双语阅读：瑕不掩瑜的《天台爱情》

　　Jay Chou could well be the ideal candidate to revive the graying genre of the musical film in the Chinese-language world. But judging from his latest effort, his talents, which are multiple and abundant, seem insufficient.

　　在华人世界里，要说谁能够重振华语歌舞片雄风，周杰伦可谓不二人选。但是从他这部崭新力作来看，他多面手的实力以及过人天赋似乎并无用武之地。

　　The Rooftop is set in 1970s Taiwan but recalls 1950s America where young rebels ride motorcycles and pick street fights. Chou plays Wax, a reckless young man with a romantic streak. He sets his eyes on a self-regulation budding star, who is coerced into the film business to pay off her father’s debt. Coincidentally, she is also the love interest of the male lead in the film-within-a-film, who has fame and good looks but lacks the decency of a true gentleman. An even bigger rival is a red-haired gangster who is losing his territory to Wax.

　　尽管电影《天台爱情》的故事发生在上世纪七十年代的台湾，却再现了上世纪五十年代，美国叛逆少年们骑摩托、街头火拼的场景。周杰伦在影片中扮演鲁莽却浪漫的浪子膏。他喜欢上了一个崭露头角、十分自律的女明星，她被迫拍片为父还债。碰巧，在“戏中戏”里，缺乏绅士风度的“高富帅”男主角也对她一见倾心。而片中的大反派则是刚刚把地盘输给浪子膏的流氓——红毛。

　　There are lots of song-and-dance numbers, many of which are conceived and staged with ingenuity. But they are often used to create atmospheres rather than heighten emotional expressions. As Chou explains, he uses the numbers in the same way as musical interludes that go with the screen images. So, they usually only last one to two minutes each.

　　片中出现了大量的歌舞戏份，大部分的歌舞片段从构思到呈现方式，可谓是费尽心思。但是这些歌舞元素常常被用来营造气氛，而非加强情感表达。用周杰伦的说法就是，这些歌舞片段的运用方式就如同电影画面转换间的中场间奏一样。因此，这些片段大都只有一到两分钟的时长。

　　This strategy could be a nod to those indifferent to musicals, but fails to make the best of the genre’s potential to elevate mundane moments of mutual affection into magic ones that set the heart flying. The absence of a true love duet between the romantic leads is agonizingly obvious.

　　虽然这一策略会得到那些非歌舞片影迷的认可，但是这却没能充分发挥出歌舞片的潜能——将情感相互传递的平淡时刻提高为让人心神荡漾的魔力瞬间。主角间的浪漫爱情却少了深情对唱的点缀，这个硬伤令人煎熬。

　　Because Chou believes that villains should not sing or dance, the gangster part of the movie is quite detached from the buddy part. You’ll end up liking either half of the movie, but rarely will you take to both as they are incohesive.

　　由于周杰伦认为反派角色不应载歌载舞，于是，电影中刻画黑帮的戏份完全同描写兄弟情谊的戏份脱离开来。最终，你会喜欢上电影前半段或后半段，但由于影片前后衔接松散，你很难同时喜欢上这两部分。

　　That said, The Rooftop shows numerous touches of genius. The set and costume design adds to the urban fairytale atmosphere. The songs, while fragmented, are not recreations of the period style, but rather, are refracted through Chou’s musical prism as he employs a rich variety of styles to fit each occasion. The scenes are masterfully set up and the shots very fluent, a testament to Chou’s maturity as a film director.

　　即便如此，《天台爱情》还是展现出无数令人叫绝的特质。片中的场景与服装设计为这部都市童话增色不少。尽管片段式的歌曲不符合那个时期的娱乐风格，但周杰伦将丰富多样的音乐风格与每个场景配合得天衣无缝，使得这些歌曲透过他的音乐棱镜折射而大放异彩。片中场景设置巧妙、镜头运用流畅，体现出周杰伦在执导电影方面已驾轻就熟。

　　Compared with Secret, his tour-de-force directorial debut, The Rooftop is more uneven, but shows his willingness to take on greater challenges. If he had used Broadway-style trial runs, he could have worked out most of the wrinkles and turned in a true masterpiece. But don’t worry. With his brilliance, Chou may well bounce back and deliver a slam-dunk next time.

　　尽管与他精心打造的导演处女作——《不能说的秘密》相比，《天台爱情》的水平有些平淡无奇，但却表明了他想接受更大挑战的意愿。如果当初他运用百老汇的手法来拍摄该片，他便可以解决片中大部分的硬伤，从而交出一部真正的杰作。但别担心。以他的才华，周杰伦定会卷土重来，再创奇迹!

　　Raymond Zhou is a well-known film critic in China. He lives in Beijing and works for China Daily.

　　周黎明：国内知名影评人。现居北京，供职于《中国日报》。