“Something just went horribly wrong,” he said.
「出了個大紕漏，」他說。

The sound of hysterical laughter is heard.
然後，聽到歇斯底里的笑聲。

That line of dialogue and the stage direction that follows could have plausibly been found in many of the 13 major movies created by the Coen brothers: black comedies like “Blood Simple,” “Barton Fink” or “Fargo” where invariably something does go horribly wrong.
這樣的台詞和緊接的舞台指示，相信在柯恩兄弟13部主要作品中大多能找到：「血迷宮」和「巴頓芬克」或「冰血暴」等黑色喜劇裡，總會出個大紕漏。

Here, however, the speaker is Joel Coen, and the laughter is provided by Ethan, his younger brother (by three years). They were responding to the question of whether their big night at the Academy Awards last February – four Oscars for “No Country for Old Men,” including best picture – changed the brothers’ outlook on the film industry, or their place in it, or in any way represented an apotheosis of their 24-year career as darlings of art-house cinema.
不過，在這裡，說話的人是喬伊‧柯恩，大笑的人是他弟弟伊森（差三歲）。他們是在回應記者的問題：今年二月在奧斯卡頒獎典禮之夜大出鋒頭，以「險路勿近」贏得包括最佳影片等四座小金人，有沒有改變他們對電影工業的看法或在電影圈的地位，或者，是不是代表藝術電影寵兒的他們，24年生涯的高峰？

Apparently not. According to the Coens, who spoke by phone from their hometown, Minneapolis, where they are currently shooting their next movie, the Oscars were barely an interruption.
顯然沒有。正在老家明尼亞波利斯拍攝新片的柯恩兄弟在電話裡表示，奧斯卡金像獎連打個岔都幾乎算不上。

“It was very amusing to us,” Ethan said.
「我們覺得很好玩，」伊森說。

“Went right into the ‘Life is strange’ file,” Joel said.
「直接歸入『人生怪事多』檔案，」喬伊說。

The Coens’ “Life is strange” file must be overflowing by now. For more than two decades they have made popular movies – some loved by critics, some loathed – by following a simple formula: Typically, a slightly down-on-his luck protagonist driven by a single motivating belief (like “I’m a writer”) gets involved in a low-level criminal plot involving kidnapping or extortion, setting off a chain reaction of complications and reversals. And more often than not, somebody gets shot in the face.
柯恩兄弟的「人生怪事多」檔案現在一定滿到裝不下了。20多年來，他們依循一條簡單公式拍通俗電影，有些受影評喜愛，有些被憎惡：通常，一個時運不濟的主角全心全意受到某個動機信念（例如「我是作家」）驅使，捲入一樁牽涉到擄人勒贖的邪惡犯罪計畫，引發局面變複雜和情勢逆轉的連鎖反應。經常的情況是，有人臉孔直接挨一槍。

Sometimes Ethan, 50, is credited as the writer, and sometimes Joel, 53, as director. But in reality both conceive the film, write the screenplay and direct, and edit under the joint pseudonym Roderick Jaynes.
有時候，伊森（50歲）名列編劇，有時候，喬伊（53歲）名列導演。但其實兩人都構思電影、編劇並執導，以共用的假名羅德里克‧傑恩斯剪輯。

Their new movie, “Burn After Reading,” is set in Washington. Frances McDormand, Joel’s wife, plays Linda Litzke, a literally wide-eyed employee of Hardbodies Fitness gym. Through a series of strained coincidences. Linda receives a computer disk containing a draft of a memoir written by Osbourne Cox (John Malkovich), an angry alcoholic relic of the C.I.A. whose wife (Tilda Swinton) is having an affair with a federal marshal and aging Lothario (George Clooney). Linda decides to trade the memoir for cash, aided by a dimwitted personal trainer played by Brad Pitt, showing again that he’s a great character actor in a leading man’s body.
他們的新片「布萊德彼特之即刻毀滅」背景在華府。喬伊的妻子法蘭西絲麥朵曼飾演眼睛睜得大大的「硬體」健身中心員工琳達‧麗慈。經過一連串牽強巧合，琳達收到一張電腦磁碟片，內容是憤怒的前中情局酒鬼幹員奧斯朋‧卡克斯（約翰馬可維奇）寫的回憶錄草稿，他妻子（蒂妲史雲頓）與老色鬼聯邦保安官（喬治庫隆尼）有染。琳達決定趁機撈一筆，幫助她的是布萊德彼特飾演的笨蛋私人健身教練，再度顯示常扮主角的小布哥，當配角也很讚。

With its coldly satirical tone, stylized dialogue and broadly drawn characters, “Burn” will feel like familiar territory for longtime fans, a return to Coen Country for Odd Men. Is “Burn” a deliberate return to form, a step away from being Very Important Oscar-Winning Filmmakers?
以冷靜的諷刺語氣，風格化的對話和充分刻畫的角色，老粉絲看「布萊德彼特之即刻毀滅」將有老馬識途之感，如同回到柯恩兄弟的「怪咖國度」。難道「布萊德彼特之即刻毀滅」是蓄意回歸兩兄弟的本相，脫離奧斯卡導演的大腕地位嗎？

“It was nothing like that,” Ethan said. “To tell you the truth, we started writing down actors we wanted to work with.”
「絕非如此，」伊森說。「老實說，我們打開始就先寫想找來合作的演員名字。」

Together the Coens have little capacity for abstraction or intellectualism, and they resist delving into the philosophy or the processes underpinning their films. Analyzing their work, Joel says, “is just not something that interests us.”
柯恩兄弟合起來，沒有提供什麼篇幅給抽象思考或理智主義，也抗拒鑽研他們片子的哲理或推演過程的基礎結構。分析自己的作品，喬伊說，「不是我們感興趣的事。」

Since “Blood Simple” in 1984, the Coens have put out a film at least once every two years. One explanation for their longevity is money – the lack of it. All told, the Coens have spent an estimated $340 million, the cost of a couple of summer blockbusters.
自從1984年的「血迷宮」以來，柯恩兄弟每兩年至少推出一部電影。他們持久的一個原因是錢：缺錢。總計起來，柯恩兄弟迄今估計花掉3.4億美元，只及幾部暑假賣座片的成本。

Joel said: “To be quite honest our movies have never broken any records in terms of box office. We’ve never operated at that level. We’ve never threatened the bottom line of any company that finances us. So they’re happy to finance us, because the stakes are so low.”
喬伊說：「很老實的說，我們的電影從沒打破過任何票房紀錄。我們不曾在那個層次上運作。我們從未危及任何出資公司的盈虧底線，所以他們都樂意資助我們，因為風險很低。」

Coen brothers films may be cheap, but they’re not small. Long before “No Country” they built large frames for their films, then filled in their themes of morality, violence and the failure of communication using everyday vernacular, like the gangster slang of “Miller’s Crossing” or the flat Minnesota accents of “Fargo.”
柯恩兄弟的電影或許很便宜，卻不小家子氣。早在「險路勿近」很久以前，他們就在電影中建立宏大的架構，填滿道德、暴力，以及日常方言溝通失靈等主題，像「黑幫龍虎鬥」裡的黑道切口或「冰血暴」當中模糊不清的明尼蘇達口音。

The Coens are big Hitchcock fans, and “Burn After Reading” has a MacGuffin (the device to move the plot along), in this case Cox’s memoir. What’s striking is that this MacGuffin, unlike the suitcase in “No Country,” is worthless. “Why in God’s name would they think that’s worth anything?” the analyst’s wife says in the film.
柯恩兄弟很迷希區考克，「布萊德彼特之即刻毀滅」有一個麥高芬（推動情節的裝置），在本片是卡克斯的回憶錄。引人注目的是這個麥高芬一文不值，不同於「險路勿近」的手提箱。分析員的妻子在電影中說：「他們到底為什麼會認為這玩意值幾文錢？」

Ethan said the choice was deliberate: “We liked that idea. There’s nothing at the center.”
伊森說這玩意是故意挑選的：「我們喜歡這點子。核心空空如也。」

關鍵字句

作者說布萊德彼特是a great character actor in a leading man's body，小布哥常演主角（leading man/role），character actor 是扮演特定角色的演員，通常是配角。整句的意思是說，常演主角的小布哥當起配角一樣很讚。

柯恩兄弟的電影風格向來奇特，作者用Coen Country for Odd Men和本屆奧斯卡最佳影片No Country for Old Men 玩文字遊戲。台灣片商將中文片名譯為「險路勿近」，全片談的其實是美國已經不是個適合老人生存的國度，不像柯恩兄弟的電影世界是怪咖（odd men）的國度。 

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/31/movies/31head.html

Slideshow: Coen Country http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/08/31/movies/0831-COEN_index.html

2008-09-09/聯合報/G9版/UNITED DAILY NEWS 張佑生 原文參見9月9日紐時周報十一版上