The new film from the director of Up and Inside Out has the aesthetics of a whimsical adventure, but its themes are very raw.

這部新影片由《頭腦特工隊(duì)》和《飛屋環(huán)游記》導(dǎo)演執(zhí)導(dǎo)，彰顯著離奇冒險(xiǎn)的美學(xué)價(jià)值，但主題卻十分質(zhì)樸，契合心靈。

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If Disney’s animated-movie formula relies on tales of heroes and princesses, of villains destroyed and personal freedom achieved, then Pixar’s formula is far more mundane. For decades, the computer-animation studio has made movies that portray transcendent feelings and experiences as the products of ordinary jobs, performed diligently by strange little beings behind the scenes. Monsters, Inc., in 2001, revealed that our fears were created by cuddly, blue-collar creatures. Inside Out, in 2015, personified our emotions as brightly colored sprites pressing buttons and pulling levers. Now, Soul imagines how our personalities are created at a cartoony summer camp, where smiley blobs and squiggles convene to generate human souls.

如果說(shuō)迪士尼的動(dòng)畫(huà)電影模式是建立在英雄和公主，壞人受到懲罰，個(gè)人自由得以實(shí)現(xiàn)，那么皮克斯則更加接地氣。幾十年來(lái)，這個(gè)計(jì)算機(jī)動(dòng)畫(huà)工作室致力于從平凡庸常的工作中描繪出超脫的感受和體驗(yàn)，由一些奇特的形象表現(xiàn)出來(lái)。2001年上映的《怪物公司》告訴我們恐懼是由一些胖乎乎的藍(lán)領(lǐng)怪物創(chuàng)造出來(lái)。2015年上映的《頭腦特工隊(duì)》把我們的情緒擬人化為色彩鮮亮的精靈，他們按按按鈕，拉拉操作桿，調(diào)控我們的情緒。如今，《心靈奇旅》想象我們的性格是在一個(gè)卡通的夏令營(yíng)產(chǎn)生的，那里有歡樂(lè)的小球和線條聚集在一起，形成人類(lèi)靈魂。

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All three of these movies were directed by Pete Docter, the man who is also behind Up. One of Pixar’s foremost auteurs, the filmmaker is enamored of using animation to conjure worlds rooted in abstract metaphor. Soul, which debuts today on Disney+, is his most conceptual film yet, largely set in a realm known as “the Great Before,” a cloudy land where human personalities are created and zapped into our bodies upon birth. The ambition of Docter’s world building is laudable. And the smaller, human narrative he tries to tell within that universe—about a jazz pianist who finds himself stuck in the Great Before after a near-death experience—is sweet and charming.

這三部電影都是由皮特·道格特執(zhí)導(dǎo)，我們熟知的《飛屋環(huán)游記》同樣是他的作品。作為皮克斯最杰出的電影導(dǎo)演之一，道格特喜歡用動(dòng)畫(huà)來(lái)構(gòu)建一個(gè)基于抽象隱喻的世界?！缎撵`奇旅》于12月25日在Disney+首映，是他目前最具有概念性的電影，主要是以一個(gè)“生之來(lái)處”的世界為背景，這里云霧繚繞，人類(lèi)的性格在此創(chuàng)造出來(lái)，出生時(shí)便伴隨我們。道格特構(gòu)造世界的野心是值得稱(chēng)道的。他試圖在這個(gè)宇宙里講述的人類(lèi)故事——一位在瀕死前發(fā)現(xiàn)自己被困在“生之來(lái)處”的爵士鋼琴演奏家——是充滿(mǎn)溫情和吸引力的。

Docter has wrestled with “grown-up” themes before and managed to cram them into an easy-to-understand story arc. Up began with the emotional hammer blow of an aging character losing his wife before he embarked on a new adventure. Soul sets an even tougher challenge for itself by apparently killing its lead character within minutes. But Docter finds clever ways to travel between the heavens and Earth, using the odd, nonphysical world Joe finds himself in to teach valuable lessons about finding joy in life even as it disappoints us.

道格特之前就探討過(guò)“成長(zhǎng)”的主題，并且成功的把它濃縮在容易理解的故事弧中?！讹w屋環(huán)游記》上來(lái)就是情感沖擊，一位古稀老人失去了自己的妻子，開(kāi)始了新的冒險(xiǎn)?！讹w屋環(huán)游記》設(shè)定了一個(gè)更加艱難的挑戰(zhàn)，上來(lái)沒(méi)幾分鐘就殺死了主角。但是道格特想到了一個(gè)聰明辦法，在地球和天堂之間穿梭，喬（主角）在一個(gè)奇特的靈魂世界學(xué)會(huì)了寶貴的一課，那就是即便生活讓我們失望，也要學(xué)會(huì)找尋生命中的快樂(lè)。

We are all born with dreams, Docter seems to be saying, bubbling with ideas and personalities that are created even before we come into the world, but Joe’s story proves that there is more to life than that. Essentially, Docter has made a Pixar film for kids that tries to run at the nature-versus-nurture question and ends up splitting the difference. Compared to Pixar’s recent spate of sequels to past hits, Soul is a loftier project—a messy but expansive story worthy of its director’s grand ambitions.

道格特似乎在說(shuō)，我們生來(lái)就有夢(mèng)想，在我們來(lái)到這個(gè)世界之前就充滿(mǎn)了想法和性格，但是喬的故事告訴了我們，生活不只是這些。從本質(zhì)上說(shuō)，道格特讓皮克斯的兒童電影試圖探索先天與后天這一心理學(xué)上的問(wèn)題，最后達(dá)到折中的妥協(xié)。相對(duì)于皮克斯最近大火片的續(xù)集影片來(lái)說(shuō)，《心靈奇旅》的主題更加崇高，故事雖然亂糟糟的，但意境宏大，對(duì)得起制片人抱有的雄心壯志。

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  1. whimsical adj.異想天開(kāi)的

unusual or strange and often amusing

e.g. He has a wonderful whimsical sense of humor.

他有一種古怪又好笑的幽默感

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  1. auteur n.電影導(dǎo)演

a film director who influences their films so much that they rank as their author.

e.g. How did it go with your friend the auteur?

跟你那位大導(dǎo)演朋友談得怎么樣？

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  1. spate n. 一大串

a large number of similar things or events appearing or occurring in quick succession

e.g. Police say the shooting follows a spate of other recent attacks against gay man in New York.

警方表示，這起槍擊案發(fā)生前，紐約發(fā)生了一連串針對(duì)同性戀的襲擊案。