The Mistress of Spices v.s Like Water for Chocolate濃情戀人香(調情魔師),巧克力情人－印度電影 Movie kya hai ?

僑居Oakland的香料掌門人Tilo(aishwarya Rai飾), Mistress of Spices (調情魔師,2006)

Tilo 的Spice Bazaar , 與Doug初相見

I am not leaving you, my spices. (Tilo的誓言)

來自Mexico 的 "眼耳鼻舌身意" 之饗宴 (巧克力情人,1992)

寶萊塢阿嬤代言人拍完最後一部片Mistress of Spices後"謠傳往生極樂". 眼下Jaya Bachchan, Kiron Kher都還不到祖母輩,若將來那天到了, 有誰能挑起阿嬤專門戶角色?

Mistress of Spices 走味的印度戀曲

打第一個字的當下讓我很困擾, 倒底港譯為 <<調情魔師>>的電影 Mistress of Spices 口碑票房雙"絕"(死絕的絕) 是誰的錯? 於是遲遲無法下筆. 兩年前Bollywood發布Aishwarya Rai將接拍我愛貝克漢,(Bend it like Beckham,另譯有球必in)導演新作時,我迫不及待購入原著小說, 黽勉於字典與文法, 今年春天電影在英美印三國上映, 年中香港隨之上跟進, 瀏覽大標均非善言. 深怕先入為主, 沒看完這部戲時, 我壓根不敢點選閱讀, 但Mistress of spices的惡評完全有理. 這部戲毀了六呎風雲 的男主角Dylan McDermott, 還有Aishwarya Rai. 電影不是一蹴可及的藝業, 亦需天賦, 毫無靈氣, 匠氣不足,請這對導演夫妻(印裔Gurinder Chadha&日裔Paul Mayeda Berges)別再妄用資源,糟蹋演員.

惡言之始,且容我掉個書袋, 解釋 "魔幻寫實" 文流 (詳見 A Handbook to Literature, ,written by William Harmon and C. Hugh Holman)

Magic Realism or Magical Realism

A worldwide 20th-century tendency in the graphic and literatry arts, especially painting and prose ficiton. The frame or surface of the work may be conventionally realistic, but contrasting elements--such as the supernatural, myth, dream, fantasy--invade the realism and change the whole basis of the art. Magical realism in literature enjoyed popularity in many parts of the world just after World War II, with such influential examplars as Jorge Luis Borges and Gabriel Carcia Marquez in South America, Gunter Grass in Gramany, and Italo Galvino and Umberto Eco in Italy. Among those writing in English, quite a few novelists show some affinity with magical realism : John Fowles, John Barth, Thomas Pynchon, Emma Tennant, Don DeLillo, and Salman Rushdie. ( 7th edition, p. 304)

這兩部電影時隔十四年, 均以情感入味,閱歷為調料,分隔東西的兩個國度有著相似的魔幻寫實路線.以前曾有雜誌論及, 南美雨林蒸發旺盛, 熱氣蒸騰, 人們憊懶, 故而先祖拓荒傳秀子孫的故事, 屢屢成為代代人口中的傳奇,離奇中有真實,假亦實來實亦假,無為處還有為. 印度每年雨季來臨前的景致與其難分軒致, 早於Paz <<在印度的微光之中>>, 絲絲入扣抒發兩個國度文明的異同,甚至發掘其間緣巧.<< 巧克力情人>>和<<調情魔師>>某些取材上的異同也就不難理解.可是拍攝的結果,前者揚名國際,後者卻不討喜.絕大的原因不在於演員而在於導演功力問題.

Mistress of Spices 首印於1996年, 援引原著小說, Tilo 出身貧苦, 為免於妝奩,父母忍心放逐, 幼女Tilo能見過去未來,屢遭磨劫,於是漂流至香料島,成為傳人之一, 長成後漂洋過海到達異國(美國), 為本國僑民療傷止痛,在她的香料舖內,除了本國法乳療慰思鄉,承續文化傳統外, 她之不死, 絕情斷念,捨己為人,是身為 Mistress of Spices 最大的使命,也是她魔力的來源,一旦無法克制七情六慾, 法力失效, 害人害己. 任何東方讀者閱讀至此, 應該難以抗拒文本的魔力,一如金庸為夏夢用情至深時寫下<<神雕俠侶>>,使之華人圈每十年就必得傳誦一回人間死生相隨的神話,彷若天下有情人紛紛受盡折磨,至死方休. 來自墨西哥的<<巧克力情人>>,同於上作,也是一對飽受傳統煎熬的情人. 依墨西哥習俗,幼女必須待母天年, 否則不得出嫁,她的心上人娶了長姊, 幼妹和情人二十年來落得姨妹的情份罷了,每當女主角烹調食物時, 心歡則食物膾炙人口,心悲則食客同悲. 二十年的歲月, 長姊往生, 姨妹為姊夫料理家務, 妄念使之眉目有情, 世俗則圉手足同牢.

分明一則簡單故事, 因其有情, 而蹉跎半生, 益發欷歔. << 巧克力情人>>流暢的敘事,使得拉丁美洲的膳食有如美的饗宴,搭配男女主角的眉目,壓抑的情欲,食物的象徵以及暗喻層出不窮,甚至嗆如南美墨西哥的勁辣,奔放難馴, 兩人交頸 ,一瞬的火花, 須臾但豐沛; 轉至<<調情魔師>>, 一切的暗喻,譬喻,色彩,香料, 盡母國印度所能的奼妍,在缺乏強烈的喻依之下, 落居Oakland的Spice Bazaar變成異度空間bizaar; 交淺言深,Tilo動輒交付有魔力的香料, (還真不怕被有心份子當成迷藥), 個個故事每每浮光掠影, Tilo的洞悉人心有若巫術, 空洞得失去味道. 每個人踏入異度空間, 專為尋鬼訪怪般; 香料不曾創造魔力, 反而在暗室抖落一地潮霉味,無怪Tilo的香料長了蛆.

本片最大的敗筆在於"情". 原著劇本跳躍描寫, 屢有不能自圓其說處,例:不能踏出Spice Bazaar, Tilo藥材憑空而來? 既是巫女, 何必深究. 巫女身份的Tilo, 有不能愛也不能不愛的難處, 情所鐘正在我輩, 否則Tilo怎干放棄永生, 踏出Spice Bazaar,干冒世之大不韙.一旦面臨愛情, 即為故事衝突點, 但與Doug的愛情火花,好生薄弱, 港譯"調情魔師", 唐突古怪, 卻錯有錯著, Tilo與Doug的畫面經過導演安排, 一幕幕如調情,而非鐘情. 但見Tilo莫名墜如情網, 不住慌張罪己 : "不能違背我的傳統風俗", 異國聯婚的確有其困難,何況是一位巫女與一介凡夫? Tilo 口中的傳統風俗, 只有香料島上的尊者 first mother(這位可是Bollywood的阿媽代言人)鬼影幢幢偶爾示警, 餘者安在? 空口白話,使得劇末欲玉石俱焚的Tilo在一片火光之中, 僅有豔色而無悲愴. 本意象徵僑民落地生根的Misstress of Spices 獲得赦免, 反而像是美國獵夫淘金記,外加 Insight 舊金山導覽!

依照Bollywood慣例,150分鐘上下片長.這部電影僅93分鐘, 比150 分鐘難捱. 美術服裝攝影仍有可觀處, 但主心骨不成, 花椒敷牆又何用. 美印英影評唯一讚美的是aish美麗的紗麗妝扮, 假若報導屬實: 片中服飾全出自aish本人收藏 ,那麼導演的無能的罪名又多一重. 是aish的品味和美貌,不是導演夫妻慧眼調度整個電影團隊.

延伸閱讀

英文本 In Light of India by Octavio Paz, Mar 25, 1997

中文本 <<在印度的微光中>>——諾貝爾桂冠詩人帕茲的心靈之旅, 馬可孛羅, 2000 年 10 月 23 日(2006年3月已再版,換封面)

btw. 給那個撒謊 "衝著在okland拍攝會去看這部戲"的人.灣區早已下檔了!!!!

附外國影評於下:

In French, 'sans' means 'without'.

Mistress sans spices
Aishwarya Rai--is there a wishier, washier, wimpier actor anywhere in the known universe?,' these words, from The Guardian's influential movie critic Peter Bradshaw may have seemed a trifle harsh on India’s most beautiful face in Hollywood, but one has only to sit through a complete screening of the Mistress Of Spices to understand Bradshaw’s point of view and do little else but nod in agreement.

Touted as Ash’s big one, the directorial debut of Paul Mayada Berges, better known as Gurinder Chaddha’s better half, had all the ingredients to make the film a perfect crossover venture. Mistress of Spices comes replete with compelling East-West exotica with universal appeal. Instead, with its monotonous, lackadaisical pace and the frosty chemistry between the lead pair, sitting through Mistress of Spices comes across as bland khichdi instead of the celluloid sizzler it was expected to be.

Adapted by Berges and Chadha from a novel by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, the story line has enough scope for sparks of passion and magic realism to keep viewer interest on a high throughout. Alas, Aishwarya Rai fails to bring in the fire and flamboyance expected from her character serving up a tepid wash-out as Tilo, trained in magic of spices with the ability to peer into her customers’ past and future. The spices favour her with all the wisdom of their ancient knowledge as long as she sticks to three simple rules. She must use them to benefit others, she must not leave the shop and she must not touch another’s skin.( This last one probably inserted to retain Ms Rai’s virginal piety in Hollywood.)

Things change when Doug (Dylan McDermott) crashes his bike near Tilo’s store, forcing her to tend to him. Tilo knows her limitations and tries to maintain her distance, with ample warning from the spices. But Doug, unaware of the rules is propelled by intrigue and curiosity into the relationship, seeking to get to know more of this elusive enchantress.

As Tilo breaks the rules, one by one, the spices are enraged and start to punish her. While Tilo begs them for a chance at love, they conspire to turn the world of her customers topsy-turvy. Finally Tilo must make the one difficult choice—to choose love and turn deaf to the ancient wisdom of the spices or to return to the only world she has known and bid adieu to her love forever?

The role, which could have packed in verve and vivaciousness, flamboyance and fire, leaves one unmoved by the unimpassioned portrayal. One has only to imagine a Nandita Das, Dimple or Shabana Azmi in Tilo’s shoes to visualize the feisty zest with which it could have been played. Instead Aishwarya’s demure, virginal portrayal throws cold water over the show. Flashes from turbulent India—terrorists streaking the verdant Kashmiri landscape with blood and bandits in South India in search of the young Tilo with mystic powers—are immature, nay juvenile. The film also skims over the first generation immigrant experience and flashes of multicultural existence in contemporary American society. What one must look out for are interesting cameos by Zora Segal as the wise Mother who teaches Tilo the art of spices, Nitin Canatra as the taxi driver Haroon, Anupam Kher as Dadaji and the blink and you miss it performances by Ayesha Dharker as Hameeda and Salman Rushdie’s wife Padma Lakshmi as Geeta.

The two reasons which makes it a worthwhile watch are the romantic background score—it takes you a fraction of a second to place the instrumental version of “Aap ki nazron ne samjh pyar ke qabil mujhe” and Santosh Sivan’s exquisite cinematography. You can almost smell the heady aroma of cinnamon and cloves, cardamoms and saffron as the camera exults in giving each spice its special character. Perhaps only too aware of the missing ingredient in the film, Sivan’s camera lingers sensuously on the spice for passion---red chillies, plump, fleshy and sinfully lush—imbuing them with the missing sizzle and tang that remains elusive in the film.

http://in.news.yahoo.com/060429/48/63w4d.html