My Blueberry (Friday) Night

去看My Blueberry Nights 的夜晚空气中好像也有blueberry的沁甜. 周五下班的夜晚, 和同事一起, 轻松随意.

一直很好奇王家卫拍英文电影是什么样子. 结果发现, 他一向只言片语的风格这次显得有点突兀了, 剧中人长长久久的凝望, 欲说还休的对白, 给人的感觉只能用一个词形容--很亚洲. 难怪同事看了都喊慢. 但是对我个人来讲, 滤去了这层表达手法上的生涩之后, 电影本身的情节与深意我还是很喜欢.

心碎的Elizabeth (Norah Jones) 离开纽约, 一路飘荡. 在Tennessee目睹另一场比她自己的故事更加惨痛的破碎. 那一刻她知道, 不是你的终究不是你的, 而生活仍然要继续. 于是继续飘, 在Nevada遇到那个从不相信别人的赌场女优Leslie (Natalie Portman.) 经历争执经历碰撞之后, Elizabeth重新找回自己. 于是带着这个全新却又是真实的自己, 她回到纽约, 在Jeremy (Jude Law) 为她舔去嘴角奶油的清晨, 深情回吻.

感动于这个故事表现心历路程时候的细腻委婉. 它给Elizabath充分的时间和行程审视内心, 也给观众足够理由相信她的重生. Elizabeth和Leslie在公路上分道而行的那场戏或许每个人都会有deja vu--人生路上我们遇到多少的人, 能不能做朋友不能强求, 也不太重要, 有幸的是能在他们身上看到自己. 正如Elizabeth的话外音里讲, Other people are mirrors that we use to reflect ourselves. Each reflection just makes me like myself a little bit more. 经历过这样soul searching再回到纽约的Elizabeth, 才能全心全意地接受另一次开始--不用困惑究竟是寂寞难耐还是内心酸楚才喜欢那个为她留blueberry pie的男人, 喜欢是因为自己而不是要摆脱过去. 她仿佛回到原点, 却已经在原点之上. 她说, it took me almost a year to cross the street. 这种感觉我懂.不是说你在一年里做的每一件事都是为了去跨过那道坎，只是在经历了一些看似无关的事之后，某一天会蓦然发现，原来自己不知不觉中已经走过去了，又有勇气面对自己内心，拥抱另一次开始. 由此释然.

关于演技, Norah Jones 显然是太平了, 而Jude Law一如既往的完美, 我对近乎完美的男人一直是心生恐惧的. 最出彩的还是Natalie Portman, 最近她的角色里很少有重复的类型, 虽然也有相对平庸的(比如The Other Boleyn Girl 里的 Anne Boleyn) 或是无人问津的 (比如 Goya’s Ghosts), 但是看得出小妮子很努力. 这次的那个弔诡的Leslie隐约有着当年13岁叛逆的 Mathilda的影子, 想必让喜欢了那么多年Natalie的你我会心一笑.

需要草根精神的PR

源起这篇文章的一点想法:

1.国家的形象工程是全方位的.正如文章里提到, 即使是像Weber & Shandwick 那样的大牌公关公司能做的也是有限的.换句话来说, 今次的被动究竟有多少是PR可以补救的? 许多牵涉到意识形态等等造成的误解和敌对, 不是仅仅靠包装就可以轻易改变的.

2.但是能够懂中国又讲国际语言的人也确实太少,或者说和中国的人口比起来,实在太悬殊.最近利用网络媒体的grassroots PR battle正如火如荼, 先不问影响力, 也不用害怕被动, 有觉醒就是第一步.

The Newseum

A brand new museum of journalism recently opened in D.C. See Edward Rothstein's review from this past Friday in the NYTimes.

With the First Amendment carved on the facade of the building, the Newseum at Pennsylvania Avenue becomes a landmark in the capital. As Rothstein puts it--

It is fitting too to stress the importance of the First Amendment since with it, as the museum says, the United States "became the first country in the history of the world to acknowledge the right to press freedom in its constitution.

As I was reading the review, I couldn't help thinking that this notion seems rather ironic given the latest controversy on unrealistic Tibet coverage.

To Live at the Moment. To Love

Saw Rent for the second time at the Nederlander Theater. The same place, but better seat, and I was even more blown away than two years ago. I suppose it takes age and experience to truly comprehend the bohemian spirit behind it, although in the past two years I haven’t done much other than moving to the kingdom of these bohemians. They live underneath the flashy skin of the city. They drift, survive, and are sometimes torn apart, but they simply lived and loved.

To live at the moment, and to love—I love Rent because of this bold and powerful message. As complicated as life can get, sometimes you will just have to seize the moment and capture one minute of shine out of the five hundred twenty five thousand and six hundred minutes in a year.

Nothing depicts this better than my favorite song Seasons of Love. Such brilliant lyrics—How do you measure a year in the life? In daylights, in sunsets, in inches, in miles, in laughter, in strife? But, how about love? Measure in love.

原来叫"非洲人"更加PC

The Shanghaiist is picking on Xu Jinglei's "Political Incorrectness", which I thought was quite funny. If he understands how the homogeneity of Chinese society has shaped people's perception on racism (or lack thereof), he will know how nitpicking he is in this case. Apparently, Lao Xu is already being all bonding and stuff with the "Hei Ren Xiong Di," which is already way more liberal than maybe 80% of the Chinese public. But on the other hand, I'm not saying that it's okay for Chinese people to hide in their own shell and be justified for the ignorance towards other ethnicities. Apparently, it's created some big troubles lately, as all of us know...

uhh...define the "American-ness"?

Saw Justin Davidson's guest piece at Alex Ross' blog, thought it was a tad snarky of him to conclude that these renowned Chinese artists represent "an American showcase" in their artwork.
It's true that Tan Dun's music has always blended in the western elements, and it's true that Cai Guo-Qiang's art is especially breathtaking in the way it embraces different cultures and perspectives, but I would hardly agree that a certain level of hodgepodge in their artwork is necessarily "American." I wouldn't even say that these arts are a Chinese showcase, even though their inspirations are deeply rooted in the ancient Chinese aesthetics and philosophy--the Taoism influence in Cai's paintings and the melancholy in Tan's music. What makes these transnational artists stand out is the profoundity they've gained in understanding both the East and the West, and the way they've created a melange of these different elements in their own artistic interpretation. Therefore, to overemphasize the American-ness--if truly so--in their art is quite biased and, I'd say, egoistic.

暗夜里起舞

周日在Angelika看The Counterfeiter. 两个小时被深深笼罩在二战的惨白历史记忆里,以至于走出电影院的时候,都有点不太适应傍晚依然晴好的阳光. 周末的Village闲散安逸, 人群中我却只是不辨方向地踏过一条条街, 任由耳机里的Tango轻轻荡开, 仿佛在以这种方式保存电影带给我的静默.

故事据说是真实的.德国的犹太集中营里, 男主角Sally因为有着超凡的伪造纸币技术, 而受到纳粹重用. 于是他在条件相对"优越"的集中营里, 和难友们一起, 在灭绝人性的环境中, 在道德挣扎的悬崖边, 求得生存.

集中营的电影不是第一次看. 前两部都是电影史上的巨作, Schindler's List和 Life Is Beautiful. 相对于Schindler的凝重压抑和Life的笑中有泪, The Counterfeiter更多体现出的是一种市侩的智慧. 因此在同类题材的电影里, 就显得不那么大悲大喜. 然而影片的份量并未因此而减轻. 它的重, 落在了男主角不动声色不苟言笑的内心戏里. 他求生的意志坚定,可是民族的仇恨与屈辱却无时不刻不在拷打着他的道德底线. 他于是用尽全力去保护周围的难友, 以寻求良心上的平衡. 他不断提醒Burger只有活下去才能战胜敌人; 他严正警告Zilinski不能出卖同胞; 他为了治愈得肺炎的Kolya去向纳粹换药, 当年轻的Kolya最终被击毙的时候他在影片中唯一一次痛哭流涕. 尽管导演最后用Burger感激的眼泪肯定了Sally的正义, 电影并没有把Sally塑造成一个英雄人物. 战争结束后, 他没有指望会有人感恩戴德. 对他来说, 在赌场里一夜之间输完一箱伪钞的挥霍, 和海边有红颜相伴的一曲Tango, 才是生活的高潮与宁静.

影片里无处不在的Tango舞曲优雅凄艳, 却动人心魄. 这类讲困顿中求生的电影, 音乐始终都是不可缺少的因素. Life Is Beautiful里, 男主角到广播站里偷偷放与妻子相识时的歌剧, 以此向她报平安. The Shawshank Redemption里也是有人在监狱的喇叭里放起女高音, 让禁锢的灵魂获得片刻的自由. 而The House of Sand, 更是用沙漠中的琴声撩拨起女主角尘封以久对文明的渴望. 而这一次, 集中营里难友聚在一起唱的歌, 和深夜Sally独自舞起的tango, 又被作为人性和美好的象征, 即使是在最黑暗的境地里, 一旦有音乐萦绕在心头, 都会给人希望与力量.

最后一点, 不得不佩服德国这个民族的直面历史的勇气. 与其它不少二战电影一样, The Counterfeiter把纳粹的冷血表现得淋漓尽致, 丝毫没有要遮掩的意图. 前几天看到时代周刊的一篇文章, 说德国最近有一个展览, 展出的是根据希特勒当年重建柏林城的蓝图而造的模型. 展览的地址特意选在了一个重要的犹太纪念碑附近, 组织者很小心地不要让模型的恢弘演变成对权力的仰慕. 这个曾经带给人类社会两次大规模灾难的德意志民族, 在历史面前, 却有着一种非常虔诚与谦卑的敬畏, 实为可贵.

起因

喧哗了很久, 最近又有了心静的念头.
看似是一时兴起, 却恍然大悟原来很长一段时间的积累或者弯路, 都是在往一个地方去的.
生活有时就是这样神奇, 柳暗花明.

想开一个能够拿出来见人的blog, 是觉得自己是时候走过一个阶段了.
小情小感自然是生活一部分, 那么久以来也很有幸有好友聆听. 只是心知, 自己不安于如此狭小空间. 就像我纽约的拥挤公寓房子, 虽然也温馨简单, 但终有一天要离开.

最近遇到一个朋友. 他问我说, 你上一次做着自己很喜欢的事情是什么时候呢?
这个问题不知怎么答, 但是脑子里立马跳出一个词--大二.
那一年最享受的是不停地读与写. 尽管大学四年一直是不停地读与写, 但是大二那时的学习的过程中却是感性和理性结合得刚好. 一路风光旖旎, 一路不停思考. 这样的时刻很难得.

回到现实中来, 那是周三的上午, 一个星期最忙的时候, 我在midtown 21楼的办公桌前机械性得摆弄 Excel.
连续两天阴雨之后, 这天早上的阳光很好, 瞬间给人无穷无尽的能量.
我背对阳光, 心里却顿然一亮, 仿佛那很久以来若隐若现的寻找突然有了答案.
我知道做自己喜欢的事情时是怎样的一种感觉: 在信息纵横间, 耳目顿开, 然后用敏感触觉尽情体会, 缜密思考. 因为所学而获取自信, 也因为看到了自己的渺小而谦逊.
这样的一种满足感, 怎能就在朝九晚五中被遗忘了呢?

所以想要开始写这个blog. 想提醒自己, 沿途的风景是否美丽或许不在你掌控之中, 但是思考的习惯却从来不该停止.
只要有阳光, 周三的办公室里也可以思维鲜活.