3/26/2006

Capote

USA 2005
港譯:冷血字傳
導演:Bennett Miller
主要演員:Philip Seymour Hoffman,Catherine Keener,Clifton Collins Jr.

此片改編自Gerald Clarke所寫的《Capote: A Biography》,在網上閱讀大鋼後,頗感興趣,於是在電影上映前,在公共圖書館預約了該書。書到手後,發現總共有五百多頁,比磚頭還要厚,根本沒有可能乘車時看,於是便把它棄置在房中一角。

不過,Philip Seymour Hoffman既然在奧斯卡中擊敗了「力拔洗手盆兮戲蓋世」的Joaquin Phoenix,倒想見識見識他有多厲害,於是21/4那天便到油伯去看了此片。

看的時候,覺得此片很悶。節奏慢不是主因,而是主角Truman Capote那模稜兩可令人很氣悶。當然,現實生活中,亦並非人人愛恨分明,因此在電影中人物有點矛盾才真實。但在片中的Capote那模稜兩可令人很氣悶。當然,現實生活中,亦並非人人愛恨分明,因此在電影中人物有點矛盾才真實。但在片中的Capote,這一幕他在獄中利用兇手Perry對他的信任,隨後的一幕他便已在酒吧或宴會廳高談闊論,樂在其中,無論是他在獄中向Perry編謊話的神情,抑或他離開監獄後去享樂的安心,都絲毫不覺他有半點對Perry過意不去。但偏偏在劇情上,他彷彿是應該對Perry頗有好感的,只是因為自已被工作所逼,不得不利用Perry而已。但在片中看到的Capote,除了在片首彷彿對Perry心存愛莫能助的遺憾外,中段已看不出他有甚麼內心掙扎,但到了末段,他又突然為Perry難過得茶飯不思,整個心路歷程都飄忽得很。

本來頗感興趣的故事,看完電影後,有點失望。倒想知道原著的描述是否亦是如此,因此便翻看了相關的情節。原來有關寫作《The Cold Blood》的過程,在書中所佔的篇幅不算多,全書共547頁,這情節只佔了37頁,亦即59個單元中的其中4個單元。

看完書後,有點好奇,導演/編劇若有心要製作一套以Capote為片名及主角的電影,為什麼會選這一節?筆者沒有看書中的其他單元,但只覺得這一節中的Capote並不突出,因此猜想,選取書中的其他單元來改編,或許會較有趣味。


這一節中Capote不突出的主要原因,是因為Perry一角比他突出。電影以Capote為主角,對Perry著墨偏少,是浪費了這角色。電影另一失色的地方,是把Capote跟Perry的關係描寫得太抽離,先看書中描寫Capote看著Perry出庭的一幕:
「When Perry sat down in front of the judge to be arraigned, Truman nudged Nelle."Look, his feet don't touch the floor!" Nelle said nothing, but thought "Oh,oh! This is the beginning of a great love affair." In fact, their relationship was more complicated than a love affair: each looked at the other and saw, or thought he saw, the man he might have been."」

Nelle乃Capote的紅顏知己,Capote看到Perry跟自已一樣矮小,便表現得如此雀躍,Nelle聽在耳裡,當然知道是怎麼一回事。

再看另一段:
「Their shortness was only one of many unsettling similarities. They both had suffered from alchoholic mothers, absent fathers, and foster homes. At the orphanages he had been sent to, Perry had been a target of scorn because he was effeminate. A psychiatrist could have been speaking about both of them when he said of Perry: "He seems to have grown up without direction, without love." Finally, both had turned to art to compensate for what had been denied them. Perry was convinced that with a little encouragement, he could have made his mark as a painter, a singer, a song-writer.」

片中也有交代二人的背景相似,Capote亦有說過,覺得Perry跟自己很像,但畢竟著墨不多,而且,Perry的想法更是幾乎完全沒有交付,但其實這人物可以是很好的題材,且看書中引述另一名美國著名作家對這人物的評價:
「Norman Mailer went so far as to call Perry one of the great characters in American literature, and there is a pathetic irony in the fact that the twisted little man who hungered for education, who constatnly corrected Dick's words, has achieved a kind of immortality as a literary darling.」

Capoter跟Perry,可說是「一步天堂,一步地獄」版的兩生草。不同的是,Perry多了幾份陰暗及扭曲,一個喜歡「刨字典」及指正人家語文錯處的殺人犯,怎樣看也是一個引人入勝的人物。


電影中二人的關係總是令人覺得怪怪的,主要原因,可能是片中把任何同志或可能帶有同志成份的情節刪除,例如書中有交代Perry曾問Capote是否「heterosexual」,而且又曾寫詩給Capote,並在信中表明自己對Capote的欣賞:「I like talented personalities very much and I feel that you are a very perspicacious homo sapien.」(Perry捨「human」及「man」等字不用,偏用「homo sapien」,他這副喜歡挑難字用的德性,在書中其他地方亦曾出現)。書中提及Capote對Perry及另一名囚犯Dick均有回信,而Perry很著緊知道Capote寫了甚麼給Dick,於是經常要求Dick讓他看Capote的回信,但卻不會讓Dick看Capote給自己的回信。Dick不勝其煩,有時也會讓他看,但有時亦會拒絕,而當Dick不讓他看時,他便發難。這些細節,全都體現了Capote在Perry心目中的地位,但電影全都刪去了。

Capoter跟Perry的故事,一旦刪去了二人那千絲萬縷的關係,以及各自複雜矛盾的思緒,便根本沒有甚麼好看。

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