超越傳統科幻片的《星際穿越》

After he plumbed the direst depths of Gotham City in his “Dark Knight” trilogy and traversed multiple levels of consciousness in “Inception,” it seems the only place the filmmaker Christopher Nolan could go next was outer space. In his latest feature, “Interstellar,” an intrepid shuttle team slips the surly bonds of earth to search for wormholes, black holes and planets beyond our galaxy; at the same time, the film is closely concerned with the pale blue dot the crew came from, which is rapidly becoming inhospitable to human life.

在《黑暗騎士》(Dark Knight)三部曲中探索過哥譚市最險惡的深淵，又在《盜夢空間》(Inception)中跨越意識的多重層次之後，導演克里斯托弗·諾蘭(Christopher Nolan)接下來能去的地方似乎只有外層空間了。他的最新影片《星際穿越》(Interstellar)講的是一支勇敢的太空隊脫離了地球束縛，去尋找蟲洞、黑洞以及我們的星系之外的行星，與此同時，影片也密切關注着這羣人的家鄉，那個宇宙中淡藍色的小點，它正在迅速變得不適宜人類居住。

The starry cast features the newly minted Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey (“Dallas Buyers Club,” “True Detective”) as Cooper, a farmer and pilot tasked with ensuring humanity’s future; Anne Hathaway (an Oscar winner for “Les Misérables” and a co-star of Mr. Nolan’s “The Dark Knight Rises”) as Brand, a fellow explorer; and Jessica Chastain (an Oscar nominee for “Zero Dark Thirty” and “The Help”) as Murph, Cooper’s earthbound astrophysicist daughter. Audiences can see exactly how these celestial bodies align when Paramount Pictures opens “Interstellar” (which cost a reported $160 million) in Imax and other film formats on Nov. 5, and in wider release on Nov. 7.

演員陣容羣星薈萃，最新獲得奧斯卡獎，在《達拉斯買傢俱樂部》(Dallas Buyers Club)和《真探》(True Detective)中出演主角的馬修·麥康納(Matthew McConaughey)飾演庫珀(Cooper)，這個農夫兼飛行員的身上擔負着人類的未來；憑《悲慘世界》(Les Misérables)贏得奧斯卡獎，並在諾蘭的《黑暗騎士崛起》(The Dark Knight Rises)中飾演角色的安妮·海瑟薇(Anne Hathaway)飾演團隊中的探險者布蘭德(Brand)；因《獵殺本·拉登》(Zero Dark Thirty)和《相助》(The Help)獲得奧斯卡提名的傑西卡·查斯坦（Jessica Chastain）飾演墨菲(Murph)，庫珀的女兒，這是一位講求實際的天體物理學家。據報道，影片耗資1.6億美元，由派拉蒙電影公司以Imax和其他格式推出，11月5日首映，11月7日大規模上映，觀衆們可以在片頭看到這些明星們排成一隊。

Ms. Chastain, Ms. Hathaway and Mr. McConaughey gathered recently to discuss the pathways that led them to “Interstellar” and the universes to which it introduced them. Together, they carried themselves less like a crew of seasoned, seen-it-all veterans than three guileless novices still acclimating to their mission and to one another. They kidded around, swapped notes on Mr. Nolan and their interpretations of the film, and apologized profusely for their lack of Ph.D.s.

查斯坦、海瑟薇和麥康納最近聚在一起討論了他們加盟《星際穿越》的經歷，以及這部影片向他們所展示的宇宙。他們在一起，似乎不像是一羣見多識廣、成熟老練的資深影星，更像是三個誠實的新手，仍然要適應自己的的任務，也要適應彼此。他們開着玩笑，交換對諾蘭的意見和對電影的解讀，爲自己沒有哲學博士學位而誠懇道歉。

These are excerpts from that conversation.

下面的對話經過節選。

Q. Did any of you grow up dreaming of someday becoming an astronaut?

問：你們小時候曾經夢想過有朝一日成爲宇航員嗎？

MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY I did not. I was very much, what’s happening on the ground was going to be enough. Until I made “Contact” [the 1997 movie about the search for extraterrestrial life]. That made me actually wonder: “O.K., it’s not just what’s happening here, east, west, in front of us. You can look up. What’s the new frontier to the north?”

馬修·麥康納：沒有。地面上發生的事就已經足夠了。我拍《超時空接觸》（Contact，1997年的影片，講述尋找外星生命的故事）的時候就想：“好吧，這不是在東方，在西方，在我們面前發生的事。你可以擡頭看，北方的新邊疆在哪兒？”

JESSICA CHASTAIN I loved Princess Leia as a kid. I loved that she was so badass and took control. But I have no interest in being one of those people on the spaceships they’re advertising that go to the moon. No thank you. I’ll be one of those people that stays on Earth, eating corn.

傑西卡·查斯坦：我小時候喜歡蕾婭公主(Princess Leia)。我喜歡她的無法無天、對大局的掌控。但我沒想過成爲廣告裏能登上月球的宇宙飛船上的一員。不，謝謝，我喜歡留在地球上吃玉米花。

ANNE HATHAWAY When I was in fifth grade, my older brother asked me how I was doing in school, and I said I did just get a 52 on a math test. Later, I said I wanted to be an astronaut, and he said, ‘Well, you’re going to have to raise your math scores if you want to do that.’ Later in life, I discovered I do love science, and I do love physics. But I was really happy that in this film, I could still be bad at math and be an astronaut.

安妮·海瑟薇：我上五年級的時候，哥哥問我在學校裏做什麼，我說我數學測驗只得了52分。後來我又說我想當宇航員，他說：“這個，那你可得提高數學成績才行。”後來，我發現我確實喜歡科學，我也喜歡物理。但我很高興，在這部影片裏，我雖然學不好數學，但是也能當宇航員。

How were each of you approached by Christopher Nolan for this film?

問：你們是怎麼被克里斯托弗·諾蘭找來拍這部片子的？

CHASTAIN I was in Northern Ireland, shooting a Strindberg adaptation [Liv Ullmann’s “Miss Julie”]. It was cold and rainy and miserable, and I got a call that Chris was interested in me. They flew someone from L.A. to Dublin, who then drove to Enniskillen and handed me a script. Bright red, headache-inducing pages.

查斯坦：我當時在北愛爾蘭，拍根據斯特林堡(Strindberg)的原著改編的電影（麗芙·烏曼[Liv Ullmann]導演的《朱莉小姐》[Miss Julie]）。那天很冷，下着雨，氣氛慘淡，我接到克里斯的電話，讓我很感興趣。他們派人坐飛機從洛杉磯來到都柏林，然後開車到恩尼斯基倫來給我送劇本。紙頁是鮮紅色的，讓人頭疼。

HATHAWAY I went into the Nolans’ library and read it. Kind of knew what I had just read, but wasn’t entirely sure. Chris had invited me over for a three-hour reading block, so I just went back to the beginning and read it again.

海瑟薇：我到諾蘭兄弟的圖書室去看了劇本。我覺得能看懂自己讀到的東西，但是不完全確定。克里斯邀請我來參加三個小時的劇本朗讀會，所以我又回到開頭讀了一遍。

McCONAUGHEY You read it twice in three hours? It took me five and a half hours. [Laughter.] I was in New Orleans working on “True Detective,” and my agent said, “Christopher Nolan’s got a new project coming out, and he’s thinking of you — and some other people.” I went to Chris’s house, sat down for about three hours. Basically talked about being fathers, talked about our kids. We laughed a lot and said goodbye. I remember walking back to the car going: “I know what that was. But what was that?” It was not specific at all.

麥康納：你在三個小時裏讀了兩遍？我花了五個半小時（笑）。我當時在新奧爾良拍《真探》，我的經紀人說，“克里斯托弗·諾蘭有個新項目，他想到了你——還有其他人。”我去了諾蘭的家，在那兒呆了大概三個鐘頭，主要是聊當爸爸的事情，聊我們的孩子。我們大笑，告別。我記得走進車子的時候說：“我知道這個是什麼，但那個又是什麼？”根本沒有什麼特別的。

What ultimately won you over?

問：最後是什麼讓你們下了決心呢？

McCONAUGHEY It had the things that I had loved about Chris’s earlier films. That epic scope and size, which I think you get from him better than any director I know of. But also, this one seemed more intimate. It was a very human and a very simple question of a parent and a child, a father and a daughter. The most extreme circumstance of, “What would you do if ...?”

麥康納：主要是因爲我喜歡克里斯早期的電影。那種史詩般的空間和廣度，我覺得他比我知道的任何導演做得都好。但也是因爲這部片子看上去更個人化。它是一個關於父母與孩子、關於父親與女兒的問題，非常人性化，非常簡單。是那種“如果換了你會怎樣……”的極端環境。

As a director, Mr. Nolan has to contend with costly set designs and elaborate special effects. How does he work with his actors?

問：作爲導演，諾蘭得應付昂貴的場景設計和複雜的特效。他和演員又是怎麼合作的呢？

CHASTAIN He allows room for everyone’s process. In the scenes I did with Casey Affleck, Casey likes to improvise, and Chris was completely open to that. When I’d be working with Michael Caine, you went right by the lines. But you feel like Chris is the captain of the film. He knows what his movie is, and he’s going to help everyone find their own way there.

查斯坦：他爲每個人的發展留出空間。在一場我和卡西·阿弗萊克(Casey Affleck)拍的戲裏，卡西想即興發揮，克里斯對此保持完全開放的心態。我和邁克爾·凱恩(Michael Caine)合作的時候，就得完全按部就班。但你能感覺到克里斯是這部影片的領袖。他知道自己的電影是什麼樣，他會幫助每個人在片中找到自己的方式。

HATHAWAY On my camera test for [“The Dark Knight Rises”], I was wearing the [Catwoman] suit for the first time, in front of everybody, and hadn’t quite gotten into the shape that I wanted, and just had a million things going on in my head, none of them terribly helpful. Chris came up to me and goes, “I just wanted to ask you, what’s your process like?” I had come off a few years of not unpleasant but not totally satisfying film experiences, and I’d forgotten that you’re allowed to have a process. I just said: “You know, I’m not totally in touch with it. Can I get back to you?” I knew I was safe.

海瑟薇：（給《黑暗騎士崛起》）試鏡的時候，我第一次當着大家穿那身（貓女的）戲服，它不像我想的那麼合適，我腦子裏頓時涌起了一百萬個念頭，沒有一個是有幫助的。克里斯走到我身邊說，“我想問你，你的流程是什麼樣的？”好幾年以來，我拍片的經歷雖然並不算是不愉快，但也不是完全滿意，我都忘了你還可以有流程。我說：“你知道，我穿着不太合適，能還給你嗎？”我知道自己安全了。

McCONAUGHEY My favorite times with Chris would be when we’d move to a new set — we’re going into a wormhole, now we’ve got a black hole — to sit down and go over the rules of this world. What’s gravity now? What’s time? It’s 23 years per hour? Thirty percent more gravity? And sometimes he’d say: “I don’t know about that. I’ve got to give myself some time to get bored, and that’s when I’ll figure these things out.”

麥康納：我和諾蘭合作最開心的時刻之一，就是我們進入到一個新場景——我們已經進入一個黑洞，又要進入一個蟲洞——坐下來討論這個世界的規則。重力怎麼樣？時間呢？一小時相當於23年？重力增加30%？有時候他會說：“我不懂這個，我要花時間讓自己煩一下，把這些東西想出來。”

Jessica, the space your character inhabits is, let’s say, discrete from Anne’s and Matthew’s. Did you get to interact with them on set?

問：傑西卡，這麼說吧，你的角色所居住的空間是和安妮的空間與馬修的空間分離的。那你在片場和他們互動嗎？

CHASTAIN The week when we were prepping for the film, I was tagging next to Anne. I’m a little awkward sometimes.

查斯坦：我們爲影片做準備的那個星期，我被安排在安妮旁邊。有時候我有點笨手笨腳。

HATHAWAY You were not! You were charming as can be. You taught us all how to make a poached egg.

海瑟薇：纔不呢！你很迷人。你教我們怎麼做水煮蛋。

CHASTAIN I’d just finished cooking school. And that’s not nerdy? Come on.

查斯坦：我剛上完烹飪學校。這難道不呆子氣嗎？得了。

HATHAWAY I went home and tried it. I couldn’t make the whirlpool roll enough.

海瑟薇：我回家試了。我沒法讓蛋液充分轉起來。

What did you gain from working with the theoretical physicist Kip Thorne, who was an executive producer on this movie?

問：理論物理學家基普·索恩(Kip Thorne)是這部片子的執行製片人，和他一起工作你們學到了什麼？

McCONAUGHEY How great was it to see he had a sense of humor? He was just kind and dear. Nothing mathematical or stereotypically scientist about him.

麥康納：他有幽默感，真是太棒了。他善良又可親，一點也不像人們心目中那種數學家或者科學家的刻板印象。

HATHAWAY I was afraid he was going to make me feel dumb. But he doesn’t do that. His approach to it is always, “And....”

海瑟薇：我擔心他會讓我覺得沉悶。但他一點也不。他總是說：“還有……”

McCONAUGHEY That’s what I found about astrophysics. Everything you ask him, he goes, “Well, it’s not this or this. It’s both.” I was like, “Well, where’s the end?” He’s like: “That’s the point. There is no end. No answer you have in astrophysics should ever not lead to another question.” I was like, “You’ve got great job security.”

麥康納：我發現天體物理學就是這樣的。我問他的每件事，他總是說：“這個，不是這樣或者那樣，而是兩者兼有。”我說：“那麼，最後結果呢？”他說：“這就對了，沒有結果。在天體物理學裏，所有答案都會引出下一個問題。”我說：“那你肯定不會失業的。”

“Interstellar” imagines a not-far-off future where science and engineering are not highly valued, and humanity has lost its pioneering spirit. Do those ideas have relevance outside the film?

問：《星際穿越》想象一個不久的將來，科學技術不再受到高度評價，人類失去了探索精神。這些看法和電影之外的現實有關聯嗎？

McCONAUGHEY Those parts of the film are very relevant today. If you’re looking at NASA, literally. This film challenges mankind, but at the same time has faith in it. It says: “Yes, there’s something outside there. Call it extraterrestrial, call it God, call it the Prime Mover, whatever.” But it loops right back and says: “Guess who’s responsible for getting there, if we’re going to get there? You.”

麥康納：影片的這些部分和如今有着密切的關係。這麼說，如果你關注NASA的話。這部影片對人類做出了挑戰，但也對人類懷有信念。它說：“是的，外面有些什麼東西，不管叫它外星人還是上帝還是原動力。”但它轉了一個圈，又回來說：“你猜如果我們能到那裏去，責任應該由誰來承擔？是你。”

CHASTAIN We’ve already done terrible things to the planet, and there’s no backtracking. Of course, I think space exploration is important, but I also wish that we would stop sticking our heads in the sand about what we’re doing to this planet. As great as those other planets were that you guys looked at, I really like this one. I’m more interested in doing what I can to make sure we can stay.

查斯坦：我們對這個星球做了可怕的事情，這是不可逆的。當然，我覺得星際探險很重要，但我也希望我們不要再忽視我們對這個星球所做的事情。它和你們注視的那些星球一樣偉大，我真的很喜歡它。我更關心自己能夠做些什麼，好讓我們能繼續留在這裏。

Did the experience of “Interstellar” make you think about what it means to be a parent or a child?

問：拍《星際穿越》的時候讓你們想到了做父母或者做子女時的什麼經歷嗎？

McCONAUGHEY My largest reason, instinctually, for why I wanted to do this was for my son Levi. He got really into spaceships. “There’s the moon. We’ve been on the moon.” He’s like, “How?” Going back and having to explain things, even the basics of the solar system, kindled up a new imagination for me.

麥康納：從本能出發，我拍這部片子最大的原因就是爲了兒子利維(Levi)。他真的很迷戀太空船。“那是月亮，我們登過月。”他說：“怎麼登的？”回頭去解釋這些東西，甚至還有太陽系的基礎知識，這爲我點燃了新的想象。

CHASTAIN Chris is surrounded by his family. It really opened up my character in an unexpected way, when I saw Chris’s daughter on set. I had my own personal issues with father-daughter relationships that I could easily draw towards, but the production — the [code] name of it was “Flora’s Letter.” And when I was on set and I asked this sweet little girl, who was kind of shy, what her name was, she said, “Flora.” I realized, it was a letter to his daughter.

查斯坦：克里斯被他的家庭圍繞着。我在片場見到了克里斯的女兒，這真的以意想不到的方式啓發了我的角色。在父女關係這方面，我有我自己感興趣的個人問題。但是這部片子，它的別名又叫《弗洛拉的信》(Flora’s Letter)。我在片場問這個有點害羞的可愛小女孩，她叫什麼名字，她說：“弗洛拉”。我明白了，這是他寫給女兒的信。

Does it feel like science fiction is, for a moment, moving away from alien invasions, toward humanistic stories of exploration and technology?

問：是不是科幻電影片刻之間變得不再是關於外星人入侵，而是變成了人類探索與科技的故事?

McCONAUGHEY Chris sort of trumped the stereotypical science-fiction film. It’s usually about doom, the end: If they come get us, we are gone. Chris has his wonderful, witty British cynicism, but he’s an absolute optimist. He’s challenging mankind. He’s saying the unknown — the ghost out there — whatever they are, they’re good, and maybe we can use them to get to the next place. He’s taking it a step further, in a life-affirming way.

麥康納：克里斯超出了那種刻板印象的科幻電影。那種電影通常是關於宿命的，結尾是：如果他們來打我們，我們就完蛋了。克里斯有他精彩、聰明的英國式憤世嫉俗，但他是個徹頭徹尾的樂觀主義者。他在挑戰人類。他說，未知——就是世界之外的幽靈——不管它們是什麼，它們是好的，我們或許能夠利用它們進入下一個階段。他用肯定生命的方式更進一步。

Could any of you now operate a telescope if called upon to do so?

問：如果有必要的話，你們會操作太空望遠鏡了嗎？

CHASTAIN They gave us telescopes. Did you get one?

查斯坦：他們給了我們太空望遠鏡，你們有嗎？

HATHAWAY I did. I can’t make it work.

海瑟薇：我有。我還不會用。

CHASTAIN I can’t make it work either. It’s sitting on my windowsill. Someday, I’ve got to get this thing going. It just looks like a pervy New York telescope.

查斯坦：我也不會用。它就放在我的窗臺上。有一天我會用上它的。它就像一個有點變態的紐約望遠鏡。