至爱梵高·星空之谜

Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman

Cast

Douglas Booth…Armand Roulin （voice）

John Sessions…Père Tanguy （voice）

Eleanor Tomlinson…Adeline Ravoux （voice）

Saoirse Ronan…Marguerite Gachet （voice）Jerome Flynn…Doctor Gachet （voice）

Robert Gulaczyk…Vincent van Gogh （voice）

说起梵高，你首先想到什么？孤苦一生、穷困潦倒的画家？怀才不遇、生不逢时的天才？割掉了自己耳朵的疯子？这些都是梵高，也不是他。时间横断一笔，将真正的梵高留在了历史烟云里，但这并不妨碍我们凭借画家留下的传世杰作一窥他的灵魂。为纪念梵高诞辰125周年，英国著名动画工作室BreakThru Films打造了全球首部油画风格动画长片——《至爱梵高·星空之谜》，片中有6.5万帧画面均采用梵高当年的油画技巧绘制，影片重要人物的原型也均来自梵高的原画作品。

影片以一封无法投递的信为脉络，借多人之口为我们拼出了一个尚算完整的梵高，并抽丝剥茧般地讲述了画家的死亡之谜。邮差约瑟夫·鲁林之子阿尔芒·鲁林受父亲所托为死去的梵高送信。他辗转多地，从巴黎画材铺老板唐吉老爹、奥维尔客栈老板之女爱德琳及加歇医生一家等人口中听到了不同的梵高：艺术界一颗冉冉升起的新星、温和有礼的绅士、被抑郁症折磨的惊世天才……但去掉种种形容词，我们只看到了一个孤独的灵魂。那么文森特·梵高到底为何而死？问题的答案或许并不重要，我们只需知道，画家生前深沉地热爱着这个世界，在他眼中，万物有灵且美，没有什么太渺小，他既能欣赏星河浩瀚，也会盛赞娇花纤柔。若你能读懂他为何而生，或许就能明白他缘何赴死。

1.阿尔芒的邮差父亲是已故画家文森特·梵高的好友。画家临终前给弟弟提奥写了一封信。受父所托，阿尔芒踏上了送信之路，几经周折，他找到了与文森特相识的画材铺老板唐吉老爹……

Père: I’m afraid you’ll never deliver that letter to Theo van Gogh.

Armand: Oh, I see. Well, how come?

Père: “Two hearts, one mind.” That’s what Vincent told me. Maybe that was the case after all, because after Vincent died, Theo went into sharp decline. He’d been poorly before, but Vincent’s death destroyed him.He had actually been with him a whole day at the end, but Vincent insisted they use the time to discuss life, not death. And, no1）suicide [΄suːɪsaɪd] n. 自杀suicide note either, so it stayed a mystery. And Theo just kept asking “Why?” Six months after we buried Vincent, Theo was dead too.

Armand: Wow, the two of them. So how did Vincent die?

Père: He shot himself, in the fields above Auvers, by his2）easel [΄iːz（ə）l] n. 画架easel, doing what he loved,painting to the end.

Armand: Do you know why?

Père: No. Theo thought his unhappiness went right back to childhood. He tried so hard to fit into his family. But he never succeeded in this. Vincent picks up a brush for the first time at 28,and with Theo’s support, there is no stopping him.Armand: So what happened then?

Père: Paris happened. He came here of course. They all do. Everyone does—Monet, Toulouse, Seignac,Bernard, Manet注, everybody, because everything that happens in art happens here. And where do they all buy their paints? Père Tanguy’s, of course.

For many artists, Paris is a final destination, but not for him. It was a3）stopover [΄stɒpəʊvə（r）] n. 中途停留地stopover to learn what he needed to learn, and then he was off in search of his own path.

I saw him once more after two years. He was calmer, more4）assured [ə΄ʃʊəd] adj. 自信的，确定的assured. And I thought this is a man whose story will end well. His star finally rising, his revolution won. So think how shocking it was to be standing over Vincent’s coffin just six weeks later. So sad. For many, he died a5）martyr [΄mɑːtə（r）] n. 烈士，殉道者martyr for art, but for me, it seems6）odd [ɒd] adj. 奇怪的，古怪的odd.

Armand: Why?

Père: In only eight years, he had travelled from amateur to an artist of influence, unbelievable. Monet declared him the shining star of the Independent Artist’s Fair. And he was cured according to his doctor,Dr. Gachet, who had looked after Vincent in Auvers.

见招拆招

…there is no stopping him.

这句话的意思是“不可能阻止他”，本句句型是there be结构几个惯用句型中的其中一个：There is (was)+ no + 动词ing，意为“不可能，无法”，相当于“It is (was) impossible to + 动词原形”。如：

● There is no knowing what might happen. = It is impossible to know what might happen.（我们无法得知可能发生什么。）

● There is no denying the fact. = It is impossible to deny the fact.（该事实不容否认。）

注：几人均为法国当时有名的画家，也是后世知名的艺术巨匠。

2.阿尔芒来到了奥维尔镇，听说文森特与加歇医生之女玛格丽特过从甚密，但遭到后者否认。文森特生前所住客栈的老板之女爱德琳向阿尔芒透露了不少有关画家的事情……

Armand: You actually gave me an idea, the idea to7）confront [kən΄frʌnt] v. 与对质confront Marguerite Gachet.

Adeline: Oh, so you ran off to be with the lady of the8）manor [΄mænə（r）] n. （中世纪欧洲的）庄园manor? How did that9）work out 进展顺利，得到预期的结果work out for you?

Armand: She told me she didn’t know Vincent, hadn’t barely exchanged on a few formal words with him.

Adeline: I told you, you can’t believe a word the Gachets say. I remember when Vincent moved in. People were asking him if he was a relative of Gachet. Maybe they were similar on the outside. They had the same red hair,and that same sad look in his eyes. But, on the inside, they were chalk and cheese.Vincent wasn’t10）snobbish [snɒbɪʃ] adj. 势利眼的snobbish like Gachet. He was really polite and kind.

Armand: Marguerite said the brother came here. Did you meet him?

Adeline: No, I heard he came at Gachet’s invitation. Vincent was always saying that they might come here. Always checking if we had rooms at weekends, but they never did come.

Armand: So did Vincent visit them ever?

Adeline: No, you know he’d spend hours on hours writing those letters to his brother when he could’ve just11）hop [hɒp] v. 跳上（汽车、火车等），搭乘hopped on a train.Oh no, he did go once. He said…he said that his brother’s baby was ill. But, I don’t think the visit went that well.

Armand: Why not?

Adeline: The12）tea towel 擦拭杯盘用的抹布tea towels. He said that canvases were too expensive. And so now he’s only gonna paint on these old rags.

Armand: But what’s the brother got to do with tea towels?

Adeline: I13）reckon [΄rekən] v. 估计，猜想reckon they argued over money.Because it was the brother that bought all Vincent’s painting things. I know because of the last letter Vincent sent.

The day before he killed himself. When he handed it to me, he said it was14）urgent [΄зːdʒənt] adj. 紧急的，急迫的urgent.And, you know I asked if there was anything wrong. And he said he’d run out of paints,and he placed a big order for some more,’cause he had lots of paintings planned. Don’t you think that is odd to place an order with his brother if money was an15）issue [΄ɪʃuː] n. 问题，争议issue between them and then to kill himself the next day?

Armand: It depends, you know, on how16）balanced [΄bælənsd] adj. 沉着冷静的，下文的unbalanced（心神不定的）是其反义词。balanced he was.

Adeline: All seemed fine with him. I mean,something must’ve happened pretty suddenly for him to become unbalanced.

Armand: Like what?

Adeline: I don’t know exactly what. I’m sure it’s got something to do with Gachet.

见招拆招

词汇学习：chalk and cheese 截然相反

两个单词chalk（粉笔）和cheese（奶酪）都以辅音[tʃ]开头，且两种物质均为白色，但奶酪质软而粉笔质硬——两者虽相似，构成和味道却截然不同，这就是chalk and cheese这个短语所表达的意思。该短语属英式英语，用来形容两个事物或人完全不同或完全无法兼容，常用句式为“like / as different as chalk and cheese”。如：Although they are brothers,they are as different as chalk and cheese.（虽然他们是兄弟，但两人完全不一样。）

3.阿尔芒对文森特的死因生疑，怀疑是镇上的流氓害死了他，并痛殴了对方。随后阿尔芒在据传是文森特开枪自杀的麦田试图重现现场，玛格丽特找到了他……

Marguerite: If it isn’t the Provence17）pugilist [΄pjuːdʒɪlɪst] n. 拳击手，格斗士pugilist.Should I be scared?

Armand: I thought you didn’t18）go in for 对……感兴趣go in for village gossip.

Marguerite: I don’t. That’s why one employs19）servant [΄sзːvənt] n. 仆人servants. They get it for you.

Armand: Did you also hear that your friendly local20）gendarme [΄ʒɒdɑːm] n. （法国）警察gendarme21）put sb. up 让某人留宿put me up for the night?Marguerite: So now you’re up here22）contemplate [΄kɒntempleɪt] v. 沉思，思忖contemplating your future.

Armand: No, actually, I was thinking how come you lied if you’ve got nothing to hide?Marguerite: What makes you think I have any duty to tell you the truth? Maybe I just thought my life was none of your business.

Armand: I wasn’t asking about your life. I was asking about Vincent’s death.

Marguerite: You thought that his death and my life were linked?

Armand: Yes, but...but I don’t think that anymore.

Marguerite: The truth is I’m not important.He wasn’t some23）lovelorn [΄lʌvlɔːn] adj. 失恋的，害相思病的lovelorn teenager.

Armand: I know.

Marguerite: Did you know he was a genius?Armand: No, I can’t say that I did.

Marguerite: Well, I did. And, so did my father. All his life he has tried so hard to be an artist. And, then this24）gruff [ɡrʌf] adj. 脾气差的，不友好的gruff awkward man without any proper training, who’d only been painting a few years, comes25）barge in 闯入，冲进barging in and rushes off in a couple of hours what poor Father couldn’t dream of painting in two lifetimes. My dad would lock himself away and copy them for hours. Father told me I was26）distract [dɪ΄strækt] v. 使分心，使分散注意力distracting Vincent from important work, asked if I really wanted to be responsible for preventing masterpieces from being born. And, of course I didn’t. So I started to not be in or not be well when Vincent called. Soon after that, they had an argument, a terrible27）row [raʊ] n. 争吵row. It wasn’t about me, but, maybe my withdrawal had28）sour [΄saʊə（r）] v. 使恶化soured things. The next time my father saw him, he had a29）bullet [΄bʊlɪt] n. 子弹bullet in his belly.

Are you satisfied now? You want to know so much about his death, but what do you know of his life?

Armand: I know that he tried hard to prove he was good for something.

Marguerite: Yes, he did. That’s why I take flowers to his grave. That’s all I can do for him now. He would appreciate the delicate beauty of their30）bloom [bluːm] n. 花，花朵bloom, even each31）blade [bleɪd] n. 叶片blade of their32）grassy [΄ɡrɑːsɪ] adj. 草绿色的grassy stems. No detail of life was too small or too33）humble [΄hʌmb（ə）l] adj. （重要性等）低下的，微末的humble for him. He appreciated and loved it all.

见招拆招

Maybe I just thought my life was none of your business.

None of one’s business，意思是“不关某人的事”，business具有“个人私事”的含义，该表述可追溯到约1600年。None of your business的意思就是“干你何事”，意思近似的还有mind your own business（管好你自己的事/别多管闲事），两个短语的语气都不太客气。该短语相关的动词表达是have no business，后跟动名词，意为某人不应干涉某事，如：He has no business discussing the will with outsiders.（他不该跟外人讨论遗嘱。）

1

唐吉老爹：恐怕你永远无法把这封信交给提奥·梵高了。

阿尔芒：噢，这样啊。那是怎么回事儿？

唐吉老爹：“两副躯体，一个灵魂，”文森特是这么跟我说的。也许他说的没错，因为在文森特死后，提奥立马垮了。他之前的身体状况就不大好，但文森特的死将他彻底击垮了。其实，提奥在文森特死前跟他呆了整整一天，但文森特坚持要用最后的时间探讨生命，而不是死亡。他也没留下遗书，所以这场自杀就成了一个谜。提奥也不停地问“为什么？”文森特下葬六个月后，提奥也跟着去了。

阿尔芒：天哪，两兄弟都走了。那文森特是怎么死的？

唐吉老爹：开枪自杀，在奥维尔附近的麦田里，就在他的画架边上，做着他热爱的事，画到最后一刻。

阿尔芒：你知道原因吗？

唐吉老爹：不清楚。提奥认为文森特的痛苦可以追溯到童年时期。他曾努力尝试融入自己的家庭，但从未成功。文森特在28岁那年第一次拿起画笔，有了提奥的支持，他前进的步伐简直不可阻挡。

阿尔芒：那后来怎么样了？

唐吉老爹：巴黎。不用说，他来到了巴黎。他们全来了，所有人——莫奈、图卢兹、赛涅克、贝尔纳、马奈，所有人都来了，因为艺术界的一切风吹草动都发生在巴黎。那这些人都上哪儿买颜料呢？当然是到我唐吉老爹这儿。

对很多艺术家来说，巴黎就是他们的旅程终点。但对文森特来说，巴黎就只是旅途中的一站，掌握了必要的知识后，他继续上路，寻找他自己的道路。

我再见到他是两年后。他变得更沉稳、更自信了。我当时就想，这个人最后一定会成功，他的运气终于来了，他发起的艺术革命取得了胜利。所以你可想而知，短短六个星期后我就站在了文森特的棺木旁，这是多么令人震惊。太伤感了。很多人都说他是艺术的殉道者，但就我看来，这似乎说不通。

阿尔芒：怎么说？

唐吉老爹：仅仅八年，他就从一个业余爱好者成为一位极具影响力的艺术家，简直难以置信。莫奈曾称他是独立艺术家画展上的耀眼明星。而且据他的医生——就是在奥维尔照顾文森特的加歇医生——所说，他已经康复了。

2

阿尔芒：实际上是你提醒了我，去找玛格丽特·加歇问清楚。

爱德琳：噢，那么说你是跑去见那位庄园大小姐了？结果还满意吗？

阿尔芒：她告诉我，她跟文森特不熟，几乎没正经说过几句话。

爱德琳：我早跟你说了，加歇一家人就没一句实话。我记得文森特刚搬来的时候，大家都在问他是不是加歇的亲戚。或许他俩从外表上看还挺像的，一样的红头发，一样忧郁的眼神。但其内里完全是两路人。文森特并不像加歇那么势利眼。他是真的非常有礼、非常和善。

阿尔芒：玛格丽特说他弟弟来过这儿，你见过他吗？爱德琳：没有，我听说他是应加歇的邀请才来的。文森特总是念叨他们可能会来这儿看他，总是问我们周末有没有空房，但他们从没来过。

阿尔芒：那文森特去找过他们吗？

爱德琳：没有，你知道，他总是花好几个小时给他弟弟写信，他本来可以用这些时间搭个火车去看他。噢，不对，他确实去过一次。他说……他说他弟弟的孩子生病了。但我感觉那次会面似乎不太愉快。

阿尔芒：怎么说？

爱德琳：那些抹布。他说画布太贵了，所以他现在只能在旧抹布上画画。

阿尔芒：但他弟弟和旧抹布有什么关系？

爱德琳：我猜他们为了钱的事情吵过一架。因为文森特的作画工具都是他弟弟给买的。我是从文森特最后寄出的一封信上知道这个的。

那里他自杀的前一天，他把信递给我的时候说，这封信非常紧急。我就问他是不是出什么事了，他说他的颜料都用光了，所以订了一大批新颜料，因为他要画很多的画。如果这两人为钱吵过，他为什么还要弟弟帮他买颜料，接着第二天就自杀了呢？你不觉得这很奇怪吗？

阿尔芒：很难说，你知道，得看他当时的心理状态了。

爱德琳：他看起来没什么事啊。我的意思是，肯定是突然发生了什么，才让他失去了理智。

阿尔芒：比如？

爱德琳：我也不清楚具体是什么。但我敢肯定加歇跟这事脱不了干系。

3

玛格丽特：这不是那个普罗旺斯来的格斗士吗？我是不是该感到害怕？

阿尔芒：我还以为你对打听村里的八卦不感兴趣。玛格丽特：确实没兴趣。这就是人们雇佣仆人的原因，他们会替你打听。

阿尔芒：那想必你也听说了是你们村里好心的警官收留了我一晚？

玛格丽特：那你现在是在这儿思考你的将来吗？

阿尔芒：不，实际上，我是在想，要是你真没什么好隐瞒的，为什么要对我撒谎？

玛格丽特：你为什么觉得我有义务向你坦白事情的真相呢？或许我只是认为我的生活与你无关。

阿尔芒：我并没有过问你的生活，我只是想弄清楚文森特的死因。

玛格丽特：你认为他的死和我的生活有关？

阿尔芒：对，但……但我已经不那么想了。

玛格丽特：事实就是我并不重要，他也不是什么为情所困的毛头小子。阿尔芒：我知道。

玛格丽特：那你知道他是个天才吗？

阿尔芒：不，我不敢说我清楚这个。

玛格丽特：我清楚，我父亲也清楚。他这辈子拼了命地想成为一名艺术家，然后这个坏脾气的笨拙男人就这么闯了进来，他从未接受过像样的训练，开始画画也不过几年时间。而他用短短几个小时匆匆而就的画作却是我可怜的父亲自认花上两辈子都画不出来的。我父亲会把自己锁在屋里，对着它们临摹好几个小时。父亲跟我说，我分散了文森特在要紧事上的注意力，质问我是否真想承担妨碍艺术杰作诞生的后果。我当然不想。所以之后文森特再来找我的时候，我就开始假装不在或不舒服。这之后不久，他俩就大吵了一架，吵得不可开交。那不是因为我，但也许我的回避导致了事情的恶化。我父亲再见到他的时候，他肚子里已经多了一颗子弹。

现在你满意了吗？你这么想知道他是怎么死的，可你对他活着的时候又了解多少？

阿尔芒：我知道他曾经非常努力地想证明自己并非一无是处。

玛格丽特：没错，确实如此。所以我才会带着花去他的墓地。这是我现在唯一能为他做的了。他会欣赏鲜花盛放时娇弱的美，甚至为青青叶茎上的每一片绿叶而赞叹。没有哪个生命的细节对他来说是微不足道或无足轻重的。他欣赏并热爱着这世间万物。