史上最佳电影是……

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert

In the insular world of cineastes there is no more momentous event than the list of the best films of all time, which is curated every 10 years by the redoubtable Sight & Sound magazine of the British Film Institute. This year's list, released in the August issue, represents a seismic shift. After occupying the No. 1 position since 1962, Orson Welles' 'Citizen Kane' (1941) was demoted to second place by Alfred Hitchcock's 'Vertigo' (1958).

在影迷圈中，没有什么比史上最佳电影榜单更重大的事件了，该榜单每10年由英国电影协会（British Film Institute）旗下的权威杂志《视与听》（Sight & Sound）评选一次。今年的榜单在8月刊上发布，它代表了一个巨变。从1962年起一直占据榜首的奥森?威尔斯（Orson Welles）的《公民凯恩》（Citizen Kane，1941）被阿尔弗雷德?希区柯克（Alfred Hitchcock）的《迷魂记》（Vertigo，1958）取代，降至第二位。

For decades 'Citizen Kane' seemed to reign by default. Then a challenger appeared on the horizon. 'Vertigo' made the list for the first time in 1982 and kept climbing.

几十年来，《公民凯恩》的统治地位似乎都屹立不遥然后，一位挑战者出现在了地平线上。《迷魂记》于1982年首次上榜，而后名次持续攀升。

Movie critics are constantly asked, 'What's your favorite film?' I found it easy to reply 'Citizen Kane,' hoping that my questioner's eyes would glaze over and I could avoid a debate. Now I can say 'Vertigo.' When I am told, 'I've never seen what's so great about it,' I can reply: 'That's fascinating from an autobiographical point of view.'

电影评论家不断地在问，“你最喜欢的电影是哪部？我发现回答《公民凯恩》很容易，希望这能让提问者的目光跳过，我就能避免一场争论了。现在，我可以说《迷魂记》了。当有人和我说：“我从没看出它有什么了不起时，我可以回答：“从自传的角度看，它很了不起。

Actually, I'm not sure either one is my 'favorite' film, but that's not what the poll asks for. I'm perfectly happy with 'Citizen Kane,' 'Vertigo' or a number of other films topping the list. My personal 'favorites' might also include 'Singin' in the Rain,' 'The Third Man,' 'Casablanca,' or Ozu's 'Floating Weeds,' which I love more than his 'Tokyo Story,' which is third on the Sight & Sound list.

实际上，我并不确定哪一部是我“最爱的电影，但这并不是这项投票所要的结果。我对《公民凯恩》、《迷魂记》和其他一些电影位居榜单前列非常满意。我个人的“最爱或许还包括《雨中曲》（Singin' in the Rain）、《第三人》（The Third Man）、《卡萨布兰卡》（Casablanca）以及小津（Ozu）的《浮草》（Floating Weeds），我喜欢这部胜过在《视与听》榜单上排名第三的他的《东京物语》（Tokyo Story）。

What is so great about 'Vertigo' and 'Citizen Kane?' To set aside matters of technique and artistry, which would keep us here all day, what fascinates me is that both films are intensely personal and autobiographical. Welles gives us a portrait of a gargantuan man of unlimited ambitions and appetites, whose excesses outran his resources. Hitchcock gives us a man obsessed with control, who had a fetish not simply for blondes in general but for the specific features of a specific blonde. Consider the fascination of Hitchcock's camera with the coil of hair at the back of Madeleine's head.

《迷魂记》和《公民凯恩》有何伟大之处？撇开会让我们争论一整天的技术和艺术问题，真正吸引我的是，这两部电影都具有强烈的个人性和自传性。威尔斯为我们塑造了一个拥有无尽野心和欲望的巨人形象，他所挥霍的远超过他所拥有的。希区柯克则为我们塑造了一个痴迷于控制的人，他并不只是泛泛地迷恋金发女郎，而是迷恋某位金色女郎的某个特征。想想希区柯克摄影机下玛德琳（Madeleine）脑后金色发卷的魅力吧。

Both plots are labyrinthine. Even if you've seen 'Citizen Kane' 50 times, when you come across it while channel-surfing, you might be hard-pressed to name the scenes on either side of the one you've stumbled on. The plot of 'Vertigo' makes perfect sense, but many viewers find themselves adrift. Scottie, the James Stewart character, is obsessed not with a person but by her image. When he meets the real person, he seeks to convert her into the one who never existed.

两部戏的剧情都很错综复杂。即使你已经看过50次《公民凯恩》，当你换台时偶然看到它时，可能也很难根据你看到的任何一方说出这是什么场景。《迷魂记》的情节很合情理，但许多观众发现自己摸不着头脑。詹姆斯?斯图尔特（James Stewart）扮演的角色斯考蒂（Scottie）不是迷恋于一个人，而是她的形象。当他遇到真人时，就试图将她变为一个从不存在的人。

The character Madeleine, played in the movie by Judy (and both played by Kim Novak), represents the emotional heart of the film. When 'Madeleine' jumps into San Francisco Bay and Scottie pulls her out and brings her unconscious to his apartment, is she really unconscious, or is Judy just pretending to be? And when he warms her and puts her gently to bed, is that when she begins to pity him for the deception that she has committed?

在电影中朱迪（Judy）假扮的角色玛德琳（两人均由金?诺瓦克（Kim Novak）扮演）代表了电影感性的核心。当“玛德琳跳入旧金山湾（San Francisco Bay）时，斯考蒂把她救上来，并把不省人事的她带回自己的公寓，她是真的失去意识，还是只是朱迪装成这样？当他温暖她的身体，并温柔地将她抱到床上时，她是否开始因为自己的欺骗而开始同情他？

Hitchcock invites us to follow Scottie's time line, but the film's emotional depths are hidden in Judy's version of events. Scottie is the butt of the joke. Judy is the victim.

希区柯克邀请我们跟随斯考蒂的时间线，但电影的情感深度隐藏在朱迪对事件的视角中。斯考蒂是个笑柄，而朱迪是受害者。

In 'Citizen Kane,' we see a similar psychological dynamic in how Charles Foster Kane grows consumed with his idea of Susan Alexander. Not the real Susan, a sweet, ordinary young woman, but his reinvention of Susan as an opera diva who would reflect greatness on him.

在《公民凯恩》中，我们看到了类似的心理变化过程，查尔斯?福斯特?凯恩（Charles Foster Kane）如何逐渐被他理想中的苏珊?亚历山大（Susan Alexander）消磨殆尽──其实不是真正的苏珊本人，一个甜美普通的年轻女人，而是他将苏珊改造为一位歌剧女主角的做法，后者才能反映出他的伟大。

Kane as a character turned out to be uncannily prophetic of Welles's own life. Scottie as a character reflected not only Hitchcock's fetishes but his fears. The films originated in the self-knowledge of their makers (and in Welles's case, perhaps, the even greater knowledge about him of Herman Mankiewicz, the writer).

凯恩这个角色被证明是威尔斯自己生活的神秘预示。斯考蒂这个角色不仅反映了希区柯克的恋物癖，还反映了他的恐惧。这两部电影都源于导演的自我认知（《公民凯恩》或许也源于编剧曼凯维奇（Herman Mankiewicz）对威尔斯的更多的了解）。

After I am cornered and asked to supply my 'favorite film,' I am sometimes quizzed about the 'auteur theory' by people who 'loved,' let's say, Michael Bay's 'Transformers' movies. A whiz-bang director like Mr. Bay invites us to gaze in awe at his frantic cutting, bright lights and loud noises. An auteur director like Welles or Hitchcock guides our eyes: 'Look here . . . now there. . .focus on this . . . now that . . . make this connection . . . feel this absence. That is the best I can say about what it is like to be me.'

当我被逼问到我“最喜欢的电影时，我有时会被“喜爱迈克尔?贝（Michael Bay）的《变形金刚》（Transformers）电影的人问到“导演主创论。像贝这样的杰出导演会邀请我们敬畏地观看他眩目的剪辑、明亮的灯光和巨大的音效。像威尔斯或希区柯克这样的主创型导演则会引领我们的目光：“看这里……现在集中看这个……现在看那个……联系起来……感受这种缺失。关于我是什么样子，这是我能说出的最好答案。