VOA标准英语2011--Conrad Pope Tells Marilyn Monroe Story Through Music

Conrad Pope Tells Marilyn Monroe Story Through Music

The new film "My Week with Marilyn" tells the story of a week in the life of the legendary¹ film star Marilyn Monroe, who in the 1950s was in Britain making a film with the iconic actor Laurence Olivier. The task of composer Conrad Pope, who wrote the score for the new film, was to capture the era and tell the story in music.

It was 1956 and a young Marilyn Monroe was already a sensation. The sexy blonde is played by actress Michelle Williams.

Composer Conrad Pope was asked to score the movie's music.

On the set of "My Week with Marilyn," cast and crew recreated an earlier era, telling the story of a brief romance between Monroe and a young production assistant.

At his piano in Hollywood, Pope captured the feeling of each scene as he composed the film score, working from a theme song by French composer Alexandre Desplat. In the movie, pianist Lang Lang plays the theme and other parts of the score.

“Marilyn Monroe is of course this iconic figure and so this allows you to have all this very grand music. She's a very exuberant² figure, at least the reaction she elicits³ from men. And so it allows you for some joyous⁴ music as well."

The film is based on the true story of Colin Clark, a member of the 1950s film crew, and his brief relationship with Monroe. Clark, played by actor Eddie Redmayne, gives the star a break from the difficulties of filming and from her troubled marriage to playwright⁵ Arthur Miller⁶.

The film's score is inspired by the big band sound and the lush film scores of the 50s. Pope says it varies from scene to scene.

“You take a simple theme and you can put it through a lot of different guises⁷, and that's what we've done,” he said.

Pope is a veteran arranger and conductor who has worked on dozens of major movies. As a composer, this is his biggest film score to date.

He says scoring this richly textured⁸ film was an ideal job.

“Yeah, I think for anyone that's a musician in Hollywood, it was kind of a dream project,” Pope said.

He says the music helps tell the story and lets viewers understand the brief and tragic⁹ life of the talented starlet, who died at the age of 36.

1 legendary   

adj.传奇（中）的，闻名遐迩的；n.传奇（文学）

参考例句：

• Legendary stories are passed down from parents to children.传奇故事是由父母传给孩子们的。
• Odysseus was a legendary Greek hero.奥狄修斯是传说中的希腊英雄。

2 exuberant   

adj.充满活力的；（植物）繁茂的

参考例句：

• Hothouse plants do not possess exuberant vitality.在温室里培养出来的东西，不会有强大的生命力。
• All those mother trees in the garden are exuberant.果园里的那些母树都长得十分茂盛。

3 elicits   

引出，探出( elicit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• You might find that a sympathetic approach elicits kinder and gentler behavior. 你或许会发现用同情的方法，可引出更友善及更温和的行为。
• It presents information, shares ideas and elicits emotions. 它展示信息、流思想和抒发情感。

4 joyous   

adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的

参考例句：

• The lively dance heightened the joyous atmosphere of the scene.轻快的舞蹈给这场戏渲染了欢乐气氛。
• They conveyed the joyous news to us soon.他们把这一佳音很快地传递给我们。

5 playwright   

n.剧作家，编写剧本的人

参考例句：

• Gwyn Thomas was a famous playwright.格温·托马斯是著名的剧作家。
• The playwright was slaughtered by the press.这位剧作家受到新闻界的无情批判。

6 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。

7 guises   

n.外观，伪装( guise的名词复数 )v.外观，伪装( guise的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She took pleasure in the various guises she could see. 她穿各种衣服都显得活泼可爱。 来自辞典例句
• Traditional form or structure allows us to recognize corresponding bits of folklore in different guises. 了解民俗的传统形式或结构，可以使我门抛开事物的不同外表，从中去辨认出有关民俗的点点滴滴。 来自英汉非文学 - 民俗

8 textured   

adj.手摸时有感觉的, 有织纹的

参考例句：

• The shoe's sole had a slightly textured surface. 鞋底表面稍感粗糙。
• Shallow burial seems to preserve chalky textured porosity. 浅埋藏似能保留具白垩状结构的孔隙。

9 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。