VOA标准英语2009年-'Me And Orson Welles' Recaptures Legen

In 1937 a 24-year-old actor and director became the toast of New York's Broadway with the first production of his "Mercury Theatre" company. Worldwide fame and a fabled¹ Hollywood career would follow.

Alan Silverman | Hollywood 15 December 2009

 Me And Orson Welles by writer/director Richard Linklater recreates the drama and excitement of Orson Welles' early days as seen through the eyes of a stage-struck teenager played by Zac Efron.

"This is the story of one week in my life. It was the week I fell in love, the week I would make my Broadway debut² …and the week I would meet Orson Welles."
   
The fledgling Mercury Theatre troupe³ is struggling to put the finishing touches on an innovative⁴ production of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. As storm clouds of war rumble⁵ across the Atlantic, Welles puts the play not in ancient Rome, but in contemporary Europe with Caesar as a fascist⁶ dictator. Into this creative whirlwind … enter young Richard:

Warner Brothers
Zac Efron as Richard Samuels in 'Me And Orson Welles'

Zac Efron, well known for the romantic comedy of the High School Musical series, takes on a different kind of role as the teenaged participant in Welles' great experiment.

"It was exactly what I was looking for - a great opportunity - and I loved the script," Efron says. "I thought I could relate to the character; this whole adventure, this week in the theater, resembled my life experience growing up in the theater. It was all of the best moments in one movie, I think, and it was different [and] something I didn't necessarily know I could pull off. It wasn't a predictable next move and that for me was all the right signs.

Warner Brothers
Christian⁷ McKay as Orson Welles in 'Me And Orson Welles'

English-born actor Christian McKay co-stars as Welles, a character he first explored in a one-man play that spanned the lifetime of the acclaimed⁸ genius; but in Me and Orson Welles McKay says the challenge was to rediscover the brash young man who would become the stage and screen icon⁹:

"I felt a tremendous responsibility toward him, especially because of his own mythology¹⁰ …his own myth making," McKay says. "He created all the legends about himself. He used to say 'never let the truth get in the way of a good story.' But when you're playing him you have to take away all of those [and] just peel him back to try and find the truth."

"I am Orson Welles! And every single one of you stands here as an adjunct to my vision. You want a career in the Mercury Theatre and in everything else I plan to do, then remember one simple rule: I own the store. If you don't like the way I work here, there's the door. Find somebody else to star you on Broadway."

"The wonderful thing about this character is that everybody has their own take on him; and so any actor playing him, you've got the people going 'he doesn't look like him'," McKay adds, "he doesn't sound like him …' So that was entirely¹¹ personal [and] something I had to satisfy for myself to answer certain personal questions. Take him off the pedestal and look him in the eye as a human being. That's the only way I could have played him. Otherwise I would have been totally intimidated¹² all the time."

Warner Brothers
Director Richard Linklater on the set of the movie

Writer-director Richard Linklater believes any moviemaker would be daunted¹³ by the challenge of telling the story of the man behind the great American film Citizen Kane; and Linklater found the real Welles within those iconic characters

"He is an enigma¹⁴. He is Charles Foster Kane. I don't think you can ever pin Welles down," notes Linklater. "For every opinion there is a counter-opinion. Someone says 'oh, he was a blowhard¹⁵;' someone else says 'he was a charming, sweet guy.' I think the truth is in between; but that is ultimately the Welles theme, isn't it? The unknowable-ness of an individual. What does it matter what you say about somebody? It comes up all through his work that you never can pin anyone down. I think he was aware of those contradictions in himself: you could be a great man and a mediocre¹⁶ individual. You could be all these things at once and that's the Welles we're trying to portray¹⁷ in this."

Warner Brothers
Zac Efron and Claire Danes in scene from 'Me And Orson Welles'

Me and Orson Welles is adapted from a best-selling book by high school teacher and novelist Robert Kaplow. The cast includes Claire Danes as the ambitious young production assistant in the Mercury Theatre office; and, in a bit of 'movie magic,' the film re-creates 1937 New York in and around a vintage theater on the Isle¹⁸ Of Man in the Irish Sea.
 

1 fabled   

adj.寓言中的，虚构的

参考例句：

• For the first week he never actually saw the fabled Jack. 第一周他实际上从没见到传说中的杰克。
• Aphrodite, the Greek goddness of love, is fabled to have been born of the foam of the sea. 希腊爱神阿美罗狄蒂据说是诞生于海浪泡沫之中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 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。

3 troupe   

n.剧团，戏班；杂技团；马戏团

参考例句：

• The art troupe is always on the move in frontier guards.文工团常年在边防部队流动。
• The troupe produced a new play last night.剧团昨晚上演了一部新剧。

4 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

5 rumble   

n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说

参考例句：

• I hear the rumble of thunder in the distance.我听到远处雷声隆隆。
• We could tell from the rumble of the thunder that rain was coming.我们根据雷的轰隆声可断定，天要下雨了。

6 fascist   

adj.法西斯主义的；法西斯党的；n.法西斯主义者，法西斯分子

参考例句：

• The strikers were roughed up by the fascist cops.罢工工人遭到法西斯警察的殴打。
• They succeeded in overthrowing the fascist dictatorship.他们成功推翻了法西斯独裁统治。

7 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

8 acclaimed   

adj.受人欢迎的

参考例句：

• They acclaimed him as the best writer of the year. 他们称赞他为当年的最佳作者。
• Confuscius is acclaimed as a great thinker. 孔子被赞誉为伟大的思想家。

9 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。

10 mythology   

n.神话，神话学，神话集

参考例句：

• In Greek mythology,Zeus was the ruler of Gods and men.在希腊神话中，宙斯是众神和人类的统治者。
• He is the hero of Greek mythology.他是希腊民间传说中的英雄。

11 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

12 intimidated   

v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的

参考例句：

• We try to make sure children don't feel intimidated on their first day at school. 我们努力确保孩子们在上学的第一天不胆怯。
• The thief intimidated the boy into not telling the police. 这个贼恫吓那男孩使他不敢向警察报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 daunted   

使（某人）气馁，威吓( daunt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was a brave woman but she felt daunted by the task ahead. 她是一个勇敢的女人，但对面前的任务却感到信心不足。
• He was daunted by the high quality of work they expected. 他被他们对工作的高品质的要求吓倒了。

14 enigma   

n.谜，谜一样的人或事

参考例句：

• I've known him for many years,but he remains something of an enigma to me.我与他相识多年，他仍然难以捉摸。
• Even after all the testimonies,the murder remained a enigma.即使听完了所有的证词，这件谋杀案仍然是一个谜。

15 blowhard   

n.自吹自擂者

参考例句：

• I don't want to sit next to that old blowhard.我不想坐在那个爱自吹自擂的老人旁边。
• That blowhard bragged that his car was the fastest.那个吹牛大王说他的汽车是最快的。

16 mediocre   

adj.平常的，普通的

参考例句：

• The student tried hard,but his work is mediocre. 该生学习刻苦，但学业平庸。
• Only lazybones and mediocre persons could hanker after the days of messing together.只有懒汉庸才才会留恋那大锅饭的年代。

17 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

18 isle   

n.小岛，岛

参考例句：

• He is from the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.他来自爱尔兰海的马恩岛。
• The boat left for the paradise isle of Bali.小船驶向天堂一般的巴厘岛。