法国电影《圣奥梅尔》:未被听见的声音(上)

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“Saint Omer” and “Tirailleurs”: Unheard voices

《圣奥梅尔》和《狙击兵》：未被听见的声音

Two new films examine parenthood and the complex link between Senegal and France

两部新电影探究了为人父母的问题以及塞内加尔和法国的复杂联系

Laurence coly (Guslagie Malanda, pictured) is a young Senegalese woman studying philosophy in Paris.

劳伦斯·科利(古斯拉吉·马兰加饰)是一个在巴黎学习哲学的塞内加尔年轻女子。

One winter evening, she takes a train to the cold northern French coast, checks in to a hotel for the night, walks to the beach on a rising tide and leaves her baby to drown.

一个冬天的晚上，她坐火车到寒冷的法国北部海岸，入住一家酒店过夜，在涨潮的时候步行到海滩，然后让她的孩子溺水而亡。

The tiny corpse is found by a fisherman, who at first mistakes the child for a seal.

一个渔民发现了婴儿小小的尸体，一开始他还把尸体误认为是海豹。

Based on a true story that shook France several years ago, “Saint Omer”, which was released in America on January 13th, follows Laurence’s trial for murder.

根据几年前震惊法国的真实故事改编，1月13日在美国上映的《圣奥梅尔》讲述了劳伦斯因谋杀罪受审的故事。

To describe it as a courtroom drama would be to underplay the subtle, tightly controlled study of motherhood, race, belonging and separation that lies at the centre of this darkly mesmerising film.

将这部电影描述为一部庭审电影会淡化它对母亲身份、种族、归属感和分离等主题所进行的微妙细腻、严丝合缝的研究，而这正是这部黑暗且迷人的电影的核心所在。

Selected as France’s entry for this year’s Academy Awards, “Saint Omer” has already picked up prizes at the Venice Film Festival and in Paris.

《圣奥梅尔》是今年送选奥斯卡奖的法国电影，而且已经在威尼斯电影节和巴黎摘得奖项。

It confirms the place of Alice Diop, its French director, whose parents came from Senegal, as one of a new generation of black directors making films that challenge the way France sees itself.

导演爱丽丝·迪欧普是法国人，其父母来自塞内加尔，这部电影表明迪欧普确属新生代黑人导演中的一员，他们的电影挑战了法国的自我认知。

The story is seen through the eyes of Rama (Kayije Kagame), a French novelist and university lecturer whose parents also emigrated from Senegal.

故事通过拉玛(卡伊耶·卡佳梅饰)的视角展开，拉玛是一位法国小说家和大学讲师，她的父母也是从塞内加尔移民到法国。

Rama is writing a book inspired by this case of infanticide and travels to northern France to sit in the courtroom.

受这起杀婴案件的启发，拉玛正在写一本书，于是她前往法国北部旁听庭审。

Under cross-examination, Laurence acknowledges what she did, but is unable to explain it, muttering at one point about “sorcery”.

在被诘问后，劳伦斯承认了自己的所作所为，但无法解释为何会有此举动，甚至一度喃喃自语地说到“巫术”。

The more that she evokes her childhood struggle to fit in, both in Dakar (where she grew up) or later in Paris (where she moved), the more the parallels with Rama’s own life emerge.

劳伦斯越是回忆起她童年时努力融入达喀尔(她长大的地方)和巴黎(她后来搬到这里)所经历的挣扎，拉玛就越能看到她和自己的人生经历的相似之处。

With what amounts to a physical ache, Rama grasps their shared hurt: a troubled maternal tie, the pressure of parental aspiration and the unresolved anxiety of a life divided between two cultures.

带着相当于肉体的痛苦，拉玛抓住了她们共同的伤痛：紧张的母女关系、父母期望带来的压力，以及被两种文化撕扯的未能解决的焦虑。

Ms Diop’s camera is unflinching: her close-up shots leave nowhere else for the viewer to look.

迪欧普的摄像机是毫不畏缩的：她的特写镜头让观众无处转移目光。

As the lawyers attempt to pierce the appalling mystery of infanticide, the movie peels back layers of racial and cultural prejudice.

随着律师们试图解开这一骇人的杀婴谜团，电影则抽丝剥茧，揭示了种族和文化偏见。

A white university professor called as a witness expresses surprise that Laurence chose to study Wittgenstein rather than a figure closer “to her own culture”.

一位白人大学教授作为证人，对劳伦斯选择研究维特根斯坦，而不是一个更接近“她自己文化”的人物表示惊讶。

Ms Diop films the scenes of Laurence in a wood-panelled dock, washed through with a glorious golden light: an arresting decision, given the grimness of the subject matter, which seems to call into question the viewer’s perceptions and to hint at the ambiguity of colour.

迪欧普在拍摄劳伦斯坐在被告席的木板前时，灿烂的金色光线倾泻在她身上：考虑到电影主题的严肃阴暗，这是一个引人注目的决定，似乎在质疑观众的看法，并暗示肤色的模糊不明。

“Saint Omer” is at once a film about the African immigrant experience in France, and about motherhood everywhere.

《圣奥梅尔》既是一部关于非洲移民在法国的经历的电影，也是一部关于普世的母亲身份的电影。

In this respect it belongs to a wave of compelling films made by black French directors in recent years.

在这方面，它属于近年来由法国黑人导演所掀起的引人注目的电影浪潮。

These include Ladj Ly’s “Les Misérables”, which came out in 2019 and examines the casual violence shattering childhood innocence in the French banlieues (high-rise suburbs).

这波浪潮中包括拉吉·利的《悲惨世界》(2019年)，该片探讨了法国郊区(高层建筑区)随意的暴力事件粉碎童年纯真的故事。

Another is Ma?mouna Doucouré’s “Mignonnes” (“Cuties”), released in 2020, which explores girlhood, giggly friendship and the disturbing hyper-sexualisation of pre-teens.

还有麦穆娜·杜库雷的《娇娃们》(2020年)，该片探讨了少女时代、充满傻笑的友谊以及令人不安的青少年性放纵现象。

Mr Ly was born in Mali and grew up outside Paris; Ms Doucouré was born in Paris to Senegalese parents.

利出生在西非马里，在巴黎郊外长大；杜库雷出生在巴黎，父母是塞内加尔人。

Like Ms Diop, these film-makers use their multilayered understanding of contemporary France to tease out the contradictions and complexities of modern lives.

像迪欧普一样，这些电影人用他们对当代法国的多层次理解，梳理出现代生活的矛盾和复杂性。