韓國娛樂公司將拍《許三觀賣血記》

A film about a man who spends his life trading blood for cash, based on a novel by one of China's most celebrated writers, has finally begun shooting nearly 14 years after it was first announced. But it won't be a Chinese film.

一部講述一個男人賣血換錢的人生故事的電影終於開拍。該片根據中國知名作家的小說改編，最初宣佈拍片計劃已經是14年前的事了。然而本片將不是一部中國影片。

'Chronicle of a Blood Merchant,' based on the 1995 novel of the same name by best-selling Chinese writer Yu Hua, began in the year 2000 as a collaboration between Korean producer Ahn Dong-Kyu and iconoclastic Chinese director Jiang Wen.

電影《許三觀賣血記》(Chronicle of a Blood Merchant)根據中國暢銷作家餘華1995年同名小說改編。早在2000年，韓國製作人安東圭(Ahn Dong-Kyu)就有意與中國導演姜文合作拍攝這部電影。

The novel, published in 1995, tells a story of Xu Sanguan, a farmer who discovers selling blood as a shortcut to providing a better life for his family and becomes expert in gaming the system to squeeze every last yuan out of his veins. The story is mainly set in the 1950s and 1960s, when China weathered a terrible famine only to then be plunged into the turbulence of the Cultural Revolution.

小說《許三觀賣血記》於1995年出版，主人公農民許三觀發現賣血能讓家人更快過上好日子，漸漸成了賣血“專業戶”，竭盡性命拿血換錢。故事時間設定在上世紀50至60年代，當時中國在經歷了嚴重的 荒之後，又陷入了文化大革命的動盪之中。

Mr. Ahn, now the film's co-executive producer, told China Real Time that he flew to Beijing to meet with Mr. Yu after he read the novel's Korean translation in 1999. He said he met Jiang Wen on Mr. Yu's recommendation, and both decided to work together to make the novel a film.

現擔任該片聯席執行製片人的安東圭對“中國實時報欄目”(China Real Time)說，在1999年閱讀了韓文版《許三觀賣血記》後，他飛往北京與餘華見面。他說他在餘華的推薦之下與姜文見面，兩人決定合作將小說拍成電影。

'But Jiang Wen became officially unable to direct films due to a 7-year ban imposed on him for not getting permission from the Chinese government for the film he took to Cannes,' said Mr. Ahn, referring to Mr. Jiang's 'Devils on the Doorstep,' a film about Japanese soldiers invading a Chinese village during World War II that won him the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival in 2000.

但安東圭說，當時姜文因未經政府批准攜片參加戛納國際電影節(Cannes Film Festival)而被官方禁止拍片長達七年之久。安東圭指的是姜文的《鬼子來了》(Devils on the Doorstep)，這部講述二戰期間日本軍人進攻中國村莊的電影獲得了2000年戛納國際電影節評委會大獎。

A spokesman for Mr. Jiang declined to comment. Now back in the good graces of China's film censors, the director is currently preparing for a 'Gone with The Bullets,' a 3D follow-up on 2010's satirical hit 'Let the Bullets Fly' that is expected to hit Chinese theaters in December.

姜文的發言人拒絕對此置評。如今重獲中國電影審查部門青睞的姜文目前正在籌備3D電影《一步之遙》(Gone with The Bullets)。該片是其2010年熱門電影《讓子彈飛》(Let the Bullets Fly)的續集，預計將於12月在中國上映。

Mr. Ahn said he later made inquiries unofficially to some Chinese regulators for producing the film in China, but was rebuffed. He decided to make it a pure Korean production instead, shifting the story to Korea after the Korean War. 'Since Korea also experienced liberation, war and division, I found similarities in the sentiments of 'Chronicle of a Blood Merchant,'' he said.

安東圭說，後來他曾非正式地向一些中國監管機構打聽在中國拍電影的情況，但遭到拒絕。於是，他決定拍一部純韓版電影，將故事背景改在朝鮮半島。安東圭說，由於朝鮮半島也經歷瞭解放、戰爭和分裂，他捕捉到了一些與《許三觀賣血記》類似的情結。

Mr. Ahn has tapped Ha Jung-woo, a Korean actor turned director, to helm the film and assembled cast of Korean film stars. The film, which bag shooting in June, is expected to be released by early next year.

安東圭指定由演員轉型做導演的河正宇(Ha Jung-woo)執導該片併爲影片挑選強大的韓國影星陣容。這部電影已在6月開機，預計明年年初上映。

Contacted by China Real Time, Mr. Yu seemed lukewarm about the film's journey across the Yellow Sea . 'The Koreans are making it into a commercial film with huge investment,' said Mr. Yu, adding that he was unaware it had started shooting. ' I don't have any expectations for it at all,' he added, saying he believed the story would be made into a Chinese film sooner or later.

在接受“中國實時報”採訪時，餘華似乎對這部在黃海對岸的朝鮮半島拍攝的電影感覺冷淡。餘華說，韓國人把這個故事變成了一部投資巨大的商業電影，而且他對於電影的開機毫不知情。他補充說，他對這部影片沒有任何期望，他相信這部小說將遲早會被拍成中國電影。

It's not the first run-in with China's film censors for Mr. Yu, whose novels are larded with biting critiques of Chinese society. 'To Live,' a film directed by famed Chinese director Zhang Yimou and based on Mr. Yu's novel of the same name, was banned in China after a triumphant showing at Cannes in 1994.

對於餘華來說，這並不是他所經歷的第一次中國電影審查，他的小說大都夾雜着對中國社會的尖銳批評。1994年，根據餘華同名小說改編並由中國著名導演張藝謀拍攝的電影《活着》，在戛納電影節上獲獎之後在國內遭遇禁播。

News that 'Chronicle of a Blood Merchant' is finally being made into a film has met with ambivalence in the Chinese film community, where excitement at the prospect of seeing the story on the big screen has been tempered by frustration that it had to be made abroad. 'It's a good news but also a sad, because China cannot make this film,' Han Kaichen, a Chinese film producer, wrote on his verified Weibo account.

在經歷多重曲折後，《許三觀賣血記》終於將被拍成電影在大銀幕上映令人激動不已。中國電影製片人韓凱臣在經認證的微博賬戶中寫道：這是一個好消息，但不能由中國人自己來拍攝，這多少有些遺憾。

'I hope the adaption wins the Palm d'Or at Cannes and the Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars,' film critic Bi Chenggong wrote on his own Weibo feed. 'It would be a slap to the face of this country's censorship system.'

影評人畢成功在微博上寫道，我希望該片能斬獲戛納金棕櫚獎和奧斯卡最佳外語片獎。這將是給予中國審查制度的最大羞辱。

Despite the sensitivities surrounding the project, Mr. Ahn hopes this film can be released in China. 'This film that I am making has nothing that will violate the current Chinese censorship rules,' he said, describing the movie as a story about a generation past that had to overcome hardships. 'Isn't China living in an era where it's possible to look back at its hard past as just a memory?'

儘管敏感因素很多，安東圭仍希望這部電影能在中國上映。他把電影描述爲一個上一代人在絕境中奮力克服困難的故事。他說，我拍這部電影沒有違反中國當前的審查規則。中國現在不是處於一個可以回顧以往艱苦歲月的時代嗎？