In 1933, RKO pictures released the original King Kong, which told the tale of a giant gorilla1 on a prehistoric island whose heart is captured by aspiring2 actress Ann Darrow (Fay Wray), while the rest of him is captured and taken by filmmaker Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) to New York City for exhibition. Kong escapes and it is up to the military to shoot him down from the top of the Empire State Building3, Kong's only concern being that Ann doesn't die in the process.
Flash-forward4 nearly a century later and Academy Award-winning director Peter Jackson, who helmed5 the Lord of the Rings trilogy6, has remade King Kong, preserving the spirit of the original while using state-of-the-art7 effects to make the big ape8 someone who will appeal to modern-day viewers. With Naomi Watts in the Ann role and Jack Black in the Carl role, Jackson unleashes9 the eighth wonder of the world on 1930s New York all over again.
In the following passage, Jackson reveals his hopes and dreams for the remake of a film that quite changed his life. The three actors talk about the most exciting scenes both on and off the screen.
1933年，雷电华影业公司发行了原版影片《金刚》，讲述了史前荒岛上一只大猩猩的故事。这只大猩猩的心被满怀抱负的女演员安·达洛（菲·蕙莉饰）俘获，而他自己却被制片人卡尔·德纳姆（罗伯特·阿姆斯特朗饰）捕获并带到了纽约市进行展览。金刚逃跑了，军队对他围追堵截，直至将他从帝国大厦楼顶击落，金刚惟一挂念的是安能否在这场浩劫中安然无恙。
时间切换到将近一个世纪后，奥斯卡奖得主彼得·杰克逊，这个曾经成功执导《魔戒》三部曲的导演，重拍了《金刚》。他保留了原版影片的精神，同时利用最新特技将这只大猩猩打造成一个吸引当今观众眼球的角色。挑选娜奥米·沃茨饰演安，杰克·布莱克饰演卡尔，杰克逊再现了20世纪30年代纽约城的世界第八大奇迹。
在接下来的文章中，杰克逊坦陈重拍这部电影一直是他的希望和梦想，这部电影改变了他的一生。三位演员也将讲述台前幕后最激动人心的花絮。
Peter Jackson says
Q: Given that the 1933 original film still exists, why do a remake?
Peter: That's a very fair question. I have a pet answer: There's generation today who don't watch black-and-white films anymore. You have to be captivated10 by something, and even my own kids don't have the patience for the 1930s style of storytelling and acting and special effects. But real reason is that I've been wanting to make this ever since I first saw King Kong. I mean, I first tried when I was twelve. I built a cardboard model of the Empire State Building and a little model of Kong, about a foot tall.
Q: Why did “King Kong” have such a huge impact on you?
Peter: I was already in love with fantasy and escapist11 entertainment and special effects. And in Kong, I just experienced the most perfect bit of escapism that's ever been created. It had everything that a nine-year-old would want: I mean, dinosaurs12 on an uncharted island13! But most importantly, I cried when Kong fell off the Empire State Building. So it showed me what film entertainment could be: It could have outrageous14 adventure, but it could also move you in a profound15 way. And that's always what I aspired to.
Q: It occurs to me that the great movie monsters were all misunderstood.
Peter: Yeah. Well, one of the things that we have tried to do with our Kong is to make him not really a monster but a gorilla.
Q: What's the difference between “Lord of the Rings” fans and “King Kong” fans?
Peter: Kong fans aren't so into the fancy dress.
Q: Is it odd filming a single film after the experience of shooting “the Lord of the Rings” trilogy?
Peter: From a logical point of view, a single movie is much easier, but the main creative challenge of writing a good script and making a good film remains as difficult as ever. I do think that having the experience of three huge films back-to-back behind us has given the crew a confidence that we can take on any project.
彼得·杰克逊访谈
问：1933年的原版《金刚》仍然存在，为什么要重拍呢？
彼得：这个问题提得非常好。我最喜欢的答案是：如今这一代人已经不再看黑白电影。有些事实你不得不承认，甚至连我的孩子都受不了20世纪30年代那种叙事方式、表演风格和特技效果。但真正的原因是我从第一次看《金刚》起就一直想要重拍。我是说，我12岁时就作了首次尝试。我用纸板做了一个帝国大厦的模型，还有一个金刚的小模型，大约一英尺高。
问： 《金刚》 为什么会对你有这么大的影响？
彼得：我一直对魔幻和非现实题材的娱乐片和特技非常着迷。在《金刚》中，我体验到了有史以来最完美的想象力。一个九岁孩子想要的它都有：我是指无名岛上的恐龙！但最重要的是：我哭了，在金刚从帝国大厦楼顶掉下来的那一刻。这让我明白电影娱乐大众的方式：它可以有不同寻常的冒险经历，但它同时也能深深地打动你。而这正是我一贯追求的东西。
问：这让我想起，所有伟大的电影中怪物都会被误解。
彼得：是的。你看，我们在处理金刚这个角色时，努力做的一件事情就是让他看起来不像是个怪物，而不过是一只大猩猩。
问：《魔戒》的影迷与《金刚》的影迷有什么不同吗？
彼得：《金刚》的影迷们不太会对奇异的戏服感兴趣。
问：拍摄《魔戒》三部曲后再拍单本剧，感觉怪吗？
彼得：从逻辑上讲，拍单本剧要容易得多。但是主要的创作如编写好剧本和拍摄好电影仍然和以往一样具有挑战性。我认为有连续拍摄三部大片的经验作支撑，的确能给剧组人员很多信心，让我们相信自己能够担当任何题材。
Naomi Watts on the risks of romancing an ape
This was a strange job, because I was so beaten up. The latter part of the shoot was pretty much all the physical stuff, and I could feel my body packing up16 on me at times. But they were very attentive and careful with me, making sure I had massages17. I had sore muscles all the time—and I had one moment where I had a bit of a scare, because I fell backwards into a big hole, a sort of ditch. We were doing the scene where Kong was breaking through the gates and they're throwing gas bombs at him. As the scene had been mapped out, I wasn't supposed to be anywhere near this hole, and suddenly I took a different direction and fell.
I didn't know where I was when I was down in that hole. But because my body was jammed in—my legs were in the air and my neck was all scrunched18 up—I thought I'd possibly really hurt something. I didn't think I was going to die, but I could have been in a wheelchair. And all I could see was everyone looking at my underwear. And I can't push my dress down. So that's when I knew I was OK.
Jack Black on the thrill of kicking monkey ass and stealing the movie's best line
Running as fast as I can, trying to kill or escape ancient monsters, that's kind of where I like to live. That's just fun to me. One of my favorite times on the set was when we kicked Kong's ass and brought him down. We were shooting that scene literally out in the middle of a parking lot, where they'd built a lake—it was a big swimming pool, four feet deep. I loved doing that speech: “We're going to take this fucker back to New York. I can see it now: his name in lights on Broadway—Kong, the eighth wonder of the world!” Without the “fucker,” probably, I don't remember the line exactly.
I also get to say the final line of the movie: “Beauty killed the beast.” That was a tough moment, because I knew that Peter wanted Fay Wray to have a big cameo20 and deliver it. So I knew he was sad on that day, because she had died recently, and so I felt like I was doing somebody else's line. And there was also a lot of pressure because that line is too monumental21—Christ, how do you deliver it? I bet anyone who plays Hamlet, when they get to “To be or not to be,” I bet they're like, “That's the line, I wish I didn't have to say it.” It's the same kind of thing.
Adrien Brody on racing cars
The car chase scene in the film is probably the most exciting day I've ever had as an actor. It wasn't the most dramatic work I've done, but it sure was exciting. They put snow down and the road was slick22: I'm barely keeping the car on three wheels and narrowly missing stuntmen23, and I'm backing up and doing reverse 360s. And after every take, the crew would come out and applaud and then Peter would say, “Now this time, really go for it.”
娜奥米·沃茨讲述与大猩猩谈情说爱的冒险经历
这是我不太熟悉的戏种，我简直摔得鼻青脸肿。拍摄的后半部分几乎全是动作戏，有时我都觉得身体不听使唤了。但他们很留意、很照顾我，总会找人帮我按摩。我浑身的肌肉一直都是酸痛的。有次我还虚惊了一场。因为我向后栽进了一个大洞里，像个壕沟一样的地方。当时我们正在拍摄金刚撞开大门，人们朝他投掷毒气弹那场戏。按照剧情设计，我是不该在这个洞附近乱跑的。可是我突然就跑错了方向，一头栽了进去。
我栽进洞里时不知道自己身在何处。由于我的身体塞在洞里不能动弹——我的腿悬在空中，脖子缩成一团——我想我可能真伤到哪儿了。虽然觉得还死不了，但可能就得坐轮椅了。当我回过神来，只看到每个人都在看我的内衣。而我又不能放下裙子，那时我才意识到自己还好端端的。
杰克·布莱克谈踢猴子屁股及抢最佳台词的紧张时刻
我拼命地跑来跑去，设法捕杀或逃离那些远古怪物们，那就是我喜欢居住的地方。那些对我来说真是太好玩了。在摄影棚，我最喜欢的一刻就是踢金刚屁股、将他绊倒的那个镜头。我们直接在一个停车场中央拍摄那场戏，在那儿建了一个水池——4英尺深的大型游泳池。我喜欢说那句台词：“我们将把这个笨蛋带回纽约。我现在就能想象那种盛况：他的名字将会出现在百老汇的霓虹灯中——金刚，世界第八大奇迹！”也可能没有“笨蛋”这词，我对这句台词记得不是很清楚了。
我还要说影片最后一句台词：“美女杀了野兽。”那真是很艰难的时刻，因为我知道彼得其实是想让菲·蕙莉戴上大大的浮雕宝石来说的。因此，我知道他那天一定很难过，因为她刚刚去世了，而我感觉就像是在抢别人的台词。而且压力也很大，因为这句台词太经典了——主啊，你会怎么说？我敢打赌每个演哈姆雷特的人，当要说“活着还是死去”这句台词时，一定会心里发怵：“就是这句台词，真希望我不用说它。”那种感受也一样。
亚德里安·布劳迪谈飚车
拍摄汽车追逐镜头的那天可能是我做演员以来最兴奋的一天。这并不是我拍过的最戏剧化的作品，但确实让我觉得过瘾。人工降雪后，地面直打滑。我几乎不会用三个轮子开车，还险些撞到特技演员。我不停倒车，一直倒了360秒。每拍完一组镜头，剧组人员就会出来，鼓掌庆贺，这时彼得就会说：“现在这一次，真的搞定了。”
1. gorilla n. 大猩猩
2. aspiring adj. 有抱负的；积极的
3. the Empire State Building: 帝国大厦，美国纽约102层的高层建筑，其87层的瞭望台是著名的旅游景点。
4. flash-forward n. (小说, 电影等中的)提前叙述未来事件
5. helm [helm] v. 执导
6. trilogy n. 三部曲
7. state-of-the-art adj. 达到最新技术发展水平的
8. ape [eip] n. 猿
9. unleash v. 释放
10. captivate v. 迷住，迷惑
11. escapist n. 逃避现实的文学 escapism n. 逃避现实
12. dinosaur n. 恐龙
13. uncharted island 海图上未标明的岛屿
14. outrageous adj. 惊人的
15. profound adj. 深刻的，意义深远的
16. pack up停止工作，出故障
17. massage n. 按摩
18. scrunch v. 压迫，挤成一团
19. Broadway 百老汇，纽约戏剧和娱乐中心，是美国戏剧和娱乐业的代名词。
20. cameo n. 刻有浮雕的宝石或贝壳
21. monumental adj. 不朽的
22. slick [slik] adj. 光滑的
23. stuntman n. 替身演员
24. scale [skeil] v. 攀登
25. hop v. 跳跃
26. stand a chance 有希望，有成功的可能
27. veggie n. 素食者
28. chomp v. 大声地咀嚼，咬
29. fixing n. 调料
30. celery n. 芹菜
31. thistle n. 蓟类植物