学生的成绩册。成绩册上最后一个学生的名字是玛丽·索弗瑞斯，其实就是本片的服装设计师。

影片里那个给拉里打电话的来自哥伦比亚唱片公司的工作人员，由沃伦·凯斯配音。这不是他第一次在科恩兄弟的电影里“只闻其声不见其人”了。其实早在《冰血暴》一片中，他就曾经给没有露过脸的来自GMAC的雷利·迪芬巴赫配了音。

科恩兄弟在自己的家乡明尼苏达州完成了影片的拍摄。距离上一次他们在家乡拍摄电影《冰血暴》，已经过去13年了。

重点学习

And his daughter Sarah is filching money from his wallet in order to save up for a nose job

文中的save up相当于save，是“储蓄”的意思，for是介词，是“为…目的”的意思，所以save up for可译为“为……而储蓄”，比如：In the past 15 years, he had been working to save up for a house.（在过去15年中，他一直在努力挣钱以便可以买个房子。）

Can anyone help him cope with his afflictions

在英语中，cope with是一个常见的固定搭配，它是“处理，应付”的意思，比如：We put off the conference in order to better cope with the tense situation. （我们推迟了这个会议，以便能够更好地应付紧张的局势。）另外，我们常说的“处理问题”和“应付压力”分别可用短语cope with problem和cope with stress来表达。

单词时间

acquaintance[əˈkweintəns] n. 熟人；相识；了解；知道

feckless[ˈfeklis] adj. 无效的；软弱的；没精神的；不负责任的；无气力的

discipline[ˈdisiplin] n. 学科；纪律；训练；惩罚

shirker[ʃə:kə] n. 懒骨头；逃避责任者；开小差的人

blithely[ˈblaieli] adv.快活地；无忧无虑地

bribe[braib] vt. 贿赂，收买

defamation[ˌdefəˈmeiʃən] n. 诽谤；中伤

torment[tɔ:ˈment] vt. 折磨，使痛苦；纠缠，作弄

equilibrium[ˌi:kwiˈlibriəm] n. 均衡；平静；保持平衡的能力

affliction[əˈflikʃən] n. 苦难；苦恼；折磨

righteous[ˈraitʃəs] adj. 正义的；正直的；公正的

mensch[mentʃ] n. 公正的人；受尊敬的人；高洁的人

engrossing[inˈɡrəusiŋ] adj. 引人入胜的