《Monster's Ball》　死囚之舞　绝望的尽头是什么

No.046　《Monster's Ball》　死囚之舞　绝望的尽头是什么

英文导读

Monster's Ball is a 2001 American romantic drama film directed by Marc Forster and written by Milo Addica and Will Rokos. The film stars Billy Bob Thornton as a widowed prison-guard, Halle Berry as a woman whose husband is on death row, and Heath Ledger as Thornton's son. Angela Bassett was originally scripted to play Leticia but later turned down the lead role because of the script's sexual content.

Director Marc Forster, winner of Best Feature at Slamdance for his debut film Loungers (1996) and the"Someone to Watch" Independent Spirit Award for his indie drama Everything Put Together (2000), follows up those acclaimed projects with this intense, racially charged romance. Billy Bob Thornton stars as Georgia prison guard Hank Grotowski, a hard-drinking racist ex-cop whose father, Buck (Peter Boyle), is dying of emphysema and whose son, Sonny (Heath Ledger), works the execution detail at the prison's death row. When Sonny commits suicide, Hank is devastated and quits his job, spiraling into a deep depression until, one night, he comes to the aid of Leticia (Halle Berry), a beautiful African-American woman whose son, Tyrell (Coronji Calhoun), has been hit by a car. When Tyrell dies, Leticia and Hank find themselves to be unexpected soul mates linked together by tragic grief. It's not long before Hank discovers that Leticia is the widow of Lawrence Musgrove (Sean Combs), the man whose execution by electric chair he and his late son helped to orchestrate.

Monster's Ball (2001) is based on a screenplay by actors Milo Addica and Will Rokos, who spent five years developing their script into a feature. The title of the film comes from a custom in medieval England of referring to prisoners awaiting execution as "monsters". The night before their execution, their jailers would hold a farewell feast known as a "monster's ball".

The prison scenes in Monster's Ball were filmed in Louisiana State Penitentiary in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana.

The film received mostly positive reviews. Review website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 120 of the 141 reviews they tallied were positive. This resulted in a score of 85% and a certification of "Fresh". Roger Ebert gave the film four stars and stated that, "The movie has the complexity of great fiction" listing it as the best film of 2001.

Berry won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance, and the film won a Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay (Milo Addica & Will Rokos).

获奖情况

2002年第74届奥斯卡：最佳女主角奖，并荣获最佳原创剧本提名。

影片信息

导演：马克·福斯特

编剧：米罗·雅迪卡、威尔·洛可斯

主演：比利·鲍伯·汤顿、哈莉·贝瑞、希斯·莱杰、泰勒·辛普森

类型：剧情、爱情

制片国家（地区）：美国、加拿大

上映日期：2002-02-08（美国）

片长：111分钟

又名：《拥抱艳阳天》《孽爱伤痕》《死囚的妻子》《怪兽舞会》

剧情简介

汉克（比利·鲍勃·汤顿饰）生长在极端种族主义的保守白人家庭里，他在小镇监狱的死囚牢里当看守。在父亲退休后，汉克接手负责执行死刑。汉克的父亲巴克是一个极端种族主义者，并且保守僵化，在他的家庭中，甚至连感情的过多流露也是不恰当的。汉克一辈子都生活在父亲的影子中，他的生活和思想重复着父亲的轨迹，如出一辙。

最近，汉克刚刚处死了一个黑人死囚。偶然间结识了黑人死囚的遗孀莱茜娅（哈莉·贝瑞　饰），并与这个贫穷的黑人妇女堕入情网，这在固守种族偏见的家庭中掀起轩然大波。在种族观念保守僵化的环境下，这不可思议的命运交集，会像舞蹈般缠绵动人，还是举步维艰呢？

制作花絮

瓦妮萨·威廉姆斯是扮演莱茜亚的最初人选，她因角色要求正面全裸而拒绝出演。

莱茜亚接到的迁出通知上的房主是本片制片主管罗伯特·奥蒂兹。

韦斯·本特利曾拒绝扮演索尼。

制片方曾考虑由奎恩·拉提法扮演莱茜亚。

杰弗里·怀特和唐·钱德尔曾为扮演马斯格洛夫的最初人选。

本片曾入选《首映》杂志评选的“史上评价过高的20部电影”。

重点学习

Halle Berry as a woman whose husband is on death row

我们都知道，row在英语中是“行，排，街道，路”的意思，而在文中则不是这个意思，文中的death row相当于death house，主要用于美国英语中，是“（监狱内的）死囚区，（关押待毙犯人的）死囚牢排，（待决）死囚牢房，死囚被行刑前的监房”的意思，比如：This convicted killer has been on death row for 15 years.（这位被判决死刑的杀人犯住在死囚牢房已15年了。）

Follows up those acclaimed projects with this intense

Follow up是英语中一个常见的固定搭配，它最常见的意思是“穷追，紧追不舍；追究到底；干到底”，比如：The hunter is following up a wolf.（那猎人正在追踪一匹狼。）它还能表达“用进一步行动来加强…的效果，对…采取进一步行动”的意思，比如：After Mary sent a letter to apply for a job, she followed it up by going to talk to the personnel manager.（玛丽发出求职信后，她接着还找了人事部经理面谈。）此外，它还有“进一步照…行事”的意思，比如：I think we should follow up his suggestions; it sounds reasonable.（我想我们应该进一步照他的建议去做，它听起来可行。）

单词时间

charged[tʃɑ:dʒd] adj. 充满感情的；气氛紧张的

racist[ˈreisist] n. 种族主义者

emphysema[ˌemfiˈsi:mə] n. 气肿；肺气肿

execution[ˌeksiˈkju:ʃən] n. 执行，实行；完成；死刑

mate[meit] n. 助手，大副；配偶；同事；配对物

medieval[ˌmediˈi:vəl] adj. 中世纪的；[贬]原始的；仿中世纪的；老式的

custom[ˈkʌstəm] n. 习惯；风俗；海关

farewell[ˈfεəˈwel] n. 告别，辞别；再见；再会

complexity[kəmˈpleksiti] n. 复杂，复杂性；复杂错综的事物