周黎明 (Raymond Zhou's bilingual blog) 用中文写娱评，用英文写时评

从七月初开始，我在《中国日报》上每周发表一篇关于奥运开幕式的猜想。纯属瞎猜，但也得到一些海外媒体的呼应。现在转载过来（sorry，不翻译了），供大家一笑。

Raise the red curtain
By Raymond Zhou (China Daily)
2008-07-02

The Olympic opening ceremony is in rehearsal. But until it is unveiled in the evening of August 8, the extravaganza will remain a State secret, known to only those involved.

What will the performance be like? Will it be the mother of all stadium shows?

Without any inside information - even if we had, we couldn't tell you, or we'd have to kill you afterwards - we'll mount the mother of all educated conjectures, just to intrigue you and make Zhang Yimou's job of creating surprises more difficult. 

Now, we know Zhang, artistic director of the Beijing Olympic ceremonies, is an artist of versatility. He is equally comfortable with art-house flicks and blockbuster epics; he has helmed three tourism-oriented open-air shows and three productions of Western operas. Unless he reinvents himself from the ground up, a Zhang Yimou aesthetic is not difficult to discern. Our guess is based on his existing oeuvre, which we believe reflects and encompasses his artistic upbringing and convictions.

Zhang has a penchant for bright colors.

The trio of films that established him in the international arena, Red Sorghum, Ju Dou and Raise the Red Lantern, all made daring use of the color red. It is a symbol of passion - sometimes forbidden passion. In folk culture, it is also celebratory. Many of the ornaments for Chinese holidays, such as banners, lanterns and clothes, accentuate red as the essential element in the color scheme.

The burst of colors is found in different ways with different implications in his early and late works. The delirious golden shimmer in Curse of the Golden Flower suggests a mental state of the imperial family and may lead to less-than-positive interpretations. However, there is little possibility Zhang will tone down the color saturation in favor of something such as, say, the Taoist colors of black and white. A Zhang production will not be like a demure watercolor - not a chance for the Olympic gala.

A Zhang Yimou production depends heavily on symbols - anything that yells Chinese, from household bric-a-brac to royal ornaments. He has been ridiculed for this predilection. (Sardonic writer Wang Shuo called him a "home designer".) But there is no denying that symbols represent a country more efficiently than a nuanced picture

Given the size of the overseas audience, symbols may be the only way to go. So, expect bicycles, pandas, dragons and the whole mascot army.

Zhang excels at crowd control. Except for the one who lights up the stadium torch, there is little likelihood that any one person will steal the show. Taking a hint from the Spring Festival gala on CCTV, more than one artist may get the honor to sing the theme song.

Geometric formations appear in all of Zhang's stage productions. They can be awe-inspiring, but also lyrical if needed. The dance numbers in Impression Lijiang often feature hundreds of performers. Not everyone likes this kind of group calisthenics or its variations, but it is visually direct and speaks a universal language. Of course, what Zhang concocts will be more artful than what we saw 30 to 40 years ago.

The emphasis on the collective over the individual is not only his preference but also a necessity. How can he highlight solo artists without offending the vast number of artists of similar stature?

However, while the live audience will be astonished by the sheer size of the spectacle, the television screen will need a few close-ups. That's when cute girls in miniskirts playing erhu can be zoomed in on, as he did for the eight-minute segment at the closing ceremony of the Athens Olympics.

China's richness in culture presents a problem: How to boil down the endless varieties into a manageable sampling? What will be considered essential and representative?

He has too much material and his headache is how to whittle down the long list of choices. But the big challenge is how to avoid cliches and retain freshness when faced with domestic and overseas audiences, who may have diametrically opposed expectations.

I have confidence that Zhang will serve up an abundance of crescendos with acrobatic stunts and large crowds, which will set your heart pulsating. What I worry about are the quiet moments necessary to balance the grandness with breathing space. Zen tranquility and Taoist non-action may not be appreciated by the billions of viewers who form the lowest common denominator in taste.

It is easy to crystallize a local or ethnic culture into a consistent style - just look at Zhang's Impression series of live shows at scenic attractions - but China is too diverse. And showcasing diversity may spiral into a laundry list of symbols and totems.

By temperament, Zhang is a child of northern China, with constant restraint punctuated by emotional outbursts, which have found an ideal outlet in excessive use of bright colors and folk elements. He is not as familiar to the southern style of grace and atmospheric creation, something often seen in a traditional Chinese painting or poem.

The show will feature hi-tech wizardry and it will have eye-catching scenes galore.

But will it have originality? Will it please the home audience as well as those who know little about China? Will it leave a lasting impression?

We'd have to wait until the fat lady sings.

1. Following Zhao Bandi, an American teacher at Peking University failed in his attempt to convince moviegoers to boycott Kung Fu Panda with his argument that Chinese children should not watch Hollywood movies.

By his logic, Peking University students should boycott his class and take only classes given by Chinese teachers.

2. John Woo said he was inspired by the giant panda when he named the new-born pony "Mengmeng" in his movie, Red Cliff.

Maybe we should name the American professor in the above-mentioned boycott "Bandi Bandi".

3. Disney is staging three of its classics, Cinderella, Snow White and Beauty and Beast, on a Beijing stage.

Thank goodness they didn't choose Mulan - or they'd have attracted more protestors than fans, including American professors who hate anything produced by Disney.

On second thought, perhaps they should have included the Chinese tale. Sometimes a controversy helps to sell more tickets.

4. Supergirl Li Yuchun announced she would go abroad to "study music", and then put her plans on hold.

Why do Chinese stars always pick the lame excuse of "overseas study"? They should either go totally Chinese by saying they'll hide in a deep mountain and live like a recluse - or take the really exotic route, by pretending to follow an Indian guru.

5. Zhou Bichang, another Supergirl, admitted that she had been "preserved in a fridge", meaning that she had not been offered new gigs after she refused to renew her contract with her record company.

It's time to go to Julliard School for a change, baby.

6. Celebrity entertainers Zhou Xun, Gao Yuanyuan, Chen Kun and Tong Dawei have pledged to take public transport during the Olympic Games to help reduce traffic.

They will no doubt attract so many onlookers on the subway that I should be able to find a less crowded subway car if I simply avoid them.

7. Zhang Ziyi is finally engaged - to a very rich man. A commentator in China wrote, "If you have a daughter, you should have someone like Zhang."

What if Zhang's fiance goes broke someday?

8. The very tacky but very entertaining Sister Hibiscus is reported to have sold a total of eight tickets for her upcoming debut concert.

So sad that she got her name during a time when entertainment is free of charge.

9. Hong Kong star Edison Chen, forced into early retirement after his sex photo scandal, made a three-second cameo appearance in the Hollywood movie The Dark Knight. He plays a security guard and has one line: "May I check in your cell phone, sir?"

最近一阵接受了数不清的采访，中国媒体、外国媒体、报纸、电视、网络……嗯，我得跟吴宇森要工钱，至少要他补偿我的时间。以下是《赤壁》放映前的一篇。
＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝＝
赤壁之战，未完待续 

郭娟／文《经济观察报》

《赤壁》开场字幕，投资方的名字浩浩荡荡拉出来一长串，这部对外宣称耗资8亿的电影的确非一家之力可以完成，8亿这个数字也是中国观众在习惯了听说“大片”动辄耗资上亿以来所达到的最高值，其间各方投资进进撤撤，一荣俱荣，一损俱损，利益、风险并行，除了站在风口上不进则退的几个大头，余众得像孙权那样左右权衡，考量导演吴宇森纪录里《变脸》和《风语者》两个票房极端，以及阵前形势。按照国内电影投资商对票房30％的分成来粗略计算，《赤壁》的票房成绩达到20几亿才能保证收回成本，而之前国内的最高纪录是张艺谋《满城尽戴黄金甲》的3亿票房。影评人周黎明说，这就意味着《赤壁》必然不能只指望国内市场，拉进韩国的投资商作为伙伴早在计算之内，还用了一位表情和口音一样狰狞的日本演员——邻近的韩国和日本也是战略部署重地，而为了适应更为广阔的西方市场，这部以三国乱世作为背景的电影简化人物关系，模糊掉过于复杂的历史线索，都在情理和预料之中。所谓的“脸谱化”，张飞一出场必然是万夫不挡之勇，周瑜需将古琴弹得锃琮作响，刘备则要耗费许多口舌来说明自己是多么爱护老百姓，才能让外国人轻松辨认，此人可杀敌，此人善用计，或者此人宅心仁厚到有惺惺作态的嫌疑。

周黎明说决定一个片子质量的其实是最不花钱的部分——剧本，而大片的故事往往很弱，“这不奇怪，其实这是个规律，好莱坞也是”，大片的编剧往往不只一人，几个人同时工作，再加上导演和制片方的意见，棱角互相抵消，反倒没了小片子里“作者”个人的鲜明特色，“大片的投资都很大，出于商业上的考虑，一般不会把那么重的责任交给一个人。在好莱坞，很多决定权会在制片人手里，国内制片人大多只管钱，导演说了算，这就得看导演个人的能量有多大。”几部“土生”大片让中国观众把几位大导演由外到里看了个透，纵使戛纳和威尼斯的数道光环也遮不住贫血症的面色苍白。中国电影的传统是重观念，商业片的概念的到了1990年代才慢慢有了苗头，而导演们亦不习惯商业片的操作，最花钱的部分也最易学，服装布景自不必说，国内并不输给好莱坞，地广人多，大场面拍得出来，但是特技和细节部分仍有差距。
 
“《赤壁》要看它的成败，成了就是一个学习的范本，败了说明这种方法有问题。也不能完全否定国内大片，其实好莱坞的模式也是有长有短，有规范，但是浪费也很大，工作人员都拿很高的薪水，一个很简单的工作可能要好几个专业人员做。国内拍片子是作坊式的，中国人不笨，一点就通，一个人能干好几个人的活儿，而且这两年的合拍片也是学习的机会，这些都容易，一时达不到的就是特效和细节。” 虽然吴宇森在好莱坞多年，《赤壁》中群众演员的僵硬还是显而易见，未加调教，十分业余，细微处也妨碍了《赤壁》成为一个真正制作精美的商业大片。
 
“我觉得这次吴宇森最大的挑战是怎么兼顾海外和国内观众。如果内行看不出门道，外行看着又不热闹，那就失败了。”兼顾两边观众，李安的《卧虎藏龙》是最成功的例子。单从上半部的《赤壁》来看，没有《卧虎藏龙》那样地行云流水，两位导演都在好莱坞多年，但看出处，一个儒家底子的台湾人，一个是擅长黑帮和暴力的香港导演。《赤壁》里溃败后的刘军营中，处处洋溢着一种解放军“大决战”时的气氛，将士们一身正气，说话掷地有声，小意图全盘暴露。而片中多次提到的“朋友”则更像是小马哥时代“兄弟”的升级版本，义字当头。而周瑜一句，我有一个梦想，那就是团结，上下一心，真正实现了东吴和刘备气质上的联合。

台词得罪的都是本地观众，到现在还没有哪部“古装大片”在放映时能不引起哄笑。吴宇森比几位内地导演的幽默感稍胜一筹，至少不是在需要严肃时惹人讪笑，倒是刻意安排下的“包袱”，诸葛亮的“不冷静”，孙尚香的“匹女有责”和点穴功夫，周公瑾一踏进刘豫州的地盘，见得关云长教一众学龄前儿童念“关关雎鸠”，张飞习书法，而豫州本人正干着老营生，旁边堆起了一座草鞋山，几乎有意在开玩笑。曹操的大将说“我们大哥打这场仗就是为了一个女人”时实在让人忍不住联想黑社会小弟惯常说的“我们大哥砍人原来是为了一个马子”，让人寻着点早年港片的影子。只是那样的轻快活泼在黑帮厮杀或者电光和金属碎片横飞的现代戏里还是让人愉快的调剂，放到《赤壁》这样的皇皇巨制里，忽然间比例失调，如同关东大汉拍着牙板唱“对潇潇暮雨洒江天，一番洗清秋”。布景和场面做得凿实，言语却轻飘飘像江东薄暮里的一缕烟，见得光便轻薄起来。

用明星是商业片的一个基本特点，陈可辛回忆早期电影《甜蜜蜜》时曾说，“别人说《甜蜜蜜》是个文艺片，其实完全不是，不然就该找两个内地演员来演，不会请张曼玉和黎明了。”同样是出于商业考虑，《赤壁》中的几个主角也是用了梁朝伟、金城武和张震等明星，这是票房保证，但真论表演，几位明星对电影的贡献并不大，而周瑜同小乔的一段床戏堪称无中生有，硬是拼贴上去了一段。

不过古装大片的势头也不会因了一个《赤壁》的成败而停歇，大片来自经济利益的驱动，投入大，产出便大，而由于国内目前的审片制度，古装片最易避开政治硬伤和敏感话题——《英雄》中的“天下”观如果不是导演努力解释，任谁也难在那样稀薄的故事中萃取。让人更感兴趣的是吴宇森的古装大片，香港传统加上好莱坞经验，是否能给内地的商业大片新的启示？

回流内地

“香港商业片的传统是一脉相承的，拍电影就是赚钱，这点和好莱坞比较像。拍商业片其实是从市场反着推，和做产品一样，要花多少钱，给谁看，再决定拍成什么样”，周黎明说，“香港导演到内地来拍电影十年前就开始了，香港的市场太小，80年代那种繁荣是不可能再出现了，2003年之后，‘香港电影’就不存在了，变成‘中国电影’，但是也有问题，因为原来很多人喜欢港片因为港片的味道，合拍之后由于审查等各种原因，那个味道也没有了。”

2007年戛纳电影节时，五位香港导演和内地电影公司吉安永嘉同时亮相戛纳，由关锦鹏担任艺术总监，五部筹划中的影片就包括了预计今年上映的徐克导演的《女人不坏》。这似乎是一个十分明确的信号，香港创作和制作团队的经验同内地资金的联合，导演有老有新，有的偏重文艺，有的擅长商业，每部电影投资大小也不同。

当时陈可辛正在香港筹备他的《投名状》，他说不去凑戛纳的热闹了，其实香港的观众不认电影节，发行人喜欢什么，观众就得喜欢什么，但是来内地做电影，发行人说一定要去戛纳，因为内地的记者都在那里，“其实一大票人去了面对的还是中文媒体，我觉得有点别扭，现在内地经济一发展起来都还是乱的，就像英文里讲的anything works,你回来老百姓谁知道戛纳有没有请你。”陈可辛说他其实一直都不太愿意在内地拍戏，因为对超级大片缺少兴趣，“其实越大的片面对的年龄层就降得越低，我一向都是给比较成熟的观众拍电影，所以一直没有回去。直到有一个机会拍《如果，爱》，我才想拍个歌舞片可能能把我原来那种爱情片屏幕拉大一点，在我原来的故事的基础上加元素，让观众觉得我一定要进影院。《投名状》就是要把屏幕弄得更大，因为投资很大，群众演员很多，明星很多。这个是因为市场。”《投名状》脱胎于邵氏老电影《刺马》，是他第一次拍大场面的武戏，要请指导，要磨合，要干自己不擅长的事情。仍然是内地市场的吸引力。

关锦鹏说，“我觉得要是在地方之大，人口之多，有好多的数字告诉我们，电影院的数目在增加，票房在增加，其实是告诉我们，这个地方电影的机缘快来了。”施南生负责吉安永嘉发行部门，“我觉得赖着她对内地、香港，尤其是对海外市场的经验，看完一个剧本以后，如果决定了这个片子的类型，会做一些市场的评估，因为不是所有的华语电影都可以往全世界发行，可能有些电影它在日本、韩国这些东亚的地区潜力比较大。”他说现在同内地的合作比从前更多样和直接，从前合拍片要有内地制片厂的指标，现在也可以和民营公司结合，但对内地市场缺乏了解，还需要很多磨合，国内市场在选材上有比较多的限制，很多东西同意识形态相关，整个制度比不得香港开放。“所以会出现香港电影人跑到内地来找资金、找题材，来磨合的同时，受到一定的规范。”

“80年代中我们出来拍电影的时候还是大公司、大制片厂，像邵氏、嘉禾，导演可以比较安心地拍戏，到今天整个生态已经不一样了，导演对于融资、发行都会有不同程度的参与。虽然永嘉没有制作团队，但是每个工作室都有非常强大的制作团队。永嘉现在有施南生执行的发行部，基本上是可以做一个部署，甚至可以把每个电影的排片，什么时候上映都有一个比较通盘的计划。你说能不能马上变成好莱坞，人家有那么多年的经验和系统在里面，中国真正缺乏的可能是一个系统的建立，经济的起飞是给了电影业很多很好的空间，但是最终到电影发行和制作，资金的来源和运用，一个电影公司怎么经营，有没有一个健全的体系，在拍一个片子之前做好一个计划，这个东西中国还缺。”

中国近几年电影市场的起色仍然表现在大片和小成本电影，中型制作的电影最为稀缺，“中型片应该占的比重最大，至少要占一半，这样生态才健康，因为大片不会去创新，而小片是能给新导演提供一些机会。有人曾跟我说像《疯狂的石头》这样的电影一年应该有上20部。中型片不好可能也有些主观的因素，因为现在投到电影里来的钱很多是黑钱，导演就是为了赚这个钱，有时我看一个电影都能看出来是哪个煤老板或者哪个茶园的老板投的钱，如果做影评人就得天天看这样的电影，那还不如让我去撞墙。”周黎明说。《女人不坏》等五部制作虽然不是《赤壁》这样宏大的制作，但现代题材，中型或者中型偏上的制作，成熟的香港导演，或许能在这个点上给出更多的启发。还要再看。

吴宇森的《赤壁》我曾经给了偏负面的评价，但那是站在《魔戒》的角度。如果我换一个视点，它一点也不输给《特洛伊》。只要你放松心态，《赤壁》甚至可以说非常好看——除了那个难看之极的中分发型。

《赤壁》骨子里是一部非常现代的戏。有一刹那，我觉得赵子龙跟张飞要来一个high five。真的，我稍微数了一下，《赤壁》囊括以下现代话题：

一：同一个世界，同一个梦想

二：We are ready! （出现在英文字幕中，由曹操说出，但可以代表所有角色的心声。）

三：中国足球队夺冠世界杯，而且场场赢，一边倒地赢，赢到全国都像对待乒乓球那样乏味了。（没错，不然怎么叫做“同一个梦想”呢？）

四：十多万难民需要迁徙，最好从灾区搬到江边。刘备如果补上一句台词：“一分希望，百分努力”，我保证电影院全场哭得稀里哗啦。

五：希望工程最新口号：现在读书将来有饭吃

六：DIY时尚——鞋子自己做，结实又环保。

七：帅哥军师的电眼外交，比汤唯那招浅薄露骨的色诱更灵。那场古琴二重奏，以及林志玲黯然的神色，盖过断背山上的牧羊曲。难怪当今世界流行帅哥外交，就凭克林顿那两个长相平平的国务卿，你就知道他的外交不会有起色。到底还是普金更懂中国文化。

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我会在《看电影》专栏写一篇不搞笑的、详细的《赤壁》分析。

1. John Woo's latest epic Red Cliff prescreened to the press in an abridged version about one third of its total length. 

This disappointing highlight overturns the filmmaker's claim that it will be the best movie in Chinese history.

2. Kung Fu Panda has exceeded 100 million yuan in box office receipts in the mainland market.

I told you an ass-kicking panda could make more money than a sitting bamboo-chewing panda.

3. CCTV-5 sportscaster Zhang Bin has emerged from a six-month hibernation imposed after his wife openly accused him of adultery.

Hester Prynne: Do you call that punishment?

Zhang: I'd rather wear the letter A on my chest than vanishing from public view.

4. Tony Leung has denied, for the umpteenth time, that he was not going to tie the knot with long-time beau Carina Lau.

I don't understand why the public is more anxious than Leung's mother. You're not going to hold the baby, or be invited to the wedding, for that matter.

5. Actor Wang Baoqiang, known for playing Forrest Gump-like characters, has just published his autobiography.

It's hard to embellish a true-life rags-to-riches story, but it's worth a try. Who knows, the Wang Baoqiang story may be turned into a movie or TV drama and spawn more money-making ventures.

6. Cecilia Cheung is said to join the cast of Outlaws of the Marsh as the archetypal unfaithful wife Pan Jinlian. 

This sounds like another gee-whiz casting idea that entertainment producers have conjured up from their logic of art imitating life.

7. There was a rumor, later denied, that Wang Gang, host of a Beijing TV show about antique collection, has married Luo Xiyue, hostess of a similar show on CCTV. In an unrelated rumor, Han Han, the second most popular blogger in China, is "chasing" Xu Jinglei, the number 1 blogger.

You see the pattern? The marriage of rivals leads to the creation of monopolies.

8. Shaanxi farmer Zhou Zhenglong has been arrested for faking the South China tiger photos.

But you can't deny that he was an extremely good actor. Even an Oscar winner could have buckled under such public scrutiny, but he held out for quite a long time.

9. The leak of photos from the Dream of the Red Chamber cast is so consistent that the entertainment pages are flooded with these images on a daily basis. 

I have a better marketing idea: leaking photos of photogenic young actresses caught on candid camera in a catfight.

10. In another story about Dream of the Red Chamber, writer Wang Meng openly speculated that Cao Xueqin, author of this classic novel, could be gay. What man would give such detailed descriptions of so many different women, Wang argued.

Many defenders have come out to protect Cao's good name, but not a single critic has sided with Wang. Does this say something about the status of gays in China?

影评人周黎明评《赤壁》：中西方可能都不讨好http://www.sina.com.cn 2008年07月10日10:24  长江商报

　　令全球影迷期待的吴宇森古装大戏《赤壁》(上集)今日零点终于在全国各大影院正式上映。记者昨日电话采访国内知名影评人周黎明，他就看片所得，向本报记者一一解析影片主题、点评演员表现等核心内容。周黎明称，此片整体是写实的正剧，但战争场面没能进一步的升华，他悲观地认为，此片很可能在中西方观众处都不讨好。

　　本报记者　王瑾

　　主题：浅薄，缺少精神内核

　　Q：《赤壁》主题真如吴宇森所言是讲团结？

　　周黎明：影片整体定位是正剧，表现手法很写实，但影片缺少过往华语电影中打斗戏结束后对主题的升华。尽管打斗场景很多，镜头运用也很巧妙，但始终缺少了一点精神层面的内核。同时，吴导过往最擅长的在作品中表现男人情谊的主题，在本片加入了女性角色和爱情戏后，单薄不少。

　　剧情：中外观众都不爱

　　Q：影片故事讲得够圆满？

　　周黎明：因为全片主要演员多达十几人，对不了解三国故事的西方观众而言，可能看完了，还连张飞和关羽都分不清，很难会买账。至于国内观众，因为太熟悉这段历史，又会格外挑剔。而且外界诟病的台词，应当是导演无意识的搞笑，比如我们看片时，听到刘备对诸葛亮说，“你多吃一点，路还很长”，全场人都笑起来，但导演本意肯定绝非搞笑。不过观众已经领略过《夜宴》、《黄金甲》，现在放平心态看此片，也不算太枯燥无味。

　　场景：有些还不如《三国之见龙卸甲》

　　Q：除了谋士的智慧较量，三国故事中著名的几场大战，观众也多是耳熟能详，《赤壁》中的战争场面尤其是大的战争场面，效果如何？

　　周黎明：剧组花费大量人力物力，打造出的战争场面还算大气。在反映阵法上，拍摄手法也相当到位。比如八卦阵的场景，导演选择从空中来俯拍全景，效果相当好。

　　但与过往的《黄金甲》、《投名状》等大片相比，此片打斗戏并无太大进步。在赵云救阿斗的场景上，甚至不如刘德华主演的《三国之见龙卸甲》，《见龙卸甲》中的打斗，层次感分明，尽管有点戏剧的夸张，但观众看得很过瘾。而《赤壁》里，这场戏就太过简易，几个来回的打斗结束后，便草草收场。

　　导演：想突破，结果还不如以前

　　Q：吴导的指导风格和过往比变化大吗？

　　周黎明：变化很大，这次他更像是用好莱坞的手法，来拍摄中国的历史题材。同时，他以往作品中，打斗戏多有华彩，但这次更为写实。他很希望走出一条让国内外观众都能接受的电影路，就在片中刻意将人物关系简单化，结果他只讲好了三个国家头领的故事，却没讲好每个头领手下一组人之间的关系和故事，会让中国观众感觉很不过瘾。

　　演员：表现都不太好

　　Q：内地演员和港台演员谁表现更突出？诸葛亮和周瑜之间真有断背情？

　　周黎明：这部戏里所有演员的表现都不太好，可能是为了让西方观众看得懂，演员们都刻意往浅层次里演。不论是内地的张丰毅，还是港台的梁朝伟、金城武，表演模式都有点端着，但似乎内心又很有城府，起初我不明白，为什么演员都像一个模子里出来的，看到成都首映礼上，他们都说自己的角色像吴宇森，我才恍然大误，原来他们学的是一个原型。我看的武戏部分没林志玲的戏份，倒是赵薇扮演的女英雄形象，演绎模式很有样板戏的味道。诸葛亮和周瑜之间，充其量有一点暧昧，但绝不是断背，不然就成恶搞了。

　　鸽子：鸽子戏最精彩

　　Q：吴导的作品绝对离不开鸽子，《赤壁》里的鸽子元素是否运用得当？

　　周黎明：白鸽用得很巧妙，特效也做得不错，尤其是上集的最后一个场景，借鸽子的视角，来推移镜头，拍摄出了军队的全景和特写，堪称全片最为精彩的部分。相信下集中，这些鸽子还会发挥出更大的效果来。

　　票房：上座率不会低

　　Q：您认为《赤壁》上集的国内和海外票房会怎样？下集是否值得期待？

　　周黎明：就剧情而言，这部影片在日本和韩国应该会比较讨好，因为日韩本身是受三国文化熏陶的国家，票房不会很差。但在中西方市场上，可能两头观众都很难讨好。不过，这部电影的主演本身具备票房号召力，上座率肯定不会低。全片精彩的内容都放在下集里，自是值得期待。

注：我在采访中说，赵薇的孙尚香很像是同样发生在赤壁那一带的《洪湖赤卫队》里的女主角韩英。

今年六月我出版了两本英文书，一本叫做《美哉中国》（China the Beautiful），其中介绍了十多个省市自治区的风景、名胜、文化和人物，另一本叫做《透视中国》（X-Ray: Examining the China Enigma），是我的时评政论集，共收录了99篇。

在此，我含泪奉劝大家，不要买这两本书，因为定价很坑人，属于抢钱行动，行文也不照顾国内读者。不过，你若认识老外，让他们上当受骗，我当做鬼也幸福。《美哉中国》是针对刚来中国仍不太熟悉中国的读者，《透视中国》需要读者对中国有一定的了解。
 
以下是相关资料：

这两本书进了外文书店，也许亚马逊网店也会进货。想省钱的读者，《透视中国》的多数文章在中国日报网站的专栏库中能找到。

X-Ray: Examining the China Enigma is a collection of 99 columns Raymond Zhou wrote for China Daily in the past few years. It is one man’s adventure into the murky world of mostly mundane changes – progress and frustration that make up the tableau of a country in breakneck growth.

Zhou shies away from the big issues that everyone is familiar with; instead, he focuses on controversies that cannot be explained away with broad black-and-white strokes. His keen insight, sometimes infused with biting humor, adds a multi-dimensional hue to what would otherwise be regular issues of the week. 

What makes Zhou stand out is his unique perspective and his acute rationality. He refuses to join in crowd-pleasing choruses, and he does not take any preconceived stands. He appreciates complexity and encourages the reader to do the same.
Vast and sweeping changes are made up of many smaller ones – some expected, others more difficult to digest. By dissecting some of the befuddling happenings of the past few years, Zhou has put a personal mark on cracking the codes – cultural and otherwise – that run the emerging power that is China.

封面

封底 (海外媒体同仁的评语)


China the Beautiful is Raymond Zhou’s paean to his motherland, written after returning home following a long absence, which provided him with new perspectives and new opportunities to travel to places he had previously only read about. It is anything but a guidebook for roughly half of the country’s provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities. 

Zhou takes a multifaceted approach to each place he writes about. His real interest is always in ordinary people – their joys, concerns and anxieties, the breath-taking beauty of the sceneries, and the quandaries between economic growth and ecological preservation.

The book is a kaleidoscopic view of a country on the cusp of change – a country always yearning for something new, yet constantly reminded of its past glory; a country caught between the need for improving living standards for all and the hard decisions of what has to be given up in the process; a country where everything is happening so fast it’s a blur and capturing it with words and images amount to sculpting in time.

Besides portraying everyday lives on the ground and up close, Zhou makes one exception by examining the Great Wall from in an international space station. With the help of an astronaut, he busted, once and for all, he urban myth about the Wall as the only man-made structure visible from outer space.

封面


图片无法显示，请参见时光网帖子。

谨以此文献给周正龙——一个优秀的业余演员，同时是一个三流的道具师傅，不幸落入一个考虑不周的导演的虎口。

  

这篇是几个月前给《看电影》专栏写的，今天摘贴出来，以纪念周正龙大叔受到国家公安的特殊保护。

电影需要纸老虎

老实交代：我有点佩服周正龙，不仅因为他是我本家，更因为他的创意。放眼全国，即便算上那些索取高价的所谓策划人，没几个有我周大叔的创意——极其简单，但效果非凡。上一次看到如此廉价却令人刮目的创意，是一个美国电视广告：一个小老板（指小本经营，不是年纪）在自家店门口王婆卖瓜，想必是没有钱雇用汤唯张柏芝这个档次的代言人，更要命的是，他老实巴交，不善言辞，好在他挺诚实，坦承自己笨嘴笨舌，“跟一块木版似的”。接下来出现了出乎意料的场面，另一个人从屏幕右边入镜头，然后把原来的他（此时成了一块木板）搬走了。

这个广告获了一个广告创意奖，忘了奖叫什么名字。我现在还纳闷：那特效是怎么做的？在同一个镜头中，大活人怎么就变成真人大小的木板了？当然电脑特效无所不能，但那是十多年前的事，作为广告中的超低制作，估计他也花不起撕皮儿伯伯复活恐龙的钱。

当然，周正龙肯定没看过这则广告，否则我就不会夸他了。他跟这位小老板的作品可谓异曲同工，即利用人或动物的纸板或木版照片，制造以假乱真的幻觉。如此一来，他们两位都堪称熟谙电影真谛。我们的媒体宣传经常强调电影的真实性（此处仅指场景和道具），那完全是外行话，是内行骗外行的伎俩。电影场景的关键不是“真”，而是“像”。比如说，电影中砸人脑袋上的玻璃是蜡做的，满脸的血是颜料、番茄汁等。换上真的，会有更多人看吗？肯定不会，我不骗你，否则纪录片的票房早超过故事片了。

 （此处省略N字。）

周老虎的另一败笔就是稳如泰山岿然不动。任凭你怎么拍它，那大虫就是愣盯着你看。它如果猛然一跃，我家大叔便可两百万落入口袋，或者是他落入虎口。在我看来，这就是专业和业余的区别。业余拍摄者没法让纸板（或木版）动起来，而专业的一定不会满足于玩一只死老虎。想当年（1963年）京剧大师盖叫天拍《武松》，那老虎就能动弹，我至今猜不出老虎肚子里藏着一个演员还是两个：一个人会前腿太短，两个人呢，岂不成了狮子玩绣球？

 （此处省略N字。）

※每秒24格的幻象
再退一步，电影的原理就是靠视觉误差：一幅幅静止的图画，以每秒24张的速度出现时，便连接成一串天衣无缝的活动图像。如果只有12张，那么，按照正常速度放映，行人就会像木偶那样走路；如果每秒拍48张，正常放映出来，大概都成了嫦娥舒广袖，飘飘欲仙。周老虎一共拍了四五十张，连放的话大约两秒钟。问题是，能有动感吗？

戈达尔说，电影是每秒24格的真实（或真理）。戈老愤青差矣，电影是每秒24格的幻象（或谎言）。周正龙信誓旦旦，除了有人撑腰外，多半是他自己也信了手中有四五十格的真理。他身上爆发出戈达尔式的执着甚至偏执，对于一个未能靠影像发财的人，实在难能可贵。

（此处省略N字。）

如今的电影早已没有视觉意义的真实性可言，早在1997年的《超时空接触》中，朱迪·福斯特的瞳孔特写，前一半是真的，后一半是电脑画的，原因无它，就是演员做不到长时间不眨眼。由此联想到，我很佩服的一个表演，就是活人演死人，大特写，好几秒，不能喘气，连胸部腹部都不能有一丝动弹。在《阮玲玉》中，那个不长的死亡镜头都补拍了几次，还是张曼玉那样的专业演员呢。有时，我怀疑有些影片中的死人不是演员扮演的，而是模型，任凭你搔痒痒，他都不会醒过来。不信，你去搔一搔周正龙镜头里的华南虎，看它会不会一跃而起？

最近收到很多影迷来信，问我为什么不写《看电影》专栏了。

我没有停，只是暂停。“你是我爷爷”是大地震前写的最后一篇。地震后，我完全没有心情写跟地震无关的文章，停了两期。多谢杂志社的谅解。最新一篇已经交稿，题目叫做“灾难片，一边去”，依然无法走出地震的阴影。

将来会不会停，关键看读者的反应。我一直在尝试新的角度、新的体裁、新的内容，跟电影渐行渐远。读者怨声载道乃意料之中。哪天编辑部一声怒吼：“我们受够了！”那我就真的停了。

我预感这天不会太远了。

为了在肤浅的道路上继续开拓，本周开始写一个新的英文栏目，把一周发生的娱乐事件挑选出十个，然后每个发表一句话评论。不是正经评论，多半属于比较搞的点评。

以下是第一篇：

1. Jet Li has finally been admitted to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which picks the annual Oscar nominees and winners.

 The good news: The Forbidden Kingdom will have a shot at the Oscars. The bad news: The other 5,999 members may not go along.

2. Zhang Jizhong was praised in England for his vision of the Monkey King remake.

The tough thing is, how to make the Chinese audience love him.

3. Han Han has been lambasted for denouncing the writing style of the last century's great Chinese writers.

We have a tradition of turning literary criticism into shouting matches and drama-queen grandstanding.

4. Chen Chusheng, the superboy winner of the last season, is trying to break free from his agency, the company that made him a superstar. 

Who said entertainment marriages end in happily ever after?

5. Rumors say Gillian Chung, the disgraced pop singer from the Hong Kong sex photo scandal, will be paid million for a photo album.

But wait a second - didn't she take more explicit photos for Edison Chen for free?!

6. The fourth season of Prison Break has just released its first trailer.

That's enough of a signal for the volunteer subtitle translators here in China to end their vacations.

7. Rhinoceros in Love, an off-Broadway-type play, is given lavish treatment by the press for its 10th anniversary restaging.

In the human world, a decade can lead you full-circle from love, marriage, the seven-year itch, the tucked-away concubine, divorce and finally, the brand-new trophy wife.

8. China is importing a production of the Italian opera Aida from Egypt, where the story originally took place.

What's next? Butterfly from Japan, Samson and Delila from Palestine, or Swan Lake from the National Zoo?

9. Actress Wang Ji has been complaining about Air China for preventing her mentally handicapped child from boarding the plane.

If she decides to turn the episode into a TV drama, she should probably not seek advertising from the airline.

10. Pretty boy Chen Kun bought an expensive bag for his mom, who, without knowing its value, used it as her shopping bag.

There goes his chance of acting as LV's spokesman.