James Bond at 50：Unshaken五十歲的詹姆斯邦德：風采依舊

THE James Bond movie franchise turns 50 this week. For almost half the time that feature films have been existence, there have been feature films about a secret agent codenamed 007. It is a unique achievement. The pertinent question, though, is not why Bond has lasted so long, but why other film franchises have not. Cinema-goers are routinely faced with a fourth 「Ice Age」 cartoon or a third instalment of 「Alvin and the Chipmunks」. It would not be wildly inaccurate to suggest that Hollywood is obsessed with creating strings of sequels. So it is curious to note that while there are TV soap operas and superhero comics which have kept going for decades, so far nothing on the big screen has come close to matching 007 for longevity and popularity.

What is Bond』s winning formula? According to a new documentary, 「Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007」, one key factor is the balance between continuity and change, between staying reliably the same and seeming fresh and new. Certain elements of every Bond movie are unwavering, so we feel an affectionate familiarity with them; others are new each time, so we don』t feel as if we are watching the same film over and over again.

We can all list the features that stay the same. There is the pre-credit stunt sequence and the bombastic ballad, the briefing with M and the visit to a casino, or a swanky party, or both. There are gadgets and car chases and seductive women, one of whom may well be a villainess. And, crucially, there is James Bond himself. We know how he introduces himself, how he likes his vodka martinis and how good he looks in a tuxedo. We know he will be the same remorseless killer at the end of the film as he is at the start. The director of a new Bond film is licensed to get on with the story knowing that we have already bonded with Bond. It is a rare advantage. How many other characters are so iconic that they can survive a change of actors without any drop in popularity?

But while the 007 formula may seem as rigid as one of Sean Connery』s toupees, the space within it that is left open for variation and evolution is just as important. Each film can have a new villain, a different love interest and any number of exotic locations (although perhaps Roger Moore』s space mission in 「Moonraker」 was a location too far). What』s more, it can be set in different time periods, in that Bond always operates in the period when the film is made, whether that is the 1960s, the 21st century or at any point in between. This allows the films to adapt to the cinematic trend of the moment, be it blaxploitation (「Live And Let Die」, 1973) or kung fu (「The Man With The Golden Gun」, 1974).

Look for that cocktail of stability and malleability in other franchises and you will not find it. Batman and Spider-Man, for instance, are restricted to their stomping grounds of Gotham and New York, where they encounter the same small roster of colourful antagonists. No wonder audiences wouldn』t put up with them for 50 years without a break. Zorro, The Three Musketeers, and the Pirates of the Caribbean are all tied to specific places and periods. Indiana Jones may not to be bound to a specific milieu, but he is synonymous with a specific actor. Even Britain"s campy 「Carry On」 series faltered when it lost its key cast members. Bond』s closest competitor in recent years, the Bourne franchise, ticks many of the same boxes as 007. Matt Damon has been replaced semi-successfully with Jeremy Renner, and Bourne can go anywhere in the world so we need not tire of the same old backdrops. But whether the hero is played by Mr Damon or Mr Renner, he is always tangling with one particular American government agency, so it is hard to see the series continuing for another four decades.

Meanwhile, at the other end of the spectrum, there are franchises which are so loose and indistinct that almost nothing connects the various instalments, leaving little for an audience to grow attached to. The 「Die Hard」 films have little in common with each other except the presence of Bruce Willis (and a token connection between the baddies of parts one and three). 「Mission: Impossible」 has the same problem. Four episodes in, we still have only a fuzzy impression of who Tom Cruise』s character is or which organisation he works for.

Ask yourself this: would anyone get excited if a 「Mission: Impossible」 finished with the caption 「Ethan Hunt Will Return」? It is unlikely. But when a Bond film finishes with the equivalent promise, it still leaves a tingle of anticipation, even after 50 years.

五十歲的詹姆斯邦德：風采依舊發布時間：2012-10-06文章出自：譯言原文鏈接：點擊查看

本周，詹姆斯邦德系列的電影迎來了它的五十歲生日。這部影片差不多有一半的時間都在講述一個代號為007的特工的故事。它是一個獨特的成就。然而，人們所問的有關這部影片的問題是為什麼別的影片沒有這樣的成就，並非為什麼邦德系列能火這麼長時間。去電影院的觀眾會看到動畫片《冰河時代》第四部或《鼠來寶》第三集的上映。這極其準確的表明：好萊塢熱衷於拍各種系列的續集。我們注意到了一個很奇怪的現象，雖然有持續更新數十年的電視肥皂劇集和有關超級英雄的漫畫的存在，但是迄今為止，在大屏幕上還沒有一部影片能在時間跨度和流行程度上與007系列相媲美。

邦德系列能取勝的秘訣是什麼？一部新出的紀錄片《誰與爭鋒：007系列不為人所知的故事》提到了一個關鍵因素，即是在持續與變化、內容上保持不變與視覺上推陳出新中取得平衡。每部邦德電影都有一些恆久不變的元素，以至於我們在觀看的時候對它們感到親切熟悉；其餘的元素在每一部影片中都會更新，因此我們不會有反覆看同一部電影的感覺。

我們可以列出那些經久不衰的鏡頭：片頭精湛的特技、誇張的歌謠、印有M字樣的簡報、賭場和奢華的宴會等。在賭場和宴會中，有很多小故事，有汽車追逐的場面，有性感的女人們，在這些女人中，或許會有一個是反派人物。但是，在這些鏡頭中最關鍵的人物還是詹姆斯邦德本人。我們熟悉他自我介紹的方式，知道他有多喜歡喝伏特加馬提尼，看過他穿無尾禮服時的帥氣模樣，我們明白在影片中他自始自終都是一個冷酷的殺手。新一部的邦德系列電影的導演知道觀眾們已經為邦德所傾倒，他接下來所拍的電影會延續這個人物主題。這是一個罕有的優勢。有多少別的角色能像邦德這樣名氣依舊並且不被替換掉？

儘管007的模式看起來會像肖恩康里奈的假髮一樣死板，但重要的是，它為演變提供了空間。每部影片中都有一個新的壞人，不同的愛慕對象，迥異的國度（或許羅傑摩爾執行太空任務時的「太空城」是個相當遙遠的地方）。而且，故事情節可以設置在不同的時期，可以是在邦德系列電影開拍的那個時期，可以是20世紀六十年代，可以是21世紀，或者在兩個世紀之間也行。影片必須適應當時的電影潮流，可以是黑人剝削電影（如1973年的《生死攸關》），也可以是功夫電影（如1974年的《金槍人》）.

在其它系列的電影中，你找不到穩定性與可塑性的相融。比如《蝙蝠俠》和《蜘蛛俠》，故事地點通常都局限在紐約市，在這裡他們同樣都會遇到的形形色色的壞人。難怪觀眾們不會一直持續五十年都熱衷於它們。《佐羅》、《三個火槍手》和《加勒比海盜》的故事情節都設置在特定的地點和時期。《奪寶奇兵》的情節沒有固定在特定環境，但是它需要特定的演員。甚至是英國的搞笑電影《carry on》系列在經歷主演出走後，也曾出現了票房低靡。近幾年，《諜影重重》系列的票房在很多時候都直逼邦德系列，是邦德系列的的主要競爭對手。《諜影重重》在世界各地上映了，傑瑞米雷納已經有近一半的可能性會成功取代馬特達蒙，我們也不用一直忍受千篇一律的故事情節。但是劇中的英雄不論是由達蒙先生扮演還是雷納先生，他都與美國某個政府機構是對立的，因此在未來的四十年里會很難看到該系列繼續上映。

與此同時，在電影界還有另一番現象存在。有些電影系列內容不連貫、模糊以至於每一部影片的內容都不能聯繫起來，很難吸引觀眾。《龍膽虎威》系列電影的每部片子除了布魯斯威利斯（他是聯繫第一部和第三部中壞人的關鍵人物）的出演外，鮮有共同點。《碟中諜》也遭遇相同的難題，雖然已經出了四部，但我們依舊不了解湯姆克魯斯在影片中的性格，也不清楚他到底效力於哪個組織。

不妨問一下自己：如果《碟中諜》系列最後的結局是伊森亨特將回歸，有沒有人會很高興？答案是不會的。但是如果邦德系列最終是類似的結局，即便是五十年後，依舊會讓人們滿心期待。

推薦閱讀：