國外影評人是如何評價《小時代》的？

　　Writer-turned-director Guo Jingming brings his series of adaptations of his own Shanghai-set romance novels to a close.

　　Catfights, cancer, corporate conspiracies, cosmetic surgery, Chippendale-aping striptease: true to style, Chinese novelist-turned-filmmaker Guo Jingming has thrown in everything but the kitchen sink in Tiny Times 4.0, the latest and final installment in his tetralogy of adaptations of his novels about the fluctuating friendships among four young women in modern-day Shanghai.

　　Just like his characters, however, Guo seems to have not matured into his new artistic calling: despite being flanked by two "executive directors," he remains completely at a loss in adapting his material to the constraints of the film medium. He simply doesn't do structure and subtlety, as is evident in the awkwardly reshot and re-edited scenes aimed at reducing the presence of the drug-busted and black-listed actor Kai Ko.

　　The myriad cracks in the previous installments have largely been papered over by Guo's near-maximalist representation of material excess. Indifference is not actually an option when confronted with something so over-the-top and in-your-face. Having pared back on the bling-fueled bluster - perhaps due to slashed budgets, or the need to avoid censure from a current Chinese leadership bent on advocating austere lifestyles - Tiny Times 4.0 reveals itself as a novice visual storyteller's failed attempt to inject gravitas into a tired premise.

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　　While steadfast Chinese fans will most probably support Guo and his stellar cast to the very end - a loyalty epitomized by the $32.2 million gross it has attained in the country during the first two days after its July 9 opening - the film's takings have been eaten into somewhat by the release of the similarly teen-oriented bosom-buddies drama Forever Young. The film's fortunes beyond China are minimal; 3.0 has, for the moment, yet to be picked up for release.

　　As for many a film series, the uninitiated need not apply. Guo doesn't suffer newcomers gladly in his universe. And after the plethora of characters being thrown into the mix in the third film - most of them young hunks bearing the same muscular physique and furrowed-brow expression - the labyrinthine web of relationships poses a near-impenetrable challenge for anyone beyond the diehard.

　　Picking up where the third film left off, 4.0 mostly revolves around the trials of Lily (the bankable Amber Kuo), the once-rich queen bee who finds herself near financial ruin because of the debts left behind by her father. Perhaps fearing that the number-crunching might be too daunting for his target demographic, Guo has given Lily the more relatable trial of having to combat a newly diagnosed cancer. Too proud to seek solace from anyone around her, Lily sets off a chain of self-destructive events which lead to her estrangement from erstwhile best friends Lin Xiao (Mini Yang), Nan Xiang (Bea Hayden Kuo) and Ruby (Sie Yi-lin).

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　　As Tiny Times soars into its climactic grand finale, tragedies abound as relationships are cast asunder. Lin Xiao's personal and private lives spiral into oblivion in quick succession; the femme fatale of the four, Nan Xiang reveals her true social-climbing colors as she eases her way into the heart of her boss (Vivian Dawson) and up the greasy corporate pole; and Ruby, the jester of the group, recoils from contact with anyone else as she struggles to recover from the disfiguring aftermath of her falling out with her friends.

　　Probably more at ease unveiling his intertwining storylines across wide swathes of space in print, Guo struggles to pace his plotlines. Rather than offering a script in which characters are sketched out of small but revealing and symbolic gestures, he has instead hedged his bets on pretty faces striking poses which try and fail to signify sadness. Tiny Times 4.0 is an anti-climax that brings an erstwhile controversial and cacophonous cinematic juggernaut to a whimpering close.

　　《小時代4》是由作家轉(zhuǎn)型的導(dǎo)演郭敬明根據(jù)他自己的小說改編的電影四部曲的最新一集、也是最后一集，小說講述的是四個生活在當(dāng)代上海的女孩之間起伏不定的友情。在電影里，郭敬明堆砌了所有的東西：撕逼，癌癥，公司里的勾心斗角，整容手術(shù)，Chippendale式的裸男，唯獨沒有現(xiàn)實。

　　不過，就像他的角色一樣，郭敬明在新的藝術(shù)領(lǐng)域里的嘗試看起來并不成熟。盡管有兩名“執(zhí)行導(dǎo)演”的輔佐，但郭敬明在把自己的小說改編成電影時卻完全迷失了。他完全不管電影的結(jié)構(gòu)和質(zhì)感;這一點在那些為了減少因為吸毒被抓而上了黑名單的柯震東的出場而重新拍攝和剪輯的拙劣場景中體現(xiàn)得尤為明顯。

　　前幾集里，巨大的情節(jié)漏洞基本上被郭敬明用對物質(zhì)最大化的鋪陳給糊弄掩蓋了過去，面對那樣毫無節(jié)制的、挑釁似地扔了你一臉的物質(zhì)展示，要無動于衷是不可能的。《小時代4》減少了這樣珠光寶氣的炫耀，這可能是因為預(yù)算的削減，也可能是為了避免被倡導(dǎo)艱苦樸素生活方式的人批評。于是，這部影片就暴露出了一個視覺敘事新手在試圖給一個陳舊的主題賦予嚴(yán)肅性時所遭遇的失敗。

　　7月9日上線的《小時代4》兩天內(nèi)在中國攬下3220萬美元，顯示了狂熱的粉絲們將會對郭敬明和他星光熠熠的卡司團隊支持到底，不過它們的票房部分地受到了另一部瞄準(zhǔn)青少年的花樣少年題材電影《梔子花開》的影響。而在中國以外，這部電影的市場前景幾近于無;《小時代3》到目前為止還沒有在海外上映。

　　許多系列電影都不適合對其不太了解的人觀看，郭敬明構(gòu)建的宇宙對新觀眾來說也并不輕松。第三部里混雜了大量的人物角色，其中大多數(shù)是年輕健壯的美男子，他們有著一樣的肌肉和一樣的眉頭深鎖的表情。如果不是資深粉絲，要弄清這樣繁雜如迷宮一樣的人物關(guān)系對于任何人來說都是幾乎不可能的挑戰(zhàn)。

　　第四部延續(xù)第三部的情節(jié)發(fā)展，主要圍繞對顧里的審判展開，這是一個曾經(jīng)富有、但因為父親留下的債而陷入財政危機的女王蜂。也許是擔(dān)心具體的審判過程對于他的目標(biāo)觀影群體來說有點太難了，郭敬明給了顧里一個更容易讓觀眾理解的審判方式——與剛剛診斷出來的癌癥作斗爭。由于太過驕傲而不愿意向身邊任何人尋求安慰，顧里開始了一系列自我毀壞的舉動，導(dǎo)致了她與曾經(jīng)的好友林蕭、南湘和唐宛如漸漸疏遠(yuǎn)。

　　也許郭敬明能夠更加得心應(yīng)手地用文字來展開互相交織的故事線，而在電影里，情節(jié)的把握對他來說變得相當(dāng)艱難。他的劇本沒有能夠讓角色去做出那些細(xì)微但是一目了然的肢體語言，而是把寶押在了讓漂亮臉蛋擺pose上，結(jié)果完全沒有傳遞出悲傷的情感?！缎r代4》是一部反高潮的電影，此前極富爭議、充斥刺耳雜音的來勢，最終以一個低迷的結(jié)尾收場。

　　譯者：假裝在紐約

　　除了《好萊塢報道者》，目前還沒有看到別的主要外媒關(guān)注《小時代4》。不過，兩年前的《小時代2》曾經(jīng)被很多媒體集中報道。美國另一份娛樂行業(yè)的專業(yè)媒體《綜藝》(Variety)當(dāng)時是這樣評論的。

　　因為泛濫的物質(zhì)主義和荒謬編造的情節(jié)設(shè)置，《小時代》曾在中國的微博上遭到嘲笑。比如說，一個剛剛畢業(yè)的大學(xué)生怎么可能立即當(dāng)上CFO?不過，來自四川小城的男孩郭敬明，為主要來自乏味的二線城市的大眾編織了一個大都會之夢。從這一點來看，所有矯揉造作的賣弄就和一個小女孩偷偷試媽媽的口紅那樣，既可愛又無害。郭敬明也許是把物質(zhì)的豐裕變成了讓人著迷的奇觀，可巴茲·魯赫曼(《了不起的蓋茨比》導(dǎo)演)也是這么做的;看到片中角色如同機場跑道一樣的更衣室，你甚至可能會想到蓋茨比那些剪裁考究的襯衫。

　　炫目光鮮的制作會讓觀眾覺得自己在精品服裝店或者家具展廳里被困了兩個小時，但是電影在審美上的許多處理方式卻充斥著壞品味。攝影車亮逸用了很多夸張的鏡頭運動和糟糕構(gòu)圖讓劇情發(fā)展顯得不自然;顧曉蕓的剪輯一塌糊涂;而候志堅的煽情配樂一直就沒停過，有時把人物的談話都給淹沒了。

　　《紐約時報》也曾經(jīng)接連發(fā)了兩篇關(guān)于《小時代》的文章，這里節(jié)選一下。

　　布魯克林或許屬于莉娜·杜漢姆(Lena Dunham)和《緋聞女孩》(Girls)。而在《小時代2》中，編劇兼導(dǎo)演郭敬明繼續(xù)改編自己的成長三部曲小說，講述四個從中學(xué)起就是好朋友的年輕女人在當(dāng)今這個野心勃勃、物欲橫流的上海尋找自己道路的故事。“姐妹情有力量”，這句話似乎很容易被翻譯成普通話。

　　《小時代》第一部推出了四個女主角：時髦、富有、全能媽媽一樣的顧里;多才多藝的藝術(shù)家南湘;胖乎乎又花癡的唐宛如，以及敘事者、“普通”女孩林蕭。有點像年輕版、無性版的《欲望都市》(不過《小時代》里的都市可能就等于性，它如同一個令人眼花繚亂的奧茲國，充滿光彩熠熠的建筑和奢侈品牌)。

　　《小時代》對《穿普拉達(dá)的女魔頭》(The Devil Wears Prada)借鑒頗多，比如林蕭就是在一個要求很高的時尚雜志編輯手下當(dāng)實習(xí)生，并證明了自己;不同之處是，她的上司是個男人，名叫宮洺，有點像凱莉 (Carrie Bradshaw)的Mr. Big，只不過這個人物長得更像湯姆·克魯斯。

　　該片第一部今年夏天在中國票房極佳，因此郭敬明提前發(fā)行了這部續(xù)作。這一集里，四位主角已從大學(xué)畢業(yè)，上演了一部關(guān)于背叛與分手、誤會與原諒、疾病與死亡、董事會會議室政治與公司收購的肥皂劇。20多歲的人就是這樣，你懂的。

　　作為娛樂片，這是一部典型的粗制濫造之作。但是這部影片同時也是一種幻想，一種結(jié)合了崛起的財富與西方生活方式的21世紀(jì)青年文化的產(chǎn)物。

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