1946年一个雨夜,小说家莫里斯·本德里克斯(拉尔夫·费恩斯Ralph Fiennes 饰)邂逅身为外交官的故友亨利·梅尔斯(斯蒂芬·瑞 Stephen Rea 饰)。从亨利口中,莫里斯得知对方的妻子莎拉(朱丽安·摩尔 Julianne Moore 饰)似乎正有一段外遇 ,这令他妒火中烧。原来,两年前莫里斯曾和莎拉暗通款曲,两人经常背着亨利共享鱼水之欢。但在一次大轰炸过后,莎拉却从床底上绝然离去。始终耿耿于怀的莫里斯接受了亨利的请求,帮助好友调查莎拉的行踪,然而结果却令他唏嘘不已,感慨良多……
仅仅是电影“The end of affair”的名字就足以引发我要观看的兴趣,BT下来的是1955年Edward Dmytryk所导版本,沉闷的节奏,让我恹恹欲睡。如果不是1999年版本的电影海报,没准我就不会有兴趣再去找Neil Jordan导演的这个版本来看。也多亏了这张美丽的海报,让我没有错过一部好电影。
其中之一是Bendrix被炸弹重创,醒来,上楼,只是见到Sarah伏地的背影。他不解,疑惑得问她,难道不是下楼探察更实际点吗?她始惊讶,后镇静冷淡,回答:“I’m praying, pray to anything might exist.”手上,泪水的痕迹透露了她突然疏远的面孔下压抑着的悲痛。他哀求她不要离开,她只是一字一顿得说:“Love does not end just because we don’t see each other. People go on loving god, don’t they? All their lives, without seeing him.”他不信神,他愤怒的说:”That’s not my kind of love.”她则哀伤得答之:”Maybe there is no other kind.”一问一答间,他的多疑嫉妒,他的占有,她的爱,他的恨,他的梦想破灭,一一得以呈现。
另外一处是Bendrix在家里听取完侦探汇报,随手将侦探所赠烟灰缸放在桌上,镜头转向一本书,停留时间足够长到看清楚书名是”The vicarious lover”, by Maurice Bendrix。两者并列,意味无穷。“替身情人“:这就是他对自己在她心中地位的认知.
至于影片的独白,颇为精彩,乃至我看的时候忍不住记录下一些来:
I measure my love by the extent of jealousy, and as my jealousy is infinite, my love should be infinity too.
She only makes love to me, but she has shop, cook and fall sleep with you.
Is this coincidence, I wonder, or why life happened, and if this is life, am I stuck with it? Whatever it is, I can’t defy it anymore, it did win, and we lost.
Tell Him I'm sorry. I'm too human. Too weak. Tell Him I can't keep my promises. I'm tired of being without you.
片子的尾部让我记得很牢,Sarah弥留时在病床上对Maurice说着2年前的那天“...I never loved anyone as I loved you. Then when you came through that door with blood on your face...another kind of love came with you. And I caught belief like a disease. I fell into belief like I'd...fallen in love. And I tried to fight it...but I haven't any fight left. Dear Maurice, you can't go on fighting. It's only love, after all.”杀伤力超大的一段阿,悲到无以复加。最后的最后,小侦探脸上的胎记也神奇消失的时候,被Ralph诠释地入木三分的表情有惊异,有无奈,也有气愤,当然这些情绪都不是因为小侦探变好看了,而是因为Maurice在上帝面前不能不服,一点办法都没有。就像他自己说的I hated You as though You existed. Now I am tired of hating. But You're still there. So Your cunning is infinite, You used my hate to win my acknowledgment.他这辈子唯一的祈祷便是“Dear God, forget about me. Look after her and Henry.”最后最震撼的一句却无声,letter by letter地出现在老式打字机上“But leave me alone forever.”