美国国家公共电台 NPR The Score Of 'The Last Black Man In San Francisco' Sounds Like No Other In 2019

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

"The Last Black Man In San Francisco" is a new film about how that city has transformed in ways that have benefited the wealthy and harmed its black residents. It's also a fairy tale about a deposed¹ prince. And, as Tim Greiving reports, it required a grand fairy tale score.

TIM GREIVING, BYLINE²: Director Joe Talbot grew up obsessed³ with lush, melodic⁴ scores for films like "The Last Of The Mohicans" and "The Piano."

(SOUNDBITE OF MICHAEL NYMAN'S "THE PROMISE")

GREIVING: When he finally got to direct "The Last Black Man In San Francisco," his first feature film, he didn't want to play it safe with the score.

JOE TALBOT: Jimmie's story in the film - him being sort of this deposed prince who's banished⁶ to the outskirts⁷ of San Francisco and has this "Odyssey"-like journey to get back home and reclaim⁸ his family throne - we hoped that it would justify⁹ having big music because it felt like, you know, it came from the fabric¹⁰ of the movie.

(SOUNDBITE OF EMILE MOSSERI FEAT⁵. MICHAEL MARSHALL'S "YOU'RE NOT BETTER THAN US (DEMO)")

GREIVING: The character of Jimmie Fails is played by Jimmie Fails, Talbot's friend since high school. Fails' life inspired the movie and the emotions of the music.

TALBOT: I mean, it just fits because of how it feels. It's, like, how do you feel when you listen to it? It just goes together.

GREIVING: In the movie, Jimmie's obsessed with this grand house that he proudly says was built by his grandfather, and he winds up squatting¹¹ in it with his best friend, Montgomery.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO")

JONATHAN MAJORS: (As Montgomery) I don't know how much longer we can keep doing this.

JIMMIE FAILS: (As Jimmie Fails) I'm not leaving. I'm the last one left.

MAJORS: (As Montgomery) I'm with you, bro.

TALBOT: It's, like, a movie about dreams and your imagination and nostalgia¹². And those things in our hearts, I think, can feel so big that if there was a way to tap into that musically, it was going to be important.

GREIVING: Talbot had a hard time finding a composer to match his big dreams for the score until he met Emile Mosseri. This, too, was Mosseri's first feature film.

TALBOT: The exciting challenge was figuring out how we wanted to romanticize San Francisco because, you know, we see New York time and time again, romanticizing it on screen with music, whether it's jazz or Gershwin.

TALBOT: To create a musical language for San Francisco, Mosseri looked to the music of European impressionists and French film composers since the city was once compared to a European seaport¹³ town. He wrote virtuosic¹⁴ music for woodwinds and highlighted brass¹⁵ to convey the regality of Jimmie's San Franciscan castle.

(SOUNDBITE OF EMILE MOSSERI FEAT. MICHAEL MARSHALL'S "WHATEVER GETS YOU THROUGH THE NIGHT")

GREIVING: He also looked to the city's pop music heritage - artists like Janis Joplin and Jefferson Airplane - and wrote some of the score, like the central friendship theme, with a lyrical, song-like approach. This almost hymnal theme for chorus and pipe organ features the voice of baritone Ralph Cato.

(SOUNDBITE OF EMILE MOSSERI FEAT. MICHAEL MARSHALL'S "THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO (PRELUDE)")

TALBOT: His voice almost became the - like, the ghost of Jimmie's grandfather. You know, and in combination with the organ, it created this sanctuary¹⁶ music that felt spiritually connected to Jimmie's relationship to the house.

GREIVING: Mosseri's score gives the film an extra layer of poetry, of transcendence. Its music for the way Jimmie feels about his old house and his city. Director Joe Talbot knew he was taking a swing with such an overt¹⁷, grandiose¹⁸ score, but...

TALBOT: When I first heard the piece that Emile wrote over the opening credits, which became the theme for Jimmie and the house with that oboe line...

(SOUNDBITE OF EMILE MOSSERI FEAT. MICHAEL MARSHALL'S "KING JIMMIE (SUITE)")

TALBOT: I just cried. Oh, man. After a lifetime of listening to great movie scores, I think that I get to have one in one of - in a film that I made.

GREIVING: A film that sounds like no other in 2019.

For NPR News, I'm Tim Greiving.

1 deposed   

v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证

参考例句：

• The president was deposed in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被废黜。
• The head of state was deposed by the army. 国家元首被军队罢免了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 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。

3 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

4 melodic   

adj.有旋律的，调子美妙的

参考例句：

• His voice had a rich melodic quality.他的音色浑厚而优美。
• He spoke with a soft husky voice in a melodic accent.他微微沙哑的声音带着一种悠扬的口音。

5 feat   

n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的

参考例句：

• Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
• He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。

6 banished   

v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was banished to Australia, where he died five years later. 他被流放到澳大利亚，五年后在那里去世。
• He was banished to an uninhabited island for a year. 他被放逐到一个无人居住的荒岛一年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

8 reclaim   

v.要求归还，收回；开垦

参考例句：

• I have tried to reclaim my money without success.我没能把钱取回来。
• You must present this ticket when you reclaim your luggage.当你要取回行李时，必须出示这张票子。

9 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

10 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

11 squatting   

v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的现在分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。

参考例句：

• They ended up squatting in the empty houses on Oxford Road. 他们落得在牛津路偷住空房的境地。
• They've been squatting in an apartment for the past two years. 他们过去两年来一直擅自占用一套公寓。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 nostalgia   

n.怀乡病，留恋过去，怀旧

参考例句：

• He might be influenced by nostalgia for his happy youth.也许是对年轻时幸福时光的怀恋影响了他。
• I was filled with nostalgia by hearing my favourite old song.我听到这首喜爱的旧歌，心中充满了怀旧之情。

13 seaport   

n.海港，港口，港市

参考例句：

• Ostend is the most important seaport in Belgium.奥斯坦德是比利时最重要的海港。
• A seaport where ships can take on supplies of coal.轮船能够补充煤炭的海港。

14 virtuosic   

adj.艺术名家的，艺术品收藏家的；乐器演奏能手的

参考例句：

15 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。

16 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

17 overt   

adj.公开的，明显的，公然的

参考例句：

• His opponent's intention is quite overt.他的对手的意图很明显。
• We should learn to fight with enemy in an overt and covert way.我们应学会同敌人做公开和隐蔽的斗争。

18 grandiose   

adj.宏伟的，宏大的，堂皇的，铺张的

参考例句：

• His grandiose manner impressed those who met him for the first time.他那种夸大的举止给第一次遇见他的人留下了深刻的印象。
• As the fog vanished,a grandiose landscape unfolded before the tourists.雾气散去之后，一幅壮丽的景观展现在游客面前。