The Patriot《爱国者》（精讲之一）

影片对白

SPEAKER: Our first order of business...

SIMMS: And our last if we vote a levy...

SPEAKER: Order! Order! Mr. Simms, you do not have the floor. Our first order of business will be an address by Colonel Harry Burwell of the Continental Army. Colonel Harry Burwell.

BURWELL: You all know why I am here. I am not an orator and I will not try to convince you of the worthiness of our cause. I am a soldier and we are at war. From Philadelphia we expect the declaration of independence. Eight of the thirteen colonies have levied money in support of a Continental Army. I ask South Carolina to be the ninth.

SIMMS: Massachusetts and Virginia may be at war, but South Carolina is not.

CROWD: Here!

BURWELL: It is not a war for the independence of one or two colonies but for the independence of one nation.

WITHINGTON: And now yes, what nation is that?

HOWARD: An American nation.

WITHINGTON: There is no such a nation, and if you speak of one, that is treason.

HOWARD: We are citizens of the American nation and our rights are being threatened by a tyrant three thousand miles away.

MARTIN: Would you tell me, please, Mr. Howard, why should I trade one tyrant three thousand miles away for three thousand tyrants one mile away? An elected legislature can trample a man's rights as easily as a King can.

BURWELL: Captain Martin, I understood you to be a Patriot.

MARTIN: If you mean by Patriot, am I angry about the taxation without representation? Yes I'm. Should the American colonies govern themselves independently? I believe they can and they should. But if you're asking me am I willing to go to war with England, then the answer is most definitely no.

MIDDLETON: This from the same Captain Benjamin Martin whose fury was so famous during the Wilderness Campaign?

MARTIN: I was intemperate in my youth.

MIDDLETON: Temperance can be a convenient disguise for fear.

BURWELL: Mr. Middleton, I fought with Captain Martin under Washington in the French and Indian War. There's not a man in this room, or anywhere, for that matter, to whom I would more willingly trust my life.

CROWD: Here!

MARTIN: There are alternatives to war. We take a case before the king. We plea with him.

BURWELL: Yes we tried that.

MARTIN: Oh then we try again and then again if necessary to avoid a war.

BURWELL: Benjamin, I was at Bunker Hill. The British advanced three times and we killed over seven hundred of them at point blank range and still they took the ground. That is the measure of their resolve. If your principles dictate independence, then war is the only way. It has come to that.

CROWD: Here!

MARTIN: I have seven children. My wife is dead. And who's to care for them if I go to war?

BURWELL: Wars are not fought only by childless men.

MARTIN: Granted. But mark my words: this war will be fought not on the frontier or on some distant battlefield. But amongst us, among our homes. Our children will learn it with their own eyes. And the innocent will die with the rest of us. I will not fight. Because I will not fight, I will not cast a vote that will send others to fight in my stead.

BURWELL: And your principles?

MARTIN: I'm a parent. I don't have the luxury of principles.

妙语佳句，活学活用

1. Have the floor

这个片语的意思可不是"有地板"，而是“有发言权”，做动词用，例如：Mr. Nixon has the floor. 尼克松先生发言。

2. Mark my words

Mark 在这里的意思是“留心，注意”，比如：You should mark the change that has taken place. Mark my words 这里表示“留心听着，记住我的话”，例如：Mark my words, you'll regret this later on.

3. Cast a vote

Cast a vote 表示“投票”，例如：I cast a vote of proposal. 同样的意思还可以用 cast one's vote 来表达。

4. In one's stead

“替代、接替（职位、身份、作用）等”的意思，例如：While the chief is away, another director will act in his stead.

文化面面观

The Patriot：电影背后的故事

故事发生在18世纪70年代的美国独立战争前夕，当1763年漫长的英国对法国和印第安人的殖民扩张战争终于结束，曾经是战斗中的英雄本杰明·马丁（梅尔·吉布森饰）也回到了他的南卡罗莱纳州的农场，战争的残暴使他厌恶，他希望从此和妻子孩子过上平静的生活。然而，在战争之后，英国统治者……

本片是梅尔·吉布森主演的又一部具有史诗背景的影片，创作人员阵容强大，剧本由《拯救大兵瑞恩》的编剧罗拨特·路戴执笔，导演则是《独立日》《酷斯拉》的罗兰德·伊马利奇。

影片在南北战争中的一些真实历史事件的基础上进行了艺术加工，其中男主人公本杰明·马丁以及他的儿子等人物都在历史上确有其人。梅尔·吉布森在片中饰演男主角本杰明·马丁，一个美国独立战争期间的英雄，早期曾经为殖民扩张而战，后来对战争产生了厌恶，直到轰轰烈烈的美国南北战争的战火烧到了家门口，才逼他又投身到了美国人民追求自由和民主的斗争中。梅尔·吉布森自己透露，他父亲早年也是个反战份子，因打过仗深知战争的惨烈，所以为了避免梅尔·吉布森卷入越战，才举家迁往澳大利亚，因此在诠释这一角色时自然有切身的体会。

这部影片在真实再现历史方面下了大功夫，为求写实并呈现最原始的场景，制作小组还特地与"史密斯松尼"机构合作，"史密斯松尼"机构相当于我们常说的历史博物馆，专门研究和保存美国的历史文化，而导演也将拍摄场地移至当时发生独立战争的地点南卡罗莱纳州，并依照十八世纪的建筑样式在当地重建一座城镇，甚至还研究南卡罗莱纳州所种的树木，可见导演的用心程度。
我观之我见

Before they were soldiers, they were family. Before they were legends, they were heroes. Before there was a nation, there was a fight for freedom.

这是 The Patriot 这部电影的tagline。The Patriot是一个美国式的“逼上梁山”的故事，梅尔·吉布森在影片中不太情愿地成为了一位为自由而战斗的父亲。节选的这个片断发生在南卡莱罗纳参战前夕，人们召集会议讨论要不要参战。参加会议的代表们各怀心思，独立派和保皇派唇枪舌剑，即使是独立派内部也存在分歧，一些人希望和国王谈判来取得独立，另一些人则认为只有通过战争才能获得独立。从中我们可以窥见美国民主的渊源。

考考你

用今日所学将下面的句子译成英语。

1．留心听着，这次我该告诉你妈妈了。
2．国王的侄子代表国王来到。

The devil wears Prada 《时尚女魔头》（精讲之六）考考你 参考答案

1. 这不是他们自己的主意，有人鼓动他们这么做。
They didn't think of it on their own; someone put them up to it.

2. 老板说了算。
It's up to the boss to call the shots.