Beeban Kidron: The shared wonder of film

Translator: Timothy Covell Reviewer: Morton Bast

譯者: Gina Wang 審譯者: Joyce Chou

Evidence suggests that humans in all ages and from all cultures

研究顯示不同年紀與文化的人們

create their identity in some kind of narrative form.

從不同的敘事文本創造自我認同

From mother to daughter, preacher to congregant,

從母親到女兒，牧師到會眾

teacher to pupil, storyteller to audience.

老師到學生，說書人到聽眾

Whether in cave paintings

不管在洞穴壁畫

or the latest uses of the Internet,

或近來的網路使用

human beings have always told their histories and truths

人類不斷傳頌他們的歷史與真理

through parable and fable.

透過寓言或故事

We are inveterate storytellers.

我們都是本能的說故事者

But where, in our increasingly secular and fragmented world,

但在日漸世俗、破碎無條理的世界中

do we offer communality of experience,

我們要在哪裡分享共通的經驗

unmediated by our own furious consumerism?

且不受到浮誇消費主義的影響？

And what narrative, what history,

而哪種敘事、歷史

what identity, what moral code

身份、道德規範

are we imparting to our young?

我們正在灌輸給我們的年輕人？

Cinema is arguably

電影可以說是

the 20th century's most influential art form.

20世紀以來最有影響力的藝術形式

Its artists told stories

藝術家藉由電影說故事

across national boundaries,

跨越國際疆界

in as many languages, genres and philosophies

語言隔閡、類型和思潮

as one can imagine.

你想的到電影就做得到

Indeed, it is hard to find a subject

是的，沒有主題

that film has yet to tackle.

是電影仍未涉及的

During the last decade

過去十年

we've seen a vast integration of global media,

我們看見大量結合的全球媒體

now dominated by a culture of the Hollywood blockbuster.

被現今好萊塢的商業大片文化所占據

We are increasingly offered a diet

我們不斷被賦予這樣的胃口

in which sensation, not story, is king.

讓感官刺激，非故事本身，重於一切

What was common to us all 40 years ago --

40年前我們視為普及的

the telling of stories between generations --

世代間故事傳頌的方式

is now rarified.

現今已不復存在

As a filmmaker, it worried me.

身為電影工作者，這使我憂慮

As a human being, it puts the fear of God in me.

身為人類，它使我感到恐懼

What future could the young build

我們的年輕人要如何創造未來？

with so little grasp

他們如此缺乏

of where they've come from

對自身背景的了解

and so few narratives of what's possible?

對未來的可能性，也幾乎沒有文本可參照

The irony is palpable;

這十分諷刺

technical access has never been greater,

當科技史無前例的發達

cultural access never weaker.

接觸文化的機會卻前所未有的貧乏

And so in 2006 we set up FILMCLUB,

在2006年我們創立「電影俱樂部」組織

an organization that ran weekly film screenings in schools

每週在學校放映電影

followed by discussions.

並舉辦映後座談

If we could raid the annals of 100 years of film,

如果我們能取得這100年來的電影資料

maybe we could build a narrative

也許我們能建立一套論述

that would deliver meaning

能賦予意義

to the fragmented and restless world of the young.

給這些生活在片斷、浮躁社會中的年輕人

Given the access to technology,

因為科技的發達與便利

even a school in a tiny rural hamlet

即使在小鄉村的偏遠學校

could project a DVD onto a white board.

也能在白牆上投影DVD

In the first nine months

在剛開始的9個月中

we ran 25 clubs across the U.K.,

我們在英國設立25個俱樂部

with kids in age groups between five and 18

讓5到18歲的小孩

watching a film uninterrupted for 90 minutes.

不間斷的看完一部90分鐘的電影

The films were curated and contextualized.

這些電影都經過篩選和考量

But the choice was theirs,

但孩童有最終的電影選擇

and our audience quickly grew

我們的觀眾很快的

to choose the richest and most varied diet that we could provide.

選擇我們提供影片中 最有價值跟多元性的片子

The outcome, immediate.

很快的，成果顯示

It was an education of the most profound and transformative kind.

這是最影響深遠的教育方式

In groups as large as 150 and as small as three,

我們的俱樂部大至150人，小至3人

these young people discovered new places,

這些年輕人發掘新的事物

new thoughts, new perspectives.

新的想法和觀點

By the time the pilot had finished,

當我們的組織結束試驗階段

we had the names of a thousand schools

有1000多個學校

that wished to join.

都希望能加入俱樂部

The film that changed my life

改變我人生的電影

is a 1951 film by Vittorio De Sica, "Miracle in Milan."

是1951年狄西嘉導演的《慈航普渡》

It's a remarkable comment

這部電影深入的探討

on slums, poverty and aspiration.

和貧民窟、貧窮和夢想有關的主題

I had seen the film on the occasion of my father's 50th birthday.

我在我父親50歲生日的那天看了這部片

Technology then meant we had to hire a viewing cinema,

現今的科技迫使我們須租用放映廳

find and pay for the print and the projectionist.

影片、並支付沖洗膠卷和放映師的費用

But for my father,

但對我父親而言

the emotional and artistic importance of De Sica's vision was so great

狄西嘉在情感和藝術上的著墨對他如此重要

that he chose to celebrate his half-century

他選擇在半百生日這天

with his three teenage children and 30 of their friends,

與他3個青少年的孩子和其他30位朋友一同觀賞

"In order," he said,

他說："這是為了

"to pass the baton of concern and hope

將關懷與期望的火棒

on to the next generation."

傳遞給下一代"

In the last shot of "Miracle in Milan,"

《慈航普渡》的最後一幕

slum-dwellers float skyward on flying brooms.

貧民窟的人們乘著掃帚向上飛翔

Sixty years after the film was made

這部電影上映60年後

and 30 years after I first saw it,

也是我第一次看這部片的30年後

I see young faces tilt up in awe,

我看到年輕人臉上著迷的神情

their incredulity matching mine.

和不可置信的樣子與我當時相同

And the speed with which they associate it

他們很快的將之與《貧民百萬富翁》

with "Slumdog Millionaire" or the favelas in Rio

或里約貧民區產生聯結

speaks to the enduring nature.

證明電影內容能歷久不衰

In a FILMCLUB season about democracy and government,

某一季，俱樂部的主題是民主與政府

we screened "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington."

我們放映《史密斯遊美京》

Made in 1939, the film is older than most of our members' grandparents.

本片於1939年上映 比大部分成員的祖父母都還要老

Frank Capra's classic values independence and propriety.

這部導演法蘭克‧卡普拉的經典電影 看重獨立與禮節

It shows how to do right,

這部電影傳達如何做對的事

how to be heroically awkward.

如何見義勇為不畏特立獨行

It is also an expression of faith

電影也宣揚在政治機器中

in the political machine as a force of honor.

如何抱持信念並引以為榮

Shortly after "Mr. Smith" became a FILMCLUB classic,

《史密斯遊美京》成為俱樂部的經典影片 不久之後

there was a week of all-night filibustering in the House of Lords.

英國上議院中正徹夜上演著議事阻撓

And it was with great delight

而我們感到十分欣慰

that we found young people up and down the country

我們發現國內的年輕人

explaining with authority

能帶有權威的解釋

what filibustering was

「議事阻撓」是什麼

and why the Lords might defy their bedtime on a point of principle.

而為什麼議員們必須犧牲睡眠來捍衛原則

After all, Jimmy Stewart filibustered for two entire reels.

畢竟，這是演員Jimmy Stewart在整部電影裡所做的事

In choosing "Hotel Rwanda,"

當我們放映《盧安達飯店》

they explored genocide of the most brutal kind.

年輕人從最殘酷的方式了解種族屠殺

It provoked tears as well as incisive questions

電影讓年輕人流淚 也激發他們提出尖銳的問題

about unarmed peace-keeping forces

關於沒有武裝的維和部隊

and the double-dealing of a Western society

和西方社會的偽善

that picks its moral fights with commodities in mind.

我們表面上為理念而戰 心裡卻盤算著商業利益

And when "Schindler's List" demanded that they never forget,

而當《辛德勒的名單》中提到 人們將不會忘記這場歷史教訓

one child, full of the pain of consciousness, remarked,

一位感到痛心與自覺的小孩說：

"We already forgot,

"我們已經忘記過去的歷史教訓

otherwise how did 'Hotel Rwanda' happen?"

不然《盧安達飯店》事件怎會重演？"

As they watch more films their lives got palpably richer.

當他們看更多影片時， 他們的生命明顯的更加豐富

"Pickpocket" started a debate about criminality disenfranchisement.

《扒手》激起罪犯是否需被剝奪公民權的思辨

"To Sir, with Love" ignited its teen audience.

《吾愛吾師》激勵青年學子

They celebrated a change in attitude

頌揚人們對於非白人的英國人

towards non-white Britons,

態度的轉變

but railed against our restless school system

但也抱怨我們的學校制度

that does not value collective identity,

因它並不看重集體認同

unlike that offered by Sidney Poitier's careful tutelage.

一點都不像演員Sidney Poitoer的悉心教導

By now, these thoughtful, opinionated, curious young people

現在，這些很有想法、好奇的年輕人

thought nothing of tackling films of all forms --

毫不畏懼的涉獵各種型式的電影

black and white, subtitled,

黑白片、外語片

documentary, non-narrative, fantasy --

記錄片、非敘事性影片、奇幻片

and thought nothing of writing detailed reviews

他們也能輕易的寫出詳細的影評

that competed to favor one film over another

熱情的爭相寫出日益複雜的文章

in passionate and increasingly sophisticated prose.

來比較不同的電影

Six thousand reviews each school week

每個星期，有6000篇的影評投稿

vying for the honor of being review of the week.

競爭以得到「當周影評」的榮耀

From 25 clubs, we became hundreds, then thousands,

一開始只有25個俱樂部，接著成百、上千

until we were nearly a quarter of a million kids

直到我們有將近25萬名學童

in 7,000 clubs right across the country.

分佈於全英國7000個俱樂部中

And although the numbers were, and continue to be, extraordinary,

雖然，這個數目從以前到現在都持續卓越的成長

what became more extraordinary

最特別的是

was how the experience of critical and curious questioning

他們將批判和好奇提問的經驗

translated into life.

帶到日常生活中

Some of our kids started talking with their parents,

許多孩童開始與父母親展開溝通

others with their teachers,

有些與老師

or with their friends.

或跟朋友

And those without friends

而那些沒有朋友的孩童

started making them.

也開始結交新朋友

The films provided communality across all manner of divide.

電影跨越各種分界而帶來共通性

And the stories they held provided a shared experience.

用故事以提供共通經驗

"Persepolis" brought a daughter closer to her Iranian mother,

《茉莉人生》讓一位女兒與伊朗籍母親更加親近

and "Jaws" became the way in which one young boy

《大白鯊》讓一位年輕男孩有辦法

was able to articulate the fear he'd experienced

說出他害怕的感受和經驗

in flight from violence

當他逃離一場暴力事件

that killed first his father then his mother,

在這場事件裡 他的父親與母親被殺害

the latter thrown overboard on a boat journey.

接著母親在途中被丟下船

Who was right, who wrong?

誰對、誰錯？

What would they do under the same conditions?

在同樣的狀況下他們該怎麼做？

Was the tale told well?

故事有沒有說明白？

Was there a hidden message?

有沒有隱藏含義？

How has the world changed? How could it be different?

這世界怎麼改變？如何變得不一樣？

A tsunami of questions flew out of the mouths of children

許多問題從孩童口中如海嘯般的湧來

who the world didn't think were interested.

我們過去以為他們不會關心這些事

And they themselves had not known they cared.

他們自己過去也不曉得自己對這些議題有興趣

And as they wrote and debated,

當他們書寫、辨論

rather than seeing the films as artifacts,

不將電影看成藝術品

they began to see themselves.

他們開始看見、認識自己

I have an aunt who is a wonderful storyteller.

我有一位很會說故事的阿姨

In a moment she can invoke images

在很短的時間，她便能營造出

of running barefoot on Table Mountain and playing cops and robbers.

在桌山赤足奔跑和扮演警匪的情景

Quite recently she told me

最近，她告訴我

that in 1948, two of her sisters and my father

1948年，她的兩個姊姊和我爸

traveled on a boat to Israel without my grandparents.

一起乘船去以色列 沒有與我祖父母同行

When the sailors mutinied at sea in a demand for humane conditions,

當水手在海上叛變希望得到人道待遇

it was these teenagers that fed the crew.

當時是這些青少年餵飽了船員

I was past 40 when my father died.

我父親去世時我已超過40歲

He never mentioned that journey.

他從來沒告訴我這段故事

My mother's mother left Europe in a hurry

我祖母在緊急狀況下離開歐洲

without her husband, but with her three-year-old daughter

丈夫沒在身邊 但帶著三歲大的女兒

and diamonds sewn into the hem of her skirt.

並把鑽石縫在裙子褶縫

After two years in hiding,

躲藏兩年之後

my grandfather appeared in London.

我祖父到倫敦

He was never right again.

但他整個人從此不對勁

And his story was hushed as he assimilated.

我祖父的故事隨著他被同化而從此塵封

My story started in England

我的故事始於英國

with a clean slate and the silence of immigrant parents.

與開始嶄新人生並沉默的移民雙親一起

I had "Anne Frank," "The Great Escape,"

我看過《安妮日記》、《第三集中營》

"Shoah," "Triumph of the Will."

《大屠殺》、《德意志的勝利》

It was Leni Riefenstahl

是Leni Riefenstahl（舞者、演員）

in her elegant Nazi propaganda

她跟親納粹友好的意識形態

who gave context to what the family had to endure.

讓我更加了解祖父母所歷經的苦難

These films held what was too hurtful to say out loud,

這些電影包含太沉痛而無法說出的故事

and they became more useful to me

對我十分有幫助

than the whispers of survivors

比倖存者的耳語、

and the occasional glimpse of a tattoo

我單身的阿姨手腕上

on a maiden aunt's wrist.

偶爾被我瞧見的刺青都還要多

Purists may feel that fiction dissipates

純粹主義者也許認為虛構故事會消滅

the quest of real human understanding,

對人類知識的探索

that film is too crude

認為電影太粗糙

to tell a complex and detailed history,

無法交代複雜又詳細的歷史

or that filmmakers always serve drama over truth.

或認為電影導演或製作人會著重戲劇性而非真相

But within the reels lie purpose and meaning.

但電影中其實存在著目的與意義

As one 12-year-old said after watching "Wizard of Oz,"

當一位12歲的小孩看了《綠野仙蹤》後，他說：

"Every person should watch this,

"每個人都應該看這部電影

because unless you do

因為如果你沒看

you may not know that you too have a heart."

你永遠不知道你也有一顆心"

We honor reading, why not honor watching with the same passion?

我們看重閱讀 為什麼我們不也同樣熱切的看重觀影

Consider "Citizen Kane" as valuable as Jane Austen.

認為《大國民》跟珍奧斯汀同樣有價值

Agree that "Boyz n the Hood," like Tennyson,

同意《鄰家少年殺人事件》跟詩人丁尼生一樣

offers an emotional landscape and a heightened understanding

將各式情感與崇高的知識

that work together.

相輔相成

Each a piece of memorable art,

每件令人記憶深刻的藝術品

each a brick in the wall of who we are.

都是建築我們人生的一塊磚

And it's okay if we remember Tom Hanks

這一點都沒有關係 如果我們記得湯姆漢克斯

better than astronaut Jim Lovell

多過太空人Jim Lovell

or have Ben Kingsley's face superimposed onto that of Gandhi's.

或把甘地的臉想像成班金斯利的樣子

And though not real, Eve Harrington, Howard Beale, Mildred Pierce

即使這些都是杜撰，伊娃．哈林頓（演員）、 Howard Beale（角色）、《慾海情魔》

are an opportunity to discover

都是機會去探索

what it is to be human,

人生的各種可能

and no less helpful to understanding our life and times

電影幫助人們了解人生和時代不亞於

as Shakespeare is in illuminating the world of Elizabethan England.

莎士比亞幫人們了解英國的伊莉莎白時期

We guessed that film,

我們認為電影

whose stories are a meeting place

是個匯聚之處

of drama, music, literature and human experience,

聚集戲劇、音樂、文學和人類經驗

would engage and inspire the young people participating in FILMCLUB.

能吸引和啟發參與電影俱樂部的年輕人

What we could not have foreseen

讓我們過去所不能預見的

was the measurable improvements

都能有長足進步

in behavior, confidence and academic achievement.

不論是行為、自信或學業成績

Once-reluctant students now race to school, talk to their teachers,

以前不願上學的學生 現在會衝到學校跟老師談天

fight, not on the playground,

爭吵，但不是為了玩

but to choose next week's film --

而是為了選擇下週的電影

young people who have found self-definition, ambition

年輕人找到自我意義、抱負

and an appetite for education and social engagement

並對教育和社會時間產生渴望

from the stories they have witnessed.

這都來自他們親眼所見的故事

Our members defy the binary description

我們的成員挑戰二元論述

of how we so often describe our young.

挑戰我們對年輕人一向的看法

They are neither feral nor myopically self-absorbed.

他們一點也不可怕也不自私近利

They are, like other young people,

他們，與其他的年輕人一樣

negotiating a world with infinite choice,

正在經歷這充滿無限選擇的世界

but little culture of how to find meaningful experience.

但對於如何找到有意義的人生 缺乏參考文化

We appeared surprised at the behaviors

對於那些年紀輕輕

of those who define themselves

就能找到自我價值的人們

by the size of the tick on their shoes,

我們對這樣的能力感到驚訝

yet acquisition has been the narrative we have offered.

但，他們這樣的能力來自於我們所賦予的文本

If we want different values

如果我們希望有不同的價值觀

we have to tell a different story,

我們必須講不同的故事

a story that understands that an individual narrative

這樣的故事了解 個人敘事

is an essential component of a person's identity,

是形塑個人認同的必要元素

that a collective narrative

而集體敘事

is an essential component of a cultural identity,

則是形成文化認同的必要元素

and without it it is impossible to imagine yourself

沒有這些文本 我們不可能想像自己

as part of a group.

是整個群體的一部分

Because when these people get home

因為當這些成員回家

after a screening of "Rear Window"

才剛看完《後窗》

and raise their gaze to the building next door,

將他們的目光望向隔壁大樓

they have the tools to wonder who, apart from them,

他們有能力知道 除了他們以外

is out there

在外頭的世界有誰

and what is their story.

而他們的故事又是什麼

Thank you.

謝謝

(Applause)

（掌聲）