唐昉
From Do the Right Thing to Get Out, these films are required viewing. 從《為所應(yīng)為》到《逃出絕命鎮(zhèn)》,這些影片都在必看之列。
Storytelling is an exercise in empathy—it teaches us about worlds beyond our lived experience, bonds us to strangers, and helps us understand struggles we havent personally faced. If youre looking to broaden your worldview, consider exposing yourself to the works of black filmmakers, who speak powerfully to their experiences through their art. Here are a few essential films, which will expand your mind and heart.
Do the Right Thing
Spike Lees 1989 masterpiece about a Brooklyn neighborhood is still one of the most lauded pictures in his filmography. With an expansive ensemble1 cast, the film follows a Brooklyn neighborhood dealing with the stresses of growing racial tension. Spike Lee stars in the film alongside Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, and Ruby Dee among others. Do the Right Thing ends with a dedication to those who died at the hand of police brutality. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards2 and was inducted into the National Film Registry3.
13th
13th, a Netflix documentary by Ava DuVernay, is an incredible look at how race and the justice system interact with the crippling mass incarceration problem in America. While likening the system to American slavery, DuVernays film skewers the prison industrial complex and sheds a light on the for-profit systems that have deeply corrupted correctional facilities across the United States. The film is celebrated among critics, having nabbed a Best Documentary nomination at the Academy Awards, and an Emmy4 win, to boot5.
I Am Not Your Negro
James Baldwin6 devoted his life to starting essential conversations on race in America, but I Am Not Your Negro tells the story of the one he never had the chance to finish. Baldwin died before he finished Remember This House, which would have explored racism in America through his memories of Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King, Jr.7 Narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, I Am Not Your Negro imagines what the finished manuscript would have looked like, incorporating letters written by Baldwin himself.
Fences
Long after his death in 2005, August Wilsons plays still stand as some of the most essential portraits of African-American life ever made. In recent years, Denzel Washington has committed himself to honoring Wilsons legacy—developing adaptations of his plays, starring in them, renovating the August Wilson House—which brought us 2016s Fences, showing us the discrimination the Maxson family faced living in the post-World War II-era, depressed Hill District neighborhood of Pittsburgh.
Fruitvale Station
Nearly a decade ago, 22-year-old Oscar Grant was kneed in the head by BART8 police officers responding to a report of a subway station fight. He died later that day. In his directorial debut—and first collaboration with Michael B. Jordan—Ryan Coogler told Grants devastating story, showing us all of the promise his life had, and everything he did on New Years 2009.
12 Years a Slave
In this Best Picture winner based on an 1853 memoir by Solomon Northrup, Chiwitel Ejiofor plays Northrup, a black man born free in New York who is kidnapped and sold into slavery. The film charts Northrups twelve years of back-breaking work on a southern plantation, as well as his efforts to escape slavery. Directed by Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave was celebrated as one of the finest films of the year for its unflinching look at the violence and abuse that black Americans like Northrup were subjected to on plantations.
Get Out
In his unforgettable directorial debut, Jordan Peele uses the tropes of horror films to illustrate the horrors of racism. Daniel Kaluuya stars as Chris, a black man who uncovers a disturbing secret when he accompanies his white girlfriend on a visit home to meet her parents. Funny, frightening, and a trenchant criticism of race relations in America, Get Out opened the door to a new mode of storytelling about the evils of racism.
If Beale Street Could Talk
Based on James Baldwins 1974 novel of the same name, If Beale Street Could Talk is the moving story of Tish and Fonny, a Harlem couple whose bright future is torn apart when Fonny is arrested for a crime he never committed. Directed by Barry Jenkins, the film follows Fonnys trials in the criminal justice system, while Tish carries to term a pregnancy9 that her loved ones consider “doomed,” as she and Fonny cannot marry with Fonny behind bars. In this deeply poignant film, Jenkins depicts love blossoming despite a broken system.
Selma
Directed by Ava DuVernay, Selma is a historical drama about the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Representative John Lewis, among others. DuVernay dramatizes King and Lewis efforts to prevent disenfranchisement of black Americans, culminating in their historic marches over the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Perhaps the most emotional element of this rousing story is how little has changed in the decades since, with Lewis still taking the congressional stand to secure a better, fairer future for black Americans10.
The Hate U Give
Based on the popular young adult novel by Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give emphasizes how issues of racism and police brutality are not simply adult problems—rather, they infect the upbringing of black children and teenagers across the country. 16-year-old Starr Carter lives in a traditionally black neighborhood and attends a predominantly white prep school, but everything changes for her when her childhood friend is wrongfully murdered before her very eyes during a routine traffic stop. Despite her efforts to keep her home persona and her school persona separate, Starr is thrust onto the national stage when she speaks out against her friends murder. The film then follows her journey as a nascent activist for racial justice, in all its up and downs. If youre looking to educate the teens and pre-teens in your household about racism and police brutality, sit them down for a screening of The Hate U Give.
講故事是一種培養(yǎng)移情能力的方式,能讓我們了解自我生活體驗之外的世界,建立與陌生人的聯(lián)系,并有助于我們理解那些未曾親身經(jīng)歷的艱苦斗爭。您若想拓展視野,不妨看看黑人拍攝的影片。黑人制片人通過藝術(shù)手法敘說了他們的種種經(jīng)歷,極具感染力。這里將介紹一些必看影片,開闊您的思維和心靈。
《為所應(yīng)為》
斯派克·李這部有關(guān)布魯克林社區(qū)的杰作于1989年上映,至今仍是其影視作品里備受推崇的一部。片中演員眾多,講述了布魯克林某社區(qū)如何應(yīng)對日益加劇的種族緊張局勢。斯派克·李和丹尼·愛羅、奧西·戴維斯、露比·迪等一起出演了這部影片?!稙樗鶓?yīng)為》片尾配有一段題詞,獻(xiàn)給那些在警察暴行中喪生的人。該片曾兩次獲奧斯卡金像獎提名,并列入美國國家電影名冊。
《第十三修正案》
《第十三修正案》是阿娃·杜威內(nèi)導(dǎo)演的一部紀(jì)錄片,由奈飛公司出品。該片開創(chuàng)性地探究了美國種族及司法制度與危害嚴(yán)重的大規(guī)模監(jiān)禁問題之間的相互影響,并將司法制度比作美國奴隸制,批判了美國監(jiān)獄產(chǎn)業(yè)體系,揭露了嚴(yán)重腐化美國各地管教機(jī)構(gòu)的營利體制。這部電影在影評界廣受贊譽(yù),曾獲奧斯卡金像獎最佳紀(jì)錄片提名,此外還贏得了艾美獎。
《我不是你的黑鬼》
詹姆斯·鮑德溫畢生致力于開創(chuàng)關(guān)于美國種族問題的重要話題,而紀(jì)錄片《我不是你的黑鬼》講述的故事卻是這位作家從未有機(jī)會完成的話題。鮑德溫去世時還沒完成手稿《記住這房子》,這部作品原本是作者對梅加·埃弗斯、馬爾科姆·X和小馬丁·路德·金三人的追憶,以此探討美國種族主義問題?!段也皇悄愕暮诠怼吩O(shè)想了手稿的后續(xù)內(nèi)容,并收錄鮑德溫本人的書信,由塞繆爾·L.杰克遜擔(dān)任旁白。
《藩籬》
奧古斯特·威爾遜于2005年去世,但他的戲劇至今仍然是刻畫非裔美國人生活的最重要作品。近年來,丹澤爾·華盛頓致力于弘揚威爾遜的戲劇成就:改編威爾遜的劇本、擔(dān)任劇中主演以及翻新奧古斯特·威爾遜的故居。隨后,2016年華盛頓為我們帶來影片《藩籬》,展示了馬克森一家居住在二戰(zhàn)后蕭條的匹茲堡希爾社區(qū)時所遭受的種族歧視。
《弗魯特維爾車站》
大約10年前,舊金山灣區(qū)捷運系統(tǒng)警察接報處理一起地鐵站斗毆事件時,用膝蓋壓住22歲黑人奧斯卡·格蘭特的頭部,造成當(dāng)天晚些時候格蘭特死亡。瑞恩·庫格勒在其導(dǎo)演處女作(也是他與邁克爾·B.喬丹的首度合作)中,講述了格蘭特的悲慘故事,展示了他人生的全部希望以及他在2009年新年所做的一切。
《為奴十二年》
這部電影改編自所羅門·諾瑟普1853年的自傳回憶錄,曾獲奧斯卡最佳影片獎。切瓦特·埃加福特扮演在紐約出生的自由黑人諾瑟普,后遭綁架并賣為奴隸。影片記錄了諾瑟普在南部某種植園12年的艱辛工作,以及他為擺脫奴隸身份所做的努力?!稙榕辍酚墒返俜颉溈驁?zhí)導(dǎo),大膽地揭示了諾瑟普這類美國黑人在種植園遭受的暴力和虐待,因而獲評年度最佳影片之一。
《逃出絕命鎮(zhèn)》
這是喬丹·皮爾執(zhí)導(dǎo)的首部影片,他用恐怖電影手法展現(xiàn)種族主義的殘酷,令人印象深刻。丹尼爾·卡盧亞飾演黑人克里斯,陪同白人女友回家探望父母時,發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個令人不安的秘密?!短映鼋^命鎮(zhèn)》情節(jié)恐怖、風(fēng)趣,尖銳地批判了美國的種族關(guān)系,開辟了一種講述種族主義罪惡的新模式。
《假若比爾街能說話》
這部影片改編自詹姆斯·鮑德溫1974年出版的同名小說,講述了蒂什和方尼的感人故事。這對情侶居住在哈萊姆區(qū),方尼無辜被捕后,兩人的美好未來毀于一旦。影片由巴里·詹金斯執(zhí)導(dǎo),刻畫了方尼經(jīng)歷的幾場刑事司法審訊,此時已懷有身孕的蒂什在親友們看來已“劫數(shù)難逃”,因為方尼一旦入獄,兩人便無法結(jié)為夫妻。在這部充滿辛酸的影片中,詹金斯描繪了殘缺體制下綻放的愛情。
《塞爾瑪》
《塞爾瑪》是阿娃·杜威內(nèi)執(zhí)導(dǎo)的歷史劇,講述了1965年從塞爾瑪?shù)矫筛珩R利的投票權(quán)游行。這場游行由小馬丁·路德·金博士、議員約翰·劉易斯和其他黑人領(lǐng)袖領(lǐng)導(dǎo)。杜威內(nèi)展現(xiàn)了金和劉易斯為阻止美國黑人被剝奪選舉權(quán)而做出的努力。故事以埃德蒙·佩特斯大橋上具有歷史意義的游行告終。也許,這則振奮人心的故事里最令人傷感的是,幾十年來種族歧視并沒多大改善,劉易斯仍在國會上為美國黑人力爭更好、更公平的未來。
《你給的仇恨》
影片改編自安吉·托馬斯創(chuàng)作的青年通俗小說,強(qiáng)調(diào)種族主義和警察的暴行問題不僅僅涉及成人,還影響著美國黑人兒童和青少年的成長。片中16歲的斯塔爾·卡特居住在傳統(tǒng)的黑人社區(qū),在白人居多的預(yù)科學(xué)校就讀。親眼目睹兒時伙伴在警察例行攔車巡檢時被非法槍殺后,她的生活徹底改變了。盡管斯塔爾努力區(qū)分自己在家庭和學(xué)校間兩種不同形象,可她站出來替冤死的摯友作證的那一刻,便成了全國的焦點。隨后,影片講述了她開始積極爭取種族平等的歷程,一路充滿起伏波折。若想讓家里的青少年和尚未步入青春期的子女了解種族主義和警察的野蠻行徑,不妨讓他們坐下來觀看《你給的仇恨》。
(譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎?wù)?單位:四川外國語大學(xué))