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The Mighty seemed to have fallen in December 2009. The release of Zhang Yimo’s latest picture has caused a serious wave of Mo trashing on the internet. As one neticen has pointed out on sina’s twitter: “Mo is no Mo.”
I must say, it is fun to watch the mighty fall, and I have done my fair share of twittering on the subject as well. The truth is , no one wanted to say anything bad about him for 18 months, he is the Chinese creative wunderkid in charge of the Olympic Opening Ceremony. The nation rallied behind him and he delivered, the Ceremony was amazing, and everyone, I mean just everyone, was terribly pleased.
So what went wrong with Mo’s latest film? On the surface: Nothing. It should have been another crowd pleaser. The script is an adaptation of the Coen Brothers 1984 film Blood Simple, Mo and his producer paid good money for the rights of the re-make. This action alone should have pleased the more intellectual critics of Zhang Yimo, the fact that he did the right thing in terms of copyright, and picked a script by the Coen brothers, definitely Hollywood’s less commercial strand of creative power.
San Qiang (Three Shots) as the film is known, has also acquired a list of China’s Most Wanted comedians to star in the Movie. To start with, there is Xiao Shenyang, the 2009 CCTV New Year Gala comedy sensation. It seems that all he has to do is open his mouth, and the Chinese are already laughing. Why? Because he is so cheap, one twitterer, had commented. In addition to Xiao Shengyang, there is also Xiao Shengyang’s Shifu, Zhao Benshan, a veteran comedian that the Chinese TV audience have loved for the past 20 years. If that’s not enough, Mo has thrown in Sun Honglei, the leading man of China who has also an untainted record from both his TV and Film work. And last but certainly not the least, there is Mo himself.
Great script, star-studded cast, the most reknowned Chinese film director of all times, and plenty of cash. Sounds like a recipe for a blockbuster. But instead, it turned out to be one of the most hated films of 2009. What happened?
The problem, as one critic has pointed out, is that a film is not the Olympic Opening Ceremony, nor is it the New Year Gala on CCTV. Trying to please everyone may be the task of massive telecasted events, but not the task of a film. Mo’s problem is he tried too hard to please everyone. AGAIN. This time, unfortunately, he pleased no one. Coen Brother fans, who are usually not Mo fans, probably hated how Mo simply massacred the original script and screwed up the adaptation. TV Gala audiences went into the theatre inexpectation of their favorite comedians performing in a Mo Film, and not repeating punch lines that are at least 1 year old.
As for fans of Sun Honglei, the leading man, for most of the film, his handsome head was covered with a helmet and he had not more than 5 lines and couple of grunting sounds in the entire film.
And for all those Mo fans who loved the imperial pomposity of Zhang Yimo’s films, they will be sorely disappointed that their beloved emporors and warriors are replaced a bunch of small time hoodlums who run a noodle shop in the middle of nowhere.
So, its like the master chef with all the right ingredience, but screwed up the soup by over-cooking it. No wonder people are wondering whether Zhang Yimo is too spent after the Olympic Ceremony. But great creative talents are known for making horrible mistakes, every director probably has at least one film that they would like to singe every copy of negative. At the end of day, Mo is still Mo.
翻译：张艺谋已不再是那个张艺谋
(Rome的开膛手翻译)
张艺谋的电影神话在2009年的12月份破灭了。随着他的新片《三枪拍案惊奇》而来的是网络上如潮水般的责难和抨击。正如一位网友在新浪微博上所述：“张艺谋已不再是那个张艺谋了。”
老实的说，看着这样一个电影神话的破灭是一件别有趣味的事情。在过去的18个月里，没有任何人向他发难。毕竟，是他执导了那台充满想象力的、震撼世界的奥运会开幕式。整个国家因为那场无以伦比的盛宴而对他满怀期待，每个人都迫切的期待着他的新作。
而张艺谋的新片出了什么问题？表面上来看没有丝毫差池。它本来应当成为一部为群众所喜闻乐见的贺岁佳作。这部作品是从1982年科恩兄弟(Coen Brothers)的作品《血迷宫》(Blood Simple)改编而来，张艺谋与制片人张卫平为这部翻拍之作投入了大量的人力物力财力。他在选择了好莱坞低成本独立制作作为改编的原料，这一举动本该为这位导演迎来评论界的好评。
《三枪拍案惊奇》云集了众多观众喜闻乐见的喜剧演员。而其中担纲主角的则是在2009年央视春晚上一炮而红的小沈阳。由于他独特的市井化风格，只要他开始讲话，观众们已经乐不可支了。
而小沈阳的师傅赵本山，这位20年来一直被观众们喜爱着的老牌喜剧明星也加盟到这部影片中来。而如果这还不能满足您的胃口，在电影和电视领域都有着突出贡献的一线演员孙红雷想必不会让人失望。而最后，还有大家期待的导演张艺谋。
好的剧本，星光熠熠的演出班底，中国电影界最杰出的导演之一，外加上巨额的投资。这些元素看来可以组成一部不错的商业大片。而事实上，《三枪拍案惊奇》成为了2009年度最受争议的影片之一。这中间究竟发生了什么？
正如一则评论所言，问题的关键在于，《三枪拍案惊奇》不是奥运会开幕式，也不是央视的春节晚会，它是一部电影。让所有的观众满意喜欢是电视节目的工作而不是电影的工作。张艺谋恰恰是错在了希望取悦每一位观影者。
而可悲的是，他没有取悦到任何一个人。那些痴迷科恩兄弟的人们也许只会对张艺谋肆意的改编原作而感到不悦。而广大电视观众在电影院并没有得到自己想要的东西。他们所希望的是自己喜欢的喜剧演员们在张艺谋的电影里面出彩的表演，而不是将一年前春节晚会上的东西再拿出来翻炒一遍。
而作为一个男主角孙红雷的粉丝，我对他在电影里面始终被厚重的头盔包裹着，同时说了不到五句台词而感到不悦。而对张艺谋的电影粉丝来说，他们对自己所期待的皇帝与武士之间的商业大片被一干不知在什么地方经营小面馆的市井之人的琐事而取代显得十分失望。
因而，《三枪拍案惊奇》像极了一个大厨用上好原料却煮过头了的浓汤。难怪有人在质疑张艺谋是不是在奥运会之后就将自己的创作才情消耗殆尽。伟大的创作才情却是因为糟糕的错误而出名；看来每一位导演都至少有一部想要将其毁掉抹杀掉的电影。
而最后，张艺谋还是那个我们熟悉的张艺谋 |
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