基努·里维斯在电影《康斯坦丁》中勇斗恶魔

Keanu Reeves Fights Demons² in New Film Constantine

基努·里维斯在电影《康斯坦丁》中勇斗恶魔

 

(Movie Lines)

 

"I need to see what you see."

 

"You do this and there's no turning back. You see them and they see you. Understand?"

 

John Constantine has the ability to see "them" - the demons and angels that, in the world of this film, are all around us.

 

(Movie Lines)

 

"What if I told you that God and the devil had made a wager³ for the souls of all mankind? No direct contact with humans - that would be the rule - just influence. See who would win. They call it 'the balance.'"

 

Armed with religious icons⁵ and knowledge of obscure, ancient texts, Constantine performs exorcisms and tries to keep the evil from dominating life in Los Angeles; but it becomes clear something is tipping the balance:

 

(Movie Lines)

 

"A demon¹ just attacked me right out in the open on Figueroa. Not some angry half-breed, Midnight, a full-fledged demon here on our plane."

 

"Clearly I do not have to remind you that is impossible. Demons stay in hell, angels in heaven: the great detente of the original superpowers."

 

"Thanks for the history lesson, Midnight."

 

Keanu Reeves stars as Constantine, bringing to life the character from the Hellblazer graphic⁶ novels or comic books.

 

Keanu Reeves: I wasn't familiar with the character before I read the script; and when I read the script and then familiarized myself with the work, I saw that what was important was the essence of Constantine. We worked really hard to keep that aspect of it, because it's really what it's all about: that kind of hard-edged, hard-boiled, world-weary, cynical⁷, fatalistic, nihilistic, self-interested ... with a heart ... guy. And I think we did. I mean I hope so. I hope that fans of the comic don't feel that we sabotaged⁹ something that is so well-loved.

 

(Movie Lines)

 

"Are you still trying to buy your way into heaven?"

 

"What about the minions¹⁰ I've sent back. That alone should guarantee my entry ..."

 

"How many times have I told you: that's not the way that this works."

 

"Haven't I served Him enough? What does He want from me?"

 

"Only the usual: self-sacrifice, belief."

 

There is religious symbolism and ritual woven through what is essentially¹¹ a horror-thriller; but Reeves believes it is appropriate.

 

Keanu Reeves: The piece itself is using icons and a platform - a kind of Catholic, heaven and hell, God and devil, human souls, fighting for those -- but I was hoping that these concepts could become a platform that are humanistic. You know that this kind of journey of this particular hero is, hopefully, relateable to; even though there are such fantastical characters and situations that, you know that is still a man trying to figure it out.

 

Rachel Weisz co-stars as Angela, a police detective who turns to Constantine because she believes he can help her solve the mystery of her twin sister's death.

 

(Movie Lines)

 

"Just before my sister was committed she became deeply paranoid. She started talking about demons and angels. I think someone got to her, Mr. Constantine. I think they brainwashed her into stepping off that roof."

 

The English actress whose hits include the two Mummy films, admits horror is not her favorite genre¹²; but she found this one different.

 

Rachel Weisz: There's something about it that I couldn't get out of my head - something about the world that it created and something about the character in the midst of it. I thought she was a very interesting character: she was someone who was haunted by her past and she was just complex and how many layers. And she was just an interesting female role.

 

Director Francis Lawrence makes his feature film debut¹³ with Constantine after a successful career making music videos.

 

Francis Lawrence: I didn't want to make a 'comic book' movie, even though it is based on a comic book, so I didn't want to go down that path of comic book movie cliches. I did want to focus on character and story, so I tried to root it in a reality; but there's also kind of a timeless quality to Constantine. He seems somewhat like a timeless character and it also has some noir and hard-boiled aspects to it, so I wanted to capture that.

 

They are qualities and themes reminiscent of the three Matrix movies; but Reeves says it's a classic hero's journey so that, like Neo in The Matrix, this character has to face his destiny.

 

Keanu Reeves: Learning about this kind of curse that was given to him as a kid - 'a gift,' another character says, but Constantine doesn't see it quite like that and I think that part of the journey is Constantine understanding his life and the circumstances. He comes to a kind of ambivalent¹⁵ peace, of sorts.

 

(Movie Lines)

 

"Why me, Gabriel?"

 

"You are going to die young because you smoked 30 cigarettes a day since you were 15 and you're going to go to hell because of the life you took."

 

Constantine was filmed on location in Los Angeles and the international cast features Tilda Swinton as the angel Gabriel; rock musician Gavin Rossdale [of the band Bush] plays the suave¹⁶ demon Balthazar; Djimon Hounsou is the hero's Earthly ally; and Peter Stormare personifies evil as Satan.

 

Alan Silverman for the Voice Of America in Hollywood.

 

注释：

wager [5weidVE] n. 赌注

icon⁴ [5aikRn] n. 肖像，标志

obscure [Eb5skjuE] adj. 暗的，晦涩的

exorcism [5eksC:sizEm] n. 驱魔

Hellblazer 漫画小说《地狱侦探》

essence [5esns] n. 本质

hard-edged 轮廓鲜明的

hard-boiled 无情的

world-weary 厌世的

cynical [5sinikEl] adj. 愤世嫉俗的

fatalistic [7feitE5listik] adj. 宿命论的

nihilistic [9naii5listik] adj. 虚无主义的

self-interested 自我本位的，利己主义的

sabotage⁸ [5sAbEtB:V] v. 破坏

ritual [5ritjuEl] n. 宗教仪式，典礼

weave [wi:v] vt. 编排，组合

fantastical [fAn5tAstikEl] adj. 空想的，捕风捉影的

paranoid [5pArEnCid] n. 妄想狂

Mummy 电影《木乃伊》

genre [VB:Nr] n. 类型

cliche¹⁴ [5kli:Fei] n. 陈词滥调，老套

Matrix 电影《黑客帝国》

Satan [5seitEn] n. 撒旦，魔鬼

1 demon   

n.魔鬼，恶魔

参考例句：

• The demon of greed ruined the miser's happiness.贪得无厌的恶习毁掉了那个守财奴的幸福。
• He has been possessed by the demon of disease for years.他多年来病魔缠身。

2 demons   

n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念

参考例句：

• demons torturing the sinners in Hell 地狱里折磨罪人的魔鬼
• He is plagued by demons which go back to his traumatic childhood. 他为心魔所困扰，那可追溯至他饱受创伤的童年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 wager   

n.赌注；vt.押注，打赌

参考例句：

• They laid a wager on the result of the race.他们以竞赛的结果打赌。
• I made a wager that our team would win.我打赌我们的队会赢。

4 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

5 icons   

n.偶像( icon的名词复数 )；（计算机屏幕上表示命令、程序的）符号，图像

参考例句：

• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons. 用图标来区分重要的文本项。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Daemonic icons should only be employed persistently if they provide continuous, useful status information. 只有会连续地提供有用状态信息的情况下，后台应用程序才应该一直使用图标。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

6 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

7 cynical   

adj.(对人性或动机)怀疑的，不信世道向善的

参考例句：

• The enormous difficulty makes him cynical about the feasibility of the idea.由于困难很大，他对这个主意是否可行持怀疑态度。
• He was cynical that any good could come of democracy.他不相信民主会带来什么好处。

8 sabotage   

n.怠工，破坏活动，破坏；v.从事破坏活动，妨害，破坏

参考例句：

• They tried to sabotage my birthday party.他们企图破坏我的生日晚会。
• The fire at the factory was caused by sabotage.那家工厂的火灾是有人蓄意破坏引起的。

9 sabotaged   

阴谋破坏（某事物）( sabotage的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The main pipeline supplying water was sabotaged by rebels. 供水主管道被叛乱分子蓄意破坏了。
• They had no competition because competitors found their trucks burned and sabotaged. 他们之所以没有竞争对象，那是因为竞争对象老是发现自己的卡车遭火烧或被破坏。 来自教父部分

10 minions   

n.奴颜婢膝的仆从( minion的名词复数 )；走狗；宠儿；受人崇拜者

参考例句：

• She delegated the job to one of her minions. 她把这份工作委派给她的一个手下。 来自辞典例句
• I have been a slave to the vicious-those whom I served were his minions. 我当过那帮坏人的奴隶，我伺候的都是他的爪牙。 来自辞典例句

11 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

12 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

13 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

14 cliche   

n./a.陈词滥调(的)；老生常谈(的)；陈腐的

参考例句：

• You should always try to avoid the use of cliche. 你应该尽量避免使用陈词滥调。
• The old cliche is certainly true:the bigger car do mean bigger profits.有句老话倒的确说得不假:车大利大。

15 ambivalent   

adj.含糊不定的；(态度等)矛盾的

参考例句：

• She remained ambivalent about her marriage.她对于自己的婚事仍然拿不定主意。
• Although she professed fear of the Russians,she seemed to have ambivalent feelings toward Philby himself.虽然她承认害怕俄国人，然而她似乎对菲尔比本人有一种矛盾的感情。

16 suave   

adj.温和的；柔和的；文雅的

参考例句：

• He is a suave,cool and cultured man.他是个世故、冷静、有教养的人。
• I had difficulty answering his suave questions.我难以回答他的一些彬彬有礼的提问。