[朱唇] 為什麼要用高爾夫球竿打小狗？麥克筆 (Michael Pitt) 談大快人心－女神殿

pouty of lip and fair of face

How did you get the part of Paul?
你是怎麼拿到保羅這角色的？

We were doing an audition and it wasn’t crap! I usually just try to make it about the work. I just tried to focus on trying to do a good job with the material rather than focus on whether or not I was actually going to get the part, because if I do that I don’t get the job.
當時辦了個試鏡，那可不是兒戲！我通常試著專注在角色上，而非是否能夠拿到角色，如果我專注在後者，角色就沒了。

And how do you get into the head of someone like him?
那你又是如何進入保羅的腦袋？

I think it’s more difficult to stay in character than to leave. Also I never thought of the psychology of the character, because the way that the film was set up there were supposed to be no answer as to why these characters were doing this. They were sort of set up as they come from nowhere. They’re kind of devices to tell the story. So never at any point did I think where is this kid from, what are his parents like. Almost like he was a fictional character.
我覺得投入一個角色比抽離一個角色困難。我也從未揣摩保羅的心理，因為小快人心對於白手套二人組為什麼要用高爾夫球竿打小狗是不加以解釋的。白手套二人組沒有過去，比較像是故事的功能性角色。所以我從未猜測保羅從哪裡來，家教好不好。幾乎是杜撰的。

How was it working with everyone on set; was it as intense as it looked?
拍片時是怎樣情形？就像電影一樣緊張嗎？

It was amazing. Brady [Corbet] is a really interesting character. He’s very young, very into film. It was easy with everyone. Everyone was very much the professional. Everyone knew what to do. Naomi [Watts] was so sweet and so nice to us. She was wearing a lot of hats as producer and actress and I was really impressed with the way she handled it. I’ve always looked up to Tim [Roth] and his work. He was just amazing. In my mind he plays the most difficult role.
傑克實在太神奇了！小胖真是個有趣的角色。他很年輕，他對拍片很投入。大家都很好相處，大家都很專業。每個人都知道自己要做什麼。娜歐蜜 (我要吃妳的奶頭!!!) 是個笑臉迎人的小甜心。身兼製片女主角，我真的很佩服她處理事情的態度。我一直以提姆為榜樣，提姆實在太神奇了。他的角色最難演。

But he plays a pretty spineless un-likable character...
但他演個無脊椎 (因為被你打斷) 且不討喜的角色……

I’m not sure if you’re supposed to like anyone in the film. For me that was the most difficult role because it was what called for the most and it was the least heroic. Really me and Brady were only as scary as the father and son and mother made us. In a lot of ways they were doing our work for us. We are going to get the credit, but in actuality the most draining character and the most work it took was the family.
我不太確定你是否會喜歡這電影裡的任何一個角色。(我愛你呀麥克筆) 提姆的角色最難演，因為那角色被賦予最多責任，卻是最無用的傢伙。真的，我和小胖令人不寒而慄是因為父子母演得好。在很多方面，他們讓我和小胖成為令人不寒而慄的白手套二人組。或許大家會覺得我和小胖令人不寒而慄，但最大功臣非父子母莫屬。

It was a shot-for-shot remake so presumably there wasn’t much room for improvisation?
小快人心是照每個鏡頭一個鏡頭一個鏡頭重拍，所以沒有太多發揮空間？

Well that part was very frustrating because it’s not normally how I work. When I met Michael [Haneke] something that really helped met through the film was that I knew what I was dealing with. I knew that he was very intelligent and he had a reason for everything he did. So knowing that, I realised that if I listened to what he said I would become a better actor, so I just took it as an exercise. Am I able to be good with these restrictions? And if I’m not able to do it then I’m not very good.
其實蠻令人沮喪的，因為一般電影不是那樣拍。讓麥克筆克服萬難的關鍵在於，我知道我要幹麻。麥克筆知道漢內克是個聰明人，做每件事情都有他的理由。知道如此，我才了解到如果照著漢內克的話做，麥克筆會成為一個更好的演員。就當做運動。我可以在重重限制下做個好演員嗎？如果做不到，麥克筆就不是個好演員。

Michael Haneke’s has said that it is a film is about violence in society, particularly in the States. What’s your take on it?
漢內克說大快人心是一部關於社會暴力的電影，尤其諷刺美國。有何高見？

For me when I watched the original, I thought the same thing. I felt that it was a comment on American violence in cinema. I’m not sure if everyone will take that from it. It seemed like if that kind of thing was going to happen anywhere it would happen in America. I read about things like this in the newspaper here in the States. It’s violence that you don’t understand why. You can’t explain why. I’ve read that in the media and I’ve also seen it in the cinema it’s very popular for films to be very violent, but it’s shown in a way that’s explained. It’s shown in a way where it’s look on as entertainment. One thing that I could sense about Michael’s film was that it wasn’t, for me, shown in a way that was meant for entertainment. It was shown in a way for you to think about. When I saw the original I certainly did think about it. In fact I couldn’t stop thinking about it.
看完原版英雄所見略同。我覺得大快人心是對美國電影呈現之暴力所提出的批判，麥克筆不確定大家都會英雄所見略同。電影給我的感覺就像，如果白手套二人組真的存在，美國絕對是他們發光發熱的世界舞台。翻開報紙，滿是白手套二人組式惡行，而你不知道為什麼這種事情會發生。你無法給個答案。嗜血媒體暴力電影受到歡迎，或許是個答案。人們視暴力為休閒娛樂。漢內克並不想讓暴力成為休閒娛樂，漢內克要你好好思考為什麼他要拍那種鬼電影。我很有慧根。看完原版無法不去思考白手套二人組的昨日種種。

是的……麥克筆太適合演小丑 (The Joker) 了！

Peter and Paul jokingly give excuses for their behaviour, is there ever an excuse?
保羅和小胖開玩笑地說用高爾夫球竿打小狗只是好玩，你認為呢？

This trend with, like, the school shootings, it’s like they want to blame Marilyn Manson, music or video games, but the truth is every time I see it I don’t see rhyme or reason why. I think that we feel better if we have something to blame it on. I think that sometimes blaming it on the first thing that comes to mind can be a distraction from the real problems.
這柯倫拜風氣讓社會大眾歸罪於瑪莉蓮曼森，搖滾樂或電動玩具，但麥克筆每次打完戰慄時空都不會想砰砰砰。我覺得找個代罪羔羊會讓大家心裡好過點。把錯推到第一個湧上心頭的事物，不失為混淆視聽上策。

You’ve worked with some inspirational directors, like Bernardo Bertolucci and Gus Van Sant...
你和大師們如貝托魯奇和葛斯范桑合作過……

Well, My Own Private Idaho was probably the first film that I saw that was like that. I really really enjoyed it. A lot of that was the combination of Gus and River [Phoenix] and I really really looked up to River and that film was the weirdest film I’d ever seen growing up in New Jersey. It was a trip [working with Gus]. It was a dream. That film and a lot of Gus’s films are really what made me think I could be an actor.
男人的一半還是男人是神作。我真的很崇拜鳳凰河，男人的一半還是男人是我在紐澤西歲月看過最詭異的電影。想到達明天現在就要啟程，一場人生一場夢。(幹這殺小爛翻譯!!!) 葛斯范桑的電影讓我想當演員然後去法國幹伊娃葛林 ♥♥♥

譯按：麥克筆葛斯范桑兩人於《心靈訪客》(Finding Forrester, 2000) 合作。

So, what’s next in the world of Michael Pitt?
麥克筆要怎樣？

Funny Games is a tough one to follow. I’m very selective though, that’s why I’m broke! I just try to make movies that I think are good. I don’t find a lot of time to go to the cinema and usually when I go, I want to see something that challenges me, so I try to make films like that.
小快人心是個挑戰。我很挑片，難怪累得像隻狗！我只想演自己覺得不錯的好電影。麥克筆平常沒什麼時間去電影院看電影，因此要看就看可以陶冶性情的電影，然後去拍那種電影。

延伸閱讀：
Sight & Sound：Michael Haneke 專訪