Well, in previous installments of this series we've covered directors and films – now it's time for the actors themselves! You might notice a bit of a Hong Kong bias here, mostly because the plucky little island has been producing film stars since the 60s, and Chinese mainland is only just catching up to the juggernaut that is the Hong Kong movie and music industry. One notable difference between Chinese and Western stars is how many are accomplished stuntmen or martial artists – a relative rare skill in the West, where martial arts trained performers, like Jean Claude Van Damme or Steven Seagal, are generally confined to the dumbest of action roles. In contrast, Chinese performers are often very skilled in acrobatics, dance, or martial arts, partially because of their background in traditional Chinese drama, which was intensely physically demanding. The relatively low budgets of Hong Kong movies, particularly in the old days, also drove producers to save on stunt budgets. Perhaps Hollywood could learn something from them – I'd certainly pay good money to see Hayden Christiansen get beaten up for real.

在前幾期節(jié)目中,我們介紹了導(dǎo)演和電影——這期就來講講演員們吧!你們可能發(fā)現(xiàn)這期節(jié)目有點(diǎn)偏重于香港影星,大部分原因是這個彈丸小島自60年代以來就培育出電影明星,而中國內(nèi)地則只是追隨香港電影和音樂產(chǎn)業(yè)。中國影星和西方影星之間有一個顯著不同之處,那就是出色的特技演員或武打演員的多少——在西方罕有武打演員,像讓?克勞德?范?達(dá)美或史蒂芬?西格爾這樣專門受過武打訓(xùn)練的演員通常只能飾演愚蠢的角色。與此相反,中國演員往往都非常擅長雜技,舞蹈,或是武術(shù),部分是因?yàn)樗麄冇袀鹘y(tǒng)中國戲劇的背景,對身體素質(zhì)有很高的要求。香港電影的預(yù)算相對較低,尤其是在以前,這迫使制片人節(jié)省特技預(yù)算。也許好萊塢可以從他們學(xué)到一些東西——我肯定會花大錢去看海登?克里斯蒂安森真刀實(shí)槍的打斗。

Chow Yun - Fat 周潤發(fā)

Chow Yun - Fat made his name in the Hong Kong action cinema of the 1980s, his round, almost babyish face and distinctive tooth - pick chewing habit rapidly making him one of the most recognizable Asian action movie stars. His unflappable demeanor and grim charisma anchor his films, where he often plays either a tough, good - hearted cop or a tough, good - hearted criminal. From a working class background in the islands, he rose to stardom in The Bund, a classic early 80s Hong Kong TV series about the rise and fall of a gangster in 1930s Shanghai.

上個世紀(jì)80年代,周潤發(fā)在香港動作片中成名。他那圓圓的、幾乎像小孩一樣的面相和叼著牙簽的標(biāo)志性動作,使他迅速成為亞洲最具代表性的動作電影明星之一。無論是扮演英勇善良的警察還是強(qiáng)硬卻心善的罪犯,鎮(zhèn)定的舉止、冷酷的領(lǐng)袖氣質(zhì)是他在影片中不變的風(fēng)格。出身港島工人階級的周潤發(fā)在《上海灘》這部電視劇中首次亮相,從此踏上演員生涯。作為80年代早期香港電視劇的經(jīng)典,該劇講述了20世紀(jì)30年代,一個匪徒在上海的起起落落。

It was his partnership with action director John Woo that made his name famous beyond Hong Kong, though. Woo saw that Chow's mixture of toughness and cool made him the perfect hard - boiled hero, and gave him great roles in A Better Tomorrow (1986), The Killer (1989), and Hard - Boiled (1992) to work with; the scenes of Chow with a gun blazing in each hand, or fighting villains through a hospital ward with a baby in one arm and a shotgun in the other, are classic images of action cinema. Chow became Hong Kong's biggest star, accompanied everywhere by grim - faced bodyguards and hangers - on.

然而,使他在香港境外揚(yáng)名的是與動作片導(dǎo)演吳宇森的合作。吳宇森認(rèn)為,周潤發(fā)具有堅(jiān)韌和冷酷的雙重氣質(zhì),可以使他成為絕佳的冷血英雄,并讓他在《英雄本色》(1986)、《喋血雙雄》(1989)、《辣手神探》(1992)等影片中擔(dān)當(dāng)主角。影片中周潤發(fā)雙手各執(zhí)一槍火拼,或是一手抱住嬰兒,一手持槍與歹徒打斗沖出病房。這些場景成為他在動作片中的經(jīng)典形象。周潤發(fā)成了香港巨星,所到之處身旁都有冷面的保鏢和窮追不舍的影迷。

Like many veterans of Hong Kong cinema, Chow attempted a move to Hollywood in the 1990s, producing two disappointing films, The Replacement Killers (1998) and The Corruptor (1999). His return to Asia, however, produced one of his biggest ever hits, 2000's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. His meditative cool as the monk - warrior Li Mubai helped make the film a mega - hit worldwide - albeit that the film was in Mandarin and Chow, a native Cantonese speaker, is visibly struggling with the language at points. Recently he's appeared in more mainland movies, such as 2006's Curse of the Golden Flower, and is set to star in prestige movie Confucius as the eponymous philosopher this year. We look forward to the scene in which Confucius, a sword in one hand and a gun in the other, carves his way through a crowd of disrespectful thugs.

像許多香港老牌電影明星一樣,20世紀(jì)90年代,周潤發(fā)試圖向好萊塢發(fā)展,出演了兩部令人失望的電影——《替身殺手》(1998)和《再戰(zhàn)邊緣》(1999)。不過,他重回亞洲后于2000年出演的《臥虎藏龍》,一舉成為其最成功的影視作品之一。盡管這是部華語影片,而且習(xí)慣說粵語的周潤發(fā)當(dāng)時(shí)顯然難破語言瓶頸,但這都不妨礙由他飾演的李慕白,那位思維沉著冷靜的大俠幫助影片成為全球大片。最近,越來越多的內(nèi)地電影中有了他的身影,像是2006年他出演了《滿城盡帶黃金甲》,以及今年在《孔子》這部大片中擔(dān)當(dāng)主角,飾演著名思想家孔子。我們希望在影片中看到孔子一手執(zhí)劍,一手持槍,從一群惡棍中殺出一條血路來的場景。

Jackie Chan 成龍

Everybody loves Jackie Chan. He's the single most famous Chinese actor in the world, and virtually worshipped as a god in his home of Hong Kong. The cheery - faced, rubbery kung fu master and comic actor is so popular that he barely even plays different characters any more – just 'Jackie'. Whether he's a British naval officer in 19th century Hong Kong, a policeman, or a monk, he's the same loveable semi - loser, bumbling his way through life but always triumphing at the end. He's tried to play more varied characters recently, even a villain – but nobody watches his movies for the acting! Rather, they watch them for his marvelous semi - improvised martial arts, where he combines acrobatics, kung fu, and any props he has to hand to make cinematic magic. My personal favorite is the fight scene in Hong Kong's narrow alleyways in Project A, where Chan defeats a group of thugs using his bicycle as a weapon.

沒有人不愛成龍。他是世界上最著名的華人影星,在他的家鄉(xiāng)香港更是被奉為神明。熱情洋溢的笑容,永遠(yuǎn)打不敗的功夫以及滑稽的表演風(fēng)格使他家喻戶曉,以至于很難再出演其他角色——只能是“成龍”。 無論是在19世紀(jì)香港的英國海軍軍官,警察,還是和尚,他都是可愛的半失敗者,生活中跌跌撞撞,但總是能取得成功。最近,他努力去扮演更多不同的角色,甚至是反面人物——但沒有人是為了他的表演來看他的電影,而是沖著他那出色的半即興表演而來的。武術(shù)表演中他綜合運(yùn)用了特技、功夫、以及其他表現(xiàn)電影魅力的道具。我本人最喜歡的打斗場景是《A計(jì)劃》中,在香港的小巷里成龍僅以一輛自行車就打敗了一群暴徒的那場。

Chan is a master physical comedian, working in the tradition of Western stars like Buster Keaton, and combining them with his own martial arts training. One of his first films, Drunken Master (1978) epitomizes this; Chan plays a young martial arts student who learns how to fight like a drunk man, reeling from side to side and beating his opponents with unexpected blows. Almost all the fights in the movie are played for comedy, resembling children's games or drunken squabbles more than serious battles. Chan is brilliantly flexible and ingenious, and his brand of slapstick kung - fu humor can make anybody laugh.

成龍是位動作喜劇大師,不僅繼承了巴斯特?基頓等西方影星的傳統(tǒng),還融入了自己的武術(shù)風(fēng)格。他早期的電影《醉拳》(1978)就體現(xiàn)了這一點(diǎn)。影片中,成龍飾演了一位學(xué)習(xí)武術(shù)的年輕弟子,練習(xí)如何像醉鬼一樣左右搖晃,以出其不意的招數(shù)打敗敵人。幾乎所有的打斗都是為了喜劇效果,像是孩子玩的過家家,又像是醉鬼之間的斗嘴而不是正經(jīng)八百的武斗。成龍出色的靈活性和巧妙的動作編排,以及其招牌式的功夫幽默能使每一位觀眾都開心一笑。

Chan was born in Hong Kong in 1954, to parents who worked for the French consulate, and so grew up in the privileged surroundings of Victoria Peak.After his father emigrated to Australia to work for several years, Chan was sent to a Peking Opera School, where he specialized in acrobatics and faked fighting. There he was taken under the wing of the teacher, Yu Jim - yuen, who made him work twice as hard as the other students as a result!He described his training as 'really arduous, we hardly had enough to eat, enough clothes to keep warm, training was extremely tiring, and Master could cane us anytime!' (There's even a 1988 movie, Painted Faces, about the school.) There he met Sammo Hung and Yuen Biao, who he would go on to collaborate with in a number of great films, starting with 1983's Project A. As a result, he became a talented young performer in peak physical condition, but found it hard to break into films at first, even joining his father in Australia for a while and working on a building site, where he acquired his English name after being tutored by a burly Aussie called 'Jack'. He found movie work as a stuntman first of all, until, impressed with his skills, a producer took him up as a star.

成龍1954年出生于香港。由于他的父母在法國領(lǐng)事館工作,所以在維多利亞山頂?shù)念I(lǐng)事館區(qū)里長大。在父親移居澳洲工作了幾年之后,成龍被送進(jìn)一所京劇學(xué)校,專門學(xué)習(xí)雜技和武戲。當(dāng)時(shí)他師從于占元,結(jié)果這位師傅讓他付出常人兩倍的努力!成龍?jiān)@樣描述他練武時(shí)期的生活“真的很艱苦,我們很難吃飽,穿暖,練習(xí)又是極其枯燥,師傅隨時(shí)都可能用棍子打我們。”(1988年電影《七小?！氛f的就是這所京劇學(xué)校。)在這所學(xué)校,他結(jié)識了洪金寶和元彪,從1983年的《A計(jì)劃》開始,三人一起合作拍攝了多部賣座影片。最終,在體能達(dá)到巔峰的時(shí)候,成龍成為了一名極具才能的年輕演員。但是,最初成龍很難打入影視圈。他甚至跑去澳大利亞和他父親呆了一段時(shí)間,找了份建筑工地的活。在那里,他有了一位名叫Jack的、魁梧的澳大利亞老師,之后才取了自己的英文名字。一開始,他只是個電影特技演員,直到他的武藝給某位制片人留下了深刻印象,才被提拔做演員。

Chan is notorious for doing all his own stunts, rather than relying on professional stuntmen. He works with a carefully selected team that he's built up over the years, but even so things go wrong – he's said to have broken every bone in his body at one point or another. His films often feature outtakes at the end where you can watch him crashing down several stories, falling off buses, or running into walls – sometimes you see him being carted off to hospital, giving a weak thumbs - up. As well as his acting, he's also a noted Cantopop singer; thanks to early dramatic training he has a very pleasant voice.

成龍之所以名揚(yáng)千里,是因?yàn)樵谒碾娪袄?所有動作特技都是成龍親自完成的,而非依靠專業(yè)特技演員。多年來,他精心挑選而打造了支隊(duì)伍。但即使與這樣的隊(duì)伍合作,事情也有出紕漏的時(shí)候——據(jù)說,他身上的每一塊骨頭都有斷過,有的還不止一次。影片結(jié)尾處通常會播放些拍攝花絮,觀眾會看到他從幾樓高的地方上墜下,從巴士上摔下來,或是撞到墻上——有時(shí)會看到他被帶離片場,送去醫(yī)院,自己卻還虛弱地豎起大拇指,示意自己還好。除了表演,他還是著名的粵語歌手。得益于早期的京劇訓(xùn)練,他有副悅耳的嗓音。

Zhang Ziyi 章子怡

Born in Beijing in 1979, Zhang Ziyi's luminous beauty has won her many admirers worldwide. I've got to admit to having absolutely no objectivity when it comes to Zhang Ziyi. I first saw her in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon a decade ago, and thought she was one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen in my life – a sentiment which still makes my girlfriend a little touchy if I mention it. This admiration was shared by many film critics; one, the (gay) Gilbert Adair, produced this marvelous (if a touch tongue - in - cheek) paragraph -

1979年章子怡出生在北京。她靚麗的外表使她在全球贏得了許多愛慕者。我得承認(rèn),一說到章子怡,就會失去理智。十年前,當(dāng)我第一次在《臥虎藏龍》里看到她的時(shí)候,就覺得她是我這輩子見過的最美麗的女人之一 ——在我提出這樣的想法時(shí),到現(xiàn)在都會讓我女朋友微有醋意。很多電影評論家也對她抱有愛慕之情。像是Gilbert Adair(同性戀),就曾發(fā)出過這樣驚人的言論(這話可不能當(dāng)真):

'Not to put too fine a point on it, I fell in love with her at first sight, helplessly, hopelessly and (appropriately enough for a film as acrobatic as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) head over heels. As everyone is aware, however, love and objectivity, the kind of objectivity on which all honest criticism has to be based, tend to be mutually incompatible categories, and there's a real risk of my exasperating readers for months to come with dreamy, doting and, for the most part, irrelevant allusions to Zhang's talent, her beauty, her adorableness, etc. I've therefore decided that, for the sake of my reputation as a critic, it would be better if this were my last review for The Independent on Sunday. So, goodbye. '

“無需贅述,我對她一見鐘情,無奈地、絕望地、徹頭徹尾地(顯然說的是《臥虎藏龍》里的武打特技)。然而,每個人都知道個人喜好和客觀性——所有評論所應(yīng)基于的客觀事實(shí)——往往是水火不容的。很有可能的是,惱怒的讀者在今后幾個月中讀到的,都將是我對章子怡才華的幻想、寵愛、無聊的東西以及她的美貌和可愛等等。因此,我決定,為了我作為評論家的聲譽(yù),這最好是我在《獨(dú)立報(bào)》周末版發(fā)表的最后一篇評論。那么,再見吧?！?/p>

She's regularly voted among the hundred most beautiful women in the world, but there's no doubt that Zhang Ziyi's performance in the film, made when she was barely 21, is magnificent; she suggests a tension between public and private selves that both plays to the themes of the film and causes male viewers' minds to wander suggestively. She's never had quite as big a hit in the West again – she was in the mediocre but popular Rush Hour 2, with Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson, but that was hardly a great work of art. Nor was the execrable TMNT, which didn't even do good box office.However, she's had a number of Asian hits, most notably another martial arts epic, Hero, marking the start of a renewed partnership with director Zhang Yimou that saw her playing beautiful, tormented female characters – and martial artists – in three films in succession; the gorgeously shot and morally complex Hero, and the rather messy follow - ups House of Flying Daggers and The Banquet. She had, in fact, made one of her first movies, The Road Home, with Zhang Yimou when she was just 19. She also turned in a sterling performance in Wang Kar - Wei's 2046.

章子怡曾多次被評為全球最美的一百位女性之一,但是毫無疑問,章子怡在影片《臥虎藏龍》中的表現(xiàn)極其出色,盡管她當(dāng)時(shí)還不足21歲。她在熒屏上下無不彰顯自我的張力,不僅緊貼主題,而且令男性影迷浮想聯(lián)翩。此后她再沒引起過如此強(qiáng)烈的反響——她和成龍、歐文?威爾遜一起出演了《尖峰時(shí)刻2》,這部電影雖說賣座,但平庸無奇,算不上偉大的藝術(shù)作品。還有糟糕的《忍者神龜》,甚至都沒有好的票房。然而,她在亞洲卻有一系列不俗的表現(xiàn),最耀眼的要數(shù)另一部武打大片——與張藝謀導(dǎo)演再續(xù)片緣的《英雄》。張藝謀見證了她在連續(xù)三部電影中扮演美麗而又飽受磨難的女性角色,還有武打形象。這三部電影是畫面華美、寓意深遠(yuǎn)的《英雄》,情節(jié)復(fù)雜的《十面埋伏》和《夜宴》。事實(shí)上,在章子怡19歲的時(shí)候,她就與張藝謀合作了她早期電影《我的父親母親》。她在王家衛(wèi)的《2046》中亦有上佳的表現(xiàn)。

Sammo Hung 洪金寶

As a hefty gentleman myself, I have a soft spot for Sammo Hung, a man who could easily have starred in a live - action version of Kung Fu Panda when young.He's a chubby fellow – one of his films was called, marvelously, Enter the Fat Dragon, and, like many fat guys, a skilled comic actor. He picked his name, 'Sammo', after a fat cartoon character. What's more remarkable is his grace and strength as a martial artist; his bouncy exterior conceals a core of steel. He was one of Jackie Chan's fellow students at Peking Opera School, and has collaborated with Chan and fellow classmate Yuen Biao on several movies. As the oldest of the three friends, and the fattest, he was called 'the Biggest Big Brother'. He's nearly as gifted a physical comedian as Chan, although he's never achieved the same breakthrough status in the West.

我本身就是個體型魁梧的紳士,所以對洪金寶有特殊的好感。年輕時(shí)的他定可以輕松扮演真人版《功夫熊貓》里的主角。他是個胖乎乎的家伙——他其中一部名字很絕的電影就叫做《肥龍過江》。而且像許多胖子一樣,他是位演技精湛的喜劇演員。他根據(jù)某個胖胖的卡通人物取了自己的名字“三毛”。更令人印象深刻的是,他有著武術(shù)家的風(fēng)度和力量,只是胖胖的外表掩蓋了他堅(jiān)韌的內(nèi)質(zhì)。在京劇學(xué)校,他和成龍是師兄弟,兩人跟另一個師弟元彪合作拍攝了多部電影。他是三人中年紀(jì)最大、體型最肥的一個,人稱“大大師兄”。雖然在西方他沒有像成龍一樣的地位,但卻不失為一個與成龍一樣的有天賦的動作喜劇演員。

Hung started off as a child actor, but went on to become a martial arts star, especially after training in Korea to learn different styles. As well as being a skilled fighter and star, he also achieved success as a choreographer, directing and guiding fight scenes in other movies. He helped create Chan's use of seemingly improvised weaponry, and his frenetic, close - in style was a distinctive feature of many 1980s Hong Kong movies. In the early eighties, he created the 'stiff corpse' (jiang shi) subgenre with Encounters of the Spooky Kind (1985) and Mr Vampire (1985). Something like a comedy version of Western zombie or vampire movies, these films were partially inspired by the 'Hammer Horror' films of the 1950s, British horror - comedies made on a low budget. They feature 'hopping vampires' as their main monsters, comic monstrosities who hop menacingly towards their victims, but can be blocked by Daoist rites or the throwing of sticky rice.

他以童星的身份入行,但隨后變成了武打明星,特別是在去韓國受訓(xùn)學(xué)習(xí)不同的打斗風(fēng)格之后。他不僅是位技藝高超的武師和演員,還是位卓有成就的武術(shù)指導(dǎo),在其他電影里指導(dǎo)武打場景。他幫助創(chuàng)造了成龍所使用的看似簡易的武器,他瘋狂的近體打斗是20世紀(jì)80年代許多香港電影的一個突出特點(diǎn)。在80年代初期,他在電影《鬼打鬼》(1985)、《僵尸先生》(1985)中開創(chuàng)了“僵尸”這一題材。這些電影有點(diǎn)像搞笑版的西方僵尸或吸血鬼電影,部分是受到20世紀(jì)50年代英國低成本的 “海默”影片,即恐怖喜劇電影的啟發(fā)。這些電影以“蹦跳的僵尸”為主要怪物,這些搞怪的異形會蹦向他們的獵物,但可以道教儀式或扔糯米的形式來制服他們。

Hung became more recognizable to Western audiences with the launch of Martial Law (1998) a short -lived but often syndicated TV program where he played a Chinese cop on assignment in America. (The title was a pun on 'martial law' – when the army takes over police duties – and 'martial arts'.) His career had suffered something of a dip in the 1990s, after clashes with other Hong Kong directors and producers.Hung's English was always poor, and he spoke many of his lines phonetically. Nowadays he's moved into the role of an elder statesmen of the HK film community, working with and nurturing others – he was instrumental in the creation of the hit Kung Fu Hustle (2004).

雖然《過江龍》(1998)這部電視連續(xù)劇只是曇花一現(xiàn),但隨著該劇的播放,洪金寶為西方觀眾所熟知。在這部合拍片中,他飾演一位在美國執(zhí)行任務(wù)的中國警察。(劇名一語雙關(guān),既指軍隊(duì)接管警察職責(zé)時(shí)的軍法,又指武術(shù)。)20世紀(jì)90年代,他與一些香港導(dǎo)演、制片人發(fā)生摩擦,隨后他的事業(yè)出現(xiàn)滑坡。洪金寶的英語一直都很差,他的臺詞都需要配音?，F(xiàn)在他成了香港電影圈中的前輩,與其他人合作,并提攜新人——他指導(dǎo)制作了大片《功夫》(2004)。

Michelle Yeoh 楊紫瓊

The lithe, glamorous Yeoh remains a favorite with Western audiences, being one of the few Asian - born actresses to have achieved more hits in the West than at home. Born to Chinese parents in Malaysia in 1962, she trained as a dancer before an accident ended her dreams of ballet stardom. Instead she became a model, winning the Miss Malaysia beauty pageant before going on to take some small roles in Hong Kong movies in the 1980s. Like many other Hong Kong - based stars, she married and divorced a famous businessman, Dickson Poon, temporarily retiring from acting after her wedding, then returning three years later after the couple split up.

輕盈、迷人的楊紫瓊深受西方觀眾的喜愛。在亞洲出生的女演員中,她是少數(shù)在西方獲得的成就比在國內(nèi)多的其中一人。楊紫瓊1962年出生在馬來西亞,父母都是華人。她原本學(xué)的是舞蹈,但一場意外斷送了她芭蕾明星的夢想。后來,她成為一名模特,贏得了馬來西亞小姐選美比賽。這些都發(fā)生在20世紀(jì)80年代的她香港電影中飾演一些小角色之前。如同許多其他香港出身的明星一樣,她與富商潘迪生結(jié)婚,婚后暫時(shí)退出演藝事業(yè),三年后兩人離婚不久,她重返影視圈。

It was the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies (1997) that made her an international star, although The Heroic Trio (1993) had already been a hit in Asia. She played a Chinese super - spy agent, importing some HK style into a moribund franchise and, remarkably, performing all her own stunts. She's never had any formal stunt or martial arts training, instead relying on her superb physical fitness and background as a dancer. She then went on to star in her greatest hit, 2000s wonderful Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.Ironically, neither her nor her romantic partner in the film, Chow Yun Fat, spoke Mandarin well, and had to sound out their lines phonetically – which they still delivered with astonishing skill and feeling. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon showed she could be a wonderful actress, but she hasn't really stretched herself since, save in 2005's Memories of a Geisha, where she played a famous Japanese courtesan.

雖然《東方三俠》(1993)已經(jīng)在亞洲取得不俗的成績,但在詹姆斯邦德007系列電影《明日帝國》(1997)中的演出才使她成為國際巨星。她飾演了一位中國高級情報(bào)員,將港式風(fēng)格融入到老套的劇情中,而且親自表演所有特技。她從未接受過任何正式的表演或武術(shù)培訓(xùn),而是依靠出色的身體素質(zhì)和舞蹈演員的底子。之后,她出演《臥虎藏龍》(2000)。這部電影成為她最成功的作品?？尚Φ氖?雖然她本人和浪漫的搭檔周潤發(fā)在影片中,普通話講得都不好,咬字也不清楚,但他們?nèi)员憩F(xiàn)出了出色的演技和感覺?！杜P虎藏龍》表明她是一位優(yōu)秀的女演員,但這之后她都沒有長足的發(fā)展,唯一的亮點(diǎn)是2005年的《藝妓回憶錄》,影片中她扮演了一位日本藝妓。

Gong Li 鞏俐

As China translator Brendan O'Kane remarked of 2006's Curse of the Golden Flower – 'I was pretty excited to see this movie because it features two of my favorite actors – Gong Li's breasts – along with Chow Yun – Fat, Jay Chou, and Gong Li herself in supporting roles. ' This is, of course, grossly unfair; as she showed with the classics Farewell My Concubine (1993) and Raise the Red Lantern (1991), Gong Li is an extremely talented and clever actress, and her fantastic breasts shouldn't distract us from that. Well, maybe they should distract us a little – her directors do seem remarkably keen on displaying them to best effect.

中文翻譯寫手Brendan O'Kane評論2006年的《滿城盡帶黃金甲》時(shí)說——“看到這部電影時(shí),我非常高興,因?yàn)橛袃蓚€我最喜歡的演員——鞏俐的胸部——另外還有周潤發(fā),周杰倫,和鞏俐所扮演的角色?！边@當(dāng)然是極不公平的;正如在經(jīng)典電影《霸王別姬》( 1993 )和《大紅燈籠高高掛》( 1991 )中 所表現(xiàn)出來的那樣,鞏俐是一個非常能干和聰明的女演員,而她美妙的胸部不應(yīng)讓我們忽略這一點(diǎn)。好吧,也許會讓我們有一點(diǎn)分神——與她合作的導(dǎo)演似乎很熱衷于完美地表現(xiàn)它們。

Born in Liaoning, she grew up in Jinan and then attended the China Academy of Drama, graduating in 1989. It was there that she caught the attention of the great director Zhang Yimou - in more ways than one, apparently, as an affair between the two caused scandal in the 1990s. He cast her in Red Sorghum (1987) as a young and forceful widow while she was still at the Academy. Raise the Red Lantern and Farewell My Concubine, bringing her stardom at a relatively young age, and resulted in her winning several awards overseas, as well as being asked to be a judge at the Berlin film festival. After To Live (1994) she ended her collaboration with Zhang for a while, partially because of the scandal, but went on to star in several other hits, notably 1999's The Emperor and the Assassin. An evocative and skilled performer, she's been a reliable element of the Chinese film world for some years - along with her two reliable co - stars.

鞏俐出生在遼寧,成長于濟(jì)南,然后考取中央戲劇學(xué)院并于1989年畢業(yè)。在中央戲劇學(xué)院,她引起了大導(dǎo)演張藝謀的注意?——顯然是在多個方面。因?yàn)樵谏鲜兰o(jì)90年代兩人之間曾有緋聞。鞏俐還沒畢業(yè)時(shí),張藝謀讓她在《紅高粱》( 1987)中出演了年輕而強(qiáng)悍的寡婦一角?！洞蠹t燈籠高高掛》和《霸王別姬》,使她年紀(jì)輕輕就成名了,在海外贏得多個獎項(xiàng),以及被邀請?jiān)诎亓蛛娪肮?jié)擔(dān)任評委。自《活著》(1994)之后,她就結(jié)束了與張藝謀的合作,部分是因?yàn)榫p聞,但隨即接拍主演了其他幾部大片,特別是1999年的《荊軻刺秦王》。她是一位感情豐富、演技上佳的演員,多年來她和兩個值得可以依賴的伙伴一起,成為了中國電影的中流砥柱。

Andy Lau 劉德華

Andy Lau is the epitome of the smooth, handsome Hong Kong star - perhaps a little too smooth for Western tastes, indeed. He's specialized in playing 'heroic gangsters', criminals with a heart of gold, who often switch sides halfway through the movie. His films tend to be reliable, with few really outstanding pieces, although he's always entertaining to watch – his career's spanned the early 80s right through to today. Unfortunately, he acquired some notoriety earlier after one of his mainland fans became so devoted to him that her parents sold their house in order to pay for her to visit Hong Kong and meet him – after the press mockingly covered the story, her poor father committed suicide.

劉德華是個典型的帥氣又圓滑的香港明星——對西方觀眾來說,或許實(shí)在是有點(diǎn)兒過于圓滑了。他擅長飾演迷途知返的“英雄匪徒”,即心地善良的匪徒。他的電影通常是票房的保證,雖然他的電影娛樂性十足,但很少有真正優(yōu)秀的作品——他的職業(yè)生涯從80年代初直至今日跨越了幾十年。不幸的是,之前一位內(nèi)地影迷對劉德華是如此癡迷,以至于她的父母變賣家宅,讓她去香港見他。在媒體戲虞地刊登了這則報(bào)道之后,該影迷的父親就自殺了。此后劉德華被冠以不少惡名。

Lau's also a key example of a peculiar Hong Kong phenomenon, the actor/singer. Virtually no Western film actors have any musical career to speak of (though it's not unknown for British TV actors, such as the chippy Ant and Dec, or mum's favorites Robson and Jerome), outside hobby bands, but it's a regular crossover for Cantonese actors to make. Lau's the most sterling example, being one of the 'Kings of Cantopop' – his smooth crooner's voice doesn't sound like anything special to me, but it's sold tens of millions of records in East Asia, so there must be something there! Maybe it's just marketing …

同時(shí),劉德華還是影視歌三棲發(fā)展的突出代表。這是香港所特有的現(xiàn)象,事實(shí)上,西方電影演員沒人有值得稱道的音樂事業(yè)(雖然如活潑的Ant&Dec;,或是師奶們喜歡的羅布森和杰羅姆這樣的英國電視演員也不是沒有這樣做過),即使有也是隨意玩玩而已。然而,粵語演員向歌手轉(zhuǎn)型卻是慣例。作為四大天王之一的劉德華是最典型的例子——對我而言,他溫柔的嗓音并沒有什么特殊,但是,據(jù)說在東亞,他賣出了成千上百萬張專輯,那么這其中定有什么使他如此成功!也許僅僅是因?yàn)樾麄髯龅暮谩?/p>

Chen Daoming 陳道明

Out of all the Chinese stars, Chen Daoming is probably the least known abroad.That's mostly because this veteran character actor, now in his mid - fifties, has always been more of a TV than a film specialist. His face is instantly recognizable to hundreds of millions of Chinese, but virtually unknown in the West, where his only major role has been as the semi - villainous Qin Shi Huang in Zhang Yimou's epic Hero. He won praise for that role, but you'd be hard - pressed to find anyone out of hardcore Chinese movie fans who recognized him in Europe and America.

陳道明可能是所有中國明星中在海外知名度最低的一位演員。那很可能是因?yàn)檫@位已年過半百的個性演員更多地活躍于電視熒屏。在中國他家喻戶曉,但在西方卻鮮為人知,僅有的重要角色就是在張藝謀的歷史大片《英雄》里扮演的亦正亦邪的秦始皇。他因此角色而獲得了贊譽(yù),但是你很難在歐美的鐵桿中國電影迷中找到能認(rèn)出他的人。

That's a shame, because he's a versatile and committed actor, who disappears into his roles utterly. Unlike the Hong Kong stars, he's never had a private scandal, remaining happily married to the same woman for over twenty - seven years, and content to plug on quietly with his work. Nowadays he specializes in authority figures, mostly sages and emperors; his stern but wise face and his imposing demeanour make him look like everybody's headmaster!

這很是令人遺憾,因?yàn)樗俏欢嗖哦嗨嚩礃I(yè)的演員,完全融入自己的角色中。不同于香港影星的是,他從沒有緋聞,依然與結(jié)發(fā)二十七年的妻子生活在一起,安于默默地工作。現(xiàn)在,他擅長表演威嚴(yán)的人物,大多數(shù)是圣賢帝王。嚴(yán)肅而睿智的面孔、威嚴(yán)的舉止讓他看起來像是每個人的師長。

Notes

1. rise to stardom

意為“成名,獲得名聲”。

Although Lopez's rise to stardom seemed to happen overnight, in truth, the actress had earned her place at the top by consistently plying her exceptional talent.

雖然洛佩茲似乎一夜成名,但事實(shí)上這位女演員是憑借堅(jiān)持不懈地挖掘自己杰出的天分,才掙得到了頂尖位置。

2. carve a way through

意為“從……中殺出一條路”。

The soldiers want to carve out a way through the enemy

戰(zhàn)士們想從敵營中殺出一條血路。

3. be taken under the wing of

意為“得到……的資助、照顧”。

The young singer was taken under the wing of a record shop owner who became his manager.

這位年輕的歌手得到了一家唱片店老板的資助,后來這位老板成了他的經(jīng)理。

4. Not to put too fine a point on it

意為“坦白說,不客氣地說”。

Not to put too fine a point on it, I'm very dissatisfied with his work.

坦白地說,我對他的工作非常不滿意