The film is adapted from the masterpiece of the same name by the Nobel Prize-winning Danish writer Henrik Pontoppidan. The original work, which was created between 1898 and 1904, has a strong autobiographical tone, and the author created the character Piel almost based on his own experience in the first half of his life. The novel was translated into Chinese in the 1990s, but the first English translation was not available until 2010.
For such a representative work of a well-known Western writer, it seems incredible. What is the reason? An article published in the "China Reading News" when the film was first released last year gave such an answer, http://culture.gmw.cn/2018-09/11/content_31102745.htm
"In the eyes of critics, it has anti-Semitic ideology and is suspected of racism. In 1990, roughly the same time as the earliest Chinese translation, American translator Steve Murray applied for a translation allowance to translate "Lucky Pell" , but gave up after only 60 pages of translation. In 2001, he wrote to Fleming Berente, the Pontopidan scholar and founder of the website henrikpontoppidan.dk, that Poontoppidan was anti-Semitic. Prejudice is a big problem, especially in America, where New York Jews control the publishing industry. “I hate having to censor Pontopidin, but I do think his depiction of Jewish characters will invite resistance. ” he said. Irish translator Paul Larkin also translated the book himself, but no publishers were willing to publish his translation. The “Lucky Pell” we read now is basically clean, later editions Some references to Jews have been modified and deleted. For example, Shi Yu's translation, p. 49: "Salomon is now clearly focusing on Biel, and this attention deeply disturbs Biel. Salomon's flattery made him intolerable," and Zhou Zhen's translation, p. 46: "Now he's pinning his hopes on Bill, who feels uncomfortable with his attention. In his heart, Piel was disgusted by his humility towards people." There was originally a sentence here: "He doesn't like Jews, at least he doesn't like rich Jews," (HankundeikkelideJ der, allermindstrigeJ der), which was later cleared up. Disrespect to aliens, even in the clean version, is read between the lines.…”
According to Wikipedia, Henrik Pontoppidan was an out-and-out white man when he was young. He cared about social progress, sympathized with the proletariat, and was obsessed with benefiting society through science and technology, transforming Denmark from a poor and backward agricultural country into a modern industrial power. This is shown more in the film. But even so, he still can't get rid of the limitations of his time. Today, the strong anti-Semitism in his works is the biggest flaw that cannot be avoided. The novel was created more than 100 years ago, when social values were very different from today, anti-Semitism and Christian fundamentalism were full of them, and the pursuit of wealth and fame was regarded as a sin. This is the meal made by the father, a priest, at the beginning of the film. It was very clear in the previous prayer. The rebellious young Pierre was actually portrayed as a negative image with cautionary significance. He betrayed his family and betrayed the teachings. His marriage with a wealthy Jewish family and his prosperity were destined to be a mirror image, a dream of Nanke, and he betrayed the guilt and pursuit of his own origin. The joy of personal success has made him entangled for a lifetime, and finally he has reached a reconciliation with God, and the prodigal son has returned to his side. Today's audience, if they don't know a little about the film's era and social background, it is difficult to understand why Piel made such a choice. The original author, Henrik Pontoppidan, has also been criticized by later generations as a mixture of multiple contradictions: he is a liberal, but also a fanatical patriot, puritan, reality critic, socialist and so on. In view of the ambiguous and ambiguous positions he showed in his works in different periods, liberals, radicals, conservatives, rightists, etc. can all find their own projections and interpretations in his works.
The original book "Lucky Pile" has 8 volumes, and it has more than 800 pages after being translated into Chinese (with many deletions). Compressing so much content into a movie of less than 3 hours can best reflect the director's skill. Although I haven't read the original book, I think the adaptation of the film should be considered a success. The choice is appropriate. In a limited time, it not only allows us to appreciate the broad background of the Nordic society in the pre-industrial age, but also has a subtle understanding of the fate of the tiny characters. The perfect performance, the wonderful performance of the male lead has created a tragic character that makes the audience feel entangled and sympathetic, and won the best film at the 2019 Beijing International Film Festival, well-deserved. (blog.sina.com.cn/gogoboyz , weibo.com/gogoboyz)
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