My dear students,

Do you remember what I said at the end of the sixth class? I ask you to learn how to “seek truth beyond tradition, beyond definition and beyond image.”

This remark comes from an inspiring movie entitled <Mona Lisa Smile>.

Most of us live our lives in the safe zone, doing the “right” things most people choose to do, learning the “useful” things most people choose to learn, just as what my father always suggested me picking the most popular major and getting a secure job.

But when I grew older and knew more about the world, I feel sorry to see many people hardly remember what they want in the first place, then die with regret that they should have explored more in this world full of wonders.

This is a movie which gave me great inspiration and strength. I share my writing about this movie with you here, hoping you understand -- True learning takes passion, energy and a burning desire.

Deep inside our hearts, we all know what we want. But when life pushes us around, some give up, others fight. A few of us learn the lessons and move on.

After watching the movie, I don’t ask you to take actions right away, but at least, you think.

对于那些想通过模仿来练习语音的朋友，这部电影是个很好的选择。大嘴美女Julia Roberts的语音非常饱满，口型也比较夸张，非常合适我们去模仿语音。看这部电影的时候，可以随时按下“暂停”键，细细观察她的双元音是如何smoothly come out of her mouth，让这个超级明星当起你私人的发音教员~

2003出品的影片《Mona Lisa Smile蒙娜丽莎的微笑》被誉为《Dead Poet Society死亡诗社》（Echo也非常喜欢这部）的女性版。故事发生在上个世纪50年代的美国，一群出身于上流社会的优秀女学生就读于维护正统的Wellesley女子学院，欣然接受着社会赋予她们相夫教子的传统角色，而一位“离经叛道”的艺术史教师Katherine Watson（Julia Roberts饰演）的到来却打破了这种平静。

正如Julia Roberts在《永不妥协》中的角色一样，Katherine在校方的重重压力之下始终坚持自己的教学理念，她的执著影响了当时在校的一大批女学生。

本片的导演是毕业于剑桥大学曾经导过《四个婚礼和一个葬礼》的英国导演Mike Newell，他将50年代女性意识的萌芽用影像很好地得以呈现。

主演则是当时已经以《永不妥协》一片摘得奥斯卡影后桂冠的Julia Roberts，影片中Katherine端庄有主见的性格正是她擅长演绎的。

而影片其他演员也非常出色，《蜘蛛侠》的女主角Kirsten Dunst在片中饰演Katherine起初的反对派Betty Warren，还有奥斯卡最佳女配角获得者Marcia Gay Harden饰演的Wellesley传统女教师Nancy Abbey。

正如《纽约观察家报》的评论员雷克斯·瑞德所说：演员们伶俐乖巧的表演，欢快有趣的情节，很好的表现了反对学院传统势力、勇敢寻求女性自由的思潮。 

一、关于艺术：It’s something beyond the paint

1953年，坐落在美国马萨诸塞州、被誉为“没有男子的常青藤”的Wellesley女子学院，迎来了位艺术史老师Katherine Watson。她是个美丽成熟的女人，在加利福尼亚州Berkley大学里接受了自由思想，立志要成为一名杰出的教师，却没想到她的学生在第一堂课上就给了她一个下马威。

她还没来得及介绍课程，就有学生插嘴让她先介绍自己。从放幻灯片到关灯开灯，这群训练有素的女孩总是能在她提出要求之前抢先把事情做好。而她按照学校大纲要求讲解的幻灯片被这群女孩如数家珍。

Katherine有些被镇住了，她问女孩们以前学过艺术史么，大家都摇头。当她让读过整本大纲和推荐书目的人举手时，全班都举起了手。

良好的艺术基础和扎实的课前预习使这些女孩儿对这位来自奥克兰州还没有拿到博士学位的老师几乎瞧不上眼。课还没有上完，她们就撇下还没有回过神来的Katherine，集体走出教室自修去了。

可是Katherine没有因此退缩。她并不是一个按部就班的教师，相反，她是一个对生活和艺术都很有主见的人。虽然这些学生在课前对大纲上的内容做足了功课，可是这所当时美国最保守的女子学校从没有教学生如何在课本外独立思考，在画面之上理解艺术、体会艺术。

Katherine的第二节课，她给学生看苏丁绘于1925年的《牲畜》，女孩们得知该图不在大纲内后，开始纷纷质疑起这幅与传统审美相悖的作品。Katherine鼓励她们表达自己的看法，一个叫Betty的学生质问Katherine：“难道艺术没有一个标准吗？画法、构图、色彩、主题等等，如果这幅画着腐肉的画也是艺术，我们还有什么好学的？”

借着这个问题，Katherine告诉学生，Betty的问题就是这门课的新大纲，她要学生通过这门课理解“什么是艺术，是什么决定了艺术的好坏，又由谁来决定。”

Betty: What is that?

Katherine: You tell me. Carcass by Soutine¹⁾. 1925.

Student: It's not on the syllabus²⁾.

Katherine: No, it's not. Is it any good? Come on, ladies. There's no wrong answer. There's also no textbook telling you what to think. It's not that easy, is it?

Betty: No. It's not good. In fact, I wouldn't even call it art. It's grotesque³⁾.

Connie: Is there a rule against grotesque art?

Student: Aren't there standards?

Betty: Of course, otherwise a tacky⁴⁾ velvet painting could be equated to a Rembrandt⁵⁾. There are standards, technique⁶⁾, composition⁷⁾, color, even subject. So if you're suggesting that rotted⁸⁾ side of meat is art...much less good art, then what are we going to learn?

Katherine: Just that. You have outlined our new syllabus, Betty. Thank you. What is art? What makes it good or bad? And who decides? Next slide, please. Twenty-five years ago someone thought this was brilliant.

Betty: Who?

Katherine: My mother. I painted it for her birthday. Next slide. This is my mom. Is it art?

Student: It's a snapshot⁹⁾.

Katherine: If I told you Ansel Adams¹⁰⁾ had taken it, would that make a difference?

Betty: Art isn't art until someone says it is.

Katherine: It's art!

Betty: The right people.

Katherine: Who are they? Could you go back to the Soutine, please? Just look at it again. Look beyond the paint. Let us try to open our minds to a new idea.

1)     Chaim Soutine俄裔法籍画家(1893-1943) 的作品Carcass of Beef (c.1925)﹐ 画面陈列了一具腐烂的牛尸。Soutine既继承了巴黎的繁华风格，也吸收了这里扭曲颓废的美感。大部分的作品都有沮丧压抑的气质，有些作品还隐喻杀戮。

2)     Syllabus：教学大纲

3)     Grotesque：风格怪诞的

4)     Tacky：俗气的

5)     Rembrandt：荷兰画家林布兰，自画像占作品很大的比数，作品充满热和力，不断追求心中的更完美，他的艺术风格处于时代但更超越时代。晚年的作品充更脱离了当时巴罗克风格而步向人类心宁的描绘。

6)     Technique：绘画的表现手法

7)     Composition：构图

8)     Rotted：腐烂的

9)     Snapshot：快照

10) Ansel Adams：美国黑白风光摄影大师

这是一节特别的课，Katherine把学生带到了她的画室，大家围坐成一圈上课，与早先敌对的气氛截然不同，此时的学生已经被Katherine 的真诚和率直所感染，加上她丰富的艺术史知识和生动热情的授课方式，很快赢得了女孩子们的喜爱，女学生都把这位特例独行的艺术史老师称为"蒙娜丽莎的微笑"。

在画室里，Katherine给学生看梵高著名的作品《向日葵》。梵高生前是一个不被大众认可的画家，他从不记录人们看到的大自然，而是通过自己内心的感知作画。当时的人们无法理解这些看上去笔法幼稚、构图粗糙的作品深处却能蕴涵正统画法无法表达的流动感和力量。梵高生前一幅画也没卖掉，60年后人们却争相购买他作品的复本。

Katherine拿出当时流行的大众艺术盒装玩具Paint by numbers，说：“现在要成为梵高很容易，只要按照说明书上的步骤，几分钟内你就踏上了成为艺术家的道路。梵高生前不为讨好大众而妥协，而我们现在却用这样的方式复制他的作品。”

充满理想与热情的Katherine大胆地向陈腐的教学制度发起挑战，她希望这些女孩子对艺术和人生能有新的认识——每个人都有自己的选择权，你能选择顺从家庭社会强加于你们的意志，你也能选择走自己的路。

Joan: Sunflowers, Vincent Van Gogh¹¹⁾. 1888.

Katherine: He painted what he felt, not what he saw. People didn't understand. To them, it seemed childlike and crude¹²⁾. It took years for them to recognize his actual technique, to see the way his brushstrokes¹³⁾ seemed to make the night sky¹⁴⁾ move. Yet, he never sold a painting in his lifetime. This is his self-portrait¹⁵⁾. There's no camouflage¹⁶⁾, no romance. Honesty. Now, 60 years later, where is he?

Giselle: Famous?

Katherine: So famous, in fact, that everybody has a reproduction¹⁷⁾. There are post cards.

Connie: We have the calendar.

Katherine: With the ability to reproduce art, it is available to the masses¹⁸⁾. No one needs to own a van Gogh original¹⁹⁾. They can paint their own. Van Gogh in a box, ladies. The newest form of mass-distributed art: Paint by numbers²⁰⁾.

Connie: Now everyone can be van Gogh. It's so easy. Just follow the simple instructions, and in minutes, you're on your way to being an artist.

Katherine: Ironic, isn't it? Look at what we have done to the man, who refused to conform his ideals to popular taste, who refused to compromise his integrity. We have put him in a tiny box and asked you to copy him. So the choice is yours, ladies. You can conform to what other people expect or you can--

Betty: I know. Be ourselves.

11) Vincent Van Gogh荷兰后期印象派画家文森特·梵·高（1853-1890），

12) Crude：粗糙的

13) Brushstroke：绘画的笔触

14) night sky：指梵高的作品《夜空》

15) self-portrait：自画像

16) camouflage：掩饰

17) reproduction：复制品

18) mass：大众

19) original：原作

20）Paint by numbers：50年代流行的大众艺术玩具，把拼图版内的方格按照版边的数字着色。

posted on 2006-10-23 23:11 江晓弘 阅读(8347) 评论(23)  编辑  收藏 所属分类: Echo之电影收藏 网摘收藏