When it comes to food, I am not that picky, my philosophy when it comes to food: eat to live as compared to live to eat :) Went dinner at around 7pm just now. Since I'm alone, I see no point in spending too much on food so just look for some place and chin chai eat. Last few days I have been eating at food courts but most of them are closed by this time so I wandered to a Japanese cafe near Kinokuniya. Had one of those chicken-don and by the time I finished, it was about 8pm.
As I made my way out, I noticed the streets were unusually dark. Most shops are closed by 7pm on weekdays too but I dont recall seeing so much darkness along the streets. Anyway I dont have any place to go so went straight back to hotel. I switched on the TV to watch the FINA Swimming Championship. In between the telecast, there was a news update and then I got to know that Sydney is dimming the lights tonight to protest emissions. So-des-neh! When I looked out from my hotel room window, alot of buildings doesn't have their usual lightings on.
Surfed the web and read more about it. Found that that this exercise starts from 7.30pm for one hour and city officials, thousands of businesses and many more residents cut the lights for energy conservation. No wonder lah, when I was having dinner just now, at one point, one part of the cafe lights suddenly went off and a few diners including me, thought the lights went kaputt.
Luckily I didnt plan to go to see the Harbour Bridge and the Opera house tonight cos I went there this afternoon and took alot of pictures already. Also took some night shots on one of the weekday nights.
It was also reported that Sydney is not the first place to cut the lights for conservation. In February, Paris and other parts of France dimmed the lights for five minutes in a similar gesture, Rome and Athens also took part in it.
I think at some point, we are all guilty in not doing enough to conserve energy. In Singapore, no doubt our weather is hot and humid, in certain places I feel we are using too much aircon. One example is the Geylang East library near my place. I go there very often, at least thrice a week and it is so cold, dont know why they have to set it to so low. I have not feedbacked to them yet, think I should do it and see what they have to say about it.
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Monday, March 26, 2007
"Oh I know" - As fake as it is
The last few days have been a busy one for me at my customer site but I'm glad the people that I worked with are quite nice and are patient enough, despite the many teething problems that are still unresolved.
Don't worry, I'm not going to bore you by blogging about my work stuff but thought I share with you some of my observation at my customer site.
The customer office has an open concept, you don't see manager's room at all, only meeting rooms and the managers sit together with the other employees. The temporary place that I am seated is quite open, so there are alot of people walking pass me every now and then.
During the hours of analysing log files, troubleshooting issues, I will be staring at the computer screen, clicking with the mouse and typing away on my keyboard. Perhaps I am very used to this kind of quiet working environment like in my office, so when there are some noise or people talking loudly, I get abit distracted.
There is this group of ladies who sits very near my cubicle and they like to make small talk and it seems so fake if you listen to their conversation. Lady A complains that her eyes hurts and Lady B sympthaise with a "Oh, I know" and go on to share her story how her eyes hurt also the last time. Later on, someone talks about the weather getting warmer or something and then you hear the "Oh, I know" reply again. I dunno if it comes from the same lady or not, but I keep hearing "Oh, I know", "Oh, I know" that it really sounds so fake to me!
Maybe its just this group of ladies or its some Australian or angmoh way of what we Singaporeans saying "Ya lor" to acknowledge what the other person is saying.
Have you watched the BBC Productions "The Fawlty Towers" ? I highly recommend it, its good old British comedy at its best! This "Oh I know" encounter reminds me of this scene where John Cleese was getting ready to bed and her wife is still on the phone. The husband keep looking at the wife cos the wife isnt talking much but keep saying "Oh I know", "Oh I know" while doing her nails :) The way she did her "Oh I know" is so classic and pretenious that I think those ladies in the office must have try to learn it from her but falls flat in their delivery! Haha.
I am a person with a few words, friends who know me will be able to testify that and if I don't have much to comment, I will not say much. I'm also quite bad in making small talk, and rather than cracking my head on what to say to the person, I prefer to stay quiet. Of cos, I'm not imposing people to stay quiet and not to make small talk, just want to share this incident.
I rather be quiet and be real then try to say something out of nothing, making it look so fake :)
Don't worry, I'm not going to bore you by blogging about my work stuff but thought I share with you some of my observation at my customer site.
The customer office has an open concept, you don't see manager's room at all, only meeting rooms and the managers sit together with the other employees. The temporary place that I am seated is quite open, so there are alot of people walking pass me every now and then.
During the hours of analysing log files, troubleshooting issues, I will be staring at the computer screen, clicking with the mouse and typing away on my keyboard. Perhaps I am very used to this kind of quiet working environment like in my office, so when there are some noise or people talking loudly, I get abit distracted.
There is this group of ladies who sits very near my cubicle and they like to make small talk and it seems so fake if you listen to their conversation. Lady A complains that her eyes hurts and Lady B sympthaise with a "Oh, I know" and go on to share her story how her eyes hurt also the last time. Later on, someone talks about the weather getting warmer or something and then you hear the "Oh, I know" reply again. I dunno if it comes from the same lady or not, but I keep hearing "Oh, I know", "Oh, I know" that it really sounds so fake to me!
Maybe its just this group of ladies or its some Australian or angmoh way of what we Singaporeans saying "Ya lor" to acknowledge what the other person is saying.
Have you watched the BBC Productions "The Fawlty Towers" ? I highly recommend it, its good old British comedy at its best! This "Oh I know" encounter reminds me of this scene where John Cleese was getting ready to bed and her wife is still on the phone. The husband keep looking at the wife cos the wife isnt talking much but keep saying "Oh I know", "Oh I know" while doing her nails :) The way she did her "Oh I know" is so classic and pretenious that I think those ladies in the office must have try to learn it from her but falls flat in their delivery! Haha.
I am a person with a few words, friends who know me will be able to testify that and if I don't have much to comment, I will not say much. I'm also quite bad in making small talk, and rather than cracking my head on what to say to the person, I prefer to stay quiet. Of cos, I'm not imposing people to stay quiet and not to make small talk, just want to share this incident.
I rather be quiet and be real then try to say something out of nothing, making it look so fake :)
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Off to Sydney
G'day mate! Hope I will get used to the Aussie's accent, quite difficult to hear what they are saying sometimes.
I am at Terminal 2 now, going to check in very soon. Still very full from dinner, so probably have to skip my soon kueh :)
Will update on my trip soon, keeping my fingers crossed that customer will not be too difficult to handle.
Ciao!
I am at Terminal 2 now, going to check in very soon. Still very full from dinner, so probably have to skip my soon kueh :)
Will update on my trip soon, keeping my fingers crossed that customer will not be too difficult to handle.
Ciao!
Friday, March 23, 2007
Busy
Been quite busy with work for the past week so have not blogged for awhile. There have been some teething problems with one of our products and was pulled to help out with the support, getting up at 6, 7am to have conference call with customer as well as our US office. Yesterday boss told me that I need to make a trip to customer site as customer demanded someone down to help resolve some issues. Intitially it was requested that our US engineer do the visit but due to resources issues, I have been tasked to do it. It's a dirty job, really, mainly to help 'clear customer sh*t' :( but no choice, have to go.
Customer site at Sydney and by pure coincidence, wifey is also travelling to Sydney on the same day! She is going there to attend a training but hers was booked a few months back but mine just 1 day notice. Have tried to get my reservation on the same flight as hers but fully booked, so my flight is at 8pm+ , hers around midnight. Looking at the bright side, it's nice to have both of us at Sydney at the same time, at company's account :)
It's my second trip down under, been to Sydney back in 2003. Will be there for a week and after this trip, come back rest for 2 days and I will set off to Tokyo with family for holidays! Looking forward to it, hope can see cherry blossoms.
Customer site at Sydney and by pure coincidence, wifey is also travelling to Sydney on the same day! She is going there to attend a training but hers was booked a few months back but mine just 1 day notice. Have tried to get my reservation on the same flight as hers but fully booked, so my flight is at 8pm+ , hers around midnight. Looking at the bright side, it's nice to have both of us at Sydney at the same time, at company's account :)
It's my second trip down under, been to Sydney back in 2003. Will be there for a week and after this trip, come back rest for 2 days and I will set off to Tokyo with family for holidays! Looking forward to it, hope can see cherry blossoms.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Duets: An American Classic
Haven't buy any new music CD for quite a long time already.
Bought Tony Bennett latest release: Duets: An American Classic today. This album won him the recent 2007 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. By the way, he is 81 years old but vocals still so good!
Some notable tracks that I enjoyed : I LEFT MY HEART IN SAN FRANCISCO, HOW DO YOU KEEP THE MUSIC PLAYING? – duet with George Michael, SMILE – duet with Barbra Streisand, JUST IN TIME – duet with Michael Bublé and FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE – duet with Stevie Wonder.
I like the James Ingram and Patti Austin's version of "How do you keep the music playing", this new collaboration by Tony and GM is quite nice too.
Check out this awesome performance by Tony and Stevie, especially Stevie's harmonica part:
and with Barbra:
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
《剃头刀》的吊诡
Titoudao reviewed on ZaoBao 13th March.
2007-03-13
文／周文龙
看《剃头刀》演出，我像是翻阅一本泛黄相簿，勾起很多过去回忆，包括第一次看《剃头刀》的印象。
我想，吴文德开始创作《剃头刀》时，有很多深刻的情感在里头，想一口气倾吐出来。尤其是他对母亲的感恩，对街戏沦落的愤愤不平，对时代面貌的缅怀，都在舞台上显露无遗。这使《剃头刀》贴近吴文德内心的炽热情感，有种超越文本的悸动。
■触动人心的情感没有了
重演《剃头刀》，这种触动人心的情感没有了，吴文德收起昔日激情，更冷静地审视这出戏，更精确地设计演出的场面效果。
看看新《剃头刀》的演员阵容：黄淑贞、谢敏、陈瑞彪、蔡恩来、陈慧娟、阿蒂丽(Alin Mosbit）等。他们都是目前本地剧场最炙手可热的演员群，深受观众喜爱。而吴文德也擅于利用观众对演员的熟悉度，让演员不时在舞台上跟观众进行互动，增加剧场的热闹气氛，使观众融入剧情里。偶尔演员掺杂流行话题如“Rain演唱会”“你们不听我就投票给Hammer”等，更贴近观众生活，引起他们哄堂大笑。
总的来说，演员表演自然生动，彼此之间也颇有默契。比较不足的是，所有演员都非福建大戏出身，演起福建大戏来，唱腔、咬字和做工都有得改进。唯有陈瑞彪演得认真，福建大戏表演算是“上得了台面”。
这实则也带出演出一个引人深思的问题：《剃头刀》要说的是什么？
■观众想看道地的福建大戏吗？
在演出中，吴文德借演员黄淑郑之口，对本地传统街戏渐渐被时髦歌剧和音乐剧所取代感到愤慨。对他而言，街戏的精致性不在外国歌剧音乐剧之下，其美学意义有时更超出后者。通过《剃头刀》演出，他希望观众能正视街戏为重要的艺术形式。
然而这次演出观众所接触的，是一群英语演员所演出的福建大戏。这些人演得很认真，态度很积极，但他们那“半生不熟”的演出，老实说并没有带出福建大戏的精彩性，有时倒成为笑点。譬如马来演员阿蒂丽那生硬的福建话，还有蔡恩来夸张的戏曲动作，都是逗起观众笑声的滑稽元素。
如果今天的演出换成正式的福建大戏，由道道地地的福建大戏演员来演出，是否会如此受落呢？观众会想看吗？还是他们更想看“半生不熟”的福建大戏呢？
这些都是我看《剃头刀》时产生的吊诡问题。
同样是彰显传统艺术魅力，赖声川的《暗恋桃花源》找来的是一流的明华园歌仔戏团，演出一流的歌仔戏，让你在笑声中同时被歌仔戏演员的沉稳表演功底所震慑。《剃头刀》也叫人嘻哈绝倒，但笑声后却是空空虚虚的，马上就忘了刚才所笑的是什么了。
在一个变迁的时代，许多人都在寻找新的形式，去留住和发扬传统。或许我们也应细想，这些新形式到底留住和发扬了什么？
2007-03-13
文／周文龙
看《剃头刀》演出，我像是翻阅一本泛黄相簿，勾起很多过去回忆，包括第一次看《剃头刀》的印象。
我想，吴文德开始创作《剃头刀》时，有很多深刻的情感在里头，想一口气倾吐出来。尤其是他对母亲的感恩，对街戏沦落的愤愤不平，对时代面貌的缅怀，都在舞台上显露无遗。这使《剃头刀》贴近吴文德内心的炽热情感，有种超越文本的悸动。
■触动人心的情感没有了
重演《剃头刀》，这种触动人心的情感没有了，吴文德收起昔日激情，更冷静地审视这出戏，更精确地设计演出的场面效果。
看看新《剃头刀》的演员阵容：黄淑贞、谢敏、陈瑞彪、蔡恩来、陈慧娟、阿蒂丽(Alin Mosbit）等。他们都是目前本地剧场最炙手可热的演员群，深受观众喜爱。而吴文德也擅于利用观众对演员的熟悉度，让演员不时在舞台上跟观众进行互动，增加剧场的热闹气氛，使观众融入剧情里。偶尔演员掺杂流行话题如“Rain演唱会”“你们不听我就投票给Hammer”等，更贴近观众生活，引起他们哄堂大笑。
总的来说，演员表演自然生动，彼此之间也颇有默契。比较不足的是，所有演员都非福建大戏出身，演起福建大戏来，唱腔、咬字和做工都有得改进。唯有陈瑞彪演得认真，福建大戏表演算是“上得了台面”。
这实则也带出演出一个引人深思的问题：《剃头刀》要说的是什么？
■观众想看道地的福建大戏吗？
在演出中，吴文德借演员黄淑郑之口，对本地传统街戏渐渐被时髦歌剧和音乐剧所取代感到愤慨。对他而言，街戏的精致性不在外国歌剧音乐剧之下，其美学意义有时更超出后者。通过《剃头刀》演出，他希望观众能正视街戏为重要的艺术形式。
然而这次演出观众所接触的，是一群英语演员所演出的福建大戏。这些人演得很认真，态度很积极，但他们那“半生不熟”的演出，老实说并没有带出福建大戏的精彩性，有时倒成为笑点。譬如马来演员阿蒂丽那生硬的福建话，还有蔡恩来夸张的戏曲动作，都是逗起观众笑声的滑稽元素。
如果今天的演出换成正式的福建大戏，由道道地地的福建大戏演员来演出，是否会如此受落呢？观众会想看吗？还是他们更想看“半生不熟”的福建大戏呢？
这些都是我看《剃头刀》时产生的吊诡问题。
同样是彰显传统艺术魅力，赖声川的《暗恋桃花源》找来的是一流的明华园歌仔戏团，演出一流的歌仔戏，让你在笑声中同时被歌仔戏演员的沉稳表演功底所震慑。《剃头刀》也叫人嘻哈绝倒，但笑声后却是空空虚虚的，马上就忘了刚才所笑的是什么了。
在一个变迁的时代，许多人都在寻找新的形式，去留住和发扬传统。或许我们也应细想，这些新形式到底留住和发扬了什么？
Friday, March 09, 2007
The Lives of others
The Germans have been churning out good films over the last few years and I am glad to have watch them.
2006 The Lives of Others
2005 Sophie Scholl - The Final Days
2004 Downfall
2003 Goodbye Lenin
Looking at the above titles, one probably wonder if the Germans have an obsession with their historical past, in particular with the Nazi era, the fall of the Berlin wall cos most of the recent films have stories revolving around that subject. Admittedly, these are events that shake the world and Germany have a big role in it. The leaders were responsible for the Holocaust and the divergence of the German states and one would think the way out to hide from all these shameful pasts was to sweep it under the carpets and not bring it up again. But no, the modern generation did the opposite. Films starts sprouting over the years and the stories usually centers around issues that happens during the traumatic eras. I must applaude the Germans for having the sanity and courage to show to people what they have done wrong in the past as this serves to remind and educate the young of some worthy history lessons.
I went to catch The Lives of others last week, the film freshed from winning the Best Foreign Film in the recent Academy Awards. The story was set in East Berlin during in 1984 and revolves around the Stasi, which is the secret police of East Germany. The Stasi influenced almost every aspect of life in the East Germans back then and it had a network of civilians who infiltrated their family/friends lives to report to the authorities.
The lead character Gerd Wiesler (looks abit like Kevin Spacey) plays a staunch Stasi agent controller. In his routine job, he interrogates people, with no mercy, till they reveal the underlying facts that the Stasi is after. In a special assignment, he was tasked to spy on a playwright Georg Dreyman, who was suspected of Western leanings. The playright's house was wired and tapped to a nearby room where Gerd sit and listen to the conversations and the exchanges that happens within the house.
I must admit the movie was quite slow paced in the beginning that I dozed off abit :) , but it got better when the story unfolds. Gerd began to empthaise on Georg and this got Gerd's career into trouble ... Heard of the Stockholm syndrome before? Actually the storyline likens to this effect, which is a psychological response sometimes seen for example in an abducted hostage, in which the hostage can show signs of having feelings of loyalty to the hostage-taker, regardless of the danger (or at least risk) in which the hostage has been placed.
Watch it to find out more!
窃听风暴
This film review on The Lives of Others, appeared in ZaoBao on 2nd March.
2007-03-02
江迅
第七十九届奥斯卡金像奖最佳外语片——德国电影《窃听风暴》（The Lives Of Others），虽在中国不能上演，但该片今年农历新年期间却悄然流行，特别是知识界、文化界，一传十，十传百。朋友见面，竟然不说“恭喜发财，身体健康”，而说“你看《窃听风暴》了吗？”
官方不演 民间流行
这是一位中国网民春节期间在“凯迪社区·猫眼看人生”上的帖子：“昨天买了几张碟，其中有部《窃听风暴》，（一译《窃听者》、《别人的生活》、《他人的生活》），朋友坚持要买的。偶（我）以为是类似《国家公敌》的片子，便去上网了。但是那朋友看了不到五分钟便喊道，这个片子你不看，就别在猫眼混了。”
在中国不能上演的这部德国故事片《窃听风暴》，在农历新年期间却悄然流行，特别是知识界、文化界，一传十，十传百，买一张《窃听风暴》DVD回家欣赏，成了许多人春节的一个节目。朋友间见面，竟然不说“恭喜发财，身体健康”，而说“你看了《窃听风暴》了吗？”在德国，《窃听风暴》的影响超越了电影范畴，历史学家和政治学者给予它极高的评价。
时下在中国，观看盗版DVD《窃听风暴》，联系中国现实谈论《窃听风暴》，已经成为一种社会现象，在地下凝聚成一股风暴，在中共十七大召开前的半年，给政治体制改革的热门话题注入了新鲜元素。
另一方面，在最大的中文搜索引擎“百度”搜索一下，“《窃听风暴》”有11万个相关网页，“《窃听风暴》中文字幕”有1100多个网页，此外，还有“《窃听风暴》影评”“《窃听风暴》字幕”“《窃听风暴》迅雷下载”“《窃听风暴》电影”等。
《窃听风暴》是2006年最成功的德国电影，不仅荣获第七十九届奥斯卡金像奖最佳外语片，而且它在享有“德国奥斯卡”之称的罗拉奖评选中获得十一项提名，并获得最佳影片、最佳编剧、最佳导演、最佳男主角、最佳男配角、最佳摄影、最佳美术设计等七个重要奖项，平了1999年《罗拉快跑》的纪录。另外，《窃听风暴》还获得三十二届洛杉矶影评人奖最佳外语片奖，以及第六十四届美国电影电视金球奖最佳外语影片提名。
《窃听风暴》昨晚开始在本地上映。
电影故事：
东德警察的别样生活
这部片长137分钟的剧情片《窃听风暴》，由多纳斯马克(Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck) 导演、编剧，台湾海鹏电影公司发行。故事说的是发生在1984年的事。全东德百姓被100万斯塔西（STASI，前东德国家安全局）秘密警察控制着，还有 200万名告密者，在人口仅1800万的东德，如此多人从事间谍相关活动，堪称史上最为空前绝后的超高密度间谍网。他们窥视着、窃听着东德的每个公民。在东德，600多万人被建立了秘密档案，每3个人中就有一个被监控，如此恐怖的情报工作，造成夫妇、朋友和同事之间到处是线民，监视告密成了人们生活的一部分。
东西德统一后的十几年，前东德国家安全局的作为未被公开提及，前东德公民对历史怀有复杂的情绪，《窃听风暴》是他们首次面对这段历史的集体回忆。
秘密警察奉命监视作家
《窃听风暴》说的是斯塔西中一个名叫戈德·维斯勒的上尉（乌尔里希·穆埃Ulrich Muhe饰演）奉命对作家乔治·德莱曼（塞巴斯蒂安·考奇Sebastian Koch饰演）展开调查。维斯勒是个审讯和窃听专家。他在德莱曼的公寓里安装了监视设备，透过视频观看发生在作家家里的一切，透过窃听了解他的一言一行，对于敏感的、“不正确”的言论，一一记录，报告上级。他可以听到作家和朋友们关于艺术和社会现实的讨论，和女友西兰（玛蒂娜·吉黛克Martina Gedeck饰演）之间私秘的对话和交往。个人生活几乎是空白的维斯勒在窃听他人生活的过程中发生了变化。
暗中保护被监视对象
德莱曼的女友西兰是一位优秀演员，却不得不屈从于文化部长的淫威。维斯勒在监视过程中逐渐对西兰产生了情感，当他监听到德莱曼和西兰的争吵，当他明白西兰遭受的屈辱和所做出的牺牲，他无法忍受了，于是暗中保护这位作家及其女友。不过，他依然尽职地做着他的窃听工作，直到上司的一番话，让他意识到在这个时代，无论你做什么，没有人是绝对安全的。他开始清醒了，于是藏起了原本要上交的报告。
德莱曼揭露东德自杀者现状的文章在西德的杂志发表了，西兰被秘密警察抓捕，德莱曼的家被秘密警察搜查。但由于维斯勒的暗中保护，当局对作家的调查因没有证据而以失败告终。没有完成任务的维斯勒事后平静地接受上司的处分，被调往不起眼的检查邮件的部门。
作家给秘密警察的惊喜
柏林墙倒塌的两年之后，德莱曼给素未谋面的维斯勒一个温暖的惊喜。德莱曼终于知道了维斯勒为他所做的一切，他写了一本书《一个好人的奏鸣曲》，就是关于那位只知编号的秘密警察的故事。当维斯勒走过书店，无意中看到德莱曼这部新书时，他买下了，是送给自己的。作家用一本书来表达感激，秘密警察用这本书作为对良知的奖励。
影评：
对人性的提纯
中共的窃听技术和手段，早在上世纪四十年代就相当先进。由江苏人民出版社出版的《西安事变新探──张学良与中共关系之谜》（杨奎松著）中就有描述。书中说，毛泽东对长期坚守陕北根据地表示乐观的理由之一，就是“红军窃听电话和破译电报工作相当成功，对于敌人军事行动部署几乎了如指掌”。
后柏林墙与后天安门
研究自由主义与中国宪政民主转型的成都大学法学讲师王怡看了《窃听风暴》后说，“我几乎爱上了这部电影”，“这部电影给世界一个机会，尤其是给中国人”。
他说，东德国安部监控了1800万人中的600万，线民人数接近全部人口的十分之一，柏林墙竖起的近30年间，平均每天就有8人以“破坏国家安全”的罪名被捕。
他说，德国统一后，国安部的全部窃听档案，开放给所有公民查阅。这些监控资料一本本铺开，足有1000公里长，无数人发现自己的同事、朋友、律师和医生都是国安部的告密者，整个社会以极大勇气，承受前所未有的道德打击。
1989年的柏林墙和天安门，影片导演是“后柏林墙”一代，而他则是“后天安门”一代。他说：“我能体会一个‘后柏林墙’时代的青年导演，能拍出那样椎心刺骨的创伤。”
新锐导演：
中国缺乏这类影片
凭借电影《世界上最疼我的那个人去了》和《我们俩》获得多项电影节大奖的35岁新锐女导演马俪文看完电影《窃听风暴》后的最大感受是，影片“沉静”地表达给她留下深刻印象。该片不仅有大的历史背景，还关注着个人的命运，并伴随着冷静的思考。中国缺乏这种类型的影片。
中国电视剧四大最卖座导演之一、《东京审判》导演高群书说，《窃听风暴》风格简约，表现手法真实，令他十分欣赏。他说：“生活对人来说不是绝望，而是充满了希望。这部影片是对人性的提纯。”他认为，《窃听风暴》有监视、有特工，但更主要的是表现普通的日常生活，拍出了一波三折的戏剧性，同时还有奇特的温情。
2007-03-02
江迅
第七十九届奥斯卡金像奖最佳外语片——德国电影《窃听风暴》（The Lives Of Others），虽在中国不能上演，但该片今年农历新年期间却悄然流行，特别是知识界、文化界，一传十，十传百。朋友见面，竟然不说“恭喜发财，身体健康”，而说“你看《窃听风暴》了吗？”
官方不演 民间流行
这是一位中国网民春节期间在“凯迪社区·猫眼看人生”上的帖子：“昨天买了几张碟，其中有部《窃听风暴》，（一译《窃听者》、《别人的生活》、《他人的生活》），朋友坚持要买的。偶（我）以为是类似《国家公敌》的片子，便去上网了。但是那朋友看了不到五分钟便喊道，这个片子你不看，就别在猫眼混了。”
在中国不能上演的这部德国故事片《窃听风暴》，在农历新年期间却悄然流行，特别是知识界、文化界，一传十，十传百，买一张《窃听风暴》DVD回家欣赏，成了许多人春节的一个节目。朋友间见面，竟然不说“恭喜发财，身体健康”，而说“你看了《窃听风暴》了吗？”在德国，《窃听风暴》的影响超越了电影范畴，历史学家和政治学者给予它极高的评价。
时下在中国，观看盗版DVD《窃听风暴》，联系中国现实谈论《窃听风暴》，已经成为一种社会现象，在地下凝聚成一股风暴，在中共十七大召开前的半年，给政治体制改革的热门话题注入了新鲜元素。
另一方面，在最大的中文搜索引擎“百度”搜索一下，“《窃听风暴》”有11万个相关网页，“《窃听风暴》中文字幕”有1100多个网页，此外，还有“《窃听风暴》影评”“《窃听风暴》字幕”“《窃听风暴》迅雷下载”“《窃听风暴》电影”等。
《窃听风暴》是2006年最成功的德国电影，不仅荣获第七十九届奥斯卡金像奖最佳外语片，而且它在享有“德国奥斯卡”之称的罗拉奖评选中获得十一项提名，并获得最佳影片、最佳编剧、最佳导演、最佳男主角、最佳男配角、最佳摄影、最佳美术设计等七个重要奖项，平了1999年《罗拉快跑》的纪录。另外，《窃听风暴》还获得三十二届洛杉矶影评人奖最佳外语片奖，以及第六十四届美国电影电视金球奖最佳外语影片提名。
《窃听风暴》昨晚开始在本地上映。
电影故事：
东德警察的别样生活
这部片长137分钟的剧情片《窃听风暴》，由多纳斯马克(Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck) 导演、编剧，台湾海鹏电影公司发行。故事说的是发生在1984年的事。全东德百姓被100万斯塔西（STASI，前东德国家安全局）秘密警察控制着，还有 200万名告密者，在人口仅1800万的东德，如此多人从事间谍相关活动，堪称史上最为空前绝后的超高密度间谍网。他们窥视着、窃听着东德的每个公民。在东德，600多万人被建立了秘密档案，每3个人中就有一个被监控，如此恐怖的情报工作，造成夫妇、朋友和同事之间到处是线民，监视告密成了人们生活的一部分。
东西德统一后的十几年，前东德国家安全局的作为未被公开提及，前东德公民对历史怀有复杂的情绪，《窃听风暴》是他们首次面对这段历史的集体回忆。
秘密警察奉命监视作家
《窃听风暴》说的是斯塔西中一个名叫戈德·维斯勒的上尉（乌尔里希·穆埃Ulrich Muhe饰演）奉命对作家乔治·德莱曼（塞巴斯蒂安·考奇Sebastian Koch饰演）展开调查。维斯勒是个审讯和窃听专家。他在德莱曼的公寓里安装了监视设备，透过视频观看发生在作家家里的一切，透过窃听了解他的一言一行，对于敏感的、“不正确”的言论，一一记录，报告上级。他可以听到作家和朋友们关于艺术和社会现实的讨论，和女友西兰（玛蒂娜·吉黛克Martina Gedeck饰演）之间私秘的对话和交往。个人生活几乎是空白的维斯勒在窃听他人生活的过程中发生了变化。
暗中保护被监视对象
德莱曼的女友西兰是一位优秀演员，却不得不屈从于文化部长的淫威。维斯勒在监视过程中逐渐对西兰产生了情感，当他监听到德莱曼和西兰的争吵，当他明白西兰遭受的屈辱和所做出的牺牲，他无法忍受了，于是暗中保护这位作家及其女友。不过，他依然尽职地做着他的窃听工作，直到上司的一番话，让他意识到在这个时代，无论你做什么，没有人是绝对安全的。他开始清醒了，于是藏起了原本要上交的报告。
德莱曼揭露东德自杀者现状的文章在西德的杂志发表了，西兰被秘密警察抓捕，德莱曼的家被秘密警察搜查。但由于维斯勒的暗中保护，当局对作家的调查因没有证据而以失败告终。没有完成任务的维斯勒事后平静地接受上司的处分，被调往不起眼的检查邮件的部门。
作家给秘密警察的惊喜
柏林墙倒塌的两年之后，德莱曼给素未谋面的维斯勒一个温暖的惊喜。德莱曼终于知道了维斯勒为他所做的一切，他写了一本书《一个好人的奏鸣曲》，就是关于那位只知编号的秘密警察的故事。当维斯勒走过书店，无意中看到德莱曼这部新书时，他买下了，是送给自己的。作家用一本书来表达感激，秘密警察用这本书作为对良知的奖励。
影评：
对人性的提纯
中共的窃听技术和手段，早在上世纪四十年代就相当先进。由江苏人民出版社出版的《西安事变新探──张学良与中共关系之谜》（杨奎松著）中就有描述。书中说，毛泽东对长期坚守陕北根据地表示乐观的理由之一，就是“红军窃听电话和破译电报工作相当成功，对于敌人军事行动部署几乎了如指掌”。
后柏林墙与后天安门
研究自由主义与中国宪政民主转型的成都大学法学讲师王怡看了《窃听风暴》后说，“我几乎爱上了这部电影”，“这部电影给世界一个机会，尤其是给中国人”。
他说，东德国安部监控了1800万人中的600万，线民人数接近全部人口的十分之一，柏林墙竖起的近30年间，平均每天就有8人以“破坏国家安全”的罪名被捕。
他说，德国统一后，国安部的全部窃听档案，开放给所有公民查阅。这些监控资料一本本铺开，足有1000公里长，无数人发现自己的同事、朋友、律师和医生都是国安部的告密者，整个社会以极大勇气，承受前所未有的道德打击。
1989年的柏林墙和天安门，影片导演是“后柏林墙”一代，而他则是“后天安门”一代。他说：“我能体会一个‘后柏林墙’时代的青年导演，能拍出那样椎心刺骨的创伤。”
新锐导演：
中国缺乏这类影片
凭借电影《世界上最疼我的那个人去了》和《我们俩》获得多项电影节大奖的35岁新锐女导演马俪文看完电影《窃听风暴》后的最大感受是，影片“沉静”地表达给她留下深刻印象。该片不仅有大的历史背景，还关注着个人的命运，并伴随着冷静的思考。中国缺乏这种类型的影片。
中国电视剧四大最卖座导演之一、《东京审判》导演高群书说，《窃听风暴》风格简约，表现手法真实，令他十分欣赏。他说：“生活对人来说不是绝望，而是充满了希望。这部影片是对人性的提纯。”他认为，《窃听风暴》有监视、有特工，但更主要的是表现普通的日常生活，拍出了一波三折的戏剧性，同时还有奇特的温情。
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Titoudao
Watched Titoudao last night, a play by The Toy Factory productions. It stars Pamela Oei (one of the DimSum Dollies), Beatrice Chia-Richmond, Karen Tan, Sebastian Tan, Chua En Lai etc.
Writted and directed by Goh Boon Teck, the play is a tribute to his mum Madam Oon An Chian, a popular Hokkien street opera (wayang) performer in the 1940s.
The play won "Play of the Year" at the Life Theatre Awards in 2001 and this is the 3rd run.
The wayang part of the show is in Hokkien but dont worry if you think you will catch no ball cos there are English subtitles displayed near the stage :) The actors gave a very good performance and I enjoyed it very much.
The play runs till 31st March, catch it if you can!
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