伊奥安尼斯·瓦尔瓦基斯一生波澜壮阔,本是无名小海盗,在俄国支持下成为鱼子酱大亨,最后却把自己的所有财富奉献给祖国希腊的解放事业。本片以美味鱼子酱带出一段跌宕起伏、感人肺腑的爱国史诗,演员阵容堪称史诗级,德国老牌影星塞巴斯蒂安·科赫(《窃听风暴》)领衔,阿根廷实力派小生胡安·迭戈·波托(《渐行渐远》)对台,更有约翰·克里斯(《一条叫旺达的鱼》)与凯瑟琳·德纳芙(《八美图》)两位影史传奇助阵。。莎拉(凯瑟琳·莫瑞斯 Kathryn Morris 饰)、妮可(帕翠西娅·维拉奎兹 Patricia Velasquez 饰)、卢卡斯(约翰尼·李·米勒 Jonny Lee Miller 饰)等七名FBI成员在资深教官杰克·哈里斯(方·基默 Val Kilmer 饰)的 带领下,来到离加州不远的弗涅戈小岛,他们将在岛上的虚拟小镇中进行演练,通过推理来找出绰号为“木偶师”的连环杀手。这群探员业务精湛,自命不凡,与世隔绝的小岛之行对他们来说更像一个无聊难耐的假期。
但是,他们的狂妄并未持续太久。原本看似平常的推理演习,竟然开始出现死者,所有的逃生之路被切断,众人完全孤立在小岛之上。演习随即演变成一场精心策划的杀戮游戏……。One day, thinking that it will make your wife and friends smile, you shave off the moustache that you have had for the last ten years. No one notices or, even worse, everyone pretends not to notice and your smile soon fades.
Before being wiped off your face. You insist but people tell you that you've never had a moustache. Are you going mad? Are people trying to make you think you are? Or has something in the world's order gone awry at your expense?
Adapting his own 1986 novel, Emmanuel Carrère – whose books Class Trip and The Adversary became Cannes Competition titles by Claude Miller and Nicole Garcia, respectively – provides a feast of sustained tension as the man's wife and his closest friends deny that he ever had a moustache. Viewers who like their conclusions tidy may rebel, but those who relish outstanding performances in the service of an intriguing idea will be entertained. The film won the Label Europa Cinemas Prize at Directors' Fortnight in
Cannes.
一天,你滿心以為給妻子和朋友開個玩笑,把蓄了十年的鬍子刮掉。但可惜完全被人忽視了,或更可悲的是每個人都假裝看不到,很快,你得意的笑容不見了,笑臉再也掛不住。你堅持,但所有人都跟你說你從未蓄過鬍子。莫非你神經錯亂?是否所有人都想令你以為自己瘋掉了?又或者,是因為你的緣故而搞亂了世界的某種秩序?
本片是導演艾曼雷.卡雷爾改編自他自己一九八六年出版的小說。他的另外兩本小說《 Class Trip 》及《 The Adversary 》曾分別被葛羅特.米勒及妮歌.加西亞兩位導演改編成電影並先後成為康城影展的參選影片。在本片中,因為男人的妻子和老友否認他曾經蓄鬍子而令整個故事維持在緊張的氣氛中。
喜歡結局完整的觀眾可能會感到不高興,但欣賞引人入勝的故事和精湛演技的觀眾則會看得津津有味。本片在康城影展的導演雙週中奪得歐洲電影標籤大獎。
Source: The 34th French Cinepanorama, Hong Kong。