美国国家公共电台 NPR In 'Planet Of The Apes,' Caesar Embodies A Flawed But Fearless Leader

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

The third and final movie in the "Planet Of The Apes" trilogy opens today. In this retelling of the original movies, the apes are in an epic¹ battle for their survival.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES")

ANDY SERKIS: (As Caesar) Are there more like you, more apes from zoo.

STEVE ZAHN: (As Bad Ape) Dead, all dead long time - human...

MCEVERS: Andy Serkis plays the apes' noble leader, Caesar, in all three movies. NPR's Elizabeth Blair reports that Caesar is both a mythic character and a physically² demanding role.

ELIZABETH BLAIR, BYLINE³: Don't let the CGI fool you. The apes in these movies are played by real actors, except that during filming, instead of costumes and makeup⁴, they're wearing lycra suits with dots marking their bodies and faces. It's called motion capture, and it's an Andy Serkis specialty⁵.

SERKIS: Each marker is placed specifically to pick up the movement on a group of muscles on your face. They track your eyeballs through deformation⁶ of the eyelids⁷. And it allows the artists, the CG artists, to honor exactly what the performance is on the day that you've given.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES")

SERKIS: (As Caesar) Leave us the woods, and the killing⁸ can stop.

BLAIR: Andy Serkis transformed himself to emulate⁹ the posture¹⁰, the gait, the vocals¹¹ of an ape who runs, climbs, fights, rides horseback. In "War For The Planet Of The Apes," Caesar is captured and chained by humans trying to kill off his species. He's dragged in front of the humans' colonel, played by Woody Harrelson.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES")

WOODY HARRELSON: (As The Colonel) Have you finally come to save your apes?

SERKIS: (As Caesar) I came for you.

BLAIR: Serkis says playing the noble Caesar was rewarding and exhausting.

SERKIS: Caesar takes a lot of battering¹² in this movie. He suffers at the hands of the humans once he gets enslaved. And you're pretty much battered¹³ and bruised¹⁴ by the end of a day's filming.

BLAIR: The "Planet Of The Apes" movies are big action blockbusters, but they're also parables¹⁵ of war, power, the environment. And through it all, Caesar is a reflection of what it would mean to be both human and ape. In the story, Caesar was born in a biomedical research lab in California.

SERKIS: His mother was an ape that was being experimented on for an Alzheimer's cure drug. And there's an accident in the facility, and she breaks free and is shot. And so Caesar is an orphan¹⁶.

BLAIR: An orphan who's taken in by one of the scientists and raised like a human. The drug his late mother was given passed to him in utero. And while it's a drug that eventually kills humans, it makes apes more intelligent.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES")

JAMES FRANCO: (As Will Rodman) By age 2, Caesar was completing puzzles and models designed for children 8 years and up.

BLAIR: But eventually Caesar is forced to live in a primate¹⁷ shelter, and it's a pivotal moment for the character. Like the other apes, he's confined to a cage and a small play area and suffers abuse from one of the keepers. He's enraged¹⁸ at the treatment and uses his smarts to organize an escape.

SERKIS: It gives him this unique position whereby he can galvanize all of these apes that are being treated fairly cruelly. And he ends up becoming this revolutionary leader and leading them to freedom.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES")

BLAIR: It's an epic revenge story - apes who've been imprisoned¹⁹, battered, poked²⁰ and prodded²¹ in labs escape to the woods, free to climb, roam and create their own community. But they remain at war with humans. And here's where Caesar's strength as a leader emerges. He's an ape who was raised by humans. He empathizes with both species.

SERKIS: As long as the apes and the humans live separately, they can co-exist.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES")

SERKIS: (As Caesar) Apes do not want war but will fight if we must.

BLAIR: "Planet Of The Apes" director Matt Reeves says Caesar is an example of moral leadership.

MATT REEVES: In wartime, the extremes of the conflicts can drive us to regard your adversary²² as different from you and as monstrous²³. And his greatest strength really is his empathy.

BLAIR: Still, uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. In the new movie, Caesar's moral core is tested. But unlike so many of Shakespeare's powerful characters, Caesar is not corrupt²⁴ or treasonous. He just wants to find a peaceful solution to protect his species.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JANE GOODALL: I found Caesar a character that haunted me.

BLAIR: Primatologist Jane Goodall was interviewed by 20th Century Fox to promote the new movie.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

GOODALL: It certainly made me think about how many humans behave in a much less humane²⁵ way than the character of Caesar in the "Planet Of The Apes."

BLAIR: Goodall hopes the movies will make people think about our own humanity in relation to the animal kingdom. Elizabeth Blair, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF HOMESHAKE SONG, "KHMLWUGH")

1 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

2 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 makeup   

n.组织；性格；化装品

参考例句：

• Those who failed the exam take a makeup exam.这次考试不及格的人必须参加补考。
• Do you think her beauty could makeup for her stupidity?你认为她的美丽能弥补她的愚蠢吗？

5 specialty   

n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长

参考例句：

• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
• His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。

6 deformation   

n.形状损坏；变形；畸形

参考例句：

• The deformation frequencies are not sufficiently distinctive.其变形频率不是十分明显的。
• The calculated deformation is almost equal to the real situation by measurement.经检测，计算变形量与实际情况基本一致。

7 eyelids   

n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色

参考例句：

• She was so tired, her eyelids were beginning to droop. 她太疲倦了，眼睑开始往下垂。
• Her eyelids drooped as if she were on the verge of sleep. 她眼睑低垂好像快要睡着的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

9 emulate   

v.努力赶上或超越，与…竞争；效仿

参考例句：

• You must work hard to emulate your sister.你必须努力工作，赶上你姐姐。
• You must look at the film and try to emulate his behavior.你们必须观看这部电影，并尽力模仿他的动作。

10 posture   

n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势

参考例句：

• The government adopted an uncompromising posture on the issue of independence.政府在独立这一问题上采取了毫不妥协的态度。
• He tore off his coat and assumed a fighting posture.他脱掉上衣，摆出一副打架的架势。

11 vocals   

（乐曲中的）歌唱部份，声乐部份( vocal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Also look out for soaring vocals on The Right Man. 另外，也可留意一下《意中人》中的那高亢的唱腔。
• Lazy bass line, lazier drums, lush violins, great piano and incomparable vocals. 懒惰的低音线，较懒惰的鼓，饮小提琴，棒的钢琴和无比的声音。

12 battering   

n.用坏，损坏v.连续猛击( batter的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The film took a battering from critics in the US. 该影片在美国遭遇到批评家的猛烈抨击。
• He kept battering away at the door. 他接连不断地砸门。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

14 bruised   

[医]青肿的，瘀紫的

参考例句：

• his bruised and bloodied nose 他沾满血的青肿的鼻子
• She had slipped and badly bruised her face. 她滑了一跤，摔得鼻青脸肿。

15 parables   

n.（圣经中的）寓言故事( parable的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jesus taught in parables. 耶酥以比喻讲道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• In the New Testament are the parables and miracles. 《新约》则由寓言利奇闻趣事构成。 来自辞典例句

16 orphan   

n.孤儿；adj.无父母的

参考例句：

• He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine.他把一个孤儿养大，并且把自己的医术传给了他。
• The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters.这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。

17 primate   

n.灵长类（目）动物，首席主教；adj.首要的

参考例句：

• 14 percent of primate species are highly endangered.14%的灵长类物种处于高度濒危状态。
• The woolly spider monkey is the largest primate in the Americas.绒毛蛛猴是美洲最大的灵长类动物。

18 enraged   

使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤

参考例句：

• I was enraged to find they had disobeyed my orders. 发现他们违抗了我的命令，我极为恼火。
• The judge was enraged and stroke the table for several times. 大法官被气得连连拍案。

19 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

20 poked   

v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交

参考例句：

• She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
• His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 prodded   

v.刺，戳( prod的过去式和过去分词 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳

参考例句：

• She prodded him in the ribs to wake him up. 她用手指杵他的肋部把他叫醒。
• He prodded at the plate of fish with his fork. 他拿叉子戳弄着那盘鱼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 adversary   

adj.敌手，对手

参考例句：

• He saw her as his main adversary within the company.他将她视为公司中主要的对手。
• They will do anything to undermine their adversary's reputation.他们会不择手段地去损害对手的名誉。

23 monstrous   

adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的

参考例句：

• The smoke began to whirl and grew into a monstrous column.浓烟开始盘旋上升，形成了一个巨大的烟柱。
• Your behaviour in class is monstrous!你在课堂上的行为真是丢人！

24 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

25 humane   

adj.人道的，富有同情心的

参考例句：

• Is it humane to kill animals for food?宰杀牲畜来吃合乎人道吗？
• Their aim is for a more just and humane society.他们的目标是建立一个更加公正、博爱的社会。