冰血暴

Hell freezes over: the Coen brothers on Fargo

In this piece first published in our May 1996 issue, the Coen brothers talk through six key scenes from their wintry modern classic Fargo, now re-released to mark its 25th anniversary.

在首次发表于《视与听》1996年5月刊的这篇文章中，科恩兄弟为我们讲述了《冰血暴》中的六个关键的场景，如今我们重新刊发这篇文章，纪念《冰血暴》上映25周年。

11 June 2021

ByLizzie Francke

作者：Lizzie Francke

译者：覃天

校对：易二三

来源：Sight & Sound（1996年5月刊）

【本文首发于《虹膜》公众号】

Fargo (1996)

‘Cold’ is a word the filmmaking Coen Brothers know only too well: it’s a frequent description of their ludic, ironic approach to cinema, and the detached precision with which they unravel their stories.

「冷」这个词经常和科恩兄弟的作品联系在一起：它常常被用来描述他们影片中的夸张和讽刺感，以及他们对故事的精准把握。

Blood Simple, their 1983 debut, may have been set in an arid Texan landscape, where temperatures soared and ceiling fans and flies buzzed in the background, but it was a chilly twist on the standard contract-killer tale. Its array of lost characters short-fused in lurid fashion, while pale corpses stirred to life most unnaturally before becoming maggotchow.

科恩兄弟1983年的处女作《血迷宫》的故事发生在得克萨斯州一片干旱的土地上，那里气候炎热，风扇和苍蝇的声音在背景中嗡嗡作响，然而《血迷宫》却是对传统杀手故事的一种冷酷的反叛。电影中那些迷失的人物脾气暴躁、短兵相接，不过多久，鲜活的生命就变成了被蛆虫吞食的，苍白的尸体。

1990’sMiller’s Crossingwas an excavation of the 30s gangster genre (whether as construed in the black-and-white Warner Bros movies or on the inky dark pages of James M. Cain and Dashiell Hammett). Cleverly plotted, it delighted to tease audiences with smart but often bafflingly abstract allusions: surely signs of an erudite but clinical sensibility atwork?

科恩兄弟1990年的作品《米勒的十字路口》则是对上世纪30年代黑帮类型片的致敬和复兴（不论是华纳电影公司拍摄一系列黑白匪帮片，还是詹姆斯·M·凯恩和达希尔·哈米特书写的黑色电影）。这部电影情节巧妙，它乐于用聪明但又令人费解的抽象典故来戏弄观众：这肯定是科恩兄弟的博学和冷静的情感留在影片中的迹象。

1991’sBarton Fink, set in 40s Hollywood, wound its story round that ultimate nightmare, the writer’s block. It provided a glimpse of a clammy hell – which might not actually freeze over, but could at least nurture a substantial layer ofmould.

而1991年的《巴顿·芬克》则以上世纪40年代的好莱坞为背景，围绕着作家的噩梦——遇到的种种阻碍写作的困难展开了电影的故事。这部影片似乎是向湿冷的地狱投去的一瞥，这个地狱不会真的结冰，但是至少会生出一层厚厚的霉菌。

And in their latest film, the elliptically titledFargo, the coldness simply sweeps into the frame. The Minnesota-born brothers come home to the icy wastelands of the American north mid-west, with its Scandinavian influence. This vast tabula rasa of a blizzard-blasted landscape is the bleak backdrop to a story of a faked but botched kidnapping, apparently based onfact.

而在他们最近的电影《冰血暴》中，冰冷的气息席卷了整个画面。出生于明尼苏达州的科恩兄弟回到了受斯堪的纳维亚文化影响的，位于美国中西北部的冰冷荒原来拍摄这部电影。这部充满了暴风雪的影片讲述的是一个虚构但拙劣的绑架故事，但它显然是以事实为基础的。

As the prologue explains, “This is a true story. The events depicted in this film took place in Minnesota in 1987. At the request of the survivors, the names have been changed. Out of respect for the dead, the rest has been told exactly as it occurred.” Except there’s also the usual disclaimer: “No similarity to actual persons, living or dead, is intended or should beinferred.”

就像电影刚开始的字幕显示的那样：「这是一个真实的故事，影片所讲述的故事原型发生在1987年的明尼苏达州。应生还者的要求，故事中的人物均采用化名。为了表示对逝者的尊重，故事中的其余部分皆如实还原。」当然，还有那句我们都很熟悉的「如有雷同，纯属巧合。」

So snag yourself on that paradox, or leave it aside – the red roll-mop herring in the smorgasbord（这一句是在用瑞典餐厅的红色鲱鱼来类比观众遭遇的困境，翻译过来有些奇怪，因此没有翻译）– as the Coens unfurl a defiantly moral tale. Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy, best known as Dr Morgenstern inER) is a shiny-suited car salesman whose dangerously inept ideas about improving his finances lead to a high bodycount rather than a healthy bank account, after he hires Carl Showalter and Gaear Grimsrud (Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare as a sadistic Abbott-and-Costello team) to abduct his wife Jean (KristinRudriid).

所以，观众要么把自己困在这个悖论中，要么把它放在一边不管。因为科恩兄弟正准备给我们讲述一个具有挑战意味的道德故事。汽车经理谢利（威廉姆·H·梅西饰，他最为人所知的角色是在《急诊室的故事》中扮演的的摩根斯坦博士）是一名身着西装的汽车推销员，他关于改善财务状况的，危险又无能的想法导致了随后一系列死亡事件，而非财富的积累。随后，他还雇佣了卡奥和基亚（史蒂夫·布西密米和彼得·斯特曼饰演的「两傻」团队）绑架了他的妻子珍（克里斯汀·鲁德里德饰）。

But while the usual mordant Coen humour is much in evidence, one can (perversely, amid all the snow) discern a thawing out. The brothers demonstrate a wry, teasing affection for the community that they grew up in, and Fargo is almost warm in its depiction of this Siberian-looking patch of the United States, with its strangely unlikely town names(Brainerd).

但是，尽管在《冰血暴》中，观众们仍然可以明显感受到科恩兄弟常常使用的讽刺感和幽默感，但人们却会反常地在影片的漫天大雪中看到它们融化的迹象。科恩兄弟对他们成长的社区表现出了一种扭曲、戏弄的感情。《冰血暴》对这片带有西伯利亚气质的美国小镇的描述几乎是温暖的，它有一个奇怪的、不太可能的名字：布雷纳德。

Nor is this just jesting play any longer. The film has a melancholic gravitas to it, enhanced by a rolling Carter Burwell score that gives Bernard Herrmann-style plaintiveness a Scandinavian lilt. Ethnically it is specific: so much so that audiences used to cinema’s all-purpose Middle America may find the inhabitants of Fargo quite exotic, with their singing, Scandi-inflected accents, punctuating all sentences with a “yah” or two (a genuine patois, if strange to foreignears).

这部电影不再以插科打诨作为主题，而带有一种忧郁的庄严气氛，卡特·伯韦尔汩汩而出的音乐更是增强了一点轻松感，给伯纳德·赫尔曼式的哀伤音乐带来了斯堪的纳维亚式轻快的音符。从种族上讲，它是特别的：以至于习惯欣赏爆米花式电影的美国中产阶级的观众可能会发现《冰血暴》中相当的角色带有一点异国情调，他们说话甚至带有斯堪的纳维亚口音，所有的句子都会用一两个「yah」作为停顿（这是一个真正的，外乡人完全听不懂的方言）。

But clearly these ‘Fargoese’ are not just weird specimens to be scrutinised: the Coens’ intricate sense of characterisation puts an eccentric spin on them. And by creating Marge Gunderson, the pregnant police chief who takes charge of the case (Frances McDormand – like Buscemi a Coen brothers regular – is married to Joel), they give the film its solid and wise core. With her portly husband Norm (John Carroll Lynch), a wildlife painter with his eyes on a postage-stamp contract, she is the calm centre in the violent storm thaterupts.

但很明显，影片中住在这个镇上的人们不仅显得古怪，还需要观众仔细审视：科恩兄弟赋予了这些人物错综复杂的特征。这一点通过对负责此案的，怀有身孕警察局长玛吉（弗朗西斯·麦克多蒙德饰，她是科恩兄弟电影中的常客，后来与乔尔·科恩结婚）一角的塑造体现了出来，科恩兄弟赋予了这部电影坚实而明智的内核。玛吉的丈夫诺姆（约翰·卡洛·林奇饰）身材肥胖，是一名野生动物画家，他最近依靠绘制邮票上的鸟类图案谋生，在即将爆发的猛烈风暴中，玛吉是平静的中心。

1. Marge, the pregnantcop

1. 怀孕的警察玛吉

Fargo (1996)© Park Circus

Joel:Everyone is bulked-up, moving in a particular way, bouncing off people. That sponginess is part of the regional flavour. Marge’s pregnancy means she’s doubly bulked-up. She’s of the region, but is capable, which other characters aren’t. She wears a funny hat and walks funny, but is not a clown. We wanted her as far away as possible from the cliche cop. Marge and Jerry are both very banal, like the interiors and landscape. But she is banal in a good way, a good person where he is evil. We wanted to give them everyday concerns. Being pregnant: you can’t get more ordinary. ln movies you may not see them, but there are all kinds of pregnantcops.

乔尔·科恩：电影中每个人都很健壮，以一种特殊的方式移动着，似乎要弹开周边的人。这种可塑感是当地风情的一部分。玛吉的怀孕意味着她的体型变得更加丰满。她是这个地区的人，但却很能干，这是其他角色所不具备的特质。她戴着一顶滑稽的帽子，走起路很滑稽，但不是令人发笑的小丑。我们想让她离平庸的警察的形象越远越好。玛吉和汽车经理谢利都很单调、无聊，就像室内的装潢和窗外的风景一样。但玛吉的单调以一种很好的方式体现了出来，她是个好人，而谢利则是个恶魔。我们想赋予这些角色一些日常生活的感觉。怀孕是再日常不过的了。在电影里你可能看不到这些角色背后的形象，但是生活中有各种各样怀孕的警察。

2. Psychology of a car salesman

2. 汽车经理谢利的心理

Joel:Jerry is a car salesman –just like the real man – but a lot comes from Ethan’s experience buying a car five yearsago.

乔尔·科恩：谢利是一个汽车销售经理，演员出色的演绎让这个角色显得非常得真实，这个角色来源于伊桑5年前的买车经历。

Ethan:This scene revolves round the TruCoat Jerry is trying to sell. It is almost a verbatim transcript of my experience. We were interested in the psychology of a person who constructs those pyramid financial schemes but can’t project themselves a minute into the future or imagine theconsequences.

伊桑·科恩：这个场景围绕着谢利试图出售TruCoat公司展开。这几乎是我的经历逐字逐句的记录。我们两人都对这样一个人的心理很感兴趣，他构建了那些金字塔式的金融计划，但却不能将自己投射到未来一分钟，也不能想象未来的后果。

Joel:Part of his being a car salesman was his imperviousness, sitting in a cubicle all day screwing people who scream at him. He is neat and tidy, not as we envisioned him. We imagined him a sloven, uncomfortable in his body, a little overweight. Casting Bill we went in the other direction. He is very put together, but tight andrepressed.

乔尔·科恩：他作为一名汽车推销员的部分原因是他的冷漠，整天坐在小隔间里对着手下喊来喊去。他显得很有条理，不像我们设想的那样。我们想象他会是一个懒汉，身体经常不适，有点超重。当威廉姆·H·梅西来出演谢利时，我们获得了全新的方向。他综合了以上种种特质，但也很拘谨、压抑。

Ethan:Bill refused to do a single scene without this inane pin on his suit, in token of five years’ service to cardealership.

伊桑·科恩：威廉姆·H·梅西坚持要在他的西装上别一个愚蠢的别针，以证明他已经在汽车经商行业干了5年。

3. Swedish food, mid-westlife

3. 瑞典式自助餐，中西部的生活

John Carroll Lynch and France McDormand in Fargo (1996)

Ethan:Food was particularly important for Marge. She is always eating in the scenes withNorm.

伊桑·科恩：食物对玛吉来说非常重要，在片中，她有许多和诺姆一起吃饭的场景。

Joel:In Minnesota you have all these smorgasbords. These Swedish-style eat-all-you-can deals were very much part of our childhood. Marge is pregnant, so she’s eating for a reason, but it is also that peculiarly Middle-American thing about mounds of food. She wants to catch the killer, but nothing gets in the way of lunch. John (Norm) is from Minnesota, as are all the subsidiary parts, so they were speaking in their own accents. The Tyrone Guthrie theatre is in Minneapolis, with a huge pool of very talentedactors.

乔尔·科恩：在明尼苏达州，有很多片中出现的那种北欧式自助餐厅。在很大程度上，这些瑞典式的「尽可能多吃」的餐厅是我们童年的一部分。玛吉怀孕了，所以她吃东西是有原因的，但这也是美国中产阶级的独特之处，他们总是吃很多东西。玛吉想抓住凶手，但没有什么能妨碍到她吃午饭。诺姆来自明尼苏达州，所有的小地方来的人都像他那样，都带着自己的口音。扮演诺姆的演员约翰·卡洛·林奇来自于格思里剧院，这个位于明尼阿波利斯的剧院培养了许多有才华的演员。

4. The kidnapscene

4. 绑架的场景

Joel:It occurred to me, in retrospect, that this is the second movie that we have done about kidnapping – and we have another one lined up that centres on another kidnapping. A kidnapping is pregnant with dramatic possibilities – the conflicts, the high stakes, all the obvious drama and melodramatic things that are good movie fodder. One of my all time favourite movies is Kurosawa’s High and Low. It is probably the best kidnapping movie ever made, about a shoe salesman in Osaka whose son is supposed to be kidnapped but they get the chauffeur’s son. I don’t know why kidnappings are so fascinating, but theyare.

乔尔·科恩：回想起来，这是我们拍摄的第二部关于绑架的电影——我们还有另一部以另一起绑架为中心的电影。绑架充满了戏剧性的可能性：冲突，高风险，所有带有戏剧性、情节剧式的故事都是很好的电影素材。我一直以来最喜欢的电影之一是黑泽明的《天国与地狱》。这可能是有史以来最好的、有关绑架的电影，它讲述了在大阪一名鞋商的儿子本应被绑架，但绑匪们却绑了司机的儿子。我不知道为什么绑架事件如此令人着迷，但它们确实很吸引人。

5. Carl themotormouth

5. 健谈的卡尔

Joel:We wrote the part of Carl specifically for Steve (as we wrote the parts of Marge for Fran, and Grim for Peter) because somehow it was appropriate that amongst all these second-generation Scandinavians we had a real Scandinavian. This is the fourth movie that we have done with Steve – unfortunately we have always just had little parts for him in the past. We are aware of his [psychotic] persona in other movies and wanted to push that in a specific direction. We wanted to write something substantial because he is so good. We first cast him in Miller’s Crossing because we were looking for someone who could talk incredibly fast. Carl’s part is the most verbal in Fargo – he is the motormouth and maybe it is connected tothat.

乔尔·科恩：我们专门为史蒂夫·布西密写了卡尔这个角色（就像我们为弗兰西斯·麦克多蒙德写了玛吉，为彼得·斯特曼写了基亚一样），因为从某种程度上来说，在所有这些第二代斯堪的纳维亚人中，有一个真正的斯堪的纳维亚人是合适的。这是我们与史蒂夫合作的第四部电影——不幸的是，我们过去总是只让他演一些小角色。我们意识到他在其他电影中的（精神病患者般的）角色特质，并希望将他的表演推向一个特定的方向。我们想写点实质性的东西，因为他太出彩了。我们第一次找他出演《米勒的十字路口》是因为我们想找一个说话快得令人难以置信的人。卡尔是《冰血暴》中最直言不讳的一个角色——也许这和他是一个能言善辩的人有关。

6. Between snow andsky

6. 在天空和雪地之间

Joel:The key thing about the exteriors was that we couldn’t see the line between the sky and the snow. Up angles would be very similar to down angles: we wanted to have this void, blank, featureless look in which we put certain graphicdetails.

乔尔·科恩：关于外景，十分重要的一点是，我们根本看不到天空和雪之间的界线。仰视的角度与俯视的角度非常相似：我们想要有这种空虚、茫然、平淡无奇的外景，在这样中的外景中，我们会把看似平淡的景色与一些画面上的细节结合在一起。

Ethan:Here Steve is burying the ransom-money which is never recovered. Again this detail comes from the fact that it is based on real life. And in real life things happen, objects of big dramatic concern just fall by the wayside. It was interesting not to have to do a story where it was architecturally pleasing, and there was a unified narrative, but where things can come and go as theydo.

伊桑·科恩：在这个场景中，史蒂夫扮演的卡尔埋在雪里的赎金再也找不回来了。同样，这个细节来自于这样一个事实，即它是以现实生活为基础的。而在现实生活发生的事情中，引起戏剧性关注的对象却会被搁置在一边。有趣的是，不必做一个在结构上令人愉悦叙事上十分统一的故事，事情可以随心所欲地，以我们想要的方式被讲述出来。

Joel:This is one of the few jokes in the movie. There are a lot of laughs, but this was a joke as joke – the fact that at this moment he checked from side to side in this ridiculously large, featureless, empty landscape to see if anyone waslooking.

乔尔·科恩：这是电影中为数不多的笑话之一。电影中还有很多引起观众笑声的场景，但这个场景却是一个笑话。事实是，在这一刻，他不断地向这片荒凉、毫无特色、空荡荡的土地上的四周看去，看看是否有人在看着他。