La La Land

By Chris Nashawaty

La La Land

By Chris Nashawaty

Every once in a while, you come out of a movie theater feeling like you’re walking on air1walk on air 欢天喜地，得意扬扬。. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it restores your faith in the power of cinema. Damien Chazelle’s dreamy neo-retro2retro 再度流行的，回归的。musical La La Land is one of those rare films. It’s stunningly ambitious and thrillingly alive the way the best movies are. With just his third feature, it’s safe to say that Chazelle is a major American filmmaker. With 2014’s Whiplash, the sado-masochistic teacher-pupil drama, the writer-director seemed to arrive on the Sundance3指圣丹斯国际电影节。《爆裂鼓手》获得2014年该电影节最高奖评审团剧情片大奖及剧情片观众奖。scene fully-formed as an ace storyteller, turning a milieu that few moviegoer’s probably thought they could care about (jazz) into a tense and toxic viper’s nest of artistic ambition and sacrifice. But with La La Land, Chazelle also displays a mature sense of style and emotional depth far beyond his years. At 31, he’s precocious and confident enough to tackle a mothballed genre long thought to be corny, old-fashioned, and way past the point of resuscitation.

偶尔，走出影院时你会心情愉快。这种时候不多，但只要有，就会让人对电影的力量重拾信心。达米恩·查泽雷轻松悦目的新复古歌舞片《爱乐之城》便是这样一部少有的好电影。像所有佳片一样，该片极富雄心且活力四射。这仅仅是查泽雷的第三部作品，但说他是重要的美国电影人也毫无不妥。2014年的《爆裂鼓手》是一部描述师生间施受虐关系的剧情片，在圣丹斯国际电影节崭露头角时，编剧兼导演查泽雷俨然已是炉火纯青的讲故事高手，他把可能几乎无人关注的爵士乐圈变成了紧张刺激、负面彰显的恶人群，这些人满怀艺术抱负，甘愿为艺术牺牲。不过，影片《爱乐之城》还展示了查泽雷超越其年龄的成熟风格和情感深度。31岁的他老练自信，足以把一个无人再碰且早被归为老套过时、难以复兴的电影类型驾驭得风生水起。

[2] An unapologetic love letter to the color-crazy song-and-dance fantasias of Jacques Demy (The Umbrellas of Cherbourg) and classic Hollywood musicals like Singin’ in the Rain, La La Land stars Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling as two young artists struggling to achieve their dreams in contemporary Los Angeles. Stone plays Mia, a sunny, wannabe actress who barely gets by as a barista at a coffee shop on the lot of a Hollywood studio. Every day she takes a latte order from some undeserving ingénue and is a day closer to giving up. She’s inside the Dream Factory, but it remains just out of reach. Gosling is Sebastian, a jazz pianist whose traditional taste in music and stubborn idealism put him at odds with the century he finds himself in. He’d rather make it his way (alone with his vinyl collection) or not make it at all.

[3] The film opens with a bravura4bravura 精湛技艺。five-minute sequence on an L.A. freeway as cars are stuck in gridlock traffic—a prosaic enough daily frustration that Angelinos know all too well. But Chazelle turns the cacophony of honking horns, tinny radio music, and cell phone chatter into something unexpectedly lyrical and poetic. One passenger in a yellow polka-dot dress begins to sing an upbeat ode to California, then gets out of her car and breaks into dance. Before you know it, all of the other passengers in the cars around her are joining her until the 105 turns into an explosion of pure sunkissed joy. All of these people trapped in their own private compartments of annoyance joining together in one synchronized leaping, singing communion. It’s a hell of5a hell of 极其，非常。an opening gambit. But it tells the audience right off the bat what to expect—two hours of blissful shoot-the-works exuberance.

[2]《爱乐之城》是写给两位前辈的一封赤裸裸的情书：一是雅克·德米色彩艳丽的歌舞幻想曲《瑟堡的雨伞》，一是好莱坞经典歌舞剧《雨中曲》。影片讲述了在当代洛杉矶为实现梦想努力奋斗的两个年轻艺术家的故事，由艾玛·斯通和瑞恩·高斯林主演。斯通饰演米娅，一个怀揣演员梦的阳光女孩，在好莱坞片场一角的咖啡店当服务员，勉强维持生计。每天都会有个故作纯真的女孩找她点一杯拿铁，而她每天都离放弃更近一点点。身处梦工厂，演员梦于她却遥不可及。高斯林饰演塞巴斯汀，一个爵士乐钢琴师，他对音乐的传统品味和固执理想使他与所处的时代格格不入。他要么按自己的方式（独守着他收藏的黑胶唱片）演奏，要么彻底放弃。

[3]影片开场令人叫绝的五分钟插曲发生在洛杉矶的高速公路上，交通瘫痪，对于这个平常到天天都难幸免的糟心事，洛杉矶人再熟悉不过。但是，查泽雷把汽车喇叭声、微型收音机的音乐声和手机聊天声这些嘈杂的噪音变得出人意料地抒情和诗意。一个身着黄色圆点裙的乘客开始唱一首欢快的加利福尼亚赞歌，然后她走出车子，突然跳起舞来。很快，周围其他车里的所有乘客也一一加入，直到105号高速公路变成阳光照耀下欢乐爆棚的海洋，那是一种真切的欢乐。这些被困在自家逼仄车中的人汇聚成载歌载舞的群体，动作整齐划一。这真是个大场面的开场，它明确告诉观众，接下来他们将看到两个小时欢快的歌舞。

[4]Mia and Sebastian are two of the drivers stuck in traffic. And they have a fleeting encounter at the end of the opening number. It isn’t exactly a classic Tinseltown6浮华城，对电影业中心美国加州好莱坞的贬称或戏称。meet-cute introduction (he honks at her to get moving, she flips him the finger). But as their paths continue to fatefully cross, they find themselves drawn to one another the way movie couples have been since, well, forever. She continues to go to soul-crushing auditions. He continues to tinkle away on the piano playing standards as background noise at a restaurant. But they have each other. And their romance, especially as it begins to blossom, is as fizzy and transporting as a flute of champagne. Especially an early Astaire-and-Charisse-style7指弗雷德·阿斯泰尔（Fred Astaire，1899—1987）和赛德·查里斯（Cyd Charisse，1921—2008），两人均为好莱坞著名歌舞演员，舞风轻快自如，赛德曾被赞“好莱坞第一美腿”。song-and-dance number overlooking the glittering jewel-box cityscape of L.A. below. There’s a moment when their fingers interlace in a darkened movie theater that somehow manages to be the most romantic thing I’ve seen at the movies all year. Between this and 2011’s Crazy, Stupid, Love8格伦·费卡拉和约翰·雷夸执导的爱情喜剧，瑞恩·高斯林和艾玛·斯通在片中饰演了一对情侣。, I can’t think of an onscreen couple with better chemistry. They literally float away as they dance together in La La Land. And you don’t question it for a second. You just think, Of course they do.

[4]米娅和塞巴斯汀开着各自的车被堵在路上。开场快结束时两人仓促碰面。这实在不是好莱坞似的可爱相遇（他摁着喇叭催她快走，她则向他竖起中指）。但随着人生道路缘定的交叉，他们发现彼此相互吸引，就像银幕恋人一直以来的经历，也许永远不变。她继续参加那些让人心力交瘁的试镜，他则继续在餐馆弹奏经典曲目当背景噪音，但他们拥有彼此。他们的爱，尤其是恋情萌发之时，仿若一杯甜美的起泡香槟，让人心神荡漾——特别体现在早期阿斯泰尔－查里斯风格的那一段歌舞中，背景是俯瞰的洛杉矶，洛城如同打开的珠宝盒，熠熠生辉。他们在漆黑影院十指相扣的那一幕，该是2016年我在银幕上看到的最浪漫的事。从2011年的《疯狂愚蠢的爱》到今天的《爱乐之城》，这之间我想不出还有哪对银幕恋人擦出过更亮的爱火。影片中，两人共舞时，他们真的飘了起来，而你丝毫不会质疑，只会觉得：他俩就该这样啊。

[5]In the film’s handful of intoxicating showstoppers, Stone shows a previously untapped physical grace to go with the more tentative, self-conscious softness of her breathy singing voice. She’s not a belter (thank god) and you lean in to hear the words coming out of her mouth. Gosling, finally making good use of his prepubescent9prepubescent 青春期前的。Mickey Mouse Club training, is silken and smooth on his feet, his singing voice is soft and plaintive like a young Chet Baker10（1929—1988），美国爵士乐小号手、短号手和歌手。. And composer Justin Hurwitz’s songs (especially the dewy “City of Stars”) have both an intimacy and an occasional irony that act as counterweights to all of the razzledazzle we’re taking in with our eyes.

[5]该片令人着迷的亮点多多，斯通展示了此前从未显露的优雅身姿，与她略显生怯羞涩的低吟浅唱正好相配。谢天谢地，她不是声嘶力竭唱歌的人，你能轻松听清她的歌词。高斯林终于充分发挥了童子功——青春年少时，他曾在米老鼠俱乐部接受训练——他的舞步丝般轻盈，歌声温和质朴，听起来就像年轻时的查特·贝克。作曲家贾斯汀·赫尔维茨的歌曲，尤其是那首动情的“星光之城”，既熟悉又略带反讽，抵消了我们目之所及的所有狂欢。

[6]Of course, La La Land is more than just a helium-light love story that checks off L.A. tourist attractions on its steady march toward a happily-everafter sunset. We in the audience (and the characters on screen) have seen too many Hollywood confections11confection （精美诱人的）甜点。to know better. As Mia and Sebastian’s careers start to take off and pull them in different directions, the film goes from sugary sweet to bittersweet and the music cues shift from giddy to melancholy. It would be churlish to give away more about the movie’s third act, but even as the mood of the film dims to a darker shade, Chazelle’s ambition never wavers. If anything, the final ten minutes of La La Land are the best—and most impressively powerful—of the film.

[7]There have been a handful of lavish, big-studio musicals in recent years. But for the most part, they’ve been bloated Broadway adaptations full of sound and fury. And some moviegoers may, no doubt, feel a little tentative about the genre. But La La Land is the anti-whatever those are. It’s more intimate and personal and affecting…more magical. My advice is to see La La Land and surrender to it12surrender to sth 听任（感情、习惯等）摆布（或发展）。. It will make you feel like you’re walking on air too. ■

[6]当然，《爱乐之城》不仅仅是一部氦气灯下沿着洛杉矶著名景点一路行进到美满结局的爱情故事。观众席中的我们（和银幕上的各个角色）已经看过太多好莱坞的甜蜜爱情，对此再熟悉不过了。米娅和塞巴斯汀各自的事业渐有起色，但同时也把他俩拉往不同的方向，影片从甜上加甜转而甜中带苦，配乐也由欢快转为忧郁。关于影片第三部分，不宜再多剧透，但即便影片氛围趋于黯淡，查泽雷的抱负也绝不会动摇。其实，《爱乐之城》的最后十分钟是该片最好也最打动人心的部分。

[7]近些年出品了好几部鸿篇巨制的歌舞片，但大多是过度改编的百老汇剧目，满目喧哗与骚动。无怪乎有些观影者会对歌舞片心怀犹疑。但《爱乐之城》与那些截然相反，它更亲和，更个性，更动人……也更奇妙。我的建议是，去看看《爱乐之城》吧，投入地看一次。它也会让你心情愉快。□

《爱乐之城》

文/克里斯·纳沙瓦提 译/张菊

（译者单位：中华女子学院）