《綠皮書》：一個溫暖的故事

◆Vicky

Green Bookis set in 1962, picking up as working class Italian-American Tony Lip Vallelonga (Viggo Mortensen) finds himself needing new work after the Copacabana closes for two months due to renovations.As he looks around for a job to support his family, Tony interviews for a driving position with Dr Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali).Don, an African-American classical pianist, is set to tour the Deep South and needs an associate to not only transport him to concert venues, but also act as security if any issues arise.

Even though the job will keep Tony away from his family for eight long weeks, the nice payday encourages him to take it.Promising Dolores he’ll be home for Christmas, Tony hits the road with Don and the other two members of Don’s musical trio, using the Negro Motorist Green Book as a guide to find colored-friendly establishments at the various tour stops.Tony and Don will have to work hard to overcome their personal differences and the injustices they’ll face along the way.But it could be a very rewarding experience for both men, changing their lives for the better in more ways than one.

After its run at the festival circuit,Green Bookdrew several comparisons to Best Picture winnerDriving Miss Daisy, leading some viewers to find it a bit safe and conventional in its storytelling and themes.Tony Lip’s son Nick Vallelonga is one of three credited co-writers, which helps the film find its crucial sense of authenticity.While Nick didn’t accompany his father and Don on the tour, the script no doubt takes inspiration from Tony’s stories about his time in the South.The writing team deserves credit for blending comedy and drama, asGreen Bookis never short on levity, yet still shines a spotlight on the rather serious and frustrating racial prejudices that were so prevalent in the segregation era.A number of clever callbacks and payoffs peppered throughout the script also ensure no scene goes to waste, as the film cruises through its runtime.

For all the strong work by Farrelly and his crew, it’s hard to imagineGreen Bookworking as well as it does without the presence of Mortensen and Ali.The two actors are a perfectly matched pair, playing off each other with great chemistry.Mortensen arguably has the showier role of the two, completely transforming into the larger-than-life figure of Tony Lip.After putting together a string of more serious-minded turns, it’s nice to see the actor loosen up and have some fun as the street-wise bouncer.Ali gives a reserved and soulful performance as Shirley, tapping into the character’s inner turmoil of being a person torn between two worlds.He gives off a fittingly regal but also has convincing dramatic outbursts to make it a well-rounded portrayal.Both leads have rightfully been in discussion for Oscar nominations and definitely deserve them.

With so much of the focus on Tony Lip and Dr Shirley’s dynamic, the supporting cast unfortunately gets lost in the background.Even Cardellini amounts to little more than the housewife missing her loving husband.To be fair, this is most likely a byproduct of the story’s nature, rather than negligence on the part of the creative team.

Green Bookmay not be as artistically daring or ambitious as some of 2018’s other awards contenders, but it definitely lives up to the buzz of Oscars.The movie works on all fronts across the board, and its heartwarming story makes it the perfect film to catch over the Thanksgiving holiday.It could even be seen as the ideal antidote to today’s divisive and trying times, depicting a touching tale of two people from wildly different backgrounds coming together and forging a lifelong bond.Green Bookis worth seeing in theaters.

《綠皮書》里的故事背景是1962年，作為工人階級的意大利裔美國人托尼·利普·瓦萊隆嘉（維果·莫特森飾）因原先打工的酒吧停業裝修兩個月而不得不另尋生計。當托尼四處尋找一份工作以養家糊口時，他參加了唐·謝利（馬赫沙拉·阿里飾）博士的司機招聘面試。唐是一位非裔美國古典鋼琴家，將要去南部地區巡演。他需要一個能夠充當司機并且可以應付各種突發狀況的保鏢。

盡管這份工作會讓托尼遠離家人長達八周，但豐厚的薪資促使他接受了這份工作。在向妻子德洛麗絲做出一定會回家過圣誕的保證后，托尼和唐以及三重奏的另外兩名成員踏上行程。他們根據《黑人司機綠皮書》，在各個經停點尋找對有色人種友好的旅館。托尼和唐在行程中不得不努力克服他們的個體差異，面臨種種不公。但這對兩個人來說都是回報豐厚的經歷，這段經歷促使他們的生活往更好的方向轉變。

在電影節巡回演出結束后，《綠皮書》幾度被觀眾拿來與最佳影片《為戴茜小姐開車》作比較。一些觀眾覺得這部電影在講述故事和主題方面有點過于平淡和傳統。故事原型托尼的兒子尼克·維勒玫嘉是三大合著人之一，這有助于加強影片的真實性。盡管尼克沒有陪他父親和唐去巡演，但劇本無疑是從托尼在南方的經歷中得到靈感的。寫作團隊將喜劇和戲劇結合在一起的創意值得稱贊。《綠皮書》在某些細節雖有些輕浮，但仍因聚焦于種族隔離時代盛行的令人沮喪的種族偏見這一主題而搶眼。在整個演出中，巧妙的回調和高潮也確保了場景沒有多余的鏡頭，影片一直在以一種舒服的速度徐徐展開。

對于法拉利和他的團隊所做的巨大的付出，很難想象《綠皮書》在沒有莫特森和阿里加盟的情況下也能達到同樣的效果。這兩個演員是完全匹配的一對，合作時會產生神奇的化學反應。可以說，莫特森在這兩個角色中扮演著更為顯眼的角色，他儼然變成了帶有英雄色彩的托尼·利普。在經歷了一系列嚴肅的轉變之后，能看到演員放松下來，作為街頭保鏢享受一些樂趣是件輕松的事情。阿里飾演的謝利，克制而深情，塑造了內心世界被雙重身份折磨的人物形象。他散發出一種恰如其分的王者氣質，但也有戲劇性爆發，使其人物形象更為豐滿。兩位主演都被奧斯卡提名，這是理所當然的。

由于太多的注意力集中在托尼和謝利博士的身上，配角們沒有得到關注。即使是卡德里尼也只不過是一個想念她深愛的丈夫的家庭主婦。公平地說，這很可能是故事性質的副產品，而不是創意團隊的疏忽。

《綠皮書》可能不像2018年其他獎項的競爭者那樣大膽或勢在必得，但它絕對是名副其實的奧斯卡獎影片。這部電影在各個方面都很成功，溫暖人心的故事使它成為感恩節期間的最佳影片。它講述了兩個背景迥異的人聚在一起，建立了一種終身友誼的感人故事。甚至可以被看作是當今分裂和艱難時期的理想解毒劑，《綠皮書》絕對讓你值回票價。