经济学逝者||戏剧、歌剧、电影三栖导演佛朗哥·泽菲雷里

The pursuit of beauty

致美追求

英文部分选自经济学人20190622期Obituary版块

Obituary: Franco Zeffirelli

讣告：佛朗哥·泽菲雷里

The pursuit of beauty

致美追求

Franco Zeffirelli, director of theatre, opera and film, died on June 15th, aged 96

佛朗哥·泽菲雷里，戏剧、歌剧、电影三栖导演，于6月15日长辞于世，享年96岁。

The first time Franco Zeffirelli felt he was a special person was in the late 1940s, when he was in his 20s. Slim, blond and blue-eyed, he could smoulder like Montgomery Clift, all charm and corner-of-the-eye looks. People panted round him to get his favours, of one sort or another. He was merely playing small roles in theatre then, and painting sets, but he began to hear a buzz about him, a murmur of “Zeffirelli!”, even from the gallery seats.

20世纪40年代末，20多岁的佛朗哥·泽菲雷里第一次感觉到自己的与众不同。他像影星蒙哥马利·克利夫特（美国好莱坞演员）一样，有苗条的身材，金色的头发，蓝色的眼睛，一切性感迷人的外表，让人忍不住要偷看几眼。人们用尽各种方法讨好他。虽然他那时还只是演些小角色、做做粉刷布景的工作，但他已经开始听到一些关于自己的传闻，人们悄声地谈论他，甚至坐在剧院楼座的观众也对他饶有兴趣。

The buzz persisted, and it grew, until in his early 40s—and still very good-looking—he knew real fame. Not, however, for acting, but for a decade of sensational productions in opera, theatre and film. His “Traviata” in Dallas in 1958 crowned the career of Maria Callas, now the most tear-inducing Violetta of them all, and his “Lucia di Lammermoor” the next year at Covent Garden launched the rise of Joan Sutherland, pulling out every dramatic stop in robes that shone with blood. His staging of “Romeo and Juliet” at London’s Old Vic theatre in 1960, with very young actors, was a wild success, and the film he based on it in 1968 was loved the world over, bringing a new generation to Shakespeare. His “Taming of the Shrew” the year before was a hit too, with Richard Burton and Liz Taylor both backing it and funding it, though they were so riotous on set that he could barely direct them. And for his six-hour tv film “Jesus of Nazareth”, his take on the life of Christ—to him, his best work—stars flew in from Hollywood to beg to be cast.

围绕着他的讨论声持续不断、越来越多。直到40岁出头，容貌依然迷人的泽菲雷里体会到了真正的声名大噪。他的名声不是来自表演，而是来自他用10年的时间导演了好多部具有轰动效应的歌剧、戏剧和电影。1958年，他执导的歌剧《茶花女》在达拉斯上演，将玛丽亚·卡拉斯（著名美籍希腊女高音歌唱家）的事业推向顶峰。卡拉斯在该剧中塑造了迄今为止最催人泪下的薇奥蕾塔一角；次年，他的歌剧《拉美莫尔的露契亚》在科文特花园英国皇家歌剧院上演，开启了琼·萨瑟兰（澳大利亚歌剧女高音歌唱家，以其花腔角色闻名国际）的成功之路。此剧中，萨瑟兰身着血光闪闪的长袍，倾尽全力奉献了无与伦比的表演。1960年，他的歌剧《罗密欧与朱丽叶》在伦敦老维克剧院上演，该剧启用非常年轻的演员并获得了空前的成功。而他在1968年根据该歌剧改编的电影也获得了全世界观众的喜爱，使新一代观众喜欢上了莎士比亚。此前一年（1967年），尽管伊丽莎白·泰勒和理查德·伯顿（分别为美、英著名演员）在片场耍大牌不服从泽菲雷里的指挥，但在他们支持和资助下，由他执导的《驯悍记》也大获成功。就他本人而言，他最好的作品是6小时的电视电影《拿撒勒的耶稣》。该剧以独特视角演绎了耶稣基督的一生，吸引了一批明星从好莱坞赶过来请求参演。

注：

1.Sound clips from “Traviata” : 

https://tv.sohu.com/v/cGwvNTM0NjI5OC8xNTA4NDA2My5zaHRtbA==.html

2.伦敦科文特花园皇家歌剧院（Covent Garden）是位于伦敦最大特色商品市场科文特花园中的老牌剧院，拥有悠久的历史，并得到皇家特许而创建，开业当天演出的是英国杰出的喜剧作家威廉·康格里夫的戏剧《如此世道》。

《拿撒勒的耶稣》：

https://movie.douban.com/subject/1811984/

Opera, theatre, cinema: he could do them all. He was like a sultan with three wives, who while making love to one would think “Next time I have to try the other one.” Critics sniffed, as if a man should attempt only one thing in life. But for the public the name “Zeffirelli” was a magic thing. It meant splendour, sometimes on a massive scale: the Arena at Verona seething with white horses and Spanish dancers for “Carmen”, or “the Aida of Aidas” he staged there in 2006, with a huge gilded pyramid looming over a cast of hundreds. It meant no detail overlooked, no heartstring left untugged. “Too beautiful,” some said of his work. How could anything be too beautiful? Beauty was beauty. There was no point in putting on backlit grey productions, shooting in bad light, revelling in ugliness. Beauty, spectacle and Zeffirelli went together.

歌剧、戏剧和电影，泽菲雷里三者都擅长。他就像是有三个妻子的苏丹，和其中一个妻子谈情说爱时，想着“下次我得试试另一个”。批评家们对此嗤之以鼻，认为人一生应该只专注一件事。但是对于公众来说，“泽菲雷里”这个名字具有一种魔力。它意味着华丽，有时这种华丽非常宏大壮观：《卡门》上演时泽菲雷里将维罗纳竞技场布满了白马和西班牙舞者；2006年执导《阿依达》时，他在竞技场里搭建了雄伟、金碧辉煌的金字塔，动用了数百名表演者。“泽菲雷里”这个名字同样意味着细节主义者，撩动心弦者。有人说他的作品过于美丽了。但是，“怎么可能有东西过于美呢？”美就是美。平淡的舞台、昏暗的灯光和丑陋的场景，如果把这些呈现给观众，那么创作将失去意义。泽菲雷里把美、雄伟以及自身很好的融合在一起的（即它的作品是有灵魂的，正如明日之子第三季孙燕姿说的：歌曲是要有灵魂的）。

注：佛朗哥•泽菲雷里的作品一向以华美而精致的舞台布景，恢弘大制作的场景效果而闻名。

但是他一度籍籍无名。由于他是私生子，母亲为掩盖他父亲的身份，本想给他取名为“Zeffiretti”，意为微风，出自莫扎特音乐会咏叹调，但由于笔误，名字变成了“Zeffirelli”。在佛罗伦萨求学时，曾有人询问他父亲的姓名，他只能给出官方的说法—“N.N.”，无名氏。母亲去世时他刚刚六岁，之后由亲戚莱德姑妈抚养长大。姑妈过世前就如同他的母亲一般一直陪伴在他身边，这恐怕是他除了他的那些宠物狗以外唯一百分百信任的感情。

注：Nomen nescio

abbreviated to N.N., is used to signify an anonymous or unnamed person. From Latin nomen, "name", and nescio, "I do not know", it literally means "I do not know the name".[1] The generic name Numerius Negidius used in Roman times was chosen partly because it shared initials with this phrase.

His greatest love, though, hitting him right in the forehead and the heart, was for Luchino Visconti. After they met, when he was still a bit-part actor and Luchino the leading director in Italy, Luchino got him better roles and made him his assistant on “La Terra Trema” and “Bellissima”, films in the neo-realist style. For several stormy years they lived together. He hated the word “gay” because it lacked virility, but was happy to be Luchino’s “creature”, enthralled by his talent, his teaching and his scented patrician ways. Not least, Luchino taught him how to lose his temper explosively, effectively—and then, in an instant, be charming again.

卢基诺·维斯康蒂（Luchino Visconti）（意大利著名电影导演）是他的真爱，尽管这段爱让他心碎。他们相遇时，泽菲雷里只是个小演员，卢基诺却是意大利顶级导演，卢基诺帮泽菲雷里拿到了更好的角色，并在拍摄新现实主义风格派电影《大地在波动》和《美极了》时，让他做自己的助理。数十年风风雨雨，他们一起走过。泽菲雷里并不喜欢“gay”这个词语，因为这个词缺少男子气概，但他为卢基诺的才华、指导能力、贵族气质而深深着迷，愿意成为卢基诺的“专属天使”。更重要的是，卢基诺教会他如何有效地发脾气，而后立刻再次风度翩翩。

Charm certainly helped with the divas he met. He became one of Callas’s rare confidants, after hanging around her dressing-room door for weeks like a lovesick boy and fetching trinkets for her. It was he who suggested that she ought to try a lighter repertoire, and who tailored her triumphant Covent Garden “Tosca” in 1964 to reflect the strains in her own love-life. He also persuaded Sutherland, so stout and awkward, to loosen up, which made all the difference. In general he thought he directed women better than men. He was almost as easily moved to tears as they were.

他独特的人格魅力无形中帮助了他与歌剧天后们更好的相处。他曾经连续几周，像一个得了相思病的小男生一样在玛利亚·卡拉斯的更衣室门外来回徘徊，帮她摘取饰品，在那之后他成为了玛利亚·卡拉斯为数不多的知己之一。他建议玛丽亚·卡拉斯尝试更加轻快的剧目，1964年，他根据玛利亚自己的感情生活经历为她量身定制了歌剧《托斯卡》。其在科文特花园英国皇家歌剧院上演并大获成功。他还劝说拘谨笨拙的琼·萨瑟兰放松下来，这让琼·萨瑟兰后来的表现，完全不同以往，让人耳目一新。总而言之，他认为自己比起指导男人更会引导女性。他几乎和她们一样容易感动流泪。

It was not hard to see how his obsession had begun. As a child, sent to the Tuscan countryside each summer (an idyll he revisited in “Brother Sun, Sister Moon”, a gentle tribute to his patron saint, St Francis of Assisi), he was thrilled by peasant actors and lantern-light. Back in Florence, he built his own toy theatres. He began to study architecture and to look closely at the art all around him, but these efforts were not aimed at some well-paid profession. They informed the vaulted, glorious set designs and Old Master imagery of many of his productions—work which paid so poorly that for years, before the film of “Romeo and Juliet” made him rich, he had to boost his income by selling, sadly, the Matisse drawings that had been a present from his dear friend Coco Chanel.

他对歌剧的迷恋情结并不难理解。童年的他每年夏天都会到托斯坎（意大利以美酒、美食、美景而著名的观光胜地）的乡下（在拍摄《太阳神父，月亮修女》时他重新回到这片田园，向他的保护神阿西西的圣弗朗西斯致敬）。在那里，他沉醉于农民演员的表演和提灯的点点光芒。回到了佛罗伦萨之后，他建了自己的玩具剧院。他开始学习建筑，并且对身边的一切艺术都留心起来。虽然这些努力都不能为他找个好工作，但是却指导着他的创作。他的很多作品都是带穹顶的舞台设计，非常绚烂；或者是他对古代大师作品的想象。但是这些作品在很长时间里都卖得惨淡，因此在靠着电影《罗密欧与朱丽叶》发家之前，他无奈只好卖掉挚友可可-香奈儿女士送给他的马蒂斯的画作来增加收入。

注：“Brother Sun, Sister Moon”：

https://movie.douban.com/subject/1298986/

他越来越出名，越来越受欢迎了，不过批评的声音也越来越高。批评家们想要看到的是在艺术电影院播放的那种电影-讲述丑陋黑暗的精英故事。他们嘲笑泽菲雷里的作品太过保守狭隘。泽菲雷里很清楚这些人是克林姆林宫授意专门来搅局的；他还是孩子的时侯就见过这群意大利共产党员(现为民主党)的杰作，但是他自己却从未受到影响。他是真正的社会主义者，致力于用真情实感打动人们，让人们有梦想。因此，当评论大肆批评《天涯赤子情》太过煽情之时，他的另一部讲述初恋的微色情作品-《无尽的爱》，仍然引得人们趋之若鹜。

注：

1. “The Champ”：

http://movie.mtime.com/17938/

2.“Endless Love”：

http://movie.mtime.com/15272/

It was perhaps inevitable, given his loathing of the left, that he should try politics eventually. He was no right-wing extremist, having fought bravely with the partisans against the fascists in the war; really he was an old-fashioned Catholic, the Vatican’s favourite director for its own events, who accepted that his way of life was sinful but trusted in forgiveness. He was also friends with Silvio Berlusconi, who paid for his villa in Rome. (He could no longer bear to live in Florence, full of stupidity and vulgarity.) So in 1994 he became a mostly absent senator for Mr Berlusconi’s party.

他对左派十分憎恶，故而参政许是避免不了的。他不是右翼极端分子，二战中他勇敢无比，和反法西斯游击队并肩作战；他是梵蒂冈最青睐的宗教活动导演，真正的他同时还是老派的天主教徒，笃信虽然人生来有罪，却终会得到宽恕。他也是西尔维奥·贝卢斯科尼（意大利前总理）的朋友，贝卢斯科尼曾为他在罗马的住所买单。（他没法继续呆在佛罗伦萨了，他认为这座城市愚蠢又粗俗。）因此1994年，他成了贝卢斯科尼执掌党派中缺席次数最多的议员。

The place he represented was Catania in Sicily, where he and Luchino had shot “La Terra Trema” so many years before. He had hoped to help that poor and Mafia-ridden town. But his legacy, of course, was not political. It was in the spreading of beauty that he knew he would find that little breeze of immortality.

他是代表西西里的卡它尼亚参政的。多年前他和卢基诺在那里拍摄了《大地在波动》。他曾想要帮助这个被黑手党蹂躏的贫穷小城。但是他给人们留下的并非政治上的影响，而是他不朽的作品。

注：Catania in Sicily：

https://www.italyguides.it/en/sicily/catania

翻译组：

Alex，不务正业的理工男

Rachel，爱吃火锅的处女座翻译生

Rachel Zhang，学理工科，爱跳芭蕾，热爱文艺的非典型翻译

  校核组：

Vicky，少儿英语老师，笔译新人

Liv，上海打怪奋斗小青年，英专本科生