少年派效应：李安如何推动了台湾电影业
The 'Pi' Effect: How Ang Lee Boosted Taiwan's Movie Industry

在李安执导的影片《少年派的奇幻漂流》(Life of Pi)中，主角“派”没想到自己的救生船上会有一只老虎，一开始挣扎求生，但最终过上了更好的生活。台湾的情况或许也可以说是如此，这部影片获得几项奥斯卡奖，让台湾羽翼未丰的电影产业一下子成为人们关注的焦点。
In Ang Lee's 'Life of Pi,' protagonist Pi didn't expect to find a tiger on his boat, at first struggled to survive, but in the end emerged for the better. The same might be said of Taiwan, whose fledgling film industry the movie's Oscars have thrown into the spotlight.

这部影片改编自扬•马特尔(Yann Martel)获得布克奖(Man Booker Prize)的小说。影片大部分于2011年在台湾拍摄，历时五个月。李安说，他在台湾拍摄的选择有经济上的考虑，同时也比在好莱坞拍摄更灵活。事实上在台湾，低廉的电影预算是常态，当地的制片人和制作团队经常以务实地解决问题为荣。
More than half of the movie, based on the Man Booker Prize-winning novel by Yann Martel, was shot in Taiwan over five months in 2011. Mr. Lee has said that his choice to film there made economic sense and allowed him more flexibility than Hollywood. Indeed, in Taiwan, modest movie budgets are the norm, and local filmmakers and production crews often take pride in pragmatic problem-solving.


2月24日，导演李安凭借影片《少年派的奇幻漂流》获得第85届奥斯卡最佳导演奖。
但拍摄也并非一切顺利。李安说这部影片是对信仰的考验。影片拍摄总共花了四年时间，动用了3,000人。该片对于100多名台湾制作团队成员来说也是一个考验。他们与李安的好莱坞制作团队在台中市一同工作，好莱坞团队中包括视觉效果公司Rhythm & Effects的成员（该公司上个月在美国申请了破产保护）。制作团队占据了已经废弃的台中水湳机场，将飞机库改造成摄影棚，还将延伸到拍摄现场的一条跑道改成6,750吨的水槽，用于拍摄派与一头孟加拉虎一起被困在救生船上的场面。
But it wasn't an easy ride. Mr. Lee has called the movie 'a test of faith.' It took four years and 3,000 people to make. The film also tested its 100-odd Taiwan crew members. They converged in the central Taiwan city of Taichung along with Mr. Lee's Hollywood team, which included members of visual-effects company Rhythm & Effects (the company last month filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S.). The crews occupied the disused Taichung Shuinan Airport, turning hangars into sound stages, and a runway into the site for a 6,750-ton water tank, used to shoot the scenes of Pi stranded on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger.

据几家参与该片拍摄的公司说，李安严苛的标准令本地团队大开眼界，同时也成为台湾电影产业力争上游的动力。
According to several of the companies that worked on the film, Mr. Lee's exacting standards were an eye-opener for the local team, and the impetus for Taiwan's film industry to step up its game.

以台中的巴比伦泳池有限公司(Babylon Pool Systems Co.)为例，这家公司大多是为水上乐园造浪。在影片拍摄过程中，该公司被雇来为救生船场面模拟海浪。他们向李安提交了模拟众多天气条件的十几种选择。
Take Babylon Pool Systems Co., a Taichung-based company that engineers waves mostly for waterparks. Hired to simulate ocean waves for the film's lifeboat scenes, the company presented Mr. Lee with a dozen or so options that mimicked various weather conditions.

公司总经理薛义森说，他自信这位导演会对他们提供的选择感到满意，然而却意外地发现情况刚好相反。薛义森说，我们试图说服他，自然的波浪不可能完美地模仿，但他对海浪非常了解，他一定看过很多书。李安的发言人没有立即回复置评请求。
General Manager Mori Hsueh said he had been 'confident' that the director would be pleased with their offerings, but was surprised to discover the opposite. 'We tried to convince him that natural waves couldn't be imitated perfectly,' said Mr. Hsueh. 'But he was very knowledgeable about ocean waves. He must have read a lot of books.' A spokeswoman for Mr. Lee didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

被认为是台湾最高水准的当地制作团队成员也遭遇了强力改造。其中一些成员曾经参与拍摄知名度很高的史诗大片《赛德克•巴莱》(Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale)，他们一开始质疑李安十分耗时的要求。台湾拍摄场地的布景协调人Chang-Jang Lin-hun说，场景要求一座房子看上去好像是经历了多年的风吹雨淋。当地承包商的做法就是简单地在房子上画一层水渍。
Local crew members, considered Taiwan's best, were also whipped into shape. A number had worked on high-profile historical epic 'Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale,' and they at first questioned Mr. Lee's time-consuming requests. According to Chang-Jang Lin-hun, a construction coordinator for the Taiwan shoot, the set required a house to look as if it had been weathered by rain for years. The local contractors would have simply painted a water stain at the house's base.

好莱坞团队的做法是怎样的？让染了色的水从屋顶往下滴了一整天，造成理想的破败效果。Chang说，看上去自然多了。
The Hollywood team's approach? Let colored water drip from the roof for an entire day to produce the desired dilapidated effect. '[It] looked much more natural,' Mr. Chang said.

操偶师助理Francis Lee也认为为了拍好这部影片需要学习的东西很多。他回忆起李安要求找一颗上世纪70年代时使用的钉子时说，他们注重每一个细节，真的是每一个细节。他说，不过后来，本地的制作成员觉得我们又拿了个学位，我们实际上可以将自己所见所学用到其他的本地项目上，帮助提高整个行业的水准；这就像扩展了这部影片的精神。
Puppeteer assistant Francis Lee agrees that the learning curve on the film was steep. 'They paid attention to every detail. I mean every detail,' he said, recalling a request from Mr. Lee to find a nail used in the 1970s. Later, however, 'the local crew felt we had earned another diploma,' he added. 'We could actually apply what we'd learnt or seen to other local projects, and help improve the practice of the industry. It's like extending the spirit of 'Life of Pi.''

电影拍摄完成后，李安将影片中的水槽捐给了台中市政府。这个水槽的规模是亚洲最大的之一。台中市政府发言人Shih Ching-wen对《华尔街日报》说，李安选择台中拍摄影片的事实提升了这座城市的自信。Shih Ching-wen说，他在发表获奖感言时感谢了台中市，我们非常感动；李安鼓舞了很多人，尤其是志向远大的台湾电影人。
Once filming was over, Mr. Lee donated the movie's water tank, one of the biggest in Asia, to the Taichung City Government. Taichung government spokeswoman Shih Ching-wen told the Journal that the fact Mr. Lee chose to shoot his film in Taichung gave the city a boost of confidence. 'We were very touched when he thanked Taichung City in his [Oscar] speech,' Ms. Shih said. 'Ang Lee is an inspiring man to many people, especially to the aspiring filmmakers in Taiwan.'

台中市正在兴建一个“影城公园”，那个水槽将是吸引游客的一大景点。市政府还说，好莱坞导演马丁•西科塞斯(Martin Scorsese)以及香港导演吴宇森和徐克都咨询过租用该水槽拍电影的事，但没有进一步说明详情。
Taichung is now building a 'movie-studio park' that will feature the tank as one of its attractions for tourists. The government also says Martin Scorsese and Hong Kong-based directors John Woo and Tsui Hark have inquired about leasing the tank for film projects. It declined to elaborate further.

至于巴比伦泳池公司，薛义森说他即将签定合同，将水槽租给一家美国波浪技术研究公司，租期最长为半年。该公司说，还接到了台湾和中国大陆水上乐园的咨询。
As for Babylon Pool, Mr. Hsueh says he is close to signing a contract to lease the tank to a U.S.-based wave-technology research company for up to half a year. The company says it has also received inquiries from waterparks in Taiwan and China.