《我們誕生在中國》 生生不息的故事

Following the sweeping success of Zootopia and The Jungle Book, Born in China (《我們誕生在中國》) is Disney’s third animal-centric film of the year. But unlike its *duo of animated predecessors, Born in China is a live-action feature, starring five of China’s native animal species – the red-crowned *crane, snow leopard, golden snub-nosed monkey, Tibetan *antelope, and, of course, the giant panda.

繼《瘋狂動物城》和《奇幻森林》席捲全球、大獲成功之後，《我們誕生在中國》是迪士尼本年度第三部以動物爲主題的電影。但與先前兩部動畫片不同，《我們誕生在中國》是一部實景拍攝的故事片，五種中國本土的野生動物——丹頂鶴、雪豹、金絲猴、藏羚羊、當然，還有大熊貓——擔任主角。

I went to the theater with expectations of a Discovery-style documentary, but was surprised to be met with a drama-like feature, which focused on five animals’ *intertwining tales.

在觀影前，我以爲這是一部探索頻道式的紀錄片，但後來，我卻驚喜地發現，這是一部有劇情的電影，它講述了五種動物命運交錯的故事。

The beasts’ stories sometimes mirrored the everyday life of humans, including the mother panda who is reluctant to see her daughter grow up, no longer needing her care, but also tell a more *savage tale – including the *gut-wrenching arc of a mother snow leopard who dies of starvation, leaving her two young *cubs fighting to survive. The five animals’ narratives eventually meet to reveal the grand theme of the film: the Lion King-esque circle of life.

這些野生動物們的故事，有的是人們日常生活的寫照：大熊貓媽媽不願意看到女兒長大，那樣的話女兒就不再需要自己的照顧了；也有的更爲殘酷——雪豹媽媽餓死了，留下兩隻幼崽艱難生存。這五種動物的故事最終殊途同歸，都揭示了這部影片的宏大主題：電影《獅子王》式的生生不息。

I found it to be a story well told, with the right amount of thrill, humor and heart, until I discovered how the film was made – the production team had a pre-conceived story, editing the footage around it – that some of that sentiment was lost.

我認爲故事講得很好，影片將令人緊張激動、開懷一笑以及調動情感的情節運用得恰到好處。然而，當我發現這部電影的製作過程時——製作團隊事先有一個設定好的劇本，並根據劇本剪輯鏡頭——我感覺這部影片中的一些情愫蕩然無存。

Even though the director himself, Lu Chuan, said that the film is meant as a “narrative feature” rather than a documentary, I couldn’t shake the feeling that the tears shed at the movie’s most *poignant parts were shed in vain, and the emotions evoked in me by these animals’ lives I’d come to be so moved by were evoked under false *pretenses.

儘管導演陸川自己表示，本來就打算將這部電影拍成一部敘事性的故事片而非一部紀錄片，但我還是無法接受，那些催人淚下的悲劇情節竟都是虛構的，而那些令我深深感動的動物生活，竟然也都是僞裝的。

The movie’s narration is provided by Chinese actress Zhou Xun who, apart from presenting facts and background knowledge in a documentary style, also provides the “voices” of the film’s animal *protagonists.

本片的旁白是中國女演員周迅，除了講述一些紀錄片式的事實和背景知識外，她也爲片中的動物主角們獻聲。

This “humanizing” seems *presumptuous though; how is a human to know what a wild animal is thinking and feeling?

雖然，這樣的“擬人化”看起來有些自以爲是；人類如何能知道野生動物們的想法和感受呢？

Perhaps this is just me being picky. After all, Born in China is one of the better films to hit Chinese screens this year and the outcome exceeds expectations considering its *excruciating production process. According to Lu, shooting took three years – the first month on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau went by without capturing anything usable due to the unpredictable habits of snow leopards.

但或許是我太過挑剔了。畢竟，《我們誕生在中國》是今年登陸中國大銀幕的最佳影片之一。而考慮到它極其艱辛的製作過程，這部影片的收效也遠超預期。據陸川介紹，這部影片費時三年拍攝——由於雪豹的習性難以預測，在青藏高原的頭一個月，製作團隊連一點可用的素材都沒有拍到。

Personal criticisms aside, if you simply want to see beautifully shot scenery alongside *stunning close-ups of majestic Chinese wildlife, Born in China is definitely worth your time.

不論個人評價如何，如果你只是想看到自然美景和令人驚歎的中國野生動物特寫，《我們誕生在中國》絕對值得一看。