紐時賞析／走自己的路 藝術電影稱霸奧斯卡

Indie Studio Triumphs by Going Its Own Way

走自己的路 藝術電影稱霸奧斯卡

Six years after nabbing the best picture Oscar for “Moonlight,” the hip, art-house studio A24 succeeded at Sunday night’s Academy Awards on a scale that seemed to surprise even its executives, who entered the post-show Governor’s Ball with what-just-happened-looks on their faces.

繼「月光下的藍色男孩」奪下奧斯卡最佳影片獎六年後，時髦的藝術電影製片公司A24周日晚間在奧斯卡頒獎典禮大獲成功，甚至公司主管們都感到錯愕，一臉「剛才發生了什麼」的表情現身典禮後慶功晚宴。

The studio became the first in the 95-year history of the Oscars to capture the top six awards at once: the four acting categories, director and picture. It won nine trophies in all — out of 18 nominations — with seven, including best picture, going to “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” That film, about a family of Asian immigrants who travel through a multiverse in their quest to find one another, was made for $20 million and grossed $106 million worldwide.

A24是奧斯卡金像獎舉辦九十五年來，第一個一口氣奪下六項最大獎的電影公司，包括四項最佳演員獎、最佳導演以及最佳影片獎。A24一共累積十八項入圍，最終抱回九座獎盃，單是「媽的多重宇宙」便拿下最佳影片獎在內的七項大獎。這部片講述一個亞裔移民家庭穿越不同時空找回彼此的故事，這部製作成本兩千萬美元的電影全球票房達一億六百萬美元。

It signaled what could be a changing of the guard. The two studios that have long dominated the art film business, Searchlight Pictures and Focus Features, left the ceremony empty-handed. Searchlight’s “The Banshees of Inisherin” was nominated for nine Oscars. Focus was behind “Tár,” which was nominated for six.

這意味著文藝電影可能將改朝換代。長期肩挑藝術電影產業大梁的「探照燈影業」及「焦點影業」這次皆空手而歸；探照燈影業製作的「伊尼舍林的女妖」獲九項提名，焦點影業的「塔爾」則入圍六項。

Making A24’s glittering night all the more notable is that it comes as the movie business is in disarray. Art-house theaters shut down at a rapid clip during the pandemic and the audience for adult-minded films is shrinking. Auteurs are increasingly turning to streaming services that offer more money and less stress. And the big studios are becoming even more risk-averse in what they are willing to put in theaters, churning out a steady stream of sequels and superhero films.

在電影產業恰逢混亂之際寫下如此佳績，讓A24在頒獎之夜格外奪目。疫情期間，藝術電影戲院相繼快速倒閉，成人議題電影也不斷流失觀眾。電影導演們紛紛轉向給更多錢、壓力較小的串流平台。大型電影公司對於要推出什麼電影上院線，也變得更加風險趨避，不斷推出續集及超級英雄電影。

“I’m just so glad they exist because no one else is making the weird stuff that they are, and we all need that,” Paul Rogers, who won the editing Oscar for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” said of A24 after entering the Governor’s Ball. “We need to know, all the weirdos out there, that we’re not alone. They’re helping us and the world realize that it’s OK to be strange. It’s OK to be different. It’s OK to tell different types of stories about different types of people than what we’re used to seeing.”

「我真的非常高興它們存在，因為沒有人在做它們做的那些怪東西，而我們都需要那些怪東西。」以「媽的多重宇宙」拿下了奧斯卡最佳剪輯獎的剪輯師羅傑斯在慶功晚宴上如是描述A24。「我們需要知道，所有散落在各地的異類們，我們並不孤單。他們幫助我們及世界明白，格格不入也沒關係。特立獨行也沒關係。講述那些與我們常見的不同類型人們的不同類型故事，也沒關係。」

“It’s actually just amazing, what they’ve done,” said Stephen Galloway, the dean of Chapman University’s film school. “It’s really art-house moviemaking that all of us probably thought was dead. And yet they’re proving it is not. You can guarantee at this point that they’re getting first dibs on any interesting, original, different non-mainstream screenplays.”

「它們所做的一切真的很不可思議」，查普曼大學電影學院院長加洛威說：「它們確實在製作文藝電影，我們所有人大都以為這已經玩完了，它們卻證明一切還沒結束。如今幾乎可以斷言，所有有趣、原創、獨特的非主流劇本都會將A24視作首選電影發行商。」

文／Nicole Sperling　譯／陳曉慈

說文解字看新聞

【張佑生】

馬來西亞華裔女星楊紫瓊主演的電影是本屆奧斯卡的大贏家，能在全球最知名的影展(Film Festival)脫穎而出的作品，通常都是藝術片(art film)。Art-house當形容詞時放在名詞前面，可修飾電影、專門播放藝術電影的戲院(cinema)或片廠(studio)。

藝術電影有別於商業主流(commercial mainstream)的賣座大片(blockbuster)，但也有叫好又叫座的電影：the surprise art-house hit of the season。

文中提到過去在奧斯卡引領風騷的兩大藝術片廠空手而歸(empty-handed)，可能象徵某種「世代交替」(a changing of the guard)。

這個詞源於英國白金漢宮站崗的御林軍換班，通常前面加定冠詞且用大寫the Changing of the Guard，後來引申為改朝換代當家做主的意思：With the resignation of the company's longstanding and beloved CEO, it feels like a changing of the guard as the new leadership takes charge.