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Books and Arts;Indian film;Death in Delhi;
文藝；印度電影;德里之死;
Indian film-makers are tackling difficult subjects with a light touch
印度電影制作者們正以一種輕快的風(fēng)格處理棘手的主題。
Jessica Lall, a model, was shot dead at a posh party in Delhi in 1999. Working as a bartender, she had refused to serve an obnoxious reveller at the end of the evening. Feeling snubbed, he pulled out a pistol, pointed it at her temple and pulled the trigger. Several partygoers saw the murder and dozens more watched as the killer fled. Once he was arrested, getting a conviction should have been easy, even in India's bent and overwhelmed courts. However, the accused, a son of a powerful politician of nearby Haryana state, was let off.
杰西卡·萊爾是一名模特兒，1999年，她在德里的一場豪華宴會上遭槍擊身亡。當(dāng)天深夜時分，在吧臺工作的杰西卡拒絕為一位令人厭惡的狂歡者提供服務(wù)，對方感到受人怠慢，于是拔出手槍，對準(zhǔn)杰西卡的太陽穴扣動了扳機(jī)。多位來賓目睹了這起謀殺，更有幾十號人看到了兇手逃離一幕。一旦兇手被捕，即便是在印度腐化且力不從心的法庭上，被判有罪本也不應(yīng)是難事。然而，被告身為鄰近哈里亞納邦一位強(qiáng)力政治人物的兒子，被宣判無罪。
An energetic new film, “No One Killed Jessica”, relates this true story. It follows Ms Lall's stubborn younger sister, Sabrina, as she tried to get justice done. Alone, she didn't have a chance. Acolytes of the accused's powerful family bribed and threatened witnesses. The police were paid off and evidence lost. The film's most compelling scene—and one most damning of India's semi-rotten legal institutions—shows witnesses in turn retracting their original testimony, saying that they could no longer remember the events, and letting a guilty man go free.
一部充滿活力的新片——《無人殺害杰西卡》便講述了這段真實的故事。影片追隨萊爾鍥而不舍、試圖伸張正義的妹妹薩布麗娜。孤身一人的薩布麗娜毫無勝算。被告所在強(qiáng)大家族的助手們對證人威逼利誘，警察也被買通，證據(jù)不翼而飛。本片最扣人心弦的場景展示了證人們相繼翻供，表示已經(jīng)忘記了這些事件，并使得罪犯逍遙法外，而這一幕也是對印度部分腐朽的法律制度最嚴(yán)厲的抨擊。
So far, so discouraging. But where Sabrina failed, India's fourth estate won out. The film's title is from a sarcastic newspaper headline at the time of the trial, commenting on the witnesses' suspicious amnesia. After the acquittal, journalists got those who had been on the stand to admit, in effect, to their perjury. They also helped to organise a candlelight protest at India Gate, the heart of New Delhi, where local citizens, Dilli-wallahs, demanded “justice for Jessica” and reform of India's legal system. Shamed by the attention, the courts at last in 2006 convicted Manu Sharma, the accused, and sentenced him to life in prison.
情節(jié)發(fā)展至此，令人心灰意冷。不過在薩布麗娜失敗之處，印度的第四等級（新聞界）卻贏得了勝利。本片片名源于審判時一份諷刺報紙的大標(biāo)題，以此評論證人們可疑的失憶。在無罪宣判之后，記者令那些曾在法庭上作證之人在事實上承認(rèn)了自己作偽證一事，他們也幫助人們在新德里的核心地帶——印度門組織了一場燭光抗議活動，當(dāng)?shù)毓瘢吹吕锶耍珼illi-wallahs）要求“為杰西卡伸張正義”，并改革印度的法律體系。眾目睽睽之下感到羞恥的法庭，最終在2006年判決被告摩奴·沙瑪(Manu Sharma)有罪，并判處其終身監(jiān)禁。
This is not a heartwarming tale. It took seven years and the combined heft of reporters, broadcasters, street protesters and the victims' relatives to get what should have been a simple conviction. Nor is India's legal system fixed. Witnesses remain exposed, corruption is rife, the powerless routinely trodden on. Jessica was exceptional—sexy, young, Christian, educated, from a middle-class family—an investigative reporter's (or a film director's) dream victim. Delhi's newspapers are filled daily with stories of violent attacks on other, anonymous, women, many of whom struggle to see any sort of justice done. Beyond India's cities, women are more vulnerable still.
這并非一個令人振奮的故事。記者、播音員、街頭抗議者以及受害者親屬合力而為，耗費七年時間，方才獲得了本應(yīng)簡簡單單的有罪判決。而印度的法律體系也未被修復(fù)。證人依舊不受保護(hù)，腐敗仍在盛行，而無權(quán)無勢者常常遭人踐踏。杰西卡只是個特例，性感、年輕、信奉基督教、受過教育，出身于中產(chǎn)階級家庭的她正是調(diào)查記者（或者電影導(dǎo)演）夢寐以求的受害者。而德里的報紙上每一天都充斥著針對其他無名女性的暴力襲擊故事，其中許多受害者為了討回一點公道，都要竭盡全力。而在印度的城市之外，女性的處境還要更加脆弱。
Yet “No One Killed Jessica”, released in India earlier this month and due to be shown in Europe, America and elsewhere, avoids hectoring. In its best moments it evokes an electric Delhi—an edgy city bursting with ambitious people and new money—helped along by a thumping soundtrack. The young director, Raj Kumar Gupta, studies the dark side of booming, urbanising, India and, although he veers towards caricatures at times, he has a mostly light touch. Indian film-makers are making a habit of that: last year's “Peepli Live”, an unlikely but successful satire on the grim theme of farmers' suicides, is India's submission for next month's Academy Awards.
不過，本月早些時候在印度上映，并計劃在歐美以及其他地區(qū)上映的《無人殺害杰西卡》一片，卻沒有盛氣凌人的敘事。在最精彩的部分，本片借助一段鏗鏘的音樂，營造出了一個熱力四射的德里——一座遍布有志之士和新生財富的前衛(wèi)城市。年輕導(dǎo)演拉杰·庫馬爾·古普塔研究著日漸繁榮、正在城市化的印度的陰暗面，盡管他會不時轉(zhuǎn)而進(jìn)行諷刺，但其主要風(fēng)格還是輕松明快的。印度電影制作者正在養(yǎng)成這種習(xí)慣：去年的《自殺直播現(xiàn)場》便是一部令人意想不到但卻獲得成功的諷刺影片，該片圍繞農(nóng)民自殺這一殘酷主題，它將作為印度的參賽作品，角逐下月的奧斯卡獎。
