趙婷：改變好萊塢

張慈

2017年，在帕羅阿圖的一家小劇院看完電影《騎士》后，我開(kāi)始注意Chloe Zhao（趙婷）這個(gè)名字。這部電影很特別，女性導(dǎo)演拍馴馬，而且還是一個(gè)華人，改變了我們對(duì)華人導(dǎo)演的認(rèn)知，意識(shí)到了好萊塢一種隱約的改變，新生力量加華人元素，一位跨越文化界線(xiàn)的導(dǎo)演誕生了。

2020年9月13日，趙婷斬獲威尼斯金獅獎(jiǎng)，受邀為她寫(xiě)一篇專(zhuān)稿。趙婷當(dāng)時(shí)正在漫威做新片后期，工作繁忙。我輾轉(zhuǎn)多人，向趙婷新聞負(fù)責(zé)人的郵箱寄出了采訪(fǎng)請(qǐng)求，又反復(fù)看了她的兩部電影，通過(guò)北京的朋友聯(lián)系上趙婷父親，給我提供了幾篇素材稿，就開(kāi)寫(xiě)了。

2021年元旦，我居然看到趙婷的《無(wú)依之地》（Nomadland）上線(xiàn)了！觀(guān)影過(guò)程中最讓我印象深刻的是女主碰見(jiàn)的那些麻煩，沒(méi)有工作沒(méi)有穩(wěn)定收入，車(chē)子壞了修不起，一個(gè)人住房車(chē)?yán)镫S時(shí)驚恐的狀態(tài)，吃喝拉撒都在一個(gè)逼仄的空間完成，看去世的丈夫照片時(shí)內(nèi)心的柔軟，祖父送的盤(pán)子被打碎心也跟著碎，這種沒(méi)有安全感、成為邊緣人的故事深深打動(dòng)了我。Frances McDormand的演技，閉著眼睛就能點(diǎn)贊，《法戈》《奧利弗 基特里奇》《三塊廣告牌》，有她，電影就厲害了。她演得不卑不亢，自然本色，看得我落淚。雖然Fenn是屬于被迫上路的人，但是依然讓我羨慕。一路的美景，朝霞晚霞，日出日落，是那么的美、那么的自由，給了我一次心靈的洗滌，真是超棒的新年禮物！

全世界的新聞，歷史都在捕捉創(chuàng)造“第一次”的人。

繼2020年9月在威尼斯電影節(jié)獲得最佳影片獎(jiǎng)后，北京時(shí)間2021年3月1日，在第78屆金球獎(jiǎng)?lì)C獎(jiǎng)典禮上，中國(guó)女導(dǎo)演趙婷再次憑借《無(wú)依之地》獲得電影最佳導(dǎo)演獎(jiǎng)，該片也將劇情類(lèi)最佳影片獎(jiǎng)攬入懷中。就在本文截稿時(shí)，《無(wú)依之地》成為本屆奧斯卡熱門(mén)作品，獲得6項(xiàng)提名，趙婷的最佳導(dǎo)演提名呼聲更高。

人們?yōu)橼w婷高興，是發(fā)自?xún)?nèi)心的——她是史上首位獲得金球獎(jiǎng)最佳導(dǎo)演的中國(guó)女導(dǎo)演，也是第二位獲得該獎(jiǎng)項(xiàng)的女導(dǎo)演。第一位是37年前的芭芭拉·史翠珊。

趙婷是土生土長(zhǎng)的北京大妞， 15歲去英國(guó)讀書(shū)，后來(lái)在美國(guó)蒙特霍利約克學(xué)院取得了政治學(xué)學(xué)士學(xué)位。隨后又到紐約大學(xué)電影學(xué)院繼續(xù)深造，成為了李安的學(xué)妹。

與其他在好萊塢闖蕩的移民電影人不同，趙婷撬開(kāi)這扇大門(mén)的作品，并不是與自己文化背景息息相關(guān)的內(nèi)容，而是連美國(guó)本地人都不太關(guān)注的非主流邊緣人群。

她的第一部電影《哥哥教我的歌》上映于2014年，講述的是在南達(dá)科他州印第安人保留地里一個(gè)女孩與哥哥的故事。電影主要圍繞著一片叫做“松樹(shù)嶺”的印第安人保留地（Pine Ridge Indian Reservation）展開(kāi)，關(guān)注了印第安群體生活的窘迫和當(dāng)?shù)啬贻p人對(duì)現(xiàn)狀與未來(lái)的迷茫。看慣了美國(guó)大片所描述的燈紅酒綠的主流社會(huì)生活，這一部影片則從很少被人所關(guān)注的少數(shù)族裔群體的社會(huì)生活入手，為我們展現(xiàn)出另一種不一樣的美國(guó)社會(huì)。《哥哥教我的歌》先后入圍第31屆圣丹斯電影節(jié)美國(guó)劇情片單元和第68屆戛納電影節(jié)導(dǎo)演雙周單元。

2017年，她的第二部作品《騎士》出爐，故事再次回到了南達(dá)科他州的印第安人保留地。這次的主人公是一位年輕的牛仔，因?yàn)轭^部受重創(chuàng)而被迫要終止牛仔競(jìng)技事業(yè)。心懷夢(mèng)想的他不甘就此放棄，可身體的不配合卻又不斷將他拉回現(xiàn)實(shí)，沮喪失落、徘徊讓他迷失。故事的結(jié)尾，趙婷選擇了開(kāi)放性的結(jié)局，給了觀(guān)眾一絲希望與幻想。

這部片子的張力很大，觀(guān)眾看片時(shí)的壓力是一層層疊加的，到最后騎士放棄賽場(chǎng)，眾人頓時(shí)松了一口氣，比起不顧一切堅(jiān)持夢(mèng)想，為了更重要的東西而放棄夢(mèng)想更需要勇氣。

我覺(jué)得趙婷很像那位受傷的野馬競(jìng)技騎手，總是在繼續(xù)追逐馴馬夢(mèng)想和放棄夢(mèng)想、與家人過(guò)上安穩(wěn)生活間艱難抉擇。這種悲憫的思考帶給觀(guān)眾的不是失望，而是對(duì)導(dǎo)演的強(qiáng)烈認(rèn)同感。《騎士》獲得第70屆戛納電影節(jié)導(dǎo)演雙周單元提名，之后又入圍平遙國(guó)際電影展的“臥虎”單元，并最終獲得以意大利著名導(dǎo)演羅伯托·羅西里尼命名的最佳導(dǎo)演獎(jiǎng)。

我在Youtube上看到對(duì)趙婷的采訪(fǎng)，她專(zhuān)注且謙卑，打扮素雅不化妝。《騎士》上映后，不少業(yè)內(nèi)老大們叫喊著“趙婷是誰(shuí)”，開(kāi)始找尋此人尋求合作。眼看著好萊塢的大門(mén)正式向自己打開(kāi)，趙婷仍然一臉風(fēng)輕云淡：“這些成功只是意味著，我的下一步作品將有更為寬裕的啟動(dòng)資金。”她所在乎的從來(lái)不是表面的東西，而是通過(guò)一個(gè)故事傳達(dá)有意義的價(jià)值。

同樣因?yàn)椤厄T士》注意到趙婷的，還有好萊塢的獲獎(jiǎng)女演員，《無(wú)依之地》中的女主演弗蘭西斯·麥克多蒙德。

《無(wú)依之地》這部片子不是導(dǎo)演找演員，是演員找導(dǎo)演。女主演弗蘭西斯·麥克多蒙德在讀過(guò)原著后迅速買(mǎi)下版權(quán)，然而尋找適合的導(dǎo)演很久而無(wú)果。直到2017年多倫多電影節(jié)上，趙婷導(dǎo)演的《騎士》和麥克多蒙德主演的《三塊廣告牌》同時(shí)入圍特別展映單元，她看完《騎士》后立刻說(shuō)：“我找到我們的導(dǎo)演了！”

《無(wú)依之地》講的是弗蘭西斯扮演的寡婦弗恩，在經(jīng)濟(jì)大蕭條后失去了工作，生活了一輩子的小鎮(zhèn)也在地圖上就此消失。六十幾歲一無(wú)所有，被迫成為住在廂式貨車(chē)?yán)镞叴蚬み吜骼说默F(xiàn)代游牧人。她從美國(guó)中部一路向西，最后抵達(dá)太平洋西北岸的加州。

《無(wú)依之地》的拍攝方式依舊延續(xù)了趙婷一貫的風(fēng)格。一行人住在廂式貨車(chē)?yán)镒弑榱嗣绹?guó)7個(gè)州，過(guò)了4個(gè)月的游民生活。

除了弗蘭西斯和大衛(wèi)·斯特雷澤恩外，其他演員依舊是真正的游民。“大多數(shù)出現(xiàn)在電影里的人都是非演員，就像我之前的片子一樣。他們很驚訝我竟然對(duì)他們的故事感興趣，因?yàn)樵谒麄兛磥?lái)，自己只是個(gè)無(wú)名小卒，沒(méi)有故事可講。但在我看來(lái)，他們才是最有意思的人，這些故事的精彩程度是我編不出來(lái)的。”趙婷說(shuō)。

對(duì)于電影的拍攝，她是真正的不帶任何文化界限，既感受不到東方文化的色彩，也沒(méi)有為了刻意融入西方世界而加入的西式風(fēng)格。她始于對(duì)不同人群的好奇，終于對(duì)人生前行的思考，核心在對(duì)普世價(jià)值的宣揚(yáng)。她相信這都與自己作為中國(guó)人在海外的背景有著一定的關(guān)聯(lián)。

“每當(dāng)我拍一部電影，我都會(huì)想到遠(yuǎn)在中國(guó)不太講英文的家人。他們可能對(duì)這邊的電影不太感興趣，也不太關(guān)注這邊的社會(huì)問(wèn)題。要如何讓他們也喜歡這些故事，我就得從人出發(fā)，發(fā)掘一個(gè)不受文化限制的故事。不管你來(lái)自哪里都能感同身受，產(chǎn)生共鳴，而并不是一個(gè)固定群體才能有所感受的事情。”

在金球獎(jiǎng)獲獎(jiǎng)感言中，趙婷引用《無(wú)依之地》中一段對(duì)于“同情心”的描述，表達(dá)的意思大概是“同情心能夠掀開(kāi)所有隔閡，讓我們走到一起”，這也是一種價(jià)值觀(guān)。而在全球疫情背景下，有關(guān)“同情心”的表述，能夠激發(fā)觀(guān)眾更多的聯(lián)想。優(yōu)秀的電影人，從來(lái)都不是只會(huì)躲在象牙塔里的人，深度講述現(xiàn)實(shí)發(fā)生的一切才是其使命。

《娛樂(lè)周刊》則說(shuō)：趙婷成為了某些沒(méi)遺忘的美國(guó)人的卓越記錄者，原始的、不受約束的，處于邊緣的人。電影業(yè)內(nèi)人士都驚嘆于影片中展現(xiàn)的真實(shí)感，對(duì)于許多美國(guó)人來(lái)說(shuō)，這是一段被遺忘的歷史。故事背后的東西非常重要，除了趙婷是一個(gè)很“穩(wěn)”很“靠譜”的人（她的朋友對(duì)筆者如此表示），趙婷這個(gè)人有一種天生的悲憫心。“在中國(guó)和英國(guó)的城市長(zhǎng)大，我一直被開(kāi)放的道路深深吸引著。我發(fā)現(xiàn)這種想法是典型的美國(guó)式的——對(duì)地平線(xiàn)以外的東西的無(wú)盡探索。我試圖在這部電影中捕捉它的一瞥，因?yàn)槲抑啦豢赡芟蛄硪粋€(gè)人真正描述美國(guó)的道路。一個(gè)人必須自己去發(fā)現(xiàn)它。”趙婷這樣解讀自己的新片。

《無(wú)依之地》在中國(guó)觀(guān)眾這里得到良好的反饋，充分說(shuō)明它不是一部?jī)H僅用西方邏輯講述的美國(guó)西部故事。電影刻畫(huà)出來(lái)的人物所面臨的外在環(huán)境與內(nèi)心深處的雙重壓力，會(huì)讓東西方的觀(guān)眾都感同身受。否則就無(wú)法解釋?zhuān)@樣一部貌似節(jié)奏很慢的電影，為什么會(huì)讓觀(guān)眾尋找到它內(nèi)在的緊張感，由衷地被人物所吸引。

趙婷的經(jīng)歷也會(huì)告訴更多華人導(dǎo)演，“國(guó)際化”不會(huì)是中國(guó)電影人的“無(wú)依之地”，那些糅合了更開(kāi)闊視角的“有心之作”，會(huì)讓文藝創(chuàng)作別有洞天。

目前，趙婷執(zhí)導(dǎo)的漫威新片《永恒族》正處于緊張的后期制作中，此片計(jì)劃于2022年2月12日上映。我們期待她成為國(guó)際導(dǎo)演界的傳奇！

（作者系華裔旅美作者）

The name “Chloe Zhao” caught my eye after I watched The Rider， a delicate portrayal of the redemption of an up-and-coming rodeo rider， in a theater in?Palo?Alto back in 2017. Mostly， it is because of the directors Chinese identity. The movie proves Zhaos evident skills to change the preconceptions about Chinese filmmakers. She is truly a rising star that breaks cultural limits and brings quiet but powerful， new elements to Hollywood.

Zhao took home the top award at the 2020 Venice Film Festival with her film， Nomadland， on September 12. Nomadland also won Audience Choice Award for Best English-Language Feature at the 56th Chicago International Film Festival （CIFF） and the Best Director—Motion Picture award at the 78th Annual Golden Globe Awards on March 1， 2021 （Beijing time）. The Beijing native who moved to the United States when she was 15 is the first Chinese female director to win the festivals top prize， and the second woman to win the prize in the history of the award. Babara Streisand took home the first one 37 years ago.

Long fascinated by the US West， the 38-year-old obviously has Hollywood in the palm of her hand with a string of Oscar nods and a Marvel superhero film on the way.

Born and raised in Beijing， Zhao attended grade school in London and Los Angeles， and studied political science at Mount Holyoke College and film production at New York University.

An intimate road movie about semi-retired people living off the grid in dilapidated vans，? Nomadland presents Frances McDormand （Fern） setting off on the road to explore a life as a modern-day nomad after the economic collapse of a town in rural Nevada. The third feature film from Zhao， Nomadland features real nomads as Ferns mentors and comrades in her exploration through the vast landscape of the American West.

Set on the spectacular open road of unfamiliar and sparsely populated states like South Dakota and Nebraska，?Nomadland?is just Zhaos latest love letter to her adopted US homelands wide and wild spaces. Unlike many other immigrant filmmakers pursuing a dream in Hollywood， Zhao proved herself not through topics drawn from her own cultural backgrounds， but by focusing on people living an alternative lifestyle and the ignored sides of the American society.

Zhaos feature film debut， Songs My Brothers Taught Me， about a teen dreaming of a life beyond the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation， was released in 2014 and premiered at Sundance Film Festival and earned a nomination for the Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature. It also won recognition from the 68th Cannes Film Festival for its refreshing perspectives. The movie expresses the directors concern about poverty and the confused minds of young people. The production saw her spend months immersed in the remote indigenous South Dakota region.

Existing in a similar milieu to Songs My Brothers Taught Me， Zhaos second film The Rider tells the story of a young， ambitious rider coming to terms with life-changing injuries caused by participating in his beloved competition. The film shows Zhaos skills at creating tension. The storys open ending allows the viewer room to make their own judgment and even wishful hope. The focal point of the film is not the courage to pursue success but the detachment—the self-persuasion and the true redemption achieved in the process. The Rider won a nomination at the 70th Cannes Film Festival and the Roberto Rossellini Award from the Pingyao International Film Festival of that year.

The success of The Rider not only the brought in more cash support for Zhao but the attention from the insiders of the global filmmaking circle. Chicago-born actress Frances McDormand had been looking for what she called “the right director” to work with since she bought the copyright of the original story right after reading Jessica Bruders 2017 non-fiction book， Nomadland： Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century. She met Zhao in Cannes in 2017， and knew instantly that she was talking to the right person.

In Nomadland Zhao worked with an acting superstar for the first time， but still encouraged the double-Oscar winner and producer to draw on her own life to play “Fern”. In the film， Frances McDormand touches the heart of the viewers with her moods and emotions. Fern， in her sixties， loses everything and tries her best to rebuild her life as a modern American nomad breaking new grounds and reaching the finish line.

Another common theme of Zhaos movies is casting non-actors to play semi-fictionalized versions of themselves. Most of the people in the movie are non-actors who never thought they had stories to tell. “They couldnt believe we were interested in their life. In my eye， they are all stories that I cannot even imagine to make up，” said Zhao.

As a filmmaker， Zhaos style is “non-cultural”， free of Oriental stereotype or flattering to cater to the tastes of the West. Her cinematic thoughts are based on her curiosity and aim at lofty issues about moving forward with ones life.

“Every time I made my plan to make a movie， I thought a lot about my family in China. They are not English speakers， and may not have much interest in knowing about the movies I make or the society I live in now. To make them understand what I do， I have to tell a story that breaks cultural obstacles， so that it can be shared by people from all backgrounds.” She has obviously achieved the goal in Nomadland. For her， the recognition， and the awareness that is brought by the movie to the nomadic community， is a great thing.

In the current pandemic-plagued world， the message of Nomadland has immense meanings， and makes Zhao a recorder of some “forgotten Americans”. The movie is free of prejudice， and thusly appeals to both East and West.

“The only way to know what the American roads are really like is to actually walk on it and find out for oneself，” said Zhao. Zhaos long journey in Hollywood is also a wonderful illustration of Chinese filmmakers winning the hearts of a global audience by putting heart and soul， and independent thinking in their films.

Zhaos next movie is Eternals， a gigantic ensemble superhero film which is part of the record-grossing Marvel series. With the films post production now in full swing， it is scheduled to be released on February 12， 2022. How Zhao handles future works remains to be seen， but for now it is at least fair to say she is definitely a rising star.