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Ah, the West.
啊，西部。
Mythical home of Road Runner.
哔哔鸟那神秘的故乡。
John Wayne.
还有约翰·韦恩。
And families in wagons, heading for a fresh start on the rugged frontier.
和坐着马车行走在崎岖的边疆的道路上，朝着新生活迈进的无数家庭。
Wide open sky and these big red rock formations make up its stereotypical backdrop.
广阔的天空以及这些巨大的红色岩石构成了西部印象的一贯背景。
The one in movies and cartoons.
在电影和动画片里反复出镜。
“Oh there’s gotta be a phone or a gas station around here somewhere, honey.”
“啊，亲爱的，这附近肯定有电话或加油站什么的。”
But when you look at a bunch of those movies back to back, you start to notice something.
但当你背对背地看这些电影的时候，你会注意到，
This “image of the West” kind of looks the same whenever we see it.
这个“西方印象”每次看着都差不多。
And that’s because this specific group of formations is unique to one place: Monument Valley.
这是因为，这组特殊的元素构成是纪念碑谷这个地方特有的。
So how did this one area become a symbol of the American West?
那么问题来了，这个地区是如何成为美国西部的象征的呢？
Monument Valley is on the Arizona-Utah border, inside the Navajo Nation Reservation.
纪念碑谷位于亚利桑那州和犹他州的交界处的纳瓦霍族保留地内。
Its towering red sandstone formations, called "buttes", rise hundreds of feet above the desert floor.
它高耸的红砂岩群，也即所谓的“孤峰”，要高出沙漠地面数百英尺。
For centuries, only Native Americans – specifically the Paiute and Navajo –
数百年来，只有原住民——特别是帕尤特人和纳瓦霍人——
occupied this remote landscape, fielding conflicts with the US government.
占据着这片偏远的土地，与美国政府冲突的事情时有发生。
Non-indigenous people began to visit in the early 20th century,
20世纪初，非原住民开始造访此地，
and in the early 1920s Colorado sheep trader Harry Goulding and his wife Leone set up a trading post on the Utah side of Monument Valley,
20年代初，科罗拉多州的绵羊商贩哈里·古尔丁和他的妻子利昂在纪念碑谷犹他一侧设立了一个贸易站，
which at the time was just outside of the Navajo Reservation.
贸易战当时就设在了纳瓦霍保留地外面。
In the 1930s this area was hit hard by drought; the Great Depression;
20世纪30年代，这个地区遭遇了严重的干旱；后来是大萧条；
and a forced reduction of livestock by the US government, which slashed a vital source of income.
再后来，美国政府强制他们减少牲畜数量，削减了他们一大重要的收入来源。
Goulding tried for years to draw attention to Monument Valley’s stunning landscape,
多年来，古尔丁一直试图吸引外界关注对纪念碑谷的迷人风光，
thinking tourism could help boost the local economy.
他想的是旅游业应该可以促进当地经济的发展。
But according to Goulding, the area’s big break didn’t come until 1938, when he brought photos of Monument Valley to Hollywood.
然而，据古尔丁说，直到1938年，他把纪念碑谷的照片带到了好莱坞，这个地区的发展才迎来了重大突破。
Stagecoach, directed by John Ford and shot primarily on location in Monument Valley, revolutionized the Western,
《驿站马车》——约翰·福特导演，取景地大多都在纪念碑谷——彻底改变了西部片的命运。
elevating the genre from the low budget “pulp” reputation it had developed in the 1930s – what’s known as a “B” movie...
20世纪30年代，西部片被认为是低成本“庸俗片”，也即所谓的“B类”电影，《驿站马车》则将这一类型的电影提升到了……
“What does it say, Dad?”
“上面说啥了，爸爸？”
“Ah, don’t mean a thing, son.”
“啊，没什么，儿子。”
...into one of Hollywood’s most popular genres for the next 20 years.
……接下来20年里好莱坞最受欢迎的电影类型之一的高度。
It was also the breakout role for American icon John Wayne.
西部角色也成了美国偶像约翰·韦恩的突破性角色。
Who until this point had spent years starring in “B” Westerns like 1933’s Riders of Destiny.
到这时，他已经演了好多年的“B类”西部片了，比如1933年的《宿命骑士》。
“Make it fast, Slippery. This is your last draw.”
“动作快点吧，老滑头。这是你最后的机会了。”
Stagecoach mainstreamed the Western,
《驿站马车》成了西部片的主流级别的作品，
and it’s here that audiences began to associate Monument Valley with the mythic American West.
也就是从那时起，观众们开始将纪念碑谷同神秘的西部联系在一起。
An epic, isolated landscape full of potential.
那是一个史诗般的，充满无限可能，又遗世独立的地方。
The kind of place where outlaws and outcasts could find a fresh start.
一个亡命之徒和受人排挤之辈都能够重新开始的地方。
Following Ford’s lead, other filmmakers began using Monument Valley as their Western backdrops.
在福特的带领下，其他电影制作人也开始把纪念碑谷作为他们的西部片背景了。
Including Ford himself, seven more times.
包括福特自己，他又拍了七部类似的西部片。
Most notably in The Searchers, often regarded as the ultimate Western.
其中，最为有名的是他的《搜索者》，这部片子通常被认为是西部片的终极之作。
The movie takes place in Texas.
影片的故事发生在德克萨斯州。
“What’s that got to do with us?”
“这和我们有什么关系？”
But that didn’t matter.
这不重要。
By then, Monument Valley was a cliché.
重要的是，纪念碑谷到那时已经被西部片用烂了。
And clichés are useful for storytelling.
这样反倒有利于讲述故事。
They signal to the audience what kind of story this is.
因为它能告诉观众电影讲述的是一个什么样的故事。
Or set a familiar tone in advertising.
也有利于在广告中营造一种熟悉的基调。
Those buttes are so ingrained in pop culture that they can be used as shorthand for stories of Western adventure.
那些孤峰已经深深地烙印在了流行文化之中，以致于它们就相当于西部冒险故事的缩影。
“Wait, where are we?”
“等等，我们这是在哪儿？”
Which might be why the Coen Brothers chose it as the backdrop for the opening scene of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,
或许，这就是科恩兄弟将它们选作二人在2018年致敬并戏仿西部片之作——
their 2018 homage and parody of the genre.
《巴斯特·斯克鲁格斯的歌谣》开场镜头的背景的原因。
“A song never fails to ease my mind out here in the West.
“在这雄关慢慢，景致单调的西部，
Where the distances are great, and the scenery monotonous.”
唱首歌总能让我放松下来。”
When the film company that made Stagecoach wrapped production and left Monument Valley in late 1938,
1938年末，《驿站马车》剧组完成拍摄，离开纪念碑谷时，
it had paid Navajo locals somewhere around $50,000.
付给了纳瓦霍当地人大约5万美元的报酬。
Hundreds had worked as crewmembers and extras, though they played the roles of Apache “bad guys.”
因为有数百名当地人担任机组成员或临时演员，尽管他们扮演的都是阿帕奇“坏人”。
According to reports at the time, that money was enough to get them through the winter.
根据当时的报道，这些钱足够他们过冬了。
And as Monument Valley’s reputation grew, Goulding’s plan to bring to bring in tourism started working.
随着纪念碑谷声誉日益高涨，古尔丁通过旅游带动当地经济发展的计划开始奏效。
The Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park now sees around 350,000 visitors each year.
纳瓦霍部落公园现在每年接待的游客量将近35万名。
Tourists can visit the trading post and go on Navajo-led tours of the famous buttes.
游客可以参观古尔丁的贸易站，还可以在纳瓦霍人的带领下游览著名的孤峰。
And they get there by taking this road, US Highway 163.
他们去孤峰走的则是这条路——163号公路。
You’ve probably seen it before.
这条路你可能已经见过了。
It’s where Forrest Gump ended his famous run across America.
它就是阿甘结束他著名的美国之旅的地方。
“My running days was over. So I went home to Alabama.”
“我跑步的日子结束了。所以我回到了阿拉巴马州的老家。”
Alabama’s in the other direction, but that doesn’t matter.
其实，阿拉巴马是在另一个方向，不过这不重要。
This backdrop could be anywhere in the West.
这个背景可以出现在西部的任何地方。
The kind of place where outlaws and outcasts could find a fresh start.
一个亡命之徒和受人排挤之辈都能够重新开始的地方。
Following Ford’s lead, other filmmakers began using Monument Valley as their Western backdrops.
在福特的带领下，其他电影制作人也开始把纪念碑谷作为他们的西部片背景了。
Including Ford himself, seven more times.
包括福特自己，他又拍了七部类似的西部片。
Most notably in The Searchers, often regarded as the ultimate Western.
其中，最为有名的是他的《搜索者》，这部片子通常被认为是西部片的终极之作。
The movie takes place in Texas.
影片的故事发生在德克萨斯州。
“What’s that got to do with us?”
“这和我们有什么关系？”
But that didn’t matter.
这不重要。
By then, Monument Valley was a cliché.
重要的是，纪念碑谷到那时已经被西部片用烂了。
And clichés are useful for storytelling.
这样反倒有利于讲述故事。
They signal to the audience what kind of story this is.
因为它能告诉观众电影讲述的是一个什么样的故事。
Or set a familiar tone in advertising.
也有利于在广告中营造一种熟悉的基调。
Those buttes are so ingrained in pop culture that they can be used as shorthand for stories of Western adventure.
那些孤峰已经深深地烙印在了流行文化之中，以致于它们就相当于西部冒险故事的缩影。
“Wait, where are we?”
“等等，我们这是在哪儿？”
Which might be why the Coen Brothers chose it as the backdrop for the opening scene of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,
或许，这就是科恩兄弟将它们选作二人在2018年致敬并戏仿西部片之作——
their 2018 homage and parody of the genre.
《巴斯特·斯克鲁格斯的歌谣》开场镜头的背景的原因。
“A song never fails to ease my mind out here in the West.
“在这雄关慢慢，景致单调的西部，
Where the distances are great, and the scenery monotonous.”
唱首歌总能让我放松下来。”
When the film company that made Stagecoach wrapped production and left Monument Valley in late 1938,
1938年末，《驿站马车》剧组完成拍摄，离开纪念碑谷时，
it had paid Navajo locals somewhere around $50,000.
付给了纳瓦霍当地人大约5万美元的报酬。
Hundreds had worked as crewmembers and extras, though they played the roles of Apache “bad guys.”
因为有数百名当地人担任机组成员或临时演员，尽管他们扮演的都是阿帕奇“坏人”。
According to reports at the time, that money was enough to get them through the winter.
根据当时的报道，这些钱足够他们过冬了。
And as Monument Valley’s reputation grew, Goulding’s plan to bring to bring in tourism started working.
随着纪念碑谷声誉日益高涨，古尔丁通过旅游带动当地经济发展的计划开始奏效。
The Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park now sees around 350,000 visitors each year.
纳瓦霍部落公园现在每年接待的游客量将近35万名。
Tourists can visit the trading post and go on Navajo-led tours of the famous buttes.
游客可以参观古尔丁的贸易站，还可以在纳瓦霍人的带领下游览著名的孤峰。
And they get there by taking this road, US Highway 163.
他们去孤峰走的则是这条路——163号公路。
You’ve probably seen it before.
这条路你可能已经见过了。
It’s where Forrest Gump ended his famous run across America.
它就是阿甘结束他著名的美国之旅的地方。
“My running days was over. So I went home to Alabama.”
“我跑步的日子结束了。所以我回到了阿拉巴马州的老家。”
Alabama’s in the other direction, but that doesn’t matter.
其实，阿拉巴马是在另一个方向，不过这不重要。
This backdrop could be anywhere in the West.
这个背景可以出现在西部的任何地方。
