一.《涉外大飯店》——出人意料的成功

由約翰·麥登（John Madden，曾于1998年導演過極負盛名的《莎翁情史》）執(zhí)導，瑪吉·史密斯（Maggie Smith）、朱迪·丹奇（Judi Dench）、比爾·奈伊（Bill Nighy）、湯姆·威爾金森（Tom Wilkinson）主演的英國喜劇電影《涉外大飯店》（The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel）2012年上映后在英國與全球電影市場獲得了出人意料的成功。影片講述了一群各有各的問題的英國退休老人去印度旅游所遭遇的經歷。他們在退休后為了要享受生活，決定去比較便宜的、充滿神秘色彩的印度旅游度假。根據網上的廣告，他們聯(lián)系了一家剛剛修繕一新的大飯店，生活環(huán)境很舒適安逸。然而當他們到達住地的時候，卻發(fā)現(xiàn)實際情況并非如廣告所述……雖然新環(huán)境不如想象般的舒適美好，但是他們也因此有了一次別樣的生活體驗。

影片的制片布羅德本特（Graham Broadbent）和車爾寧（Peter Czernin）最初從英國作家麥格克（Deborah Moggach）的小說《這些愚蠢的事》（These Foolish

Things）中得到啟發(fā)，決定投拍一部反映英國退休老人生活的喜劇電影，特別借用了外包退休生活的概念和養(yǎng)老方式。但是影片在尋求制片公司投資時遇到了困難，例如，英國著名電影公司Working Title Films認為影片的故事情節(jié)過于老套而拒絕投拍，因此該片是三家小公司聯(lián)合投資的小眾影片。

令人意想不到的是，影片在英國上映后獲得意外成功，第一周票房即高達220萬英鎊，最終收獲了3，100萬美元的票房。美國的票房收入也超過了以前廣受歡迎的《女王》（The Queen， 2006），達到6，900萬美元。最終這部投資1，000萬美元的小眾喜劇片在全球獲得1.37億美元的票房收入，取得了引人注目的成功。

二.旅行、印度、老年危機、英國演員——成功背后的因素

這部影片的促成極大程度上是由于導演本身的“旅行情結”。在平時的工作中，麥登總是能將工作性質的出差和娛樂性質的旅行結合在一起，在陌生的環(huán)境中感受文化沖突與融合，發(fā)現(xiàn)不一樣的故事。也正是這樣的心態(tài)，才造就出了這部講述旅行趣事的影片。

導演麥登將《涉外大飯店》外景地選在了印度的齋浦爾，而他之前的很多電影也把這里作為印度外景地。印度曾是大英帝國時期英國主要的殖民地，被譽為皇冠上的明珠（Jewel on the Crown），其作為東方文明古國與現(xiàn)代英國的巨大文化差異常常成為英國小說、詩歌、電影等探索的主題，在一定程度上反映了英國人的殖民主義或后殖民主義的心理情結，也成為影片的賣點之一。

此外，英倫明星的風采在電影中也是一覽無余。由朱迪·丹奇和瑪吉·史密斯領銜，比爾·奈伊和湯姆·威爾金森搭檔，再加上因《貧民窟的百萬富翁》而成為銀幕新寵的戴夫·帕特爾，整個劇組演員陣容堪稱豪華。對于這一點，約翰·麥登說：“這一群BAFTA（英國電影和電視藝術學院獎）的最佳演員的確是我最大的財富，因為他們不僅有演技，而且擁有最寶貴的經驗。他們明白在外國應該如何去拍片，知道如何去塑造一個角色，也明白該怎么與別人配戲?！?/p>

這些老戲骨所扮演的老年人物可謂各有千秋、珠聯(lián)璧合。例如，朱迪·丹奇所扮演的新近喪夫并負債的家庭主婦伊夫林（Evelyn）性格獨立而倔強，拒絕了兒子的撫養(yǎng)和關懷，來到印度度假養(yǎng)老，并在當地一家話務服務中心擔任語言指導，從而找到了自己的價值。她在影片中的“日記”將影片不同人物的發(fā)展和插曲有機地串聯(lián)起來。比爾·奈伊飾演的忠實的道格拉斯在與妻子共度39年之后終于忍受不了挑剔的妻子，讓妻子一個人回英國，自己卻留在了印度?，敿な访芩箘t飾演孤獨而排外的老保姆一角。湯姆·威爾金森在影片中飾演了一位兒時在印度長大的退休高等法官的角色，他來印度養(yǎng)老度假的目的之一就是尋找少年時代的印度同性戀伙伴。這些各具特色的人物及其經歷不僅僅是個人的問題，也反映了英國退休老人所面臨的“老年危機”。

除了演員外，影片也有著超強實力的幕后團隊：制片人格雷漢姆·布羅德本特、配樂托馬斯·紐曼、攝影本·戴維斯，這樣的實力班底也是影片成功的又一保障。正如導演麥登所說：“因為和才華橫溢的人一起工作，我自己的創(chuàng)造力似乎也得到了提高?！?/p>

這些因素確保了《涉外大飯店》具有較強的文化性和娛樂性，使其獲得了票房的成功以及較為正面的評價。爛番茄電影網站78%的影評給予該片正面評價，平均得分為6.6/10。該網站的綜合評語為：“The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel isnt groundbreaking（開創(chuàng)性的）storytelling， but its a sweet story about the senior set（集合，一群人）featuring a top-notch（一流的）cast of veteran actors.”另外一家主要娛樂網站Metacritic則基于35篇影評給予該片62/100的評分。

《舊金山紀事報》（San Francisco Chronicle）影評人米克·拉塞爾（Mick LaSalle）認為《涉外大飯店》是“a rare reminder from movies that the grand emotions are not only for the young and the middle-aged”， 贊揚影片“too well made to be dismissed and contains too much truth to be scorned（輕視）.”《芝加哥太陽時報》（Chicago Sun-Times）著名影評人羅杰·易伯特（Roger Ebert）稱贊該片為“a charming， funny and heartwarming movie [and] a smoothly crafted entertainment that makes good use of seven superb veterans（老演員）.”《今日美國》（USA Today）影評人柯勞迪亞·普易格（Claudia Puig）贊揚該片為“a refreshing， mature fairy tale with a top-notch ensemble cas（t全體演員）”?！稘L石》雜志（Rolling Stone）影評人彼得·特拉沃斯（Peter Travers）高度評價了這群英國老戲骨精湛的演技：“with a lesser（較次的）cast， the movie would be a lineup（陣容）of TVmovie（電視電影）clichés（老套，老生常談）. But this is a cast that never makes a false move even when the script settles for（無奈接受）formula（公式，配方）.”雖然也有一些負面評論，例如批評該片在對待印度時仍然流露出英國人的殖民主義和東方主義觀點，但總體來說大多數評論是正面的。

三.故事情節(jié)

Recently widowed housewife Evelyn （Judi Dench） must sell her home to cover huge debts left by her late husband. Graham （Tom Wilkinson）， a high-court judge who had spent his first 18 years in India， abruptly（突然地）decides to retire and return there. Jean （Penelope Wilton） and Douglas （Bill Nighy） seek a retirement they can afford， having lost most of their savings through investing in their daughters internet business. Muriel （Maggie Smith）， a retired housekeeper prejudiced against Indians， needs a hip replacement operation（髖關節(jié)置換手術）which can be done far more quickly and inexpensively in India. Madge （Celia Imrie） is hunting for another husband， and Norman （Ronald Pickup）， an aging Lothario（登徒子，色狼）， is trying to recapture his youth. They each decide on a retirement hotel in India， based on pictures on its website.

When the group arrives at the picturesque hotel， they find an energetic young manager Sonny （Dev Patel） but a dilapidated（荒廢的）facility， not yet what he had promised. Overwhelmed by the cultural changes， Jean often stays inside at the hotel， while her husband Douglas explores the sights（風景，名勝）. Graham finds that the area has greatly changed since his youth and disappears on long outings（短途旅游）every day. Muriel， despite her xenophobia（仇外，排外）， starts to appreciate her doctor for his skill and the hotel maid for her good service. Evelyn gets a job advising the staff of a call centre（呼叫中心，電話服務中心）on how to interact with older British customers. Sonny struggles to raise funds to renovate（更新，修復）the hotel and sees his girlfriend Sunaina （Tena Desae）， despite his mothers disapproval. Madge joins the Viceroy Club（酒店俱樂部）seeking a spouse， where she is surprised to find Norman. She introduces him to Carol （Diana Hardcastle）. He admits he is lonely and seeking a companion， and the two begin an affair.

Graham confides in（向……吐露秘密）Evelyn that he is trying to find the Indian lover he was forced to abandon as a youth. Social-climber（攀高枝者，攀龍附鳳者）Jean is attracted to Graham， and makes a rare excursion（短途旅行，遠足）to follow him， but is humiliated when he explains he is gay. Graham reunites with his former lover， who is in an arranged marriage of mutual trust and respect. Reconciled（重歸于好，和解）， the Englishman dies of an existing heart condition（心臟病）. Evelyn and Douglas grow increasingly close， angering（激怒）his wife， which results in an outburst（爆發(fā)）from Douglas denouncing（宣告廢除）this marriage. Muriel reveals that she was once housekeeper to a family who had her train her younger replacement（替代者）and now， having been forced out of the home and into retirement， she feels that she has lost any purpose in her life.

Sonnys more successful brothers each own a third of the hotel and plan to demolish（拆毀）it. His mother（Lillete Dubey） agrees and wants him to return to Delhi for an arranged marriage. Jean and Douglas prepare to return to England after money is found through their daughters company. Jean eagerly awaits returning to England， but Douglas is more hesitant. Now that the hotel is closing against Sonnys wishes and pleas（懇求）， Madge prepares to return to England， and Norman agrees to move in with Carol. Madge， after encouragement from Carol and Muriel， decides to keep searching for another husband.

Sonny， encouraged by Evelyn， finally tells Sunaina that he loves her. He confronts his mother， who first forbids the match but then is persuaded by Young Wasim， who speaks no English. He explains that he once knew another man who wanted to marry a smart beautiful woman against his familys wishes. Sonnys mother interprets for Young Wasim， realizing he is talking about her， and she finally gives the couple her blessing. She asks Sunaina to take good care of her “favourite son”. Before the remaining guests can leave， Muriel reveals that her experience running the familys household gave her the knowledge how to balance a budget and that the hotel can make a profit. She approaches Sonnys investor privately and then invites him to visit the hotel to discuss matters with Sonny. The investor agrees to fund Sonnys plans for renovation so long as Muriel stays on as an assistant manager.

All the guests agree to stay—except Jean and Douglas. Due to their daughters long-awaited（期待已久的）success， they decide to return home but on the way to the airport， their taxi gets caught in a traffic jam. A rickshaw（人力車）driver says that he can take only one of them. Jean sees it as a sign that it is time to split with Douglas； she bids him farewell and departs. He winds up （以……告終）at another hotel， discovering that its nothing more than a brothel（妓院）and drug den（窩巢，賊窩）， and spends the rest of the night wandering the streets. He returns to the hotel just as Evelyn is leaving for work， and asks when shell be back. A closing montage （蒙太奇，剪輯）with a voiceover（畫外音，畫外解說）shows Muriel checking in customers in an elegant renovated lobby， Madge dining with a handsome older Indian man， and Norman and Carol living happily together. Sonny and Sunaina are shown riding a motorbike and passing Douglas and Evelyn on another bike.