为什么中国观众热捧《绿皮书》

On the social network and movie review platform Douban, “Green Book” has a rating of 8.9/10, outperforming 98 percent of comedies and 97 percent of dramas.

The film has taken in more than US$30 million since it opened, making it the highest-earning best-picture winner in China after “Titanic.” In the past, many Oscar best-picture films have been viewed as niche and haven’t done very well.

One scene in the film triggers delighted laughter among Chinese audiences.

“You people love fried chicken,” says a white chauffeur to the black man in the back seat, offering him a drumstick.

“You have a very narrow assessment of me,” the passenger responds, refusing to take it. After a short argument, he begins to gingerly nibble on the chicken, then polishes it off, and even flings the bone out the window, in imitation of his carefree driver.

In China that moment was widely discussed on the social media platform Weibo as one of the film’s best scenes. A lot of the chatter is just jokes from Chinese users saying they would love to have a KFC Family Bucket.

But many also felt connected to Shirley’s complex character — “the doctor who uses indifference to cover inner loneliness,” as one Douban reviewer describes him.

In another scene, Shirley helps Vallelonga write letters to his wife, including correcting his spelling and polishing his metaphors, which resonated with the audience, since the effort to delicately express love is valued in Chinese culture too.

As some critics point out, it’s a feel-good movie — well-paced, funny at times, and touching as the characters open their hearts to each other.

But some Americans feel the light-hearted film fails to capture the true intensity of that history.

Some others in China saw the film in much the same way as its critics in the United States: “Really quite a white-male perspective,” said one Douban reviewer. “This piece is very traditional — no wonder it won the Oscars.”

The movie’s approach may have been excessively light for people closer to that history, but for a more distant audience, it seems to have the right touch.

Words to Learn

相关词汇

【小众市场】xiǎozhòng shìchǎng

niche relating to or aimed at a small specialized group or market

【司机】sījī

chauffeur a person employed to drive a private automobile

在中国社交和电影评论平台豆瓣上，《绿皮书》斩获了8.9分的高分，高于98%的喜剧片和97%的剧情片。

从上映起，《绿皮书》在中国吸金3000万美元，成为在《泰坦尼克号》之后最叫座的奥斯卡获奖影片。过去的奥斯卡最佳影片都被看作不接地气的小众电影，表现不佳。

电影里有一幕让中国观众爆发欢笑。

“你们黑人都喜欢炸鸡的，”白人司机对后座黑人乘客说着，递给他一个琵琶腿。

“你对我的认识非常狭隘啊，”乘客说，没接那个琵琶腿。在争论片刻之后，黑人乘客小心翼翼地啃起了鸡腿，然后啃得干干净净，甚至还学着司机，把骨头扔到了窗外。

很多中国观众觉得这一幕是电影的高光时刻之一，因此在微博上被热议。很多用户开玩笑说，看完《绿皮书》就想吃个肯德基全家桶。

很多人也因这一幕感受到了谢利博士复杂的人物性格 ——“这位博士用冷漠来掩盖了他内心的孤独，”一位豆瓣网友评论说。

谢利帮助弗拉朗格给妻子写信，帮他遣词造句、修改拼写这部分也和观众产生了共鸣，因为中国文化也非常注重微妙地表达爱意。

像影评人指出的，这部电影节奏适当、笑料不断，当主人公对彼此敞开心扉，又戳人泪点。

但有些美国人觉得，电影这种轻快的调调并不能反应这段历史真实的沉重感。

一些中国观众和美国影评人的观点一致：“真的是非常白人男性视角，”一位豆瓣网友说。“这非常老调 —— 难怪它能获奥斯卡。”

对于和历史更近的人群来讲，影片的调调或许太过轻快了。但对离这段历史比较远的观众来说，这样的表达或许刚刚好。

(Chinadaily.com.cn)