Peaky Blinders' Cillian Murphy talks Brummies, Batman, and why he doesn't use Twitter
We have entered the third golden age of telly. Kevin Spacey hit the headlines recently using the phrase, GQ writer Brett Martin has a new book out, Difficult Men: Behind the Scenes of a Creative Revolution, on the topic and critics around the world are chattering about it.
“我们已经进入了电视的第三个黄金时代。”最近凯文·史派西说的这句话登上了媒体的头条,《GQ》作家布雷特马丁写了一本新书《困境中的人:在幕后的创新革命》讨论这个主题,世界各地的评论家对这本书的讨论喋喋不休。
The Wire, The Sopranos, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire: a (mostly American) wave of ambitious dramas has shown that telly is now smarter and more ambitious than cinema.
《火线》,《黑道家族》,《广告狂人》,《绝命毒师》,《大西洋帝国》:一波(主要是美国)雄心勃勃的电视剧已经表明，电视现在比电影更有前途而且雄心勃勃。
Peaky Blinders, created by Dirty Pretty Things writer Steven Knight, is among the best of the British attempts to compete with these monolithic super shows. Playing like a Brummie Boardwalk Empire and similarly set after the first world war, it follows Cillian Murphy’s Tommy Shelby, a gang leader who’s just returned from the trenches damaged and still in possession of his gun.
《浴血黑帮》的编剧是《美丽坏东西》的作者史蒂文•奈特，它跟众多优秀的英剧一样试图跟那些单一的超级电视剧竞争。这部伯明翰版的大西洋帝国跟美剧大西洋帝国有着类似的后一战背景，剃刀党的真正头目，由希里安墨菲饰演的汤米谢尔比，刚从战壕返家、深受战争创伤并且带着战争遗留下的手枪。
In a Birmingham that was at the time a major centre of industry, he finds himself jockeying for position alongside Communists, the IRA and a particularly ruthless Northern Irish police chief (played with vigour by Sam Neill). Favourite of both Danny Boyle and Christopher Nolan, Cork boy Murphy has become a proper Hollywood celeb in the last few years, but he insists that choosing a BBC Two mini-series for his next job is not as odd as it seems. Peaky Blinders fits in just fine, he says, beside 28 Days Later, Sunshine, The Dark Knight and Inception.
当时的伯明翰是一个主要的工业中心,他（汤米谢尔比）在共产党、爱尔兰共和军和一位粗暴残忍的北爱尔兰警察局长（由山姆·尼尔饰演）之间施展手腕谋取剃刀党的地位和利益。身为丹尼·博伊尔和克里斯托弗·诺兰最喜欢的男演员，这位来自爱尔兰科克港的墨菲已经成为一个真正意义上的好莱坞名人。他依然坚持选择出演这部BBC出品的两部迷你电视剧并非像看起来的那样奇怪，墨菲表示《浴血黑帮》刚好适合他的档期，在《太阳浩劫》《黑暗骑士》和《盗梦空间》结束的28天之后。（三部电影具体的拍摄时间线紊乱，不知道什么意思，大概猜测是说一部拍完下一步刚好接档？）
Peaky Blinders is a project that has clearly captured Murphy’s imagination; he spent hours listening to archive recordings of Brummies to get the accent right, as well as thoroughly immersing himself in the period. It also allowed him to stay close to his house in north London, his wife, artist Yvonne McGuinness, and his two young sons, seven-year-old Malachy and six-year-old Carrick. It’s from the kitchen in that family home, sustained by a cup of Barry’s Tea (his favourite Irish brew), that he’s speaking to The Big Issue…
《浴血黑帮》是一个显然已占据了墨菲的想象力的作品,他花了几个小时听录音存档的伯明翰人讲话以掌握正确的口音,以及体验彻底沉浸在那个年代。《浴血黑帮》的拍摄还可以让他离北伦敦的家近点儿。他的妻子是艺术家伊冯·麦吉尼斯,两人生了两个儿子,七岁的马拉奇和六岁卡里克。他说到在自己家的厨房里,随时都有一杯Barry’s Tea(他最喜欢的爱尔兰啤酒)对他来说非常重要
以下是采访环节
Q:Tell us about your character in Peaky Blinders.
跟我们说说你在《浴血黑帮》中的角色吧。
A:Tommy’s been sent home from the trenches. These men came back and they were just spat out into society without any help. Most of them had lost all time for the establishment and the authorities and the church and everything else. They were damaged men. Then they came back into a society that had been run by women for four years.
汤米已经从战场回了家。跟他一起从战场上回来的人身心遭受巨大创伤，但却在没有任何帮助的情况下直接被放回到社会。他们中的大多数人失去了人格重建、权威敬畏、宗教信仰等一切的时间。他们是被战争破坏的一代，然后他们直接回到由女性经营了四年的社会。
Q:The obvious comparison is Boardwalk Empire,given the era…
考虑到年代背景，一个非常明显的对比是美剧《大西洋帝国》
A:I unfortunately haven’t got round to Boardwalk Empire – it’s one of my box-sets that I’ve yet to unwrap. I think it’s impossible to make a foray intothe gangster genre without rubbing shoulders with the American classics, like The Godfather, Bonnie and Clyde and now Boardwalk Empire. You’ve just got to wear those references openly. What we’ve tried to do here is create something very British.
我遗憾的是还没看过《大西洋帝国》——它是想看名单里。我认为想要做一个关于黑帮的类型片但完全避开这类的美国经典是不可能的,像你刚才引用过的《教父》,《邦妮和克莱德》以及现在的《大西洋帝国》。不过我们试图做的是用非常英国的方式来讲这个故事。
Birmingham at the time was the industrial capital of the world. It was producing more than Chicago andDetroit. Illegal bookmaking was huge all over Britain.It was run by gangs and there’d be pitched battles with guns and knives. It’s never really been investigateddramatically. Steve ［Knight］ had this whole block ofhistory to play with, so it’s very rich. I think thatseparates it from the American stories. It’s refreshing that this is a story where working-class people look sexy and glamorous and stylish. Generally it’s the upper middle class and the aristocracy in British period dramas.
1919年代的伯明翰是当时世界工业之都，它比芝加哥和底特律的生产总值还多。非法赌马活动兴盛席卷整个英国。赌马由帮派操纵和控制，常爆发使用枪支和刀具的激战。戏剧性的是，这些故事从来没有真正的被调查研究过。这让编剧史蒂夫有很大的历史发挥空间，它的素材也非常丰富的。我认为《浴血黑帮》的故事区别于美国的故事在于刷新了人们的认知，在这里工薪阶层的人们起来性感、迷人和时尚。通常来讲,这种特质在英国戏剧中只属于上层中产阶级和贵族。
Q：It seems like all the big Hollywood stars want to get involved in TV at the moment.
似乎所有的好莱坞大明星现在都想参与电视。
A:I definitely think that for writers, having the scope of six or 12 hours to tell a story must be so alluring. Also for me to be able to really investigate every corner, to shine a light into every nook and cranny of the psyche of a character is great. People have talked about it being the equivalent of the novel and I can see why that comparison fits.It is a golden age for TV. It’s clear it’s happening, so you’d be silly not to get involved. TV seems to be filling that place in cinema where clever mid-budget, independent films have been pushed out a little bit by the big franchise, tent-pole movies.
我的确认为对于作家来说，能够拥有6或12小时的长度来讲述故事绝对是非常强烈的诱惑。对我而言，能够真正调查每一个细节,就像用一束光去探照人物角色内心的每一角落和缝隙这样的体验非常棒。人们已经谈到了电视剧作为小说的参照系,我能理解这种比较为什么适合。 这是一个电视的黄金时代。很明显它正在发生,所以除非你傻才不参与进来。电视似乎填充了投机的中小成本市场和被大投资人、支柱型电影挤占的独立电影空间。
Q:Big franchises like Batman?
大投资人喜欢蝙蝠侠吗?
A:Well, yeah… ［laughs］. I would consider that a slightly more, um, intelligent rendering of the superhero genre.
嗯,是的…(笑)。我认为,一个稍微,嗯,聪明的超级英雄类型的渲染。
Q:How did you find the Brummie accent?
你是怎么掌握低鼻音的伯明翰口音的呢?
A:It’s not among the most beloved out there. The Birmingham accent and Birmingham itself hasn’t been fashionable for a while. In terms of the accent, we listened to a lot of archival tapes. My remit was to make it as authentic as possible but also as accessible as possible. Birmingham will deliver its verdict.
我说的不是最好听的伯明翰口音。伯明翰口音和伯明翰本身尚未流行一段时间了。就口音而言,我们听了很多档案磁带。我的职责是让它尽可能真实,也尽可能容易。结果能否满意还需要伯明翰人的裁决。
Q:They can’t be too unhappy – you’ve made the place look a lot cooler than usual.
他们也没什么不满足的——你已经让这个地方比平时看起来酷多了。
A:I really hope so.
我真的希望如此。
Q:The soundtrack on Peaky Blinders is really striking, featuring Nick Cave, The White Stripes and Tom Waits. As a big music fan, was that exciting?
《浴血黑帮》的配乐很引人注目,以尼克凯文、白色条纹乐队、汤姆·威兹的为主打特色、白条纹和汤姆等待。作为一个音乐粉有多兴奋呢?
A:I was thrilled. It was great to know that those guys actually watched it and liked it. There’s something about those artists – an outlaw quality – that really suits the show.
我感到兴奋不已。很高兴知道这些家伙看着它,喜欢它。那些艺术家身上亡命之徒的品质在某种层面上非常切合这部剧的质感。（我的虾米、网易云音乐、喜马拉雅和豆瓣FM都标记了，收藏了，下载了，准备循环听直到吐literally）
Q：Been to any good gigs recently?
最近去过什么好的演出吗?
A:I’m going to see Björkin a couple of weeks. I saw Alice Cooper in the desert in Albuquerque. He has a lot of energy for a man of his age.
几周后我要去看比约克。之前在阿尔伯克基的沙漠看了爱丽丝库珀的演出，就这个年龄来说他真的非常有活力。（好的，我这就去听一听）
Q:Is it harder to get to as many gigs as you’d want now you have kids?
有了孩子的话，现在想要尽可能多地看现场演出会不会更难得
A:Yeah, it is kind of hard. Some things you’ll move mountains to see but, you know, you get old and at a certain point you think, God, I’m awful tired. I didn’t used to have that in my twenties.
对,是有点难。有的演出你会不惜一切代价去看,但你知道,随着年龄增长,在某种程度上,你会觉得非常疲惫，这种疲惫感我在二十多岁的时候从来没有过
Q:You’re a bit unusual in the celebrity world in that you don’t use Twitter.
在这样一个名人的世界里,不使用Twitter的你显得有点与众不同。
A:No, I don’t do that. I remember the pre-internet days. I remember when you just met at an agreed hour at the bus station. And if someone didn’t show up, you’d just stand there and wait. You’d give them 25 minutes. This immediacy that we expect now, it’s spilled over into film and everything.I mean, ‘spoilers’ – surely the clue is in the word? To spoil something is to ruin it.
对,我不用。我记得前互联网时代,人们需要约好时间在公交车站见面。如果没人出现,你就站在那里等，你会给他们25分钟。我们现在期待的即时性蔓延到电影和生活的方方面面。就像是“剧透”——的确线索就在那里，你认真看下去的话就能看懂，但是剧透会毁掉所有的观影快感。（夹带私货，剧透毁所有啊真的是！编剧绞尽脑汁铺垫剧情、导演处心积虑欲说还休、角色不动声色酝酿情感，所有的积累所有的势在剧透的一瞬间破了，不仅仅是对观众观影快感的摧毁更是对工作人员的不尊重）
Q:So do you Google yourself?
所以你谷歌自己吗?
A:You know, you’re a liar if you say you haven’t. But I really, really try not to do it because it’s bad for you. Human beings, the way we’re weird – or maybe it’s just an Irish thing – but you never believe the good stuff. You just believe the bad stuff. It can be a negative forum, the internet. I try to stay away from it as much as possible.
我知道,如果说没有你肯定会说我是一个骗子。但是我真的,绝对不要这么做,因为这样做对我没什么好处。人有时候很奇怪——或者也许只是对于一个爱尔兰人来说——就是你从不相信好的一面，只是关注坏的一面。我总会更多关注论坛,互联网消极的一面，所以我试着尽可能地远离它。
Q:You may be right. I actually ran into an entire blog someone had set up dedicated to unflattering screen shots of you.
你也许是对的。我看到有专为你建的一个博客，里边都是关于你的丑照屏幕截图。
A:Isn’t that lovely now? What a way to spend your time and express your creativity. That’s the world of the internet.
你不觉得很可爱吗?这是怎样一种打发时间和表达创造力的方式啊。互联网世界就是这样。
Q:Last time we spoke, you were telling us about being a vegetarian and a good cook… have you been watching Great British Bake Off?
上次采访你的时候,你告诉我们要成为素食者和一个好厨师…你看《全英美食烘烤比赛》了吗?
A:No. I haven’t got into it. I’m a MasterChef fella. And I’m actually a lapsed vegetarian.
不。我还没。我现在依然是一个大厨了。实际上我是一个堕落的素食者。
Q:When did this happen?
这是什么时候发生的?
A:About a year ago.I felt I needed some meat. I had some venison.It was amazing. My body was like, yes! My wife’s still veggie but the boys eat meat. We’re a very tolerant household. I do sometimes have to cook two dinners, though.
大约一年前。我觉得我需要吃一些肉,于是我吃了鹿肉。神奇的是我的身体非常喜欢，虽然我的妻子仍然是素食但我的儿子都是吃肉的。我们是一个很宽容的家庭，所以我有时要做两个晚餐。
Q:Did you hear that Christian Bale wasapparently offered $50m to reprise the role of Batman in Man of Steel 2? ［Before the role went to Ben Affleck］.
你听说克里斯蒂安·贝尔以五千万片酬再次出演《钢铁侠2 》中蝙蝠侠的角色?(之前是本·阿弗莱克的角色)。
A:I wouldn’tbelieve what you read about that stuff.
我才不相信你说的这些鬼话。（果然是一篇有年代感的采访文章）
Q:It’s a testament to how much of a cultural touchstone that series is that people would believe it. Are you glad to have been part of it?
这是一个证明人们会多大程度相信系列电影作为文化试金石的试验，能够参与其中你觉得高兴吗?
A:Ah, yeah, I was very lucky to have beeninvolved in it. I didn’t expect to pop up in the second two either, so that was a nice little treat.
呃,是的,我很幸运能够参与其中。我也没想到会出现在第二部,这是一份很不错的体验。
Q:Is there a superhero you’d like to play?
有你先要扮演的超级英雄角色吗?
A:Surely they’ve nearly exhausted them...
可以肯定的是超级英雄的角色已经几乎耗尽了他们…
Q:They didn’t ask you to be Doctor Who?
他们没有问你扮演神秘博士吗?
A:No. Did that change hands?
没有，神秘博士要换届了吗?
Q:Peter Capaldi’s taking over.
Peter Capaldi接管了。
A:Oh, brilliant. I love him. That’ll be amazing. We don’t watch it – Doctor Who has kind of passed us by in this house. But maybe we will when Peter Capaldi’s in it.
哦,真棒。我爱他，太有意思了。我不看神秘博士。不过如果有Peter Capaldi我可能会考虑看看。
Q:What is next for you?
你下一部的拍摄计划是什么？
A:I’m going to shoot this Ron Howard film in September, In the Heart of the Sea. It’s the true story of the sinking of the Essex by a whale. It’s the story that Melville based Moby Dick on. I read the book in my twenties. I loved it. I mean you have to work at it, there’s a lot of going back to the appendix, but it’s a cracking, cracking book. I read it on holiday before we had kids, so I had a lot of time to lie down. I don’t have that any more.
九月份我要在漂在大海中拍一个朗霍华德的电影，这是一个关于白鲸导致埃塞克斯号沉没的真实故事，基于梅尔维尔的《白鲸记》。我在二十多岁的时候读过这本书，当时就非常喜欢。你必须很专注的去读不断参照附录，这是一本非常优秀的书。那时我还没有小孩，我在度假的时候读完了这本书，因为有很多时间可以躺着，现在就完全不行了。
ps：看完这篇采访又有好多电影和音乐需要补了。
所以真心不懂为何会有剧荒、乐荒、书荒这种词。
第6集完结
