《爆裂鼓手》—— 一个80后导演对艺术与人生的思考和诠释

∷宋云峰

1.短片赢得大奖

在2013年美国圣丹斯电影节上，一位名不见经传的80后青年导演达米安·沙泽勒（Damien Chazelle）携带刚刚完成的18分钟短片《爆裂鼓手》（Whiplash）参加影展。出人意料的是，影片受到观众与评委的一致好评，一举夺得观众和评委会两项大奖。故事讲述了野心勃勃想成为最佳爵士鼓手的音乐学院学生安德鲁和一心想培养出伟大音乐家而对学生要求近乎苛刻的指挥弗莱彻之间既对立又统一的爱恨关系。影片之所以打动观众，是因为故事源于导演的亲身经历，两位主演的精彩对手戏也反映了新一代美国导演对艺术和人生的思考。

出生于1985年的编剧/导演沙泽勒在就读普林斯顿中学时曾加入学校竞争异常激烈的爵士乐队，并为此吃了不少苦头。他创作的15页剧本和拍摄的18分钟短片就基于自己个人的艺术体验和中学爵士乐队那位要求精益求精的指挥（他已于2003年过世）的训练风格。沙泽勒首先简化了人物关系，对主要矛盾加以夸张和渲染，并融入了类似性格的传奇爵士鼓手兼指挥巴迪·里奇（Buddy Rich）的事迹。

2.长片再获大奖

短片《爆裂鼓手》在美国最重要的独立电影节——圣丹斯电影节上的成功引起了一些投资人的关注，最终Bold Films以330万美元的资金投入与沙泽勒签约，让其将短片改编成一部长故事片。影片由J. K. 西蒙斯（J.K. Simmons）饰演爵士乐队指挥泰伦斯·弗莱彻（Terence Fletcher），80后青年演员迈尔斯·泰勒（Miles Teller）饰演爵士鼓手安德鲁·奈曼（Andrew Neiman）。影片更加全面而细腻地塑造了这种奇特的对立统一的师生关系，使得两个主要人物的性格与形象更加丰满，所营造的心理气氛也更加紧张，扣人心弦。

2014年1月，《爆裂鼓手》再次参展圣丹斯电影节，同样好评如潮，并再次获得了电影节评委会大奖。10月，该片在美国全面上映，取得票房和评论双收。截至2015年3月底，《爆裂鼓手》在美国和全球上映后获得了3,310万美元的票房收入，十倍于原来300万美元的投资。

此外，该片还获得第87届奥斯卡最佳改编剧本、最佳影片、最佳剪辑、最佳音效和最佳男配角奖等五项提名，并最终斩获最佳剪辑、最佳音效和最佳男配角奖（饰演指挥弗莱彻的西蒙斯）。

3.沙泽勒——崭露头角的美国80后导演

《爆裂鼓手》讲述的故事属于老套的“台上10分钟，台下10年功”或是“成功= 99%的汗水 + 1%的灵感”的励志故事，但如果由过来人担纲导演或主演，难免有说教之嫌。而这部影片由80后导演和演员以他们独特的视角和风格来诠释他们自己的生活、学习和工作，给人以耳目一新的感觉。究其成功的原因，无非是故事讲得有趣精彩，在观众中创造出一种紧张的心理氛围；演员的表演细致到位，使观众感同身受；影片还融入了许多经典的爵士乐，音效一流，给音乐爱好者带来一种享受；导演没有说教，将影片反映的这种“梅花香自苦寒来”

的成才模式的利弊留给观众去捉摸和评说。可以说，青年导演沙泽勒着力塑造了丰满的、具有强烈个性的人物以及主要人物之间张弛有度的矛盾冲突，展示了其非凡的导演才华。沙泽勒在给西蒙斯说戏时刻意强调，一定要把爵士导演弗莱彻近乎魔鬼般的苛刻性格表现出来：“I want you to take it past what you think the normal limit would be; I don’t want to see a human being on-screen anymore. I want to see a monster, a gargoyle（怪人）, an animal.”

在沙泽勒身上，我们可以看到新一代电影导演的锐气和效率。事实上，沙泽勒从普林斯顿中学毕业后考入了哈佛大学并学习电影制作，主要兴趣是视觉与环境研究，于2007年毕业。2009年，沙泽勒导演了其处女作、歌舞片《公园长凳上的盖伊和艾德琳》（Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench）。《爆裂鼓手》是他执导的第二部长片。他只花了19天就完成了该片的拍摄，但是拍片的强度不亚于影片中爵士指挥弗莱彻对学员的魔鬼式训练——每天平均长达14个小时。但和影片所揭示的一样，导演的辛勤付出得到了应有的回报。也许，只有这样拍片才能达到他想要的效果。（对于艺术，除了辛勤努力，天分也是不可或缺的。这也是影片受到的唯一负面批评：在艺术上，没有天赋，再努力也不会成功；影片所揭示的成才模式似乎背离了这一规律。）

2014年圣丹斯电影节上的导演达米安·沙泽勒

4.影评节选

J. K. Simmons was praised for his performance, and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor（最佳男配角）. Peter Debruge, in his review for Variety, said that the film “demolishes（破除）the cliches（陈词滥调）of the musical-prodigy genre（音乐天才的类型）, investing the traditionally polite stages and rehearsal studios of a topnotch conservatory（一流音乐学院）with all the psychological intensity of a battlefield or sports arena（竞技场）.”

Amber Wilkinson from The Daily Telegraph praised the direction and editing, writing: “Chazelle’s film has a sharp and gripping（扣人心弦的）rhythm, with shots,beautifully edited by Tom Cross... often cutting to the crash of Andrew’s drums.” Henry Barnes from The Guardian gave the film a positive review, calling it a rare film “about music that professes（号称，声称）its love for the music and its characters equally.”

5. 关于艺术与人生的对话节选

Uncle Frank: You got any friends, Andy?

Andrew: No.

Uncle Frank: Oh, why’s that?

Andrew: I don’t know, I just never really saw the use.

Uncle Frank: Well, who are you going to play with otherwise? Lennon and McCartney（列侬与麦卡尼，英国甲壳虫乐队最重要的成员）, they were school buddies（好朋友，哥儿们）, am I right?

Andrew: Charlie Parker（查理·帕克，黑人萨克斯管演奏家，对波普爵士乐有很大贡献） didn’t know anybody’til Jo Jones（乔·琼斯，20世纪三四十年代著名爵士鼓手）threw a cymbal（钹，一种打击乐器）at his head.

Uncle Frank: So that’s your idea of success, huh?

Andrew: I think being the greatest musician of the 20th century is anybody’s idea of success.

Jim: Dying broke（一文不名，落魄）and drunk and full of heroin at the age of 34 is not exactly my idea of success.

Andrew: I’d rather die drunk, broke at 34 and have people at a dinner table talk about me than live to be rich and sober（头脑清醒的）at 90 and nobody remembered who I was.

Uncle Frank: Ah, but your friends will remember you,that’s the point.

Andrew: None of us were friends with Charlie Parker.That’s the point.

Uncle Frank: Travis and Dustin? They have plenty of friends and plenty of purpose.

Andrew: I’m sure they’ll make great school board presidents someday.

Dustin: Oh, that’s what this is all about? You think you’re better than us?

Andrew: You catch on quick（反应很快）. Are you in Model UN（模拟联合国，指唇枪舌剑地辩论）?

Travis: I got a reply for you, Andrew. You think Carleton football’s a joke? Come play with us.

Andrew: Four words you will never hear from the NFL（National Football League，美国全国橄榄球联盟）.

附：影片故事情节

Andrew Neiman is a first-year jazz student at the prestigious（颇负盛名的）Shaffer Conservatory in New York.He has been playing drums from a young age and aspires to become one of the greats like Buddy Rich. Famed conductor Terence Fletcher discovers Andrew practicing in the music room late one night and eventually invites him into his studio band as the alternate（替补）for core drummer Carl Tanner.Fletcher is abusive toward his students, mocking（嘲弄）and insulting them; when the band rehearses the Hank Levy [汉克·利维（1927—2001），美国著名犹太裔爵士作曲家和萨克管演奏家] piece “Whiplash”（意为“极速鞭打”）and Andrew struggles to keep his tempo, Fletcher hurls（猛掷）a chair at him, slaps him, and berates（痛斥）him in front of the class.

At a jazz competition, Andrew accidentally misplaces Carl’s sheet music（乐谱）; as Carl cannot play without it, Andrew steps in, telling Fletcher that he can perform“Whiplash” from memory. Fletcher promotes him to core drummer. Soon after, Fletcher recruits Ryan Connolly, the core drummer from Andrew’s former lower-level class. Ryan is the less talented drummer, but Fletcher promotes him to core, infuriating（激怒）Andrew. Determined to impress Fletcher, Andrew practices until his hands bleed and breaks up with his girlfriend Nicole, believing she will distract him.

The next day, Fletcher tearfully reveals in class that a talented former student of his, Sean Casey, has died in a car accident. The band rehearses “Caravan”（爵士乐曲名）, but Ryan struggles with the tempo. Fletcher auditions（对……进行试听）Andrew, Ryan and Carl for hours while the class waits outside, and finally gives the position to Andrew.

饰演爵士乐队指挥泰伦斯·弗莱彻的J. K. 西蒙斯

饰演爵士鼓手安德鲁·奈曼的80后演员迈尔斯

On the way to a jazz competition, Andrew’s bus breaks down. Determined to make the performance, he rents a car but arrives late without his drumsticks（鼓槌）. After an argument with Fletcher and a tirade（激烈指责）against his fellow musicians, Andrew drives back to the car rental office and retrieves（找回）the drumsticks. As he speeds back, his car is hit by a truck. He crawls from the wreckage（残骸）and arrives on stage badly injured. When he struggles to play “Caravan” due to his injuries, Fletcher stops the band midway through the performance to tell Andrew that he is“done”. Andrew attacks Fletcher in front of the audience and is subsequently expelled（开除）from Shaffer.

Shortly after, Andrew meets with a lawyer representing the parents of Sean Casey. The lawyer explains that Sean Casey actually hanged himself, having suffered anxiety and depression after joining Fletcher’s class. Sean’s parents want to prevent Fletcher from teaching. Andrew agrees to testify anonymously（匿名作证）and Fletcher is fired.

Months later, Andrew has abandoned music and is working in a restaurant while applying to different colleges. He walks past a jazz club and sees Fletcher performing on stage. Fletcher invites him for drinks and explains that he pushes his students beyond the expected so they might achieve greatness. He invites Andrew to perform at a festival concert with his band. Andrew agrees and invites Nicole, but she is in a new relationship and declines.

On stage at the jazz festival, Fletcher reveals that he knew Andrew testified against him. He leads the band in a new piece for which Andrew was not given sheet music. Andrew is humiliated and flees（逃离）the stage, but as Fletcher is addressing the audience, Andrew returns to the drumset and interrupts with aggressive drumming and directing other members of the band in how to follow, taking over and surprising Fletcher, who eventually follows. Andrew ends the performance with an extravagant （肆无忌惮的）drum solo（独奏）; Fletcher gives him a nod of approval, which Andrew returns.