外国人能看懂这部电影吗？

今天我们就跟随《卫报》影评家Cath Clarke的脚步，一同回味下这部电影：

The domestic release of this thunderous Chinese war epic was delayed last year for what trade magazine Variety described as “mysterious political reasons”. It is thought the film portrayed Kuomintang army officers during the 1937 Sino-Japanese war in too positive a light. To an outsider, however, The Eight Hundred looks like a paragon of tub-thumping patriotism in its description of heroic Chinese soldiers defending the Sihang warehouse in the battle for Shanghai. Like Dunkirk for Brits, the incident is seen here as an honourable defeat, a moment to galvanise national pride.

去年，这部轰轰烈烈的中国战争史诗电影被推迟在国内上映，专业性杂志《视相》（Variety）将其形容为“神秘的政治原因”。有人认为，这部电影对1937年中日战争期间国民党军官的刻画过于正面。然而，在外人看来，《八佰》讲述了在淞沪会战中，英勇的中国士兵坚守四行仓库的故事，这看起来像是一个慷慨激昂的爱国主义典范。就像英国人眼中的《敦刻尔克》一样，这一事件被视为光荣的失败，是激发民族自豪感的时刻。

Director Guan Hu plunges straight into nightmarish battlefield chaos with breathtaking scenes of Shanghai bombed to ashes and burning rubble. The Chinese army is defeated, outnumbered and outgunned. The city has fallen but a single regiment is ordered stay behind to defend the warehouse – a symbolic last stand (western newspapers called it “the Chinese Alamo”). It would be miracle if these troops could hold out for a single day against the Japanese artillery slamming into the factory walls. And Guan goes hammer and tongs with the special effects, delivering stupendously, joint-rattlingly-loud battle scenes and combat sequences edited to the lightning pace of a superhero movie.

导演管虎直接就开始展现了噩梦般的战场混乱，加入了上海被炸成灰烬和燃烧的废墟这些惊险场面。中国军队被打败了，人数上和武器上都处于劣势。上海已经沦陷，但有一个团奉命留下来保卫这个仓库——这是具有象征意义的最后抗争（西方报纸称之为“中国的阿拉莫”）。如果这些部队能在日本大炮轰击工厂墙壁的情况下坚持一天，那将是一个奇迹。而且管虎在特效方面全力以赴，以超级英雄电影中闪电般的节奏呈现出震撼人心、响动刺耳的战争场面和战斗场景。

Across the river from the warehouse is Shanghai’s neutral zone – populated by a chic cosmopolitan mix of Chinese and foreigners, who initially watch the spectacle across the water while sipping cocktails as if it was free street theatre. As the four-day struggle for survival nears its end, the bravery of Chinese soldiers becomes suicidal, as they strap on grenades and leap out of windows on to the Japanese troops below. But with so much intense focus lavished on the action, there’s none to spare for the characters’ emotional lives, and it’s hard to care much about who lives or dies. As for the musical score, it ought to be cautioned by the police for sonic assault and battery.

仓库的河对面是上海的中立区——那里住着一群时髦的中国人和外国人，他们最初一边喝着鸡尾酒一边看着河对岸的壮观景象，仿佛这是一场免费的街头戏剧。随着为期四天的求生之战接近尾声，中国士兵的英勇变成了自杀，他们系上手榴弹，跳出窗户，扑向下面的日军。但是由于这部电影对动作场面投入了太多的关注，并没有多余的空间来描述剧中人物的情感生活，也很难去关心谁的生死。至于配乐，它应该因攻击和炮火的音效受到警方的警告。