雜草哲學～Lyo的點點滴滴

(這段影片的主題是"跳舞的Al Pacino"，只有最前面是"Scarecrow"的畫面。因為我找不到其它更好的影片或照片，只好拿它來充數囉XD 不過作者剪接得很不錯，畫面和音樂很合，本身就很值得一看啦!)

晚上自己放”Scarecrow”（中譯「稻草人」/「流浪奇男子」，1973）來看。這部Al Pacino和Gene Hackman早期合作的電影，之前在市面上一直找不到，想不到在香港竟然有出DVD，真是我此趟香港行最大的收獲之一！由於太過期待，因此我連哥哥的集體回憶DVD都還沒看，就迫不及待地先放這部片來看了。

這部電影一開始，就是Al Pacino飾演的Francis和Gene Hackman飾演的Max同被「困」在一條沙石滾滾、鳥不生蛋的公路上，攔不到任何一台便車的場景。由於這段挺長的，起初我還以為這部電影所有場景都會在這條路上，描述他們這段期間發生的一些改變之類，幸好沒多久他們就從這條路上脫困了，不然我覺得有點悶說…

Francis和Max是完全相反的個性類型：水手（？）Francis的理想是當個會逗人笑的稻草人，正要回家見從未謀面的五歲孩子；Max則是個易怒、動不動就揮拳頭的危險（？）人物，在蹲了六年的苦窯後，打算利用先前存的錢開一家洗車店。

我覺得全片最耐人尋味的是Francis這個人。他表現出來的個性一直很sweet & cute，總是設法利用搞笑把原本嚴肅或暴戾的氣氛轉為輕鬆詼諧，並解決一些困境，比如Max要求他引開店員注意、好趁機偷送妹妹的生日禮物時，他採用連Max都不禁看傻眼、忘了自己原本目的的作法；又比如Max和講話很衝的女人發生口角時，他假裝鼻子被旁邊的人形模特兒夾到，結果演變成Max和那女人喝到醉在床上發生關係…

但到故事後半段，這個看似天真純潔善良的Francis，卻開始展現出個性中複雜矛盾的一面。原來他的「妻子」是被他拋棄的女友，雖然不清楚當時他是基於怎樣的動機拋棄她的，這五年間他也不斷寄錢回去，但這層關係仍讓他回家見孩子的目的蒙上一層不確定的陰影。而到故事中段，被Max連累而一同進牢房一個月的Francis遭受差點被雞姦（還是已經被雞姦？）的無妄之災，可能也讓他發現不是每個事件都可以用搞笑解決（他也有拿這招對付對方，但沒用），因此後來他總顯得有些低落，跟之前明朗輕鬆的他大不相同；而看到Max在他潛移默化之下「青出於藍甚於藍」，他的反應也不是鬆一口氣然後興奮高興驕傲，而是躲在角落帶點憂傷與落寞地注視著把全酒館逗笑的Max…

看了IMDB的評論，有幾片解析得實在好，其中一人認為，或許Francis認為自己可以救Max，藉此讓自己從過去的陰影中解脫，但當他發現Max是個比他更稱職的「稻草人」時，他發現自己根本沒什麼比得上Max的。就在他已開始自我懷疑之際，他前女友報復性的謊言將他一舉打下萬劫不復的深淵，自此他徹底自我否定，再也回不到正常人的生活。

有IMDB網友認為，既然在那種情況下，他前女友說出來的話想當然爾會是為了氣他而說的報復性話語，為什麼Francis還要照單全收、受到重大打擊，但我覺得這原理就像我們都知道吵架是一種短暫發瘋狀態、人無法控制脫口而出的言辭，聽到對方殘酷的毀謗還是會深深受到傷害一樣，Francis本來就因這層過去而對女友懷有歉意，且他完全不清楚女友之後的生活，根本無法用「常理」和「理智」來作推斷，因此他會相信也是理所當然的。而且我們會把一切看得那麼透徹，除了因為我們是毫無關係的局外人外，不也因為我們是「觀眾」，我們親眼看見Francis的五歲大兒子就睜著大眼呆望著他的母親嗎？如果鏡頭未曾帶到他兒子過，觀眾還會那麼確定那女友的話是謊言嗎？而且我覺得，搞不好那女友根本連結婚一事都是胡謅的，或許她五年來一直靠Francis寄回來的錢，抱著一線希望在等Francis也說不定…因為看她激動中夾雜著歡喜與憤怒的矛盾神情，就可以清楚知道她還愛著Francis了。只可惜她的報復太過火，不但親手毀了復合的可能性，也親手毀了Francis這個人。

至於Max，他也是個可愛的傢伙，但看到後來就會覺得比起Francis，他單純多了。從開頭口口聲聲不相信別人，到後來變得不能沒有Francis這個「夥伴兼良師」，即使把睡覺也不肯離身的鞋子裡藏的錢拿出來搭火車、趕到銀行把所有積蓄領出來為Francis治病也在所不惜…其實Francis把自己的價值看得太低了，真希望他能知道他的兒子還在世、女友還深愛著他、Max雖然搞笑「出師」卻再也不能沒有他（而不是不再需要他了），若果真如此，他一定能重拾活下去的理由和勇氣吧…不過影片結束在Max趕搭火車那幕也好，這已夠令我低迴良久、感動不已，總覺得故事再講下去，意境就差了。

這部片最大的優點，可說是兩個好演員的優秀演技所激盪出的耀眼火花。Gene Hackman之前看「各懷鬼胎」，因為影片爛，連帶地讓我對他沒啥印象，到這部片才真正認識到這個好演員。我覺得他是個不折不扣的實力派，單看外表不覺得有任何過人之處，但演起戲來就是很有戲感，可以鮮明地呈現出一個角色的個性與特色，讓人印象深刻。而Al Pacino在螢幕上呈現出來的形象一直不是內斂就是焦躁狂放（會發表很多激動演說那種），想不到他演起這種熱情可愛的角色也遊刃有餘，看他全片又裝動物、又裝虎克船長的活蹦亂跳模樣，真難以想像這會是我看慣了的那個Al Pacino。而且他最厲害的地方就是他的表情和動作往往沒有太大變化，就像早期看他演「教父」時的製片公司主管的看法一樣，有點「木訥單調」，但在這種表演方式下，他仍能準確地把角色的內心世界傳達給觀眾，讓人深刻地體會到角色深層的喜怒哀樂，並在不經意間，自己的情緒也受到感染與牽動…尤其最後他在噴泉裡崩潰那幕，簡直讓人看了心都要碎了。

總而言之，這部電影是繼「教父」、「熱天午後」後，我最愛的第三部Pacino電影…有買到這部片，真好！^__^

下面是轉錄的好影評:


by italian38stalion (Sat Jun 10 2006 11:31:33 ) Ignore this User | Report Abuse
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Both Hackman and Pacino's characters have problems expressing their emotions. In Pacino's case he tried to repress and use humor instead of facing his problems. But this problems was too big to ignore.

Earlier in the film he was talking about how he was happy because he felt like he was heading somewhere. He was also anticipating seeing his son and ex-girlfriend and maybe winning her back or having some involvement in his son's life. Her reaction and the lie caused him to lose it. He pretended it was a boy at first but when he actually went down and started playing with the children he couldn't pretend anymore. It seems to me like he just snapped and didn't know what to do. He was desperate.

by birthdaynoodle (Tue Dec 26 2006 08:40:30 ) Ignore this User | Report Abuse
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Lion's (Pacino's) wife lies to him on the phone and tells him that the baby died without ever having been baptized, and that for this reason, the kid's soul would always remain in Limbo without ever reaching Heaven. The ritual of baptism involves immersion in water (or sprinkling water on the person's head), so there's clearly a connection there with the fountain. Carrying an unknown child across the water (towards a "lion" that sprinkles water) may be Lion's way of expressing his sense of loss and the frustration of not even having baptized his own kid.

Baptism represents purification, so it's likely that Pacino's character is also somehow looking for his own spiritual cleansing in the scene of the fountain. Throughout most of the movie, he's hoping to redeem himself by meeting the child that he once abandoned; at one point he says that he owes it to his wife, Annie; but after the conversation with Annie, he probably arrives at the conclusion that his own soul is fated to wander aimlessly (in Limbo) for the rest of his life (or longer).

As far as I understand, Lion first thinks of himself as Max's (Hackman's) savior: he figures he can teach him how to avoid violence and turmoil by being funny and friendly like himself (in other words, by teaching him how to be the Scarecrow). Lion, ever searching for a sense of purpose, wants to help a fellow drifter fight his demons. He accepts it as a personal mission and hangs on to it in quiet desperation. The problem is that later in prison, he realizes that he's not immune to the sometimes brutal nature of life and that Max seems to deal with it better than he can. As a result, Leon begins to doubt himself and his feeling of aimlessness, impotence and frustration only intensify. That's why he looks disturbed when Max -- after mockingly calling him his "taughter", his "teacher" -- performs the striptease at the bar and puts up a funnier show than he could ever even dream of: there's no doubt then as to who the better scarecrow is... In the end, by the time that Leon walks into the fountain, he feels completely dead inside because he believes that he can no longer help save Max, his son, his ex-wife or himself; he's not the savior that he wished he were (the Lion that sprinkles water from his mouth). What's ironic, of course, is that his child actually isn't dead; that his financial contributions DID somewhat help the wife and son that he had otherwise abandoned; and that in reality, he could be partly responsible for having changed Max's attitude in life and for keeping him out of trouble in the future.
I'll add this one more thought: the idea of the car wash may be attractive to Lion because it involves washing away the dirt from other people's lives. ("For every car, there's dirt"). Remember, his role in the company would be "keeping the customers happy". That's his "specialty", he says. In his mind, Max could count the number of hoses and brushes that they'd need to buy, while his part would have more to do with spiritual transcendence. Again, the car wash could easily have something to do with the symbolism of baptism.

To answer the original question, is he actually going to drown the child at the end? Who knows. I'll just quote one medical website: "Catatonic excitement is a symptom of mental illness rather than a mental illness in itself. It is characterized by disturbances in motor activity such as agitated hyperactivity and movements which have no purpose. At times, the movements may become violent and directed either to themselves or to others."