《激情之鱼》全部影评 (2篇)

Emulating the victory of Bruce Beresford’s DRIVING MISS DAISY (1989), John Sayles’ PASSION FISH is another buoyant ode to interracial friendship, trying to mollify the racial divide stateside and feebly convince viewers that everything is tickety-boo.
Mary-Alice Culhane (McDonnell), a successful daytime soap actress whose life disrupts and career hits a moratorium after rendered paraplegic in a taxi accident, becomes an embittered, cynical shut-in in her Louisiana home, and strikes up a bond with the African-American lived-in nurse Chantelle (Woodard), who has her own personal demons to overcome.
Mary-Alice is shown as an open book, footloose (not in a literal sense) and fancy-free, parentless, childless, no relative visits her except for a paternal uncle Reeves (a Burmester). She might be rotting in her booze-infested solicitude, channel-zapping misery and self-pity all for one cares (get some upper-body strength woman!). Sayles certainly doesn’t want to make her sympathetic and McDonnell is splendid to project all Mary-Alice’s bristles and even owns up that she is a “bitch”. Only when her road of convalescence begins in the right orbit, a mellowed Mary-Alice is decidedly a less intriguing character, taking photography as an avocation sounds very Hallmark.
With regard to Chantelle, mystery and secrecy is her impression in default, even when she warms up to Mary-Alice and the two share some sort of communion, both are fish of the water in the Cajun territory (Chantelle is from Chicago and Mary-Alice is the one who gets away and makes good in the Big Apple), she never divulges her most personal experiences, everything about her checkered past is discovered by Mary-Alice accidentally. Woodard unleashes the most dignified facade to hold court, Chantelle is a bit different from the “magic negro” stereotype, she has more problems than her charge, and Woodard’s rendition is a master class of ambiguity, restraint, leeriness and collectedness, that said, when she hits out, her force is inexorable, surely condescension can be acted out both ways.
Sayles interlocks the two protagonists’ lives with several themes in parallel, like their individual detox processes (Mary-Alice’s bibulous addiction is a mote in Chantelle’s eyes), and the romantic males (both women have dreams or reveries of carnal knowledge) to whom they act against their best judgement, Mary-Alice’s feeling for Rennie (Strathairn), a quondam classmate, is border on limerence and vice versa; whereas a virile Ulysses LeDoux (Curtis-Hall) is clearly a pickup artist, and Chantelle’s involvement is a self-revealing act of her vulnerability rather than sexual attraction. However, they are only sideshows, and Sayles is sensible enough to not make heavy weather of them.
If the story inevitably heads to a predestined feel-good finale (malice, racism and hardship are delicately kept at bay along the way, but if it is okay to subject Chantelle as an appendage of Mary-Alice’s white privilege when the film comes out, today, the optics are irrevocably diametrical), Sayles’ picture is prominent for Deakin's particular eye of the bayou environs, and Mason Daring’s aptly exotic score is a plus. Then, there are additional sparks from the peripheral characters, like Nancy Mette’s fantastic shadings in her “I didn’t ask for the anal probe” delivery, Sayles’ barbs shot at the soapy stardom and pursuing an acting career are both caustic and divertingly timeless.
referential entries: Bruce Beresford’s DRIVING MISS DAISY (1989, 8.1/10); John Sayles’ THE SECRET OF ROAN INISH (1994, 7.4/10); Julie Dash’s DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST (1991, 7.1/10).

Title: Passion FishYear: 1992Country: USALanguage: EnglishGenre: DramaDirector/Screenwriter/Editing: John SaylesMusic: Mason DaringCinematography: Roger DeakinsCast:Mary McDonnellAlfred WoodardVondie Curtis-HallDavid StrathairnAngela BassettSheila KelleyNancy MetteLeo BurmesterTom WrightNora DunnMary PortserMaggie RenziMarianne MuellerleileRating: 7.2/10

豆瓣7.2分，两个奥斯卡表演提名，一个最佳原创剧本提名——这些光环让你以为《激情之鱼》是部的佳作？醒醒吧。导演约翰·塞尔斯这部1992年的作品，除了玛丽·麦克唐纳和安吉拉·贝塞特的卖力演出，几乎一无是处。在我看来，这部电影就是一团散沙。故事讲的是瘫痪女演员和黑人看护的互相救赎，多好的题材啊。可你看完会发现，导演好像什么都想塞进去：主角的酗酒、吸毒、家庭回忆，看护的恋爱、童年阴影，甚至还有一段莫名其妙的冒险——两人开着车去找梅-艾丽斯的父亲？这段情节来得突然走得诡异，完全没有铺垫。导演大概以为自己拍的是生活流，结果连基本的故事线都捋不直。再说节奏。这年头能让我在周末下午睡着的电影不多，《激情之鱼》做到了。整整两小时，对话慢悠悠，镜头慢悠悠，唯一有点紧张感的是钱泰莱的男友突然跑了？可这冲突还没展开就结束了。观众反馈说“节奏偏慢，情节松散”，真相是：大部分时间里，你根本不知道她们要往哪儿去。奥斯卡提名怎么来的？大概是因为90年代的黑人女性题材太稀缺，评委们感动于“政治正确”而不是电影本身。别误会，安吉拉·贝塞特的表演确实好，她把钱泰莱的坚韧和脆弱拿捏得很准。玛丽·麦克唐纳也不差，瘫痪状态下的情绪转变很有层次。但演员救不了剧本。塞尔斯想探讨“幻想破灭后追寻意义”，可他笔下的人物却像个没头苍蝇，到处撞。梅-艾丽斯的转变缺乏关键推动力，钱泰莱的恋爱线也草草收场。整部电影就像一锅慢炖，最后发现根本没加盐。反正我看完只有一个感受：对不起，我浪费了两小时。如果你真的对瘫痪和看护的故事感兴趣，不如去看《触不可及》——至少那不让你犯困。