白色物质

评《白色物质》：上瘾与迷恋的纠葛渊源

2009年09月09日19:26 来源：搜狐娱乐 作者：编译/草树 　　
   
    法国老牌女导演克莱尔•丹尼斯这次回归非洲题材，携新片《白色物质》闯荡水城威尼斯。该片讲述的是发生在非洲大地上的悲惨故事，主角是个在非洲拥有农场的白种女人，在席卷全国的叛乱面前，她不顾一切地守护自己的土地。

　　透过丹尼斯的镜头，想要以伪自由主义的方式得到一种满足感是不可能的，以一种高高在上的文明国家的视角来看待这片土地及其中发生的一切，同样荒谬。在丹尼斯看来，非洲犹如片中农场里种植的可以使人上瘾的药物一样，令人兴奋却又暗藏危机，这也是影片自始至终的一个主题。不过现在看来，该片只可能在欧洲以及美国得到小规模的放映，很难像丹尼斯之前的作品《35瓶朗姆酒》一样被大众市场接受。

　　《白色物质》很容易让人联想起21年前丹尼斯的作品《巧克力》，因为两部影片的主角都是生活在非洲的白种女人，同样有伊萨赫•德•班克尔坐镇。本片中，伊莎贝尔•于佩尔扮演的法国裔农场主玛丽亚所在的国家处于内战的漩涡中，即将离开的法国士兵极力向她建议，带她回到祖国，然而她却对此不屑一顾。

　　玛丽亚的农场是她的公公亨利（米歇尔•索博饰）留给她的，因为他认为玛丽亚比自己不中用的儿子，也就是玛丽亚的前夫安德烈坚强能干很多。有点讽刺的是，玛丽亚钟爱的儿子曼努埃尔却跟他老爹一样，是个好吃懒做的人，但她却一直拼命地回击人们对于他的批评。人们无法理解她对曼努埃尔的回护，就像无法理解在这样糟糕的环境下，她却做出不肯回法国的决定。实际上，玛丽亚的坚定是建立在她偏执的思想和对现实情况“视而不见”的基础上的。

　　随着时间的推移，这个国家愈发混乱。叛军中的未成年士兵想要找出一位能给他们指引方向的领袖人物，而政府军也在酝酿夺回政权和底盘，野心勃勃的市长更是信心十足地认为，依靠自己的私人军队就可以登上这个国家权力的顶峰。在整个国家的人民都处于颠沛流离的悲惨状况下，玛丽亚依然坚持自己的信念，始终相信既然自己当初可以蔑视危险和困难，现在就一定会顺利地和家人一起渡过难关。

　　影片最后，当年轻的激进分子与曼努埃尔疯狂地掠抢属于被杀害的药剂师的药丸时，丹尼斯指出了这部电影的关键所在，那就是非洲这片土地易使人上瘾、迷恋的天性。看上去，导演并不是想将玛丽亚塑造成为一个值得羡慕或是钦佩的人，在极端混乱的政局中，她根本就没有全身而退的本领。相反，她作为白人种植园主的那种牢不可破的信心，蒙蔽了她的理，让她不肯承认自己家族已经败落的事实。

　　在结构上，该片犹如一部小说，这与丹尼斯也是影片编剧有着密切的关系。当然这依旧是一部典型的克莱尔•丹尼斯作品。最后要说的是，了不起的伊莎贝尔•于佩尔游刃有余地诠释了主人公玛丽亚，而如挽歌般的配乐也让这部结构颇为错综复杂的影片更加浑然一体。
 
(责任编辑：逃逃)

 该不该这么说，这整部片子都弥漫着一种“寓言感”。

一开始就把伊萨贝尔 .于佩尔放在了电影的中心处，也正好说明了丹尼斯把她当成是自己的化身了。而且这个优秀的女演员能使她满意。伊萨贝尔 .于佩尔在电影中的表演是很微妙的，她所饰演的女人被抛到不能控制的混乱的局势中，而她被抛到这个她所迷恋的陌生土地当中。在这样的一部电影中，她要做的不是很多：只需要做出是这片土地的人民的样子，其它的就恰到好处了。她很清楚这点，因此她有效地控制住了自己的表演，这些都显示出一个优秀演员的特质。
一贯的中景？随意。
这是一部典型的因迷恋某片土地而展开的电影——就如同我迷恋某个形象一般，这样的工作方式或者说思考方式是我比较倾向的。这样子就将电影的基调建立在寓言上面。在《 white material》中那些不说话，嵌着一双明亮眼睛的非洲的面孔，刚好加强了这种“寓言感”。
伊莎贝尔 .于佩尔希望和克莱尔.丹尼斯合作一部关于非洲的电影，以便将她带到非洲去。可不可以这么说，这部电影总得来说是关于土地的电影。
陌生残忍或梦寐以求的土地总最能激发你的灵感。
想象着你已经熟悉了这片土地。它的气息，阳光的强度，山峦，树木，你都已经习以为常，肆意的享受着。事实上它还是陌生而遥远的，只是在电影中，它可以对你来说像母亲一样的熟悉。这几乎是一种癖好，特别是对那些经常有一种局外人的感觉的人，他想象自己随意而悠闲地处于人们当中。这种想象是相当过瘾的。
组织一个奇异的时间空间感，但并不怠慢叙事的要求。

浪漫主义最可能成为这类电影的祸害，但在这里除了丹尼斯不同寻常的迷恋之外，她用了一种手持纪录的方式，这也许是有效地抑制浪漫主义情绪的最好办法。其次，丹尼斯可能并不展现她的见闻，无论摄制组在非洲遇见什么听见什么，他们电影的观看的范围始终有限，并不展示什么奇观，好像这些事情就发生在某个郊区一样，这也是克制的结果。这是电影显得自然的原因。然而尽管在非洲的所见所闻没有直接的在电影中出现，但关于非洲的情绪却弥漫在这部电影中：它的广袤的宁静。
关于那些被战乱牵连的儿童，丹尼斯明白一个道理：怜悯的无力。因此在这部电影中，我们没有看到任何对儿童明显的同情。（？）

所谓电影中的“精英主义”，和私人化与对叙事的厌恶是有关系的。
可多次观看的电影，和快餐式的电影

观众和电影之间是隔着一双神奇的剪辑的手，因此拍摄的一切过程一切情绪、煎熬、折磨、狂喜都应该成为这部电影的一部分，
一种讲法是“应该营造另一个完美的无懈可击的世界”
另一种讲法是“银幕上的世界与观看者的世界应该接触”

在我心目中无疑这部影片是阿姨《钢琴教师》后最好的作品。

影片所呈现的状态是那样的无状态，甚至没有任何的时代性，所有人物的目的性都被降到最底线，另一方面反而显得很可疑。那种来自政治、文化、人性、生存的讨论都被高高挂起。如此题材能通过这样的方式表现实在是很特别且难得。

虽然克莱尔·丹尼斯多次说这部影片是属于于佩尔，但是她的跨越艰深和浮躁的影像和音乐还是赋予了影片层次。其实她还是非常传统的影像叙事主义者。

阿姨的表演现在真的是拍个后脑勺都有戏，导演也真没少拍她的背影，而在影片中她的活力甚至表现得超越20岁的年轻人。

看過之後的第一感覺就是：空穴不來風。一場場戰爭、一場場政治鬥爭、一場場家庭糾紛、一場場學校裡的羣毆，絕不是少數幾個人煽動煽動就能燃燒起來的。在這些暴力之中其實正是我左邊、我右邊、以及我自己積極參與的結果。十年浩劫，絕不是那個老頭以及那四個人能夠持續不斷倒騰十年的，正是大家的暴力、大家的拳頭、大家的毒舌成爲了燃料。今天老兵節，早晨聽新聞還聽到一女兵呼籲說：『please do not forget there are women on the frontier of combat!』讓我不禁啞然，不以爲恥反以爲榮，此之謂也。
該反思的正是我們大家每個人。反對暴力，不僅反對被暴，而且反對施暴，這就是我的立場。
電影放過之後與導演claire denis的互動很讓人享受。claire denis中強外乾，看似柔弱，內心堅強而且有些暴力。我的老師karen解釋說：『she is french...』
claire說：『i dont want to be a film maker. i want to make films. i dont want to be someone. i will wake up in the morning and see...』『if you are very near to the camera, seeing fragments, it is something not serious. even killing is not serious, especially killing.』『editing is searching the best way for the film to be shown. but a film exists before it. (but) this film is made in an editing-room. hahaha...』『it is a dream: in a night marie remembers things.』『isabelle dressed in pink and i know it is the end. but suddenly i think it can be the beginning, the very beginning.』『the film is ready (for editing). it is only that i am not ready.』『without obstacles, something could be very boring. it is a good feeling to have obstacles. obstacles are cherish to a film.』『i have no i.d. in this film. it is isabelle. it is all about isabelle.』『the ending: maire murdered her father-in-law. i want to show she is too late. i dont know why (she murdered), but i would have done that...not sure, it is too hard (to murder a strong man), i will try, try to cut a finger (as a start).』

Claris Denis’s most recent film White Material addresses various problematic issues of the postcolonial world. Set in an unnamed African country, the film portrays a brave, independent but irrational white woman, Maria Vial, and tracks her continuous effort to protect her family’s crumbling coffee plantation. Despite the dual threat coming from the local government and the rebels, Maria refuses to leave the country no matter how chaotic and dangerous the environment is. As the tension of the civil war heightens, Maria eventually feels the consequence of her stubborn decision. The film delivers some important messages about post colonialism, especially through its title—White Material. “White material”, which is also mentioned by the characters in the film several times, not only implies the current tragic status of Maria Vial, but also exposes the issues of what is called the era of neocolonialism.
Despite her effort to harvest the coffee, Maria Vial is not welcomed at her home. Everyone, from the government to her ex-husband Andre, urges her to leave the country as soon as possible. Nevertheless, she still regards her coffee plantation as her priority. By hiring new workers, training them, and even priming the backup generator after the power lines were cut, Maria shows her dedication. Unfortunately, all her effort falls short, and her determination does not earn any respect for herself. Rather, throughout the film, she has been placed under gunpoint several times, which forces her into a passive position. Even though Maria insists this is where she truly belongs, the people around her still show her hatred, and treat her as “white material”. To examine the reasons for this, we need to look past the surface. When Maria claims that she “…couldn’t get used to anywhere else,” one of the workers on her plantation says that the reason she does not want to leave is because “[she doesn’t] want anyone taking what [she] has” (1:18:16). Thus, even though Maria regards herself as a native, she has always been in the dominant position since her family owns the whole plantation, and anyone else simply works for her. She feels the need to stay here, not because she “loves” it, but because she thinks she “owns”, or “controls” it. Now the civil war breaks out and the natives can arm themselves, Maria is descended to “white material”, enabling the natives to revenge their long colonized history. One time, the radio reporter reports through the radio: “As for the white material, the party is over…they are getting out, and they are right to run scared” (32:42). Indeed, when the natives try to reclaim what belongs to them, they regard any “white” as a “white material”, and the “white materials” have to be kicked out of the lands.
Moreover, in most circumstances, “white material” holds the meaning of ‘material of whites’ in the film. For example, one rebel soldier claims that the gold-plated lighter they found in Vial’s plantation is “white material”, meaning he thinks the lighter is something that belongs to the whites (25:03). Blond hair is another significant symbol. The camera always gives close shot to Maria’s blond hair, symbolizing her difference from other people. Similarly, blond hair is also her son Manuel’s main barrier to being treated as natives. Thus, he cut his own hair in order to join the rebels (1:05:31). Moreover, the ‘white’s materials’ here are not only what belongs to the whites, but also what the natives want from the whites. It is worth noticing that the natives do not simply find out the white’s materials and then leave – they take them. Before insulting Manuel, the two rebel kids sneak into his house and steal stuff, including Maria’s necklace in Mandrel’s house (55:30); after the two kids cut Manuel’s hair, one of the kids carefully smells it, like he cherishes it as a treasure (57:52); the rebels kill the people who work in the pharmacy, and then chew the pills, without knowing what exactly the pills are (1:31:11). All these details demonstrate how the natives desire the “white’s material”.
There are further underlying messages beneath this single term. First, notice that the lighter has been passed from character to character, which signifies that not just one, but most of them are influenced by the ‘white’s material’. In addition, whenever the term is mentioned, it is in English rather than French. It exposes that, today, the former colonized areas are controlled not only by their former colonizers such as France physically, but by the whole ‘white’s world’ economically and politically. Indeed, in the era of neocolonialism, many developed countries, especially those former colonial powers, apply international economic arrangements with their former colonies in order to maintain colonial control by using practices of capitalism and globalization. As what the radio reporter says in the film: “Boxer is hiding out amidst foreigners who rips us off and use our land to grow mediocre coffee that we’d never drink” (1:20:14). To the natives, the “white material” bring ‘white’s material’ to their lands and make ‘white’s materials.’ The economy of those underdeveloped countries is highly distorted by those who influence them. They desire ‘white’s material,’ and they are influenced by ‘white’s material,’ but at the same time, they realize that they are controlled and they need to revolt at some point. Therefore, both Maria and the natives are victims, since this inequality will only bring chaos and conflict instead of peace.