导演 Director
Craig Gillespie
电影来源 Film Origin
USA (2007)
剧本 Screenplay
Nancy Oliver
主要演员 Principal Cast
Ryan Gosling, Emily Mortimer,
Paul Schneider, Kelli Garner,
Patricia Clarkson
故事简介 Synopsis
Lars (Ryan Gosling) 是一个内向和害臊人。他和哥哥, Gus及其妻, Karin 住在一个小镇。Gus 和 Karin 住在父亲遗留下的大屋，可Lars则选择住屋旁的车房内。 他过度孤寂怪诞的生活令Karin 很担心。
一天，出乎意料的，Lars 要向Gus 和Karin介绍他的在网上认识的女朋友，Bianca。Bianca 是一名有护士训练的巴西传道者。Gus 和Karin当然喜出望外。可是，最大的问题和最令人吃惊的是， Bianca 是一个人形大的娃娃！慢慢地，电影会让我们体验到Lars 的恋情和病情转折，还有家人亲友对他的关心。
Lars (Ryan Gosling) is a devastating shy and lonely guy who lives in a small town and can’t find his place in the world. He lives in a single roomed garage by the side of his deceased father’s house which is currently occupied by his brother, Gus (Paul Schneider） and his wife. Lars’ sister-in-law Karin (Emily Mortimer) is very concerned of his secluded lifestyle。
One day, Lars’ brother and Karin are delighted to know that Lars wants to introduce his girlfriend whom he meet online to them. Her name is Bianca who is a Brazilian missionary with nurse’s training. However, the only problem is, Bianca is a life-sized doll ! The story slowly unfolds to tell a touching story of Lars’ love life, his delusion, his family and community’s love to him.
观后感 My thoughts
一开始时，我并没心要看此电影。记得在我读有关其剧情的资料时，觉得有点而恶心。所以，就没放在心上。至有一天，我听到一位自愿工作者说，这是她在TIFF看到最喜欢的电影。那时，我看了许多很沉重的电影，觉得人生也未必这么苦，正在找一部轻松小品来笑一笑。那时，正中下怀，马上去买票。怎知，票卖光了。
我向一位朋友提起此电影，他也很好奇要一道去看。于是，我们在电影开映前的一个多小时就去Rush Line 排队。怎知，给我们碰了个彩，幸运地在最后一分钟拿到票。在我们后面有一条很长的人龙都很失望。
没想到，这部无心插柳的电影竟成了我在TIFF中最喜欢的电影。这部电影笑中有泪，它会让你爆笑，同时伤痛你的心。大笑后，你可能会抵头沉思。擦干了泪后，你会会心一笑，因为了解到人间有情。
写剧本的是因写Six Feet Under 电视连续剧而成名的 Nancy Oliver。我虽没看过Six Feet Under,可曾听说过它的黑色幽默，Ed 也是此电视剧的粉丝。这部电影承接了相似的黑色幽默。此电影有点怪诞得来又不失意义和内涵。
剧本唯一美中不足的是，虽然Lars 可爱善良纯真，可是还是难以令人相信，人们真的关心他得那么深，肯为他一起这么疯，把Bianca 当真人来对待到戏中那种地步。不过，我就是喜欢这种夸张的电影。哈！
在此片，Ryan Gosling的演技可说是发挥得淋漓尽致。他将Lars 此角色演得不但入木三分，还拿捏得恰到好处。 Lars 这种角色不可演得太过喜剧化，不然会变成无聊搞笑。但又不可太过认真，这样会变得沉闷无趣。Gosling都做到了。Gosling精湛的演技正好填补了剧本的不足，他让观众都相信，人人都很爱他。 我认为，他有机会角逐奥斯卡最佳男主角奖。当然，其他的演员表现都很出色，无法在此一一详述。
导演 Craig Gillespie在戏后有15分钟给观众发问问题。好玩的是, 观众最感兴趣的当然是那个女娃娃。问的都是与Bianca 有关。还好，最后，有一，两个‘清醒’观众把我们带回电影的主题 – 家人亲友如何帮助Lars渡过难关。有趣的是，即使在TIFF的记者招待会，新闻工作者问的都与Bianca 有关! 看来Bianca 才是此电影的大明星！
其实现实生活中不乏寂寞的男人以女娃娃为伴。有一部纪录片Guys and Dolls 就是以此为主题。多可悲！ 我在想，如这些人遇到了Lars的家人亲友，不知情况会不会有所改变？
Initially, Lars and the Real Girl was not on my TIFF film list. I remembered I read about the story and felt it was little disgusting. I never thought to watch it until one day a volunteer shared that it was her favourite at TIFF. At that time, I had watched enough sad and heavy films, I needed a laugh. Life was not that sad anyway, I told myself. I was happy to hear this recommendation and went to buy ticket immediately. Unfortunately, they were all sold out.
I mentioned this film to a friend, he was curious about this movie too. So, we went to line up at Rush Line one and half hour prior to screening time. Luckily, we got in but there were lots of people in Rush Line were not as lucky as we were.
To my surprise, this movie turned out to be my favorite at TIFF too. It is a movie that makes you laugh, and at the same time, it can break your heart. After laughing, you may realise there are lots to ponder on. And, there is always a smile behind tears, because you realise there are still love in this world.
The screenplay is written by Nancy Olive who wrote Six Feet Under. Although I have not watched Six Feet Under, I have heard about its black humour. Ed quite likes this TV series too. Lars and the Real Girl has the same black humour – quirky but with profound depth. The only weakness in this screenplay is, it is too difficult to make audiences believe that Lars is so loved by his town people that they were willing to treat Bianca as real person to the extend in the movie. Nonetheless, I love this sort of quirky films ! Ha !
Ryan Gosling’s performance in this movie is superb! Lars is a difficult character to master because you don’t want him too be too funny neither to be too serious. Otherwise, it will lose the gem of this character. Gosling did it just right. His jaw-dropping performance has happened to cover the weakness of this script. His acting makes you believe the town people do love him dearly and willing to bent over their knees to help him. I personally believe, Gosling has a great chance to be nominated as the Best Actor in Oscar again this year. Besides Gosling, all actors and actresses have amazing performance but I can’t mention them one by one here.
After the movie, Director had a question and answer session with audience. Hilariously, what audiences really interested in was the doll. All questions were directed to Bianca. Fortunately, there session was wrapped up by a couple of audiences who brought us back to the real theme of the movie – the healing power of family and community. More interestingly, Bianca was the focus of the press conference at Toronto International Film Festival. Who cares if Gosling will be nominated in Oscar ! Bianca is the ‘real’ star !
In fact, there are many men in real life do have these dolls as their companion. A fascinating documentary, Guys and Dolls, covers the stories of four men who own these dolls. How sad it is ! I wonder, whether the is a chance of healing if these men meet Lars’ family and community.
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