《星球大戰 原力覺醒》攪局奧斯卡

We’re in the home stretch before the holidays, that welcome respite before the awards machine cranks back into frenetic gear in the new year, and, as you’ve probably heard, a potential spoiler might have inserted itself late in the race. Spoiler isn’t the right term, given that it was impossible not to be aware of the 8,000-pound gorilla that is “Stars Wars: The Force Awakens.”

年末的長假馬上就要到了，在新年的頒獎機器瘋狂轉動之前，我們很歡迎這個喘息的機會。你可能已經聽說了，有一部影片可能已在比賽的最後階段進來攪局。說攪局也許有點不準確，因爲《星球大戰：原力覺醒》(Stars Wars: The Force Awakens)中8000磅（約合7257斤）重的大猩猩不可能不引起人們的注意。

How will this sequel (the Bagger would argue “requel”) factor into Oscar play? It certainly seems a solid contender for below-the-line work, but when it comes to best picture, the signs are pointing all over the place.

這部續集將如何對奧斯卡角逐產生影響呢？就線下製作(below-the-line，指佈景、道具等部分——譯註)而言，它無疑是一個強有力的競爭者，但是對最佳影片來說，存在各種相互矛盾的跡象。

While there have been a few awards-minded front-runners for best picture — “Spotlight” and “Carol” — the seeming outliers “Mad Max: Fury Road” and “The Martian,” which in other years would have been dismissed as too genre-y, have found themselves in contention, and collecting awards and nominations. Yet sequels don’t generally win major Oscars, until they do, as “The Godfather Part II” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” showed.

雖然已有幾部有意角逐奧斯卡最佳影片的領跑者，比如《聚焦》(Spotlight)和《卡羅爾》(Carol)，但是一些看似與獲獎無緣的影片（在往年，它們會被認爲是太過明顯的類型片而遭到摒棄）也在參與爭奪，收穫獎項和提名，比如《瘋狂的麥克斯4：狂暴之路》(Mad Max: Fury Road)和《火星救援》(The Martian)。不過，續集通常很難贏得奧斯卡大獎，當然也有例外，比如《教父2》(The Godfather Part II)和《指環王3：王者無敵》(The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King)。

In the case of “The Force Awakens,” a best-picture nomination would be a victory, though sequels don’t often get even that much. (A recent exception beyond “Lord of the Rings” was “Toy Story 3.”) Yet the American Film Institute did name “The Force Awakens” one of the 10 best films of 2015. That said, the institute did the same with “Unbroken” last year, a film that landed no top Oscar noms.

對《星球大戰：原力覺醒》來說，能獲得奧斯卡最佳影片提名就將是一個勝利，雖然續集往往連提名都得不到（最近的例外除了《指環王3：王者無敵》還有《玩具總動員3》[Toy Story 3]）。不過，美國電影學院(American Film Institute)確實將《星球大戰：原力覺醒》列爲2015年十佳影片之一。但是，去年《堅不可摧》(Unbroken)也進了前十，最後卻沒有獲得任何一項奧斯卡大獎提名。

But as the Bagger’s astute pal Kyle Buchanan over at Vulture noted, the Screen Actors Guild Awards — one of the more reliable bellwethers — didn’t give much love to the populist blockbusters this year. There were no SAG nominations for the cast of “The Martian” and only a stunt ensemble nod for “Mad Max.” They also ignored the blockbuster Rocky sequel “Creed.” But that guild clearly isn’t wholly averse to box office darlings: the cast from “Straight Outta Compton” — an apparent awards outlier if ever there was one — did garner an SAG nomination.

不過，正如我們專欄敏銳的夥伴凱爾·布坎南(Kyle Buchanan)在Vulture網站上指出的那樣，更可信賴的風向標之一美國演員工會獎(Screen Actors Guild Awards)並沒不厚愛今年的熱門大片。他們沒有給予《火星救援》任何一項表演獎項提名，只給了《瘋狂的麥克斯4：狂暴之路》最佳特技團體獎提名。他們也不理睬熱門大片《洛基》(Rocky)續集《奎迪》(Creed)。不過，美國演員工會獎顯然並不是反感所有的票房寵兒：它們給予《衝出康普頓》(Straight Outta Compton)表演獎項提名，雖然該劇顯然不是獲獎熱門。

In the end, what might hamper “The Force Awakens” with the Academy is the fact that it doesn’t break much new cinematic or narrative ground. For sure, it compensates for the sins of the prequels, but that doesn’t mean it feels fresh. The original “Star Wars” did get a best picture nomination — among other Academy nominationss — but it lost to “Annie Hall.” The latest “Star Wars” does faithfully return us to that galaxy far, far away — but we’ve been there before.

說到底，阻礙《星球大戰：原力覺醒》獲得奧斯卡獎的原因可能是它在電影拍攝和敘事方面沒有創新。當然，它彌補了前傳的問題，但這並不意味着它具有新鮮感。原版《星球大戰》的確獲得了奧斯卡最佳影片獎提名（也獲得了其他獎項的提名），但它輸給了《安妮·霍爾》(Annie Hall)。最新一部《星球大戰》的確忠誠地把我們帶回了那個遙遠的星系，但是我們以前就去過了。