强档电影：《悲惨世界》

by Dave Karger

The night he won the Oscar for directing The Kings Speech, Tom Hooper was very certain his follow-up film would be the first-ever screen adaptation[改编] of Les Misérables, the hit 1980s stage musical based on Victor Hugos classic 19th-century novel. So he was astonished when the ceremonys[典礼] cohost, Anne Hathaway, took the stage and began singing one of its best-known songs, “On My Own,”to Hugh Jackman, who was sitting in the front row. Hooper remembers thinking, “Was that the most extraordinary attempt to manipulate[操纵] me into saying: ‘Hello, Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman—maybe that makes sense? I have accused Annie of[因某事控告某人] doing that, and she smiles modestly[谦虚地]. It obviously worked.” Hence we can now hear Hathaway, as Les Mizs poor heroine[女主角] Fantine, singing “I Dreamed a Dream” alongside Jackman, Russell Crowe, and Amanda Seyfried in the movie.

汤姆·霍伯凭借执导《国王的演讲》一片赢得奥斯卡奖的那天晚上，他清楚知道自己接下来要拍的电影从未被搬上大屏幕。这部电影改编自20世纪80年代大受欢迎的音乐剧《悲惨世界》，故事取材自维克多·雨果创作于19世纪的经典小说。所以当其中一位主持人——安妮·海瑟薇站在舞台上对着坐在前排的休·杰克曼唱起其中一首剧中名曲——《形单影只》时，他非常惊讶。霍伯回忆起他那时的想法：“那是不是诱导我说出‘你好，安妮·海瑟薇和休·杰克曼——也许真会有戏这种话的最不同寻常的方式呢？我‘谴责安妮的做法，她则谦虚地笑了笑。这个做法显然奏效。”于是，我们现在能够在电影里听到海瑟薇（扮演《悲惨世界》里命运悲惨的女主角芳汀）唱出《我做了一个梦》。片中演员还有杰克曼、罗素·克洛和阿曼达·塞弗里德等。

Despite their impressive résumés[履历], all of Hoopers cast first had to survive marathon auditions[试演角色] in New York City and London. “It became more of a workshop[专题学术讨论会], really,” says Jackman of his session[一段时间] in front of Hooper, producer Cameron Mackintosh, composer ClaudeMichel Sch?nberg, and librettist[音乐剧的歌词作者] Alain Boublil.“After three hours I put my hand up and said, ‘Tom? Ive got to put my kids to bed now.” He scored[获得] the lead role of prisoner-turned-politician Jean Valjean, whos on the run from the dogged[顽固的] policeman Javert, played by Russell Crowe.

Actually, Crowe has had a side career in music for decades, including as lead singer of the rock group “30 Odd Foot of Grunts.” But he had never sung on screen before. So in the weeks leading up to his audition, he trained with vocal coaches even as he filmed his role as Supermans father in Man of Steel. “Building up to it, I started to get more and more nervous. I still couldnt hear the sound I knew I wanted to hear,” recalls Crowe, who says he hadnt had to audition for a film since 1999s The Insider. “The week before, I was so anxious. I sang so much I trashed[破坏] my throat completely. Great, I had four days before the audition and Id lost my voice. But I just kept thinking the song through. On the day, it just came out, that sound Id been looking for. Whether it was the adrenaline[肾上腺素] or whatever it was, in that little room on 42nd Street, just off Broadway, the sound was there. It filled the room and Tom made me sing over and over and over, and every time I sang it, I felt a little more in control and a little more capable.”

Once on set[布景] in London, Hooper had his cast sing live for each take[（一次拍摄的）电影镜头]—unlike the typical movie-musical practice of lip-synching[对口型假唱] to a prerecorded track. “It transforms the experience of what a musical is like on film,”Hooper says. “When its live, the actors can actually think the songs.”

Its also unthinkable that this will be the first time Australian stars Crowe and Jackman have ever worked together. “Weve known each other for years, and Ive made a career out of the roles that Russells turned down,” says Jackman. “But working on this, we became a lot closer. The two of us looked at each other on our last day of shooting and went,‘Damn, were going to miss this.” As for Crowe, he says the experience was equal parts rewarding and terrifying. “I have never sung anything as challenging as the songs in Les Miz, never pushed my voice to that place. Im still not sure if I can do it. I guess Ill know when the movie comes out.” We will be breaking down the cinema doors right beside him.

尽管演员们的履历都相当亮眼，但所有演员都必须在纽约和伦敦熬过马拉松式的试镜。“试镜差不多成了研习会，真的，”杰克曼在谈到自己的试镜部分时这样说。他要面对霍伯、制片人卡梅隆·麦金托什、作曲家克劳德-米歇尔·勋伯格和歌词作者阿兰·鲍伯利。“三小时之后，我举起手说：‘汤姆，我现在要去哄我的孩子们上床睡觉了。”杰克曼最终得到了主角——从囚犯变成政治家的冉·阿让一角。对冉·阿让穷追不舍的警察沙威则由罗素·克洛扮演。

事实上，几十年来，克洛一直将音乐当做副业，他还是摇滚乐队“30尺哼哈怪脚乐团”的主唱，但他从没在大屏幕上献唱。所以在临近试镜的前几个星期，他在拍摄《超人：钢铁之躯》（扮演超人的父亲）之余还请了声乐教练帮自己训练。“准备过程中，我变得越来越紧张。我依然唱不出自己希望听到的那个声音，”克洛回忆道。他从1999年的《局内人》之后就没再为任何一部电影进行试镜。“试镜前的一个星期，我紧张极了。我唱得太多了，把嗓子给唱哑了。好啊，离试镜只有四天，我却失声了。但我只是想着那首歌。那一天，声音自然而然就出来了，就是我一直想要的声音。也许是肾上腺素或者其他什么，反正在第42街的那个小房间，就在百老汇旁，我唱出来了。那声音在房间里回荡；汤姆让我一遍又一遍地唱，每唱一次，我就感到自己控制得越好，一次比一次唱得好。”

来到伦敦的片场后，霍伯要求他的演员们在每一段拍摄中都要现场演唱——而不像一般音乐电影那样照着预先录制好的音轨对口型。“这给银幕上的音乐剧带来了不同的感觉，”霍伯说。“进行现场演唱时，演员们能够真正地边唱边想。”

同样令人难以置信的是，这是克洛和杰克曼这两位澳洲明星的首度合作。“我们相识已久，罗素推掉的角色成就了我的职业生涯，”杰克曼说。“这次合作，我们更亲密了。在拍摄的最后一天，我们两个看看对方，说道：‘该死的，我们会想念这次（拍戏经历）的。”对于克洛来说，这段经历既让他有所收获，又让他惴惴不安。“我从没唱过像《悲惨世界》里那么有挑战性的歌，我的声音也从没达到过那种水平。我现在还是不确定自己有否做到。我想，当电影面世后，我就会知道答案。”我们到时会迫不及待地和他一道冲进电影院的。

Know More

《悲惨世界》是法国作家维克多·雨果（1802-1885）于1862年发表的一部长篇小说，是19世纪最著名的小说之一。小说描绘了19世纪初期的法国生活，涵盖了拿破仑战争和之后的十几年。本书气势恢宏，有多条故事线，但主线集中讲述了冉·阿让的一生。

19世纪的巴黎，冉·阿让为了挨饿的孩子偷了一块面包，结果被判处19年苦役。获释后，走投无路的冉·阿让被好心的米里哀主教感化，决心重新做人。十年后，他成了一名成功的商人并当上市长。他收养了苦命女工芳汀的孤女珂赛特，视她为掌上明珠。然而，平静的生活即将被打破——柯赛特与共和派贵族青年马吕斯相恋，轰轰烈烈的巴黎共和党人起义爆发了，无赖德纳迪埃和冉·阿让狭路相逢，而多年来从未放弃追捕冉·阿让的警长沙威又出现在冉·阿让的面前……