【英语中国】意大利惊悚片现中国食品安全问题桥段

Targeting China's tightly controlled film market is risky business for even the most benign foreign movies -- which makes 'Something Good,' a new thriller from Italian actor and director Luca Barbareschi, a veritable moonshot.

Set in Hong Kong, the film explores the global traffic in tainted food, a highly sensitive political topic in China ever since 2008, when six Chinese children died from ingesting melamine-laced milk powder. That incident was the first in a run of food scandals that continues despite Beijing's assurances that it can ensure citizens' safety.

'Something Good' held its world premiere this week as part of the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society's Cine Italiano program. The viewing was the first step, Mr. Barbareschi hopes, to winning mainland China distribution.

The odds may be long, but don't count out 'Something Good' yet. Mr.
Barbareschi is a powerful man in Italy, serving in Parliament from 2008 until this year. To research the topic of adulterated food three years ago, he called up the Italian chief of police. His film ultimately won financial backing from the Italian government.

The project got a further boost when it added Zhang Jingchu, a star most recently seen in this summer's high-grossing (if critically derided) Chinese action movie 'Switch.' In 'Something Good,' Ms. Zhang plays a woman who starts over in Hong Kong after her son dies from drinking pesticide-laced juice on the mainland. She soon falls in love with Mr. Barbareschi's character, who -- unbeknownst to her -- works as a dealer of tainted food.

Mr. Barbareschi initially planned to shoot the film in Shanghai. 'But while I was rewriting, I had a few problems with censorship,' he said. A Chinese financial backer began to worry the film would be seen as an attack on China, Mr. Barbareschi said, and removed his name from the project.

The director sees the film's message -- and China's food scandals -- differently. The misdeeds of a few need not reflect poorly on a whole nation, he said.

'If you do a movie in Italy that talks about Mafia, I have nothing against that. We have Mafia, but we also have Prada and Armani and Ferrari. We have clever people and we have idiots,' he said.

The finished film is nevertheless careful to portray tainted food as a global scourge directed by international conglomerates. China gets credit in the film for ramping up food safety controls in recent years -- indeed, its plot concerns a Hong Kong company's attempts to export fake milk to Africa after selling in mainland China becomes too difficult.

'Something Good' has the stylish trappings of geopolitical thrillers like 'Syriana' starring George Clooney or director Steven Soderbergh's 'Contagion.' The score is jangly. The cuts are jumpy. Everything is connected, and no one can be trusted.

But the film's use of food as its moral fulcrum feels particularly Italian. This is a movie where Ms. Zhang's heroine nobly insists, 'I just want to give people the chance to eat something other than garbage!' Her criminal lover replies: 'People eat with their eyes, not with their stomachs. Deception is the name of the game.'

Still, Mr. Barbareschi bets there's a built-in audience of Chinese moviegoers interested in food safety. If the movie can win release, he said, it 'is going to be a big hit in China.'

For now, no Chinese deal is in place. After Hong Kong, the film will hit festivals in the U.S. and Italy this fall before opening in Europe next spring.

Ms. Zhang, for her part, is reserved about the film's commercial chances on the mainland. But she acknowledged there were other ways Chinese citizens could get hold of the film.

'It's a sensitive topic, and the chance for it to show in China is very small. But I just think it's the role that I want to do' to grow as an actress, Ms. Zhang said. 'At least maybe people can see DVDs!'

Hong Kong International Film Festival Society意大利演员兼导演巴巴拉斯基在《危情黑吃黑》中。
将中国受到严密控制的电影市场作为目标是一门高风险的生意，即使对于最温和的外国电影来说也是如此──这种情况使得意大利演员兼导演巴巴拉斯基(Luca Barbareschi)的新惊悚片《危情黑吃黑》(Something Good)成了名符其实的“用弓箭射月亮”的作品。

这部影片的背景设定在香港，内容涉及有毒食品的全球流通。自2008年以来，这个话题在中国就极具政治敏感性。2008年有六名中国幼儿因食用加了三聚氰胺的奶粉而死亡。在那之后还爆发了一系列食品丑闻，尽管中国政府信誓旦旦地说它可以确保公民的安全。

《危情黑吃黑》本周的全球首映是香港国际电影节协会(Hong Kong International Film Festival Society)的意大利电影周(Cine Italiano)活动的一部分。巴巴拉斯基希望此次观影活动是赢得中国内地发行资格的第一步。

这个可能性或许很小，但暂且不要断言《危情黑吃黑》完全没机会。巴巴拉斯基在意大利很有影响力，从2008年直至今年一直在议会任职。三年前为了研究掺假食品的问题，他打电话给意大利警察局长。他的电影最终获得了意大利政府的财务资助。

Hong Kong International Film Festival Society张静初说，这是一个我愿意演的角色。这部影片还获得了进一步的助力──中国女演员张静初加盟了该片。张静初最近出演的是今年夏天的高票房（但在影评界遭到嘲笑）中国动作片《天机·富春山居图》(Switch)。在《危情黑吃黑》中，张静初所演角色的儿子在中国内地喝了含农药的果汁身亡，之后她来到香港开始新生活。她很快与巴巴拉斯基饰演的角色坠入爱河，后者的身份是受污染食品交易商（女主角对此并不知情）。

巴巴拉斯基最初打算在上海拍摄这部影片。他说，但在改写剧本时，我遇到了一些审查方面的问题。巴巴拉斯基说，中国的一位出资人开始担心这部影片被视为对中国的攻击，于是从这项计划中去掉了自己的名字。

巴巴拉斯基对于影片传达的信息（以及中国的食品丑闻）有不同的看法。他说，少数人的罪行无需让整个国家背负恶名。

他说，如果你在意大利拍摄一部有关黑手党的电影，我不会有任何不满，我们有黑手党，但同时我们也有普拉达(Prada)、阿玛尼(Armani)和法拉利(Ferrari)，我们这里有聪明人，也有白痴。

不过，最终的影片小心翼翼地将有毒食品描绘成跨国企业集团控制下的全球性灾祸。中国在影片中因近年来加强食品安全控制而受到好评──事实上，影片中的情节是关于一家香港公司难以在中国内地出售假奶，于是试图将之出口至非洲。

与乔治·克鲁尼(George Clooney)主演的《辛瑞那》(Syriana)和史蒂芬·索德伯格(Steven Soderbergh)导演的《传染病》(Contagion)等涉及地缘政治的惊悚片一样，《危情黑吃黑》中的服饰也极具时尚感。片中的配乐刺耳。场景切换有种跳跃感。所有的一切都是相关联的，没有人可以信任。

但影片将食物作为道德支点特别有意大利的感觉。在影片中，张静初饰演的女主角庄严地宣称：我只想让人们有机会吃到不是垃圾的食品！她的罪犯情人回答说，人们是用眼睛吃东西，而不是用胃；这个游戏的名字就是欺骗。

不过，巴巴拉斯基还是押注中国电影观众当中肯定会有对食品安全感兴趣的群体。他说，如果影片能获准上映，就会在中国成为大热门。

目前还没有在中国达成交易。在香港上映后，该片今年秋季将在美国和意大利参加电影节，明年春季在欧洲上映。

张静初本人对于这部影片在中国内地的商业机会持保留态度。但她承认，中国民众还有其他途径可以看到这部影片。

张静初说，这是个敏感话题，它在中国上映的可能性很小，但我只是觉得这是我作为演员，为了提高自己而愿意饰演的一个角色。她说，至少人们也许可以看DVD！