我們時常埋怨現代的孩子難於管教，因為他們反叛，容易學壞，終日沉迷網絡，物質主義強烈。
不過原來在世界的另一個角落裏，人們卻以「濫殺無辜」、「殺人如麻」來形容當地的孩子。他們手執的不是遊戲機，而是真槍；他們的手指只懂扣板機，手槍是送給別人的禮物。十歲未到的娃娃，已懂得吸毒、藏毒、製毒和販毒，聽上去好像很瘋狂，但這卻是每天發生在巴西里約熱內盧周邊的一個貧民窟裏。
巴西電影《無主之城》（City of God; Cidade de Deus; 另譯《上帝之城》）借故事中的「上帝之城」，把這個被上帝放棄的小鎮惡況搬上大銀幕。電影從不同角色的角度，描繪了多名小流氓的事跡。豐富和節奏明快的劇情，述了角色變壞的前因後果，和不同幫會的興起和沒落，當中形形色色的流氓和事件都是有根有據。為求傳神，大部份演員更是從貧民窟中和真實的「上帝之城」找來的。
在這個無法無天的地方，誰當家誰就是法律。電影宛如表述了在貧民窟的生存之道只有同流合污，因為循規蹈矩沒出路，反而做惡霸才會受人景仰。就好像影片完結後加插了一段訪問，受訪者是現實中的一位受害人，他的女友被惡霸強姦，他的家人被槍殺，可是當地警察只抓他，而惡霸卻繼續風流快活。若然覺得狼狽為奸泯滅了良心，那就如男主角一樣膽小怕事才能保命。「胸口掛上勇字」的人，往往出師未捷身先死。
觀看不同國家的電影，可以讓人了解到當地的民情。筆者不禁暗忖，假如這些孩子在另一個環境長大，一切會否不一樣？只不過，當知悉男主角的原形原來是一位出色的巴西攝影師Wilson Rodrigues，再從電影花絮得知戲中的一幫小混混演員，在幾年後真的組成了一個「最」讓當地人聞風喪膽的幫會，並列出通殺的黑名單，這似乎啟示了環境因素只是其中的影響，學好學壞，最主要還是關乎自己的本質，畢竟人性本善，還是本惡，真的不能以偏概全。
(刊於頭條日報《碟影滿人心》專欄[揭頁版][網上版])
《無主之城》（City of God）是一部殘酷得來有趣的巴西電影(即係點 ?)。不過，更有趣的是其幕後花絮。我先放上英文版本，有空的時候，我再做中文翻譯。
來自IMDB :
1. All of the amateur actors were recruited from favelas (slums) in Rio de Janeiro, and a couple of them - eg. Buscapé/Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues) - actually lived in the Cidade de Deus (City of God) itself.
2. When Knockout Ned ('Mané Galinha' in the Brazilian original) kills someone for the first time, some people who live in the City of God approach him and congratulate him for the killing. The first woman to talk to him was played by the mother of the real Knockout Ned.
3. The director was once quoted as saying that if he knew the dangers of filming the movie in a Rio favela, he wouldn't have done the movie.
4. In the DVD commentary track, director Fernando Meirelles reveals that the shot in which we see Alicate, Cabeleira and Marreco through the bumper of the gas truck is a homage/spoof of the TV series "Charlie's Angels" (1976) (the three boys are seen holding their guns pointing to different ways).
5. In order to increase the tension between Dadinho and Marreco, acting coach Fátima Toledo told teenager Renato de Souza (Marreco) to bully the kid Douglas Silva (Dadinho) for 15 days. In the scene where Marreco slaps Dadinho, Douglas Silva started crying and threatened to abandon the movie, so the angry look he gives to Marreco in the movie is real.
6. There's a scene in which the young Buscapé (Luis Otávio) laughs at his brother Marreco (Renato de Souza) after the latter is slapped by their father. The laughter was not scripted, but Otávio couldn't stop it. So de Souza improvised, telling his young brother "not to laugh at him".
7. The scene where the gang prays before the war was not scripted. During the shooting a young boy, who used to be on a real gang, asked director Fernando Meirelles if the group was not going to pray like they always did before any important confrontation with the enemies. Meirelles told him to lead the prayer as they shot the scene.
8. The shot where we see a lot of dead bodies lying on huge blocks of concrete was recreated from an award-winning photograph taken during the drug war portrayed in the movie.
9. During the sequence set in the newsroom, some crew members can be seen - including Art Director Tulé Peak (he's the older guy who grins to Buscapé).
10. When we hear Buscapé (Alexandre Rodrigues) talking to Marina (Graziela Moretto) about how "he never took a hot bath", that was not scripted. Actually, that was Rodrigues and Moretto talking off camera, during a pause in the shooting, when the boy (who lived on the slums) was telling her about his life.
11. The last shot of the movie, where the little boy loses his slipper and comes back to pick it, was not scripted. The incident really happened during the shooting and director Fernando Meirelles kept the take because it helped to highlight the boy's presence.
12. At the end the Runts (Caixa Baixa gang) talk about making a list of people they want to kill. The rat boys grew to become the now feared CV (Comando Vermelho) or Red Command, the most notorious gang in Rio. The CV is also known to have a death list.
13. Leandro Firmino (Zé Pequeno) really was from the City of God and had no ambitions to be an actor, he only went to the audition to keep his friend company.
14. Seu Jorge, who plays character Knockout Ned, is a samba-soul singer with cult-status in Brazil. One of his songs can be found in the City of God's movie soundtrack.
15. The correct translation of the names is: - Buscapé = Rocket (the firecracker type) - Zé Pequeno = Little Zé (Zé comes from José = Joseph) - Dadinho = Little dice - Cabeleira = Big Hair/Shaggy - Mané Galinha = Chicken Mané (Does not imply a coward in Portuguese slang, but usually means "Womanizer") Mané is short for Manuel - Alicate = Pliers - Barbantinho = Little string - Cabeção = Big Head - Filé-com-Fritas = Steak with fries - Paraíba = Paraíba is the name of a state in the north east of Brazil, the state where the character comes from
16. In the English-subtitled version, Mané Galinha is instead called "Knockout Ned". Mané Galinha means "Chicken Manuel" in Portuguese. Because his real name is Manuel and he stole chickens. But in the US, "chicken" is slang for "coward". To avoid that connotation, the name Knockout Ned was created because "knockout" refers to how handsome he was as compared to the "ugly" Little Zé.
17. The B&W footage showing an anchor talking about the prison of "Mané Galinha" is real. The anchor is Sérgio Chapelin, a well-known Brazilian news anchor.
18. The film was not actually shot in Cidade de Deus slum as it was too dangerous. It was shot in a neighbouring, less dangerous area.
19. Fernando Meirelles wanted the cast to be made of people who had never acted before, and professional actors who were not widely known. One such actor was Matheus Nachtergaele whom Meirelles had seen in a play. But while Meirelles was working on the script, Nachtergaele suddenly became a huge star in Brazil after starring in the hit film O Auto da Compadecida (2000). Meirelles was a little disappointed at first but Nachtergaele promised him that he would disappear into the role of Sandro Cenoura so completely that his stardom would not distract from the film. Nachtergaele moved to the real Cidade de Deus where most of the cast lived and lived there for three months to prepare for the role.
20. The character of Buscapé was based on a composite of Paulo Lins, the author of the book "Cidade de Deus", and a childhood friend of his who dreamed of becoming a photographer.
21. The views in black and white taken from satellite, about the new territories controlled by Zé Pequeno, show the real City of God.
22. On the American version of the DVD, the guns are all removed from the hands of the group standing on the DVD cover. They are pointing imaginary guns.
以下含劇情 :
23. During the shooting of the sequence at the motel, when Marreco, Cabeleira and Alicate rob the clients, a real motel was used as location - and it kept working through the shooting. Later on, some clients complained to the management that they heard gunshots in some of the other rooms.
24. One day, during a pause of the shooting the group of kids who played the Runts (Caixa Baixa gang) approached screenwriter Bráulio Mantovani and asked him if it was true that the movie would end with their characters controlling the slum. When he confirmed, they asked if he could write a sequel for them to star in.
25. To prepare the Runt (Caixa Baixa gang) for the scene in which he cries when Zé Pequeno shoots him in the foot, (acting coach) Fátima Toledo worked with the child (who had never acted before) and discovered his biggest fear was having a toothache. So, when the time came to shoot the scene, she told him to just remember his toothache, and when he was shot in the foot, to pretend his toothache pain had moved to his foot.
就是這一場戲了。那名小孩哭得這麼淒厲，大家又信不信他是因為想起牙痛呢 ?
26. The subjective take in which we see Buscapé's point of view, after Zé Pequeno (Leandro Firmino da Hora) is killed by the Runts (Caixa Baixa gang), was shot by Alexandre Rodrigues, who played Buscapé. Photography Director César Charlone insisted on teaching Rodrigues how to handle the camera, telling director Fernando Meirelles that was really important that the boy did the shot, just like his character. Meirelles accepted the suggestion.
沒有留言:
發佈留言