Behind enemy lines
張藝謀首部諜戰片《懸崖之上》致敬英雄
In his more than 40-year career as a filmmaker, Zhang Yimou has finally turned his eye to the spy genre.
從事電影創作40多年,張藝謀終于將目光投向諜戰題材。
On April 30, Zhang’s first espionage film Cliff Walkers was released. The film features a star-studded cast of China’s leading talent, including Zhang Yi, Yu Hewei and Qin Hailu. Set in the Japan-occupied puppet state Manchukuo in the early 1930s, the story follows four Soviet Union-trained agents of the Communist Party of China sneaking into Harbin, Heilongjiang, to rescue a survivor escaping from a covert camp where the brutal Japanese take prisoners for human experiments.
4月30日,張藝謀首部諜戰大片《懸崖之上》上映。該片群星云集,由張譯、于和偉、秦海璐等國內實力派演員出演。故事講述了20世紀30年代早期,在日本占領中國東北后扶植的傀儡偽政權“偽滿洲國”地界,四位曾在蘇聯接受特訓的中共諜報人員偷偷潛入黑龍江哈爾濱,營救從秘密基地逃出的幸存者。在那里,殘暴的日本人進行了慘無人道的人體活體實驗。
Like other spy films and TV shows, Zhang covers scenes of torture, secret codes, fights and chases in Cliff Walkers, but in his own style.
與其他諜戰影視劇類似,《懸崖之上》也涉及了酷刑、秘密代碼、搏斗追打場景,但是具有張藝謀獨特的風格。
His iconic usage of colors creates atmosphere and develops characters. “Rather than the lush warmth and brilliant hues that characterized some of his previous works, here he surrounds the cold paranoia... with austere whites and grays,” the Los Angeles Times noted.
他極具代表性的色彩運用,既烘托氛圍,又塑造出了人物性格。“沒有一些早期作品特有的斑斕絢爛,這部影片他以樸素的白色與灰色凸顯冷峻偏執,”《洛杉磯時報》點評道。
The film’s many snowy scenes, contrasting the white snow against the dark night, showcase an epic sense of conflict between the good and the evil, China Daily reported.
據《中國日報》報道,這部電影的許多雪景,通過白雪與黑夜的對比,呈現出善惡博弈的大片效果。
Cliff Walkers is different in other ways too. Instead of portraying the characters as heroes and villains, it clearly reveals positive and negative roles and focuses on how the agents accomplish their mission.
《懸崖之上》還有其他特別之處,它沒有把英雄和反派臉譜化,而是清晰地展現了角色的正面與反面,聚焦諜報人員如何完成任務。
Additionally, the actors’ lines are relatively concise. In Zhang’s view, he wanted “actors to convey feelings through their eyes”, Yangcheng Evening News noted.
此外,演員的臺詞相對簡潔。在張藝謀看來,他想“演員通過眼神交流情感,”《羊城晚報》報道稱。