As Vicky Cristina Barcelona gets ready to steam up theaters, the acclaimed director describes exactly what he was thinking when he made a dozen of his best-received (and worst-received) films
By Josh Rottenberg
伍迪艾倫這個看著有點愁苦的小老頭似乎一直讓自己浸泡在一種低調的陰鬱當中。他確實不能被歸進“大眾情人”的行列當中，但伍迪銀幕之外的私生活，卻絲毫不輸於電影世界中的“光怪陸離”，其中最著名的莫過於1992年曝光的他與現在的妻子宋宜之間的情事——宋宜是艾倫之前的女友米亞·法羅的養女，這種讓人有如哽在喉頭的身份與倫理間隙，令他們的愛情引來了不少人的嘲弄與厭惡，一直不被看好。差不多正是從那個時候開始，失望的小老頭開始拒絕一切外界的聲音，不管是稱讚還是鄙夷，他覺得都與自己再無干系，艾倫說：“大多時候，我覺得自己能夠掌控生活，可是到頭來，卻發現仍然讓生活給玩了。”
不過這並不影響伍迪艾倫那充滿了傳奇色彩的電影之路，也許是他那副厚重的黑框眼鏡阻隔了所有可能會產生的瑰麗遐想，但是當你完全忽視了這個貌不驚人的小個子男人時，卻又會一次一次被在他的電影作品中感受到無與倫比的震撼和回味。今年我們熟悉卻又永遠無法預計的老伍迪帶著他的靈感女神Scarlett Johansson和新片Vicky Cristina Barcelona 又回到聚光燈前。回憶星塵往事、調侃幕後趣事，細數他之前的12部作品，伍迪自有他的一番真心話。
After 50-plus years in show business, Woody Allen's heard it all. He's been hailed as a comic genius and attacked as a self-indulgent narcissist. His films have been celebrated as cultural events (Annie Hall,Manhattan, the list goes on) and panned or, worse, ignored (September, Anything Else, that list goes on as well). His persona as the neurotic Everyman made him an unlikely folk hero, while his offscreen life — most notably the revelation in 1992 of his affair with his current wife Soon-Yi Previn, the adopted daughter of his longtime girlfriend and cinematic muse Mia Farrow — brought scorn from some quarters. Allen says he tunes out the background din of acclaim, disdain, and everything in between: ''Even when I'm embraced, I'm not embraced warmly. It doesn't matter to me.''
Here he revisits some of the highlights of his legendary career. Seen through his famous thick-framed and far-from-rose-colored glasses, it seems the hits and misses are sometimes one and the same.
Take the Money and Run / 傻瓜入獄記(1969)
被盆栽擠走
當伍迪艾倫以一名喜劇演員的身份站穩了腳跟之後，他開始在這個基礎上嘗試著去創作一些劇本，比如說 What's New Pussycat (1965)、What's Up, Tiger Lily? (1966) 和1967年的Casino Royale (1967)，那個時候他的喜劇風格與幽默技能尚在摸索的階段，還在、What's Up, Tiger Lily? 中嘗試著與穀口千吉共同當了一次導演……這部《傻瓜入獄記》是艾倫第一次獨立承擔導演的作品，以一種“偽紀錄片”的形式記錄了一場假裝“真的”發生過的犯罪行為。
伍迪艾倫：
我只是覺得自己已經完全準備好去做一名導演了，別被我的長相騙了，生就淡定的眉眼並不代表我真的是這樣的人，其實我是又擔心又害怕，我感覺到內心深處經常會有一個聲音在吶喊：“你會把觀眾惹怒的，他們會想，你算個什麼東西啊？”所以對不起，我打退堂鼓了，還尋思著是不是應該把傑瑞·劉易斯搞過來接替我的位置，不過因為始終沒有電影公司肯買我的賬，影片就一直這麼被擱置著。後來，有一家名叫‘帕洛馬影業’的電影公司新進成立，同樣需要機會的他們也給了我一個機會……好在這部影片在一向以苛刻聞名的影評界中獲得了不錯的評價，否則第一次做導演的我很可能就此喪失自信徹底離開這個行當。確實，我的觀眾緣一向很差，那種感覺就好像有一道被稱為“理解”的牆阻隔在我們的中間。兩三年之後，他們仍然不灰心，還專門在拉斯維加斯的愷撒皇宮酒店登記了一個房間，並間隔出一半的空間用來做電影的放映室，可是從第三天開始，侍者就不斷地往裡面移進來一些盆栽，因為觀眾越來越少，所以需要的空間也就越變越小。
Having won fame as a stand-up comic, Allen had transitioned into films as a writer and actor with What's New, Pussycat?, What's Up, Tiger Lily?, and 1967's Casino Royale. Still honing his comedic style, he made a promising solo directorial debut with this madcap mockumentary about a would-be criminal.
I felt I was ready to direct, but the people in my corner said, ''People will resent it. They'll think, Who is this guy?'' So I tried to get Jerry Lewis...but we couldn't work it out with the studio. Then this new company, Palomar Pictures, formed, and they were willing to take a chance on me. The picture was very well received critically, but two or three years after it came out, they had still not broken even. I always had a tough time getting an audience. They'd book me into Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and they'd have half a house. By the third night, the head waiters would be pulling the potted plants in so they could make the space much smaller for the audience.
Sleeper / 傻瓜大鬧科學城 (1973)
遇見影史上最好的喜劇演員
影片講述的是一個永不知道停歇、處處充滿著極具靈性的愚蠢行為的故事，這部對焦在未來世界、頗有Rip Van Winkle風格的喜劇，充分展示出伍迪艾倫講故事的功力正以成倍的驚人速度增長著，儘管以當時的電影技術水平而言，創造一個2173年的未來世界仍然存在著些許的困難，導致艾倫為了重拍某些場景而不得不自掏腰包，但最最重要的，這部影片還檢驗了他與黛安·基頓之間那極具喜劇意義的浪漫情愫。
伍迪艾倫：
其實在創作這部影片的時候，我和另一位編劇馬歇爾·布瑞克曼的想法很簡單，就是希望看到一個並非全部都是惱人的冷笑話構架而成的故事，讓裡面具備真實的情節發展、真實的人物體現。但做出了這樣的決定，同樣令我很苦惱，因為我最擅長的就是寫冷笑話，所以對於我來說，整個過程還是挺困難的，畢竟想要轉變某些固定的思維還是需要非常大的毅力的。除此之外，我們可用的預算也少得可憐，要知道整個故事都被設定發生在未來的世界，有關的一切場景都需要重新搭建，包括每一輛汽車、每一件戲服……幸運的是，我的服裝設計師是喬·舒馬赫懂得如何用最省錢的辦法得到最好的效果，他差不多只花了1萬美元，就搞定了所有的戲服，而且每一套都蘊含著才氣和創造力。對於黛安·基頓，我完全可以用“了解”來形容我們之間的關係，之前我曾經專門為她量身定做過一個名叫Play It Again, Sam (1972)的電影劇本，我們還曾經生活在一起，你還能找到比這個更加親密的相處模式嗎？我所感受到的是她那不受任何限制的喜劇天賦，如果讓我選擇兩位電影史上最偉大的喜劇女演員，基頓和 Judy Holliday是我惟一的答案。
A nonstop Orgasmatron of inspired silliness, this futuristic Rip Van Winkle comedy displayed Allen's growing storytelling skill, though the difficulties of creating the world of 2173 (giant bananas and all) forced him to pour his salary into reshoots. Most important, the film showcased his comedic chemistry with a young actress named Diane Keaton.
Marshall Brickman and I wanted to write a movie that wasn't just gag-gag-gag. I was good at writing gags, but to write a story with a real plot and real characters — that was much harder. I had a small budget, and I was working in the future, so every car had to be built, every costume had to be designed. Fortunately, my costume designer was Joel Schumacher. He had, like, a $10,000 budget to do all the costumes, but he was brilliant and inventive.
I knew Diane very well. I had done a play with her, Play It Again, Sam, we had lived together, and we were very close. I just felt she had a limitless comic talent. I've always felt that the two great movie comediennes of all time were Judy Holliday and Diane Keaton.
Annie Hall / 安妮霍爾 (1977)
放奧斯卡的鴿子
在影片最初長達兩個半小時的粗略剪輯版本中，伍迪艾倫匯聚的全部都是一些無定式的滑稽碎片，絕對屬於藝術形態方面極具突破性的進展。在經過了大範圍的修剪之後，片長最終被定為93分鐘，隨即，影片成為好萊塢歷史上最受推崇的浪漫喜劇之一，奪得了包括最佳影片在內的4項奧斯卡大獎，可是艾倫卻再次出人意料，並未現身於頒獎典禮的現場。
伍迪艾倫：
開始的時候，我的設定是我在影片中的角色不斷天馬行空地進行想像，以一種極為不連貫的夢幻形式來講述一個故事。但是另一位編劇馬歇爾·布瑞克曼在看完第一次剪輯的版本後，對我說：“雖然我和你一起創造了它，可是說實話，我真的沒看懂。”所以我們進行了調整，結尾的部分更是重拍了很多次，每一次又會出現新的問題有待解決……最終，我發現了一個愛情故事，至於觀眾對它的喜愛程度，更是超出了我的預期。那段時間，他們通常會選在星期一的晚上舉辦奧斯卡頒獎典禮，而我每個週一晚上都要與我的爵士樂隊一起演出，享受美妙的單簧管發出的旋律。再加上我討厭坐飛機，更討厭穿那種正式的晚禮服，所以我決定不取消樂隊的演出，這樣也就無需坐飛機趕往加州了，豈不是皆大歡喜？其實我想說的是，有些人的反應實在是有點小題大做了，畢竟我可不是為了得獎才拍電影的。
In its initial two-hour-and-30-minute rough cut, Allen's artistic breakthrough was a formless collection of comic bits and pieces. After extensive editing, the 93-minute fi
