No Country For Old Men《老無所依》精講－愛薇塔樂學英文

No Country For Old Men《老無所依》精講

字型大小：T|T 2011-05-26 18:35 來源：英文電影編輯：admin點擊： 405次【英語巴士論壇】

《老無所依》精講之一

中文簡介

美國西部巴爾的摩，老牛仔Moss（Josh Brolin 飾）在獵殺羚羊時發現幾具屍體，幾包海洛因和200萬現金。Moss決定將毒品和現金占為己有，想以此改變自己的生活，誰知卻遭到冷血殺手Chigurh（Javier Bardem 飾）的跟蹤和追殺，陷入了逃亡的險境。

同時，當地治安官Bell（Tommy Lee Jones 飾）也在對一連串的殺人事件進行調查，並努力保護Moss的安全。但是，讓Bell感到無力絕望的是，他使勁渾身解數也無法追蹤到冷血殺手，Moss的生命安全也受到嚴重的威脅，Bell一邊緬懷父輩們的光榮歲月，一邊深感現實中老無所依的悲哀。

英文簡介

No Country For Old Men

is a 2007 film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel of the same name. Filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen wrote and directed it for a 2007 release. The title is from the first line of W. B. Yeats' poem "Sailing to Byzantium".
Llewellyn Moss is an antelope hunter and Vietnam War veteran who stumbles across the aftermath of a drug-related gun battle which has left everyone dead save a single badly wounded Mexican. Moss finds a truck full of heroin and a satchel with $2.4 million in cash. He takes the money, but leaves the Mexican alive, which ignites a hunt for Moss that stretches for most of the remaining novel.

Sheriff Ed Tom Bell investigates the drug crime while trying to protect Moss and his young wife with the aid of other law enforcement. The sheriff is haunted by his actions in World War II, for which he received the Bronze Star Medal. Now in his late 50s, Bell has spent most of his life attempting to make up for the incident when he was a 21 year-old soldier. He makes it his quest to resolve the case and save Moss.

Complicating things is the arrival of Anton Chigurh, a violent sociopath hired to recover the money. Chigurh uses a captive bolt pistol (called a cattlegun in the text) to kill many of his victims and destroy several cylinder locks to open doors. In one of his final murders described in the book, he gives a long speech about causality and fate to his victim. Wells, a rival hitman and ex-partner of Chigurh, is also on the trail of the money.

Things turn dangerous when various men, ranging from ruthless freelancers to ex-Special Forces members, turn up to find out the truth and destroy all evidence.

影片對白

Ed: I was sheriff of this county when I was twenty-five years old. Hard to believe. Grandfather was a lawman. Father too. Me and him was sheriffs at the same time, him up in Plano and me out here. I think he was pretty proud of that. I know I was. Some of the old-time sheriffs never even wore a gun. A lot of folks find that hard to believe. Jim Scarborough never carried one. That the younger Jim. Gaston Boykins wouldn't wear one up in Commanche County. Now I always liked to hear about the old-timers. Never missed a chance to do so. You can't help but compare yourself against the old-timers. Can't help but wonder how they would've operated these times. There is this boy I sent to the electric chair in Huntsville here a while back. My arrest and my testimony. He killed a fourteen-year-old girl. Papers said it was a crime of passion but he told me there wasn't any passion to it. Told me that he'd been planning to kill somebody for about as long as he could remember. Said if they turned him out he'd do it again. Said he knew he was going to hell. Be there in about fifteen minutes. I don't know what to make of that. I surely don't. The crime you see now, it's hard to even take its measure. It's not that I'm afraid of it. I always knew you had to be willing to die to even do this job. But I don't want to push my chips forward and go out and meet something I don't understand. A man would have to put his soul at hazard. He just has to say, "Okay. I'll be part of this world."

妙語佳句，活學活用

1. a while back

也作a while ago，指“過去，曾經”，例如：I ran into Barbara a while back but didn't get her new address. 我曾偶遇過芭芭拉，但沒有她的新地址。

2. turn out

這裡的 turn out 是“趕出，驅逐”的意思，那個囚犯的意思是說“如果司法人員把他從監獄裡放出去的話”。我們來看個例子：The landlord turned out his tenant. 房東把房客趕了出去。

3. make of

這裡的make of 是“瞭解”的意思，通常是make (something) of (something)，即to understand (something) by or from (something)，例如：What do you make of all this? 你從這些情況中瞭解到了什麼？

4. take one's measure

也作take the measure of someone，這個片語的意思是“size someone up, evaluate someone or something 評價，評判”，例如：At their first meeting, heads of the company generally try to take each other's measure. 第一次見面，公司的領導們通常會彼此評價。

5. push one’s chip forward

這是一個比喻的說法，chip 是人們在賭博中使用的籌碼，也就是代表錢，所以 push one’s chip forward 的意思就是“擔風險”。

6. put one’s soul at hazard

Hazard 指“危險”，put one’s soul at hazard 就是指“冒著生命危險”。

文化面面觀

電椅死刑的歷史

美國是現在世界上唯一採用電椅處死的國家（菲律賓因被美國佔領過，也採用過這種方法）。電椅是1888年在紐約率先被採用的，請注意，電燈是1879年在紐約被發明的，兩者只相隔9年。這就是說，電椅也是人類最早的電力應用之一。電椅是由愛迪生公司推出的，而他推出電椅的動機，居然是推廣直流電。

歐洲最早處死犯人的方法是絞刑（Hanging），法國大革命期間因為覺得絞死太慢，就發明了斷頭臺（Guillotine）。不過，美國從來沒有採用過斷頭臺，一直是絞刑。小說《紅字》裡，一個重要的場景就是絞刑台。

到了19世紀後期，美國人開始覺得絞刑太殘酷了。比如，有一個犯人在絞架上整整掙扎了15分鐘，令所有在場的人備受折磨。1886年，紐約市成立了一個委員會，尋找處死犯人的新方法，而且馬上就要採用。

愛迪生覺得這是一個推廣電力的好機會。由於他使用的是直流電（DC），而另一位發明家George Westinghouse使用的是交流電（AC），兩者存在競爭。他覺得可以用交流電去處死犯人，從而告訴公眾交流電是多麼危險，從而轉而使用直流電。他和助手用小動物做試驗，到處展示，表明交流電擊是一種迅捷有效的處死方法。

1888年，紐約州同意採用電椅。1890年8月6日，William Kemmler成為第一個被電椅處死的犯人。下圖就是歷史上第一張電椅（它被叫做Kemmler電椅），以及當時的情景。

此後，美國各州相繼採用這種方法。它成為美國主要的死刑方法。

從80年代中後期開始，越來越多的人覺得電椅過於殘酷，從而要求取消它。如果你看過電影《Greenmile》，就知道這是千真萬確的事實。現在，注射(Lethal Injection)已經成為美國主要的死刑執行方法。

但是，電椅並沒有消失。在Alabama、Florida、South Carolina、Virginia州，犯人可以自行選擇電椅還是注射，在Nebraska州電椅是唯一的死刑方法。在Kentucky和Tennessee州，1998年前犯罪的犯人適用電椅。在Illinois、Oklahoma和Florida州，電椅只是理論上的死刑方法。這樣，美國現在還保留電椅的州一共11個。美國上一個被電椅處死的人是James Neil Tucker，2004年5月在South Carolina。