Even before Americans began flocking to theaters on Christmas Eve to see “The Interview” — Sony Pictures’ comedy about a C.I.A. plot to kill the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un — Chinese film fans by the thousands were downloading mostly pirated versions of the movie on domestic video-sharing websites. By midday on Friday, more than 300,000 people had seen the film and the reviews, by and large, were favorable.
早在平安夜,美国人开始涌向电影院观看《采访》(The Interview)——索尼电影娱乐公司(Sony Pictures)关于中央情报局(CIA)密谋杀害朝鲜领导人金正恩(Kim Jong-un)的喜剧——之前,中国的数千名电影爱好者就在国内的视频分享网站上下载这部电影,其中大部分是盗版。到周五中午,已有30多万人观看了这部电影,而且对影片的评价基本上是正面的。
“Perfect, the greatest film in history, all hail Sony,” read one online comment. Said another, “Their ability to amuse is out of this galaxy,” referring to the film’s stars, Seth Rogen and James Franco.
“太完美了,堪称史上最伟大的影片,索尼万岁,”一条网络评论称。另一条则评价影片中的影星赛斯·罗根(Seth Rogen)和詹姆斯·弗兰科(James Franco)说,“这群人的搞笑能力已经超出这个宇宙了吧。”
In one sign of the enthusiasm for the film, whose theatrical release was initially held up after a hacking attack on the studio, “The Interview” scored an 8.0 rating on the Chinese Internet movie database Douban, with more than 10,000 people posting reviews. In their comments, some people acknowledged having not seen the film, but wanted to show their support for what many approvingly described as an act of subversion against North Korea.
《采访》在中国互联网电影数据库豆瓣上得到了8.0的评分,共有逾1万人对影片进行了评价,这在某种程度上说明了人们对此片的热情。因为索尼公司受到黑客攻击,所以美国影院起初推迟了此片上映的日期。有人在评论中承认尚未观看此片,但是想表示自己的支持,许多人都以称赞的口吻形容,此片是颠覆朝鲜的举动。
Although Beijing is Pyongyang’s only significant ally on the world stage, many ordinary Chinese have mixed feelings about their government’s relationship with North Korea, which has been called as close as “lips and teeth.” Some have come to see a reflection of their own condition in North Korea’s poverty, repressiveness and over-the-top propaganda. Online, some commentators have begun to refer to the North Korean leader as “Fatty Kim the 3rd.”
尽管北京是平壤在世界舞台上唯一的重要盟友,但是对于政府与朝鲜的关系,许多普通中国人的感情都很复杂。中国政府与朝鲜的关系曾可谓“唇齿相依”。有人从朝鲜的贫穷、压迫,以及言过其实的宣传中,看到了自己的处境。有人在网上发表评论时,还开始把这位朝鲜领导人称为“金三胖”。
In a nod to China’s authoritarian side, one user wrote, “If we made a comedy that said ‘Assassinate Mao,’ the result would be unimaginable. Don’t ‘like’ my post or I’ll get detained.” (On many video-sharing sites, the film’s title was translated as “Assassinate Kim Jong-un.”)
一名用户在暗示中国威权统治的一面时写道,“如果中国也出了一部喜剧片叫《刺杀毛xx》,后果不敢想。别赞怕被跨省。”(在许多视频分享网站上,这部影片名字都被译作《刺杀金正恩》。)
The reliably contrarian Global Times, a nationalistic tabloid owned by the Communist Party-run People’s Daily, weighed in on “The Interview” with an article that focused on what it described as the film’s “senseless cultural arrogance.” In another article, it quoted Chinese academics who, in apparent seriousness, slammed the movie’s lack of accuracy in portraying North Korea.
一向爱唱反调的《环球时报》发表了一篇关于《采访》的评论文章,文中着重阐述了该电影体现的“缺少克制意识的文化傲慢”。《环球时报》是党报《人民日报》旗下的民族主义小报。另一篇文章则援引了中国学者的话,这些学者义正辞严地抨击该电影,称电影有关朝鲜的描述并不准确。
Prof. Zhang Yiwu, a cultural critic at Peking University, said “The Interview” revealed the West’s distorted view of North Korea.
北京大学文化评论家张颐武表示,《采访》体现了西方对朝鲜的扭曲看法。
“Like the rest of the world, most of our knowledge of North Korea comes from Western media,” he told the newspaper. “As Western ideologies continue to penetrate Chinese society, Chinese online users may become unknowingly influenced by the movie, hence accepting the Western view of North Korea.”
“同世界其他国家一样,中国对朝鲜的了解部分来自西方媒体,”他接受该报采访时表示。“随着西方意识形态不断渗入中国社会,中国网民可能会不知不觉地受到该片影响,接受西方对朝鲜的看法。”
Officially, at least, the Chinese government has yet to comment on the film. Last week, after the Obama administration asked for Beijing’s help in cracking down on the North Korean hackers thought to have infiltrated Sony’s corporate computer system, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs skirted the request and issued its familiar condemnation of cyberattacks.
中国政府至少到目前为止,尚未对该影片正式发表评论。上周,奥巴马政府请求北京方面帮助打击据信侵入索尼电脑系统的朝鲜黑客,之后中国外交部的女发言人对这一请求避而不谈,而是用熟悉的套话谴责了网络攻击行为。
“Before making any conclusions, there has to be a full accounting of the facts and foundation,” said the spokeswoman, Hua Chunying. “China will handle it in accordance with relevant international and Chinese laws according to the facts.”
“下结论需要有充分、专业、完整的事实依据,”发言人华春莹说,我们将“按照相关国际法原则和中国国内法律处理”。
Although many who watched the film thought it was funny, others described its humor as juvenile, crass and perhaps a bit dangerous.
虽然很多看过电影的人认为这部电影很好玩,但另一些人则称其中的幽默有些幼稚、愚蠢,或许还有点危险。
“These angry young people, while appreciating the film, are actually revealing their mind-sets of pleasing the lord of their hearts — the U.S., or the so-called beacon of freedom and democracy,” wrote one user on Douban.
豆瓣的一个用户写道,“这些愤怒的年轻人在欣赏电影的同时,实际上也暴露了他们取悦他们心中的主子——美国或所谓的自由、民主之塔——的心态。”