I had hoped that the movie Crazy Rich Asians, which opens in theaters in the mainland today, would be a satire about the decadent lives of those who inherit astonishing amounts of wealth without ever doing anything to earn it. It’s not. It is a celebration of the lifestyles of young men and women who have no purpose in life except trying to look stylish and who think nothing of taking a private jet to fly from Singapore to Shanghai just to buy a million-dollar-plus bauble.
電影《摘金奇緣》于今天在中國(guó)內(nèi)地影院上映，我曾希望這部影片會(huì)諷刺那些繼承巨額財(cái)富、不勞而獲的人的頹廢生活。然而，事實(shí)并非如此?！墩鹌婢墶犯桧灹艘蝗喝松恳饬x就是追求時(shí)尚的年輕男女的生活方式，他們把乘坐私人飛機(jī)從新加坡飛往上海買一件價(jià)值上百萬(wàn)美元的飾物視為家常便飯。

This movie has been widely praised by the politically-correct American chattering class for being the first movie in twenty years to feature an all Asian cast. (They don’t count movies actually made in Asian countries.) The argument is that Asians will feel empowered by seeing someone like themselves in a movie. But, I’m confident that none of the hard-working people I know in China would see anything of themselves in the shallow, spoiled, pointless money-worshippers depicted in this movie.
這部電影在政治正確的美國(guó)意見領(lǐng)袖中好評(píng)如潮，因?yàn)樗?0年來(lái)第一部全亞裔演員主演的電影(他們并不將亞洲國(guó)家制作的電影計(jì)算在內(nèi))。他們認(rèn)為，亞洲人會(huì)因?yàn)樵陔娪爸锌吹脚c自己相似的演員而備受鼓舞。但是，我確信，沒有一個(gè)我認(rèn)識(shí)的勤勞的中國(guó)人能從這部電影描繪的膚淺、嬌生慣養(yǎng)、無(wú)所事事的拜金主義者身上看到自己的影子。

I’m amazed that the film has not been criticized for its glorification of great wealth and careless, extravagant spending. What happened to the outrage against income inequality? America’s fashionable posers only pretend to care about that.
我驚訝的是，這部電影并未因歌頌有錢任性、揮霍無(wú)度的生活方式而受到批評(píng)。對(duì)收入不平等的憤慨哪去了？趕時(shí)髦的美國(guó)“造勢(shì)者”只是假裝關(guān)心這個(gè)問題罷了。

This is a Hollywood movie, not an Asian movie. It reflects the values of Hollywood, not of most Asians—nor of most Americans.
這不是一部亞洲電影，而是一部好萊塢電影。它反映的既不是大多數(shù)亞洲人的價(jià)值觀，也不是大多數(shù)美國(guó)人的價(jià)值觀，而是好萊塢的價(jià)值觀。

As might be expected, the director, Jon M. Chu, is best known for having directed two Justin Bieber documentaries. After visiting the Amsterdam hiding place of Anne Frank, Bieber famously wrote that he hoped “she would have been a Belieber,” (his word for one of his fans) if she had just not been so unfortunate as to have died in the Nazi Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. Followers of Justin Bieber should love this movie.
可以料到，導(dǎo)演朱浩偉最出名的就是執(zhí)導(dǎo)了兩部賈斯汀·比伯的紀(jì)錄片。在阿姆斯特丹參觀了安妮·弗蘭克的藏身之處后，比伯寫下了那句著名的: “她本會(huì)成為我的粉絲”，如果她沒有死在貝爾根·貝爾森納粹集中營(yíng)。賈斯汀·比伯的粉絲們應(yīng)該會(huì)很喜歡《摘金奇緣》。

There are some gorgeous views of Singapore, but they are repetitive. After two long hours, even such photography becomes boring.
雖然電影展現(xiàn)了新加坡的靚麗風(fēng)景，但它們反反復(fù)復(fù)出現(xiàn)。兩小時(shí)之后，即使再迷人的風(fēng)景也會(huì)索然無(wú)味。

The story is Jane Austen without the wit or the insight into human emotions.
該片就是簡(jiǎn)?奧斯汀式的劇情，但缺少了簡(jiǎn)?奧斯的風(fēng)趣機(jī)智和對(duì)人類情感的洞察力。

Our heroine, Rachel Chu, played by daytime soap opera actress Constance Wu, is a Chinese-American economics professor at New York University. Her boyfriend, Nick Young, played by Singaporean Henry Golding, is also a professor of something or other at the university.
片中女主是紐約大學(xué)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)教授，美籍華裔瑞秋?周（日間肥皂劇女演員吳恬敏飾），她的男友是同校教授尼克?楊（新加坡人亨利?戈?duì)柖★棧?/p>

Rachel’s mother arrived in New York from China while pregnant, later telling Rachel that her father died before she was born. Working her way up from poverty, Rachel’s mother eventually becomes a successful middle-class real-estate agent in Queens.
瑞秋的母親懷著身孕從中國(guó)來(lái)到紐約，后來(lái)瑞秋得知，她的父親在她出生前就去世了。瑞秋的母親通過努力工作擺脫了貧困，最終成為皇后區(qū)一名成功的中產(chǎn)階級(jí)房地產(chǎn)經(jīng)紀(jì)人。

We are told that Nick and Rachel are in love. But there seems to be no chemistry between them. There is not enough story to explain why they love each other, except that they are both pretty good looking.
雖然劇情設(shè)定尼克和瑞秋在談戀愛，但是他們之間似乎并沒有什么火花。除了兩人顏值都不錯(cuò)之外，沒有足夠的劇情解釋他們?yōu)槭裁聪鄲邸?/p>

Nick unexpectedly asks her to accompany him back to Singapore, where he will be best man in a wedding. Rachel has no idea that he is rich until they are booked into a first-class bedroom for the flight.
尼克突然邀請(qǐng)瑞秋陪他回新加坡參加婚禮，在婚禮上，尼克將擔(dān)任伴郎。直到他們訂了頭等艙的機(jī)票，瑞秋才知道原來(lái)尼克是富豪。

The plot from there is predictable. Nick’s family rejects Rachel because she is not from a wealthy family. There are lots of photos of how the super-rich live and party. She overcomes lots of snubs to eventually get her man.
故事情節(jié)可想而知。尼克的家人因瑞秋并非出自名門而拒絕接受她。影片中有許多描寫超級(jí)富豪生活和聚會(huì)的場(chǎng)景。瑞秋遭受了眾多冷遇，最終克服困難守住了自己的愛情。

Nick catches Rachel to propose marriage to Rachel while she is boarding her economy-class flight back to New York. But he does this only after getting permission from his mother. What a brave hero.
尼克在瑞秋登機(jī)坐經(jīng)濟(jì)艙回紐約時(shí)，向她求婚。但他是在得到自己母親的允許后才敢這樣做的。真是個(gè)“勇敢的”英雄！

Nick’s mother, our villain, played by Michelle Yeoh, is ridiculed as a hypocrite. She spends more in a week, maybe in a day, than most people earn in a lifetime, but still quotes the Gospel of Matthew: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on Earth, where moths and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal.…For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
作為劇中反派，尼克的母親（楊紫瓊飾）被嘲是偽善者。她一個(gè)星期，或許是一天花的錢都超過大部分人一生賺的錢，但她仍然引用了《馬太福音》中的話:“不要囤積凡間的財(cái)物，害蟲會(huì)毀壞，小偷會(huì)盜走……真正的財(cái)寶，應(yīng)該是在心所在的地方?！?/p>

It’s easy to make fun of such hypocrisy, but is the shallow hedonism and vast social irresponsibility glorified by this movie better?
取笑這種虛偽很容易，但電影里被美化了的膚淺享樂主義和社會(huì)上普遍的不負(fù)責(zé)任又能好到哪兒去呢？

In order to write this review, I felt it was my duty to read the trilogy of books by Singaporean Kevin Kwan, on which the movie is based. Be warned, the second book moves the story to mainland China. It turns out that Rachel’s real father is one of the richest men in China. That makes her acceptable to Nick’s family and friends. So, don’t worry—everything is okay in the end.
為了寫這篇影評(píng)，我認(rèn)為我有義務(wù)去讀讀這部電影的原著——新加坡作家關(guān)凱文的《瘋狂的亞洲富豪》三部曲。值得一提的是，第二部將故事設(shè)定在中國(guó)大陸。原來(lái)瑞秋的生父是中國(guó)大富豪之一。她因此獲得了尼克的家人和朋友的認(rèn)可。所以，別擔(dān)心，最后一切都會(huì)好起來(lái)的。

I’VE BEEN TRYING TO FIGURE OUT HOW CHINA TRANSFORMED ITSELF IN FORTY YEARS FROM ONE OF THE POOREST COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD TO ITS CURRENT MIDDLE-INCOME STATUS. SO, I’VE ASKED LOTS OF CHINESE WHY THEY THINK THIS WAS POSSIBLE. THE ALMOST UNIVERSAL ANSWER IS THAT IT’S BECAUSE CHINESE PEOPLE WORK SO HARD.
我一直都想弄明白，在過去的四十年里，中國(guó)是如何從一個(gè)全球最貧窮的國(guó)家之一躍入中等收入國(guó)家行列。為此，我采訪了許多中國(guó)人，問他們中國(guó)是如何做到的。而最普遍的答案就是因?yàn)橹袊?guó)人民十分勤勞。

CHINA DAILY HAS HAD MANY STORIES OF YOUNG PEOPLE WHO WERE ABLE TO OVERCOME POVERTY BY THE DINT OF HARD WORK AND BY BUILDING UP BUSINESSES.
《中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)》報(bào)道了許多青年通過努力工作和自主創(chuàng)業(yè)擺脫貧困的故事。

LET’S SEE SOME MOVIES ABOUT THE REAL CRAZY, HARD-WORKING ASIANS.
讓我們?nèi)タ匆恍┲v述真正瘋狂、勤勞的亞洲人的電影吧。

翻譯：王艮艮（實(shí)習(xí)）
編審：董靜 丹妮
音頻編輯：焦?jié)?br>更多內(nèi)容請(qǐng)關(guān)注“CHINA DAILY”微信公眾號(hào)：

About author and broadcaster

David Blair writes for the international weekly editions of China Daily.