2007年VOA标准英语-Evil Witches, Fallen Star Light Up "Stardust"

By Alan Silverman
Hollywood
12 August 2007

Evil witches, a fallen star and a young man in search of his heart's desire: these are just some of the elements in the new fantasy-adventure film adapted from a novel by popular science fiction author Neil Gaiman. Alan Silverman has a look at Stardust.

Claire Danes and Charlie Cox star in "Stardust"

Once upon a time, a young man named Tristan embarks¹ on the adventure of a lifetime. "The Wall" separates the old English village of Wall from a magical kingdom named Stronghold. When, like his father did before him, Tristan leaps the Wall, he does, indeed, find the star ...but she is not what he expects.

"The star" is a beautiful, wide-eyed young woman named Yvaine. In this magical universe, the stars are actually all beautiful, wide-eyed young women who gaze down upon the antics of the humans and only rarely get to walk among them. However, Tristan is not the only one searching for Yvaine. A coven of wrinkled witches sends the strongest hag of their group, Lamia, to find the fallen star and bring her back so they can all share in her heart: the secret to restoring their youth:

As they try to escape Michelle Pfeiffer as the evil witch, Tristan and Yvaine team up with some even more unusual allies, including Robert DeNiro as pirate captain Shakespeare, whose sky vessel² sails the clouds capturing bolts of lightning.

Claire Danes, who stars as the star Yvaine, asks "Who wouldn't want to have long blonde hair and ride a unicorn³ and be a princess from outer space? I think she's really bright and kind of plucky⁴. Some might say she's difficult, but I think she is just discerning. She is strong."

Danes, who is about to make her Broadway debut⁵ in a revival⁶ of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, says her approach to "Stardust" was to make it seem real, not fantasy. "I wasn't thinking so much about how to play her as a celestial⁷ being. It just wasn't required. A lot of that work was done for me with the costumes and the hair and C-G-I (computer-generated images). What I really like about the script and the movie is that it walks a line between being fantastical and realistic in its tone," she says.

"It allows for more," says English actor Charlie Cox, who plays Tristan. He enjoys what he calls 'the freedom' fantasy can give an actor. "If you think of it logically, there is no realistic reaction to seeing a witch or a flying pirate, is there? So it allows for you to go a bit further with it if you wish. When you see someone in a movie react to having a gun pointed⁸ in their face, it is more likely to have happened to more people; whereas no one that I know has ever seen witch or a flying pirate. So, yes, it allows for for more."

"And that's the danger, because you do have that freedom," warns Michelle Pfeiffer, who says her challenge was to keep the witch she plays from seeming too unreal. "In the case of my character, Lamia, who is going to be there to tell you when you have to rein⁹ it in a little bit because there are a lot of pitfalls¹⁰ you can fall into. That's my big danger because I've never been really comfortable with being broad or slapstick humor. That's not where my comfort zone is, so I initially¹¹ have to be really pushed and encouraged to go there."

The guidance from director Matthew Vaughn was simple and straightforward¹². "I just said 'this isn't a fantasy movie. We are playing this for real. If you do a period film, let's say in Tudor costume, it is wrong if you play the costume. Back then they weren't wearing costumes, they were wearing clothes. It was modern fashion. So I tried to ground it as much in reality as possible," he says.

Stardust, which was shot on location in Scotland and Iceland and sets in London's famed Pinewood studios, also features cameos by an array of British actors including comic Ricky Gervais, steamy Sienna Miller¹³ and veteran Peter O'Toole. Ian McKellen is the narrator. The musical score is by London-based composer Ilan Eshkeri.

1 embarks   

乘船( embark的第三人称单数 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• Patricia is a free-spirited girl who embarks on an erotic odyssey. 翠茜亚是个任性少女、毅然踏上一次性爱之旅。
• Passenger train driver: Punctually embarks. 客车司机：准时出发。

2 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

3 unicorn   

n.(传说中的)独角兽

参考例句：

• The unicorn is an imaginary beast.独角兽是幻想出来的动物。
• I believe unicorn was once living in the world.我相信独角兽曾经生活在这个世界。

4 plucky   

adj.勇敢的

参考例句：

• The plucky schoolgirl amazed doctors by hanging on to life for nearly two months.这名勇敢的女生坚持不放弃生命近两个月的精神令医生感到震惊。
• This story featured a plucky heroine.这个故事描述了一个勇敢的女英雄。

5 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。

6 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

7 celestial   

adj.天体的；天上的

参考例句：

• The rosy light yet beamed like a celestial dawn.玫瑰色的红光依然象天上的朝霞一样绚丽。
• Gravity governs the motions of celestial bodies.万有引力控制着天体的运动。

8 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

9 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。

10 pitfalls   

（捕猎野兽用的）陷阱( pitfall的名词复数 )； 意想不到的困难，易犯的错误

参考例句：

• the potential pitfalls of buying a house 购买房屋可能遇到的圈套
• Several pitfalls remain in the way of an agreement. 在达成协议的进程中还有几个隐藏的困难。

11 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。

12 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

13 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。