《爆裂鼓手》
—— 一個80后導(dǎo)演對藝術(shù)與人生的思考和詮釋

∷宋云峰

1.短片贏得大獎

在2013年美國圣丹斯電影節(jié)上，一位名不見經(jīng)傳的80后青年導(dǎo)演達(dá)米安·沙澤勒（Damien Chazelle）攜帶剛剛完成的18分鐘短片《爆裂鼓手》（Whiplash）參加影展。出人意料的是，影片受到觀眾與評委的一致好評，一舉奪得觀眾和評委會兩項大獎。故事講述了野心勃勃想成為最佳爵士鼓手的音樂學(xué)院學(xué)生安德魯和一心想培養(yǎng)出偉大音樂家而對學(xué)生要求近乎苛刻的指揮弗萊徹之間既對立又統(tǒng)一的愛恨關(guān)系。影片之所以打動觀眾，是因為故事源于導(dǎo)演的親身經(jīng)歷，兩位主演的精彩對手戲也反映了新一代美國導(dǎo)演對藝術(shù)和人生的思考。

出生于1985年的編劇/導(dǎo)演沙澤勒在就讀普林斯頓中學(xué)時曾加入學(xué)校競爭異常激烈的爵士樂隊，并為此吃了不少苦頭。他創(chuàng)作的15頁劇本和拍攝的18分鐘短片就基于自己個人的藝術(shù)體驗和中學(xué)爵士樂隊那位要求精益求精的指揮（他已于2003年過世）的訓(xùn)練風(fēng)格。沙澤勒首先簡化了人物關(guān)系，對主要矛盾加以夸張和渲染，并融入了類似性格的傳奇爵士鼓手兼指揮巴迪·里奇（Buddy Rich）的事跡。

2.長片再獲大獎

短片《爆裂鼓手》在美國最重要的獨立電影節(jié)——圣丹斯電影節(jié)上的成功引起了一些投資人的關(guān)注，最終Bold Films以330萬美元的資金投入與沙澤勒簽約，讓其將短片改編成一部長故事片。影片由J. K. 西蒙斯（J.K. Simmons）飾演爵士樂隊指揮泰倫斯·弗萊徹（Terence Fletcher），80后青年演員邁爾斯·泰勒（Miles Teller）飾演爵士鼓手安德魯·奈曼（Andrew Neiman）。影片更加全面而細(xì)膩地塑造了這種奇特的對立統(tǒng)一的師生關(guān)系，使得兩個主要人物的性格與形象更加豐滿，所營造的心理氣氛也更加緊張，扣人心弦。

2014年1月，《爆裂鼓手》再次參展圣丹斯電影節(jié)，同樣好評如潮，并再次獲得了電影節(jié)評委會大獎。10月，該片在美國全面上映，取得票房和評論雙收。截至2015年3月底，《爆裂鼓手》在美國和全球上映后獲得了3,310萬美元的票房收入，十倍于原來300萬美元的投資。

此外，該片還獲得第87屆奧斯卡最佳改編劇本、最佳影片、最佳剪輯、最佳音效和最佳男配角獎等五項提名，并最終斬獲最佳剪輯、最佳音效和最佳男配角獎（飾演指揮弗萊徹的西蒙斯）。

3.沙澤勒——嶄露頭角的美國80后導(dǎo)演

《爆裂鼓手》講述的故事屬于老套的“臺上10分鐘，臺下10年功”或是“成功= 99%的汗水 + 1%的靈感”的勵志故事，但如果由過來人擔(dān)綱導(dǎo)演或主演，難免有說教之嫌。而這部影片由80后導(dǎo)演和演員以他們獨特的視角和風(fēng)格來詮釋他們自己的生活、學(xué)習(xí)和工作，給人以耳目一新的感覺。究其成功的原因，無非是故事講得有趣精彩，在觀眾中創(chuàng)造出一種緊張的心理氛圍；演員的表演細(xì)致到位，使觀眾感同身受；影片還融入了許多經(jīng)典的爵士樂，音效一流，給音樂愛好者帶來一種享受；導(dǎo)演沒有說教，將影片反映的這種“梅花香自苦寒來”

的成才模式的利弊留給觀眾去捉摸和評說?？梢哉f，青年導(dǎo)演沙澤勒著力塑造了豐滿的、具有強(qiáng)烈個性的人物以及主要人物之間張弛有度的矛盾沖突，展示了其非凡的導(dǎo)演才華。沙澤勒在給西蒙斯說戲時刻意強(qiáng)調(diào)，一定要把爵士導(dǎo)演弗萊徹近乎魔鬼般的苛刻性格表現(xiàn)出來：“I want you to take it past what you think the normal limit would be; I don’t want to see a human being on-screen anymore. I want to see a monster, a gargoyle（怪人）, an animal.”

在沙澤勒身上，我們可以看到新一代電影導(dǎo)演的銳氣和效率。事實上，沙澤勒從普林斯頓中學(xué)畢業(yè)后考入了哈佛大學(xué)并學(xué)習(xí)電影制作，主要興趣是視覺與環(huán)境研究，于2007年畢業(yè)。2009年，沙澤勒導(dǎo)演了其處女作、歌舞片《公園長凳上的蓋伊和艾德琳》（Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench）。《爆裂鼓手》是他執(zhí)導(dǎo)的第二部長片。他只花了19天就完成了該片的拍攝，但是拍片的強(qiáng)度不亞于影片中爵士指揮弗萊徹對學(xué)員的魔鬼式訓(xùn)練——每天平均長達(dá)14個小時。但和影片所揭示的一樣，導(dǎo)演的辛勤付出得到了應(yīng)有的回報。也許，只有這樣拍片才能達(dá)到他想要的效果。（對于藝術(shù)，除了辛勤努力，天分也是不可或缺的。這也是影片受到的唯一負(fù)面批評：在藝術(shù)上，沒有天賦，再努力也不會成功；影片所揭示的成才模式似乎背離了這一規(guī)律。）

2014年圣丹斯電影節(jié)上的導(dǎo)演達(dá)米安·沙澤勒

4.影評節(jié)選

J. K. Simmons was praised for his performance, and won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor（最佳男配角）. Peter Debruge, in his review for Variety, said that the film “demolishes（破除）the cliches（陳詞濫調(diào)）of the musical-prodigy genre（音樂天才的類型）, investing the traditionally polite stages and rehearsal studios of a topnotch conservatory（一流音樂學(xué)院）with all the psychological intensity of a battlefield or sports arena（競技場）.”

Amber Wilkinson from The Daily Telegraph praised the direction and editing, writing: “Chazelle’s film has a sharp and gripping（扣人心弦的）rhythm, with shots,beautifully edited by Tom Cross... often cutting to the crash of Andrew’s drums.” Henry Barnes from The Guardian gave the film a positive review, calling it a rare film “about music that professes（號稱，聲稱）its love for the music and its characters equally.”

5. 關(guān)于藝術(shù)與人生的對話節(jié)選

Uncle Frank: You got any friends, Andy?

Andrew: No.

Uncle Frank: Oh, why’s that?

Andrew: I don’t know, I just never really saw the use.

Uncle Frank: Well, who are you going to play with otherwise? Lennon and McCartney（列儂與麥卡尼，英國甲殼蟲樂隊最重要的成員）, they were school buddies（好朋友，哥兒們）, am I right?

Andrew: Charlie Parker（查理·帕克，黑人薩克斯管演奏家，對波普爵士樂有很大貢獻(xiàn)） didn’t know anybody’til Jo Jones（喬·瓊斯，20世紀(jì)三四十年代著名爵士鼓手）threw a cymbal（鈸，一種打擊樂器）at his head.

Uncle Frank: So that’s your idea of success, huh?

Andrew: I think being the greatest musician of the 20th century is anybody’s idea of success.

Jim: Dying broke（一文不名，落魄）and drunk and full of heroin at the age of 34 is not exactly my idea of success.

Andrew: I’d rather die drunk, broke at 34 and have people at a dinner table talk about me than live to be rich and sober（頭腦清醒的）at 90 and nobody remembered who I was.

Uncle Frank: Ah, but your friends will remember you,that’s the point.

Andrew: None of us were friends with Charlie Parker.That’s the point.

Uncle Frank: Travis and Dustin? They have plenty of friends and plenty of purpose.

Andrew: I’m sure they’ll make great school board presidents someday.

Dustin: Oh, that’s what this is all about? You think you’re better than us?

Andrew: You catch on quick（反應(yīng)很快）. Are you in Model UN（模擬聯(lián)合國，指唇槍舌劍地辯論）?

Travis: I got a reply for you, Andrew. You think Carleton football’s a joke? Come play with us.

Andrew: Four words you will never hear from the NFL（National Football League，美國全國橄欖球聯(lián)盟）.

附：影片故事情節(jié)

Andrew Neiman is a first-year jazz student at the prestigious（頗負(fù)盛名的）Shaffer Conservatory in New York.He has been playing drums from a young age and aspires to become one of the greats like Buddy Rich. Famed conductor Terence Fletcher discovers Andrew practicing in the music room late one night and eventually invites him into his studio band as the alternate（替補(bǔ)）for core drummer Carl Tanner.Fletcher is abusive toward his students, mocking（嘲弄）and insulting them; when the band rehearses the Hank Levy [漢克·利維（1927—2001），美國著名猶太裔爵士作曲家和薩克管演奏家] piece “Whiplash”（意為“極速鞭打”）and Andrew struggles to keep his tempo, Fletcher hurls（猛擲）a chair at him, slaps him, and berates（痛斥）him in front of the class.

At a jazz competition, Andrew accidentally misplaces Carl’s sheet music（樂譜）; as Carl cannot play without it, Andrew steps in, telling Fletcher that he can perform“Whiplash” from memory. Fletcher promotes him to core drummer. Soon after, Fletcher recruits Ryan Connolly, the core drummer from Andrew’s former lower-level class. Ryan is the less talented drummer, but Fletcher promotes him to core, infuriating（激怒）Andrew. Determined to impress Fletcher, Andrew practices until his hands bleed and breaks up with his girlfriend Nicole, believing she will distract him.

The next day, Fletcher tearfully reveals in class that a talented former student of his, Sean Casey, has died in a car accident. The band rehearses “Caravan”（爵士樂曲名）, but Ryan struggles with the tempo. Fletcher auditions（對……進(jìn)行試聽）Andrew, Ryan and Carl for hours while the class waits outside, and finally gives the position to Andrew.

飾演爵士樂隊指揮泰倫斯·弗萊徹的J. K. 西蒙斯

飾演爵士鼓手安德魯·奈曼的80后演員邁爾斯

On the way to a jazz competition, Andrew’s bus breaks down. Determined to make the performance, he rents a car but arrives late without his drumsticks（鼓槌）. After an argument with Fletcher and a tirade（激烈指責(zé)）against his fellow musicians, Andrew drives back to the car rental office and retrieves（找回）the drumsticks. As he speeds back, his car is hit by a truck. He crawls from the wreckage（殘?。゛nd arrives on stage badly injured. When he struggles to play “Caravan” due to his injuries, Fletcher stops the band midway through the performance to tell Andrew that he is“done”. Andrew attacks Fletcher in front of the audience and is subsequently expelled（開除）from Shaffer.

Shortly after, Andrew meets with a lawyer representing the parents of Sean Casey. The lawyer explains that Sean Casey actually hanged himself, having suffered anxiety and depression after joining Fletcher’s class. Sean’s parents want to prevent Fletcher from teaching. Andrew agrees to testify anonymously（匿名作證）and Fletcher is fired.

Months later, Andrew has abandoned music and is working in a restaurant while applying to different colleges. He walks past a jazz club and sees Fletcher performing on stage. Fletcher invites him for drinks and explains that he pushes his students beyond the expected so they might achieve greatness. He invites Andrew to perform at a festival concert with his band. Andrew agrees and invites Nicole, but she is in a new relationship and declines.

On stage at the jazz festival, Fletcher reveals that he knew Andrew testified against him. He leads the band in a new piece for which Andrew was not given sheet music. Andrew is humiliated and flees（逃離）the stage, but as Fletcher is addressing the audience, Andrew returns to the drumset and interrupts with aggressive drumming and directing other members of the band in how to follow, taking over and surprising Fletcher, who eventually follows. Andrew ends the performance with an extravagant （肆無忌憚的）drum solo（獨奏）; Fletcher gives him a nod of approval, which Andrew returns.