2006年VOA标准英语-Two Women Trade Homes for Romantic Comedy "The

By Alan Silverman
Hollywood
10 December 2006

Two women - one from England the other from Southern California - trade homes and lifestyles for a memorable¹ winter vacation in a new romantic comedy co-starring Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz. Alan Silverman has a look at "The Holiday."

 
Kate Winslet (left) and Jack² Black in "The Holiday"
Iris³ works in London and has just had her heart broken by a business colleague. Amanda works in Hollywood and her relationship falls apart when she learns her boyfriend has been cheating.

With Christmas and New Year's fast approaching, neither woman wants to spend the festive⁴ season facing reminders⁵ of the loves gone wrong. These total strangers find one another via the Internet and arrange to swap⁶ houses for "The Holiday." Little does either realize that by traveling halfway⁷ round the world she will find a perfect romantic match. For American Amanda he's played by Jude Law.

Meanwhile in sunny California, Englishwoman Iris meets the character played by Jack Black.

 
Jude Law (left) and Cameron Diaz in "The Holiday"
Cameron Diaz says almost anyone who has ever been in love can identify with what happens in "The Holiday." "This film is highly relatable ...to everyone. I can relate with Iris and to Amanda. I think we have all been through these relationships before. That's life. The journey of love in this lifetime is to try to figure out how to make love work and nurture⁸ relationships (and) there is definitely something I think everybody can see a bit of themselves in it. Maybe not the exact same experience, but certainly the human aspect of it," she says.

"This is a whole new genre⁹. I had never made a film like this before," says Kate Winslet, who says she found relationship comedy to be more challenging than she expected. "I was so excited to do something new ...and also nervous. (There's) the worry of 'can I be funny?' but also I hadn't played a contemporary Englishwoman in a film before. I have done a lot of period English films, but never a contemporary person. I have done that in American (accents), but this was new to me and actually I did not like the feeling, initially¹⁰. I thought 'what do you mean, I can't hide behind something? ...I don't have a wig¹¹ or an accent or a strange costume?' It was me in my hair and my voice and clothes that I would choose to wear. There was something oddly intimidating¹² about that and it took a little getting used to."

"The Holiday" is written and directed by Nancy Meyers, who has tapped into the genre before with audience favorites including "What Women Want" and "Something's Gotta Give." "I don't think about other genres¹³. I'm not interested in them, really. I like writing about women. I like writing about how men relate. I like diving into stuff that has happened to me through my work and, so far, it has translated to other people because I get a lot of comments like 'that was me! How did you know?' That kind of stuff," she says.

With the script by a woman, directed by a woman and telling the stories of two women finding love, is "The Holiday" a 'chick flick¹⁴' - a film that will appeal mainly to women? Winslet doesn't think so. I don't feel like this is a 'chick flick' and that is not me trying to sell the movie in a whole other way. It really is about relationships and it's about two separate relationships that happen with women and men," she says.

"Jude and Jack are not the 'dudes' in this movie. They are going through their own issues in this movie," says co-star Diaz, who thinks the romantic challenges faced by the men in "The Holiday" are just as compelling. "They have to recognize things for themselves and get to understand themselves in a certain way to know what they want and go after it. There's a moment where you have to be with them as well when they make the decision that this is what they want ...or what they don't want. I think that guys will definitely relate to it."

"The Holiday" also features veteran Hollywood actor Eli Wallach as a veteran screenwriter who knows how to make romance work in a film. The cads who broke these women's hearts are played by Rufus Sewell and Edward Burns. In a trademark¹⁵ of writer-director Nancy Meyers's style, the settings on both sides of the Atlantic feature spectacularly beautiful homes.

1 memorable   

adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的

参考例句：

• This was indeed the most memorable day of my life.这的确是我一生中最值得怀念的日子。
• The veteran soldier has fought many memorable battles.这个老兵参加过许多难忘的战斗。

2 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

3 iris   

n.虹膜，彩虹

参考例句：

• The opening of the iris is called the pupil.虹膜的开口处叫做瞳孔。
• This incredible human eye,complete with retina and iris,can be found in the Maldives.又是在马尔代夫，有这样一只难以置信的眼睛，连视网膜和虹膜都刻画齐全了。

4 festive   

adj.欢宴的，节日的

参考例句：

• It was Christmas and everyone was in festive mood.当时是圣诞节，每个人都沉浸在节日的欢乐中。
• We all wore festive costumes to the ball.我们都穿着节日的盛装前去参加舞会。

5 reminders   

n.令人回忆起…的东西( reminder的名词复数 )；提醒…的东西；（告知该做某事的）通知单；提示信

参考例句：

• The film evokes chilling reminders of the war. 这部电影使人们回忆起战争的可怕场景。
• The strike has delayed the mailing of tax reminders. 罢工耽搁了催税单的投寄。

6 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

7 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

8 nurture   

n.养育，照顾，教育；滋养，营养品；vt.养育，给与营养物，教养，扶持

参考例句：

• The tree grows well in his nurture.在他的培育下这棵树长得很好。
• The two sisters had received very different nurture.这俩个姊妹接受过极不同的教育。

9 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。

10 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

11 wig   

n.假发

参考例句：

• The actress wore a black wig over her blond hair.那个女演员戴一顶黑色假发罩住自己的金黄色头发。
• He disguised himself with a wig and false beard.他用假发和假胡须来乔装。

12 intimidating   

vt.恐吓，威胁( intimidate的现在分词)

参考例句：

• They were accused of intimidating people into voting for them. 他们被控胁迫选民投他们的票。
• This kind of questioning can be very intimidating to children. 这种问话的方式可能让孩子们非常害怕。

13 genres   

（文学、艺术等的）类型，体裁，风格( genre的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Novel and short story are different genres. 长篇小说和短篇小说是不同的类别。
• But confusions over the two genres have a long history. 但是类型的混淆，古已有之。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译

14 flick   

n.快速的轻打，轻打声，弹开；v.轻弹，轻轻拂去，忽然摇动

参考例句：

• He gave a flick of the whip.他轻抽一下鞭子。
• By a flick of his whip,he drove the fly from the horse's head.他用鞭子轻抽了一下，将马头上的苍蝇驱走。

15 trademark   

n.商标；特征；vt.注册的…商标

参考例句：

• The trademark is registered on the book of the Patent Office.该商标已在专利局登记注册。
• The trademark of the pen was changed.这钢笔的商标改了。