《The Hours》　时时刻刻　想要更有意义的生活

No.073　《The Hours》　时时刻刻　想要更有意义的生活

英文导读

The Hours is a 2002 drama film directed by Stephen Daldry, and starring Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore and Ed Harris. The screenplay by David Hare is based on the 1999 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same title by Michael Cunningham.

The plot focuses on three women, separated by a span of nearly 80 years, find themselves weathering similar crises, all linked by a single work of literature in this film adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Michael Cunningham. In 1923, Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman) is attempting to start work on her novel Mrs. Dalloway, in which she chronicles one day in the life of a troubled woman. But Virginia has demons of her own, and she struggles to overcome the depression and suicidal impulses that have followed her throughout her life, as her husband Leonard (Stephen Dillane) ineffectually tries to help. In 1951, Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) is a housewife living in suburban Los Angeles, where she looks after her son Richie (Jack Rovello) and husband Dan (John C. Reilly). Laura is also an avid reader who is currently making her way through Mrs. Dalloway. The farther she gets into the novel, the more Laura discovers that it reflects a dissatisfaction she feels in her own life, and she finds herself pondering the notion of leaving her life behind. Finally, in 2000, Clarissa Vaughn (Meryl Streep) is a literary editor who is caring for Richard Brown (Ed Harris), a former boyfriend and noted author, who is slowly losing his fight with AIDS. Clarissa is trying to arrange a party to celebrate the fact that Richard has won a prestigious literary award, but is getting little help from Richard's ex-lover, Louis (Jeff Daniels). As she labors to help Richard through another day, he wonders if his life is worth the unending struggle. The Hours also features Toni Collette, Miranda Richardson, Allison Janney, and Claire Danes.

The film was released in Los Angeles and New York City on Christmas Day 2002, and was given a limited release in the u.s. and Canada two days later on December 27, 2002. It did not receive a wide release in the u.s. until January 2003, and was then released in UK cinemas on Valentine's Day that year.

The Hours currently has 81% positive reviews on the movie review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, with 150 of 186 counted reviews giving it a "fresh" rating and an average rating of 7.4 out of 10—with the consensus that "the movie may be a downer, but it packs an emotional wallop. Some fine acting on display here." Stephen Holden of the New York Times called the film "deeply moving" and "an amazingly faithful screen adaptation" and added, "Although suicide eventually tempts three of the film's characters, The Hours is not an unduly morbid film. Clear eyed and austerely balanced would be a more accurate description, along with magnificently written and acted. Mr. Glass's surging minimalist score, with its air of cosmic abstraction, serves as ideal connective tissue for a film that breaks down temporal barriers."

The film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director (Stephen Daldry), Best Adapted Screenplay (David Hare), Best Supporting Actress (Julianne Moore), Best Supporting Actor (Ed Harris), Best Editing (Peter Boyle), Best Costume Design (Ann Roth), Best Original Score (Philip Glass), and it won one Academy Award: Best Actress (Nicole Kidman).

获奖情况

2003年第75届奥斯卡：最佳女主角奖，并荣获最佳影片提名、最佳导演提名、最佳女配角提名、最佳男配角提名、最佳改编剧本提名。

影片信息

导演：史蒂芬·戴德利

编剧：戴维·黑尔、迈克尔·坎宁安

主演：妮可·基德曼、朱丽安·摩尔、梅丽尔·斯特里普、约翰·C·赖利

类型：剧情、传记

制片国家（地区）：美国、英国

上映日期：2002-12-27（美国）

片长：114分钟

又名：《此时·此刻》《小说人生》《岁月如歌》

剧情简介

3个处于不同时空的女人，因为一个名字被联系起来——戴罗薇夫人。

弗吉妮娅·伍尔芙（妮可·基德曼　饰）生活在20世纪20年代的伦敦郊区，正在写她生前的最后一部小说《戴罗薇夫人》。游走在虚构与现实生活边缘的她，承受着巨大的压力与束缚，内心甚至渴求着死亡。当她发现自己怀孕时，几乎被沮丧击溃。

劳拉·布朗（朱丽安·摩尔　饰）是一位生活在第二次世界大战末期的洛杉矶家庭主妇。她正在阅读一本叫做《戴罗薇夫人》的书，这本书引起她自己不断的反省，什么才是更有意义的生活？这时候的她，肚里已经有了第二个宝宝。然而，日复一日的持家生活，同样让她萌生了自杀的想法。

克拉丽萨·沃甘（梅丽尔·斯特里普饰）生活在20世纪90年代的纽约，是一位现代版的戴罗薇夫人。她深爱她的朋友理查德，那是一位才华横溢却因艾滋病濒临死亡的诗人。理查德给她起的外号也是戴罗薇夫人。

在不同的时空里，在她们的内心深处，关于死亡的挣扎与抗争，没有停息，时时刻刻。她们的故事交织到了一起，在每个时空，女人都被压抑，但更多的是抗争和自由的表达。

制作花絮

影片改编自迈克尔·康宁汉1998年的普立策获奖小说。这本小说今年颇为风光，还在阿尔莫多瓦的新片《对她说》里占有戏份。

妮可·基德曼为了扮演弗吉妮娅·伍尔芙，在造型上发生了很大的改变，尤其对鼻子下了很大的功夫。但似乎她太过于强调表演一个游走于疯狂与清醒边缘、文采飞扬的女性主义先驱，所以她还是不像那个在文学史上位置极其重要、外貌美丽文秀惊人的弗吉妮娅。

为了表演好这个角色，基德曼读了大量弗吉妮亚的日记，甚至开始练习用她的笔迹写字。作为女性主义的先驱人物，弗吉妮娅最著名的作品是《一个人的房间》，要求的是女性的解放，这也成为影片的一个隐藏主题。

妮可·基德曼是第三位并且是第一个女演员，因为扮演的角色有着一个假鼻子而获得奥斯卡奖。其他两人是：约瑟·菲勒，《风流剑侠》 （1950）；李·马文，《女贼金丝猫》（1965）。

妮可·基德曼十分喜欢自己这个垫高的鼻子，私下也会戴上。当时由于她和汤姆·克鲁斯的离婚案一直引来大批狗仔队的注意。令她很得意的是，要是戴上她的假鼻子出去，就很容易躲避摄影记者的镜头，因为他们无法认出她来。

重点学习

Where she looks after her son Richie (Jack Rovello) and husband Dan (John C. Reilly)

文中的look after是英语中常用的一个固定搭配，在文中是“照顾；照料；照看；关心”的意思，比如：I will look after her child when she is on a business trip.（她出差时我将照看她的孩子。）Look after还能表达“目送；从后面盯着；眼睛盯着”的意思，比如：They looked after the train as it moved out.（他们目送火车开出车站。）另外，它还有“关注；为…操心；找；寻求；要求”的意思，比如：He only looks after his own interests.（他只顾自己的利益。）

Serves as ideal connective tissue for a film that breaks down temporal barriers

Break down是英语中的一个常用固定搭配，在文中它是“制服，克服；镇压，压倒（对方等）；（使）减轻，（使）缓和”的意思，比如：Some people experience shyness as a barrier to communication, but this can be broken down gradually.（有些人觉得羞怯成为交际上的障碍，但这是可以逐渐克服的。）该搭配其他常见的意思还有：“（机器等）发生故障，出毛病；坍塌；崩溃；中断，破裂”等，比如：The bridge broke down in last earthquake.（那座桥在上次地震中坍塌了。）另外，break down还能用于表达“感情上失去控制，不能抑制感情，放声痛哭起来，情不自禁地痛哭起来”的意思，比如：She broke down and wept at the sad news.（她控制不住感情，为此噩耗而哭泣。）

单词时间

literature[ˈlitərətʃə] n. 文学；文献；文艺；著作

overcome[ˌəuvəˈkʌm] vt. 克服；胜过

depression[diˈpreʃən] n. 沮丧；洼地；不景气；忧愁

suicidal[sjuiˈsaidəl] adj. 自杀的，自杀性的；自我毁灭的；自取灭亡的

ineffectually[iniˈfektjuəli] adv. 无益地；无效地

dissatisfaction[ˈdisˌsætisˈfækʃən] n. 不满；令人不满的事物

ponder[ˈpɔndə] vt. 仔细考虑；衡量

downer[ˈdaunə] n. 镇静剂；令人沮丧的人

wallop[ˈwɔləp] n. 冲击力；重击

magnificently[mægˈnifisəntli] adv. 壮丽地，宏伟地；壮观地

minimalist[ˈminiməlist] adj. 极简抽象派艺术的

mporal[ˈtempərəl] adj. 暂时的；当时的；现世的