Director’s Comments: ‘Taiwan Photowalk’ · 導演筆記 《臺灣漫步影像》
As requested by kind and curious friends, here is a commentary for Taiwan Photowalk. Links to video follow.
感謝各位善心好友的好奇詢問，以下是《臺灣漫步影像》的註釋說明，文末有影片連結。
TAIWAN PHOTOWALK 臺灣漫步影像
a musical story in still images．靜止圖像中的音樂故事
作者：唐博訥 A T BEAUNE
音樂：《展覽會之畫》 PICTURES FROM AN EXHIBITION
作曲家：莫傑斯特．穆索斯基 MODEST MUSSORGSKY
鋼琴演奏：章韶洵 SHAO-HSUN CHANG
演員：翁成韻 MANDY WENG （飾演遊客）
執行製片：許人傑 JAY
JEN-CHIEH HSU 、陳真言
ZEN-YEN CHEN
演唱會錄音：林聖翔 SHENG-HSIANG LIN
片頭及預告剪輯： 黃柏欣BOXIN HUANG
攝影：唐博敦,
ALTON’S IMAGES
________
Modest Mussorgsky’s 1874 piano suite was
composed in memory of a young artist friend who had recently died. Mussorgsky
was devastated. When he learned of a fund-raising drive aimed at mounting an
exhibition of the young man’s art, he donated at once. The event went forward.
Mussorgsky attended. The exhibition lifted the grieving composer’s spirits. He
completed the piano suite Pictures from
an Exhibition soon after.
莫傑斯特．穆索斯基這首寫於1874年的鋼琴組曲是為了紀念一位英年早逝的藝術家朋友。當時那位朋友才離世不久，穆索斯基極度悲慟。
當穆索斯基得知有人發起募款活動，要為這位年輕藝術家辦一場作品展時，他立即捐款資助。展覽成功推出後，他也前往參觀。那場展覽讓這位悲痛的作曲家打起了精神，不久之後，他完成了這首《展覽會之畫》。
Individual movements in the suite are inspired by art works Mussorgsky viewed
at the event. A ‘walking’ or ‘promenade’ theme, representing the viewer,
connects the movements.
The photoplay Taiwan Photowalk (2010/2016) is an exercise in translation. The photo series accompanies each turn in the music with visual images of modern Taiwan. Meanwhile, Taiwan’s history provides a parallel for Mussorgsky’s experience: the victories of creation over loss are hard won, and to be cherished.
組曲中的各段樂章靈感來自穆索斯基在展覽中所見到的畫作，在樂章與樂章之間，代表著觀看者行走其間的「漫步」主題貫穿全曲。
影像劇《臺灣漫步影像》 (2010/2016) 是一場轉譯的實作練習。每一段音樂都搭配了現代臺灣的影像畫面。此外，臺灣的歷史也可與穆索斯基的個人經驗相互呼應：兩者均以創造來戰勝失去。此般艱難的勝利，值得我們好好珍惜。
01:00 漫步
Promenade I
Mussorgsky’s meandering theme represents a viewer entering the gallery. Taiwan Photowalk begins in the port city of Kaohsiung. The 85 Sky Tower provides the portal through which we enter the piece. A Sightseer appears with a camera.
The Sightseer spots two schoolchildren playing music for charity in a park. She
donates a pair of gold-coloured coins (NT$100). She is rewarded with a smile
from the violinist.
The Sightseer continues along the banks of Love River. She encounters others who make their own journeys, and pictures of their journeys.
穆索斯基迂迴的漫步主題代表觀看者步入了藝廊。《臺灣漫步影像》從港都高雄拉開序幕，85大樓化為入口門戶，讓我們得以走進作品之中。一名拿著相機的遊客映入眼簾。
這位遊客看見兩名學童在公園裡進行公益音樂表演，她捐出兩枚金色硬幣（價值臺幣一百元），小提琴手對她報以微笑。
遊客沿著愛河河岸繼續向前。她遇見其他旅人，也看見了一張張的照片，裡頭呈現出他們各自的旅程。
02:30 侏儒 The Gnome
We are plunged into a macabre world of appetite and dismemberment. Mussorgsky’s music recalls a design he saw for a nutcracker carved in the shape of a gnome with big teeth. Taiwan Photowalk introduces grotesque figures and culinary carnage. A woman emerges with fire in her eyes. She devours her meal and vanishes.
我們被拋入一個慾望橫流、肢體四散的可怖世界。穆索斯基的音樂喚起他曾見過的一尊胡桃鉗，那胡桃鉗被雕刻成一隻長牙暴齒的侏儒地精。《臺灣漫步影像》呈現出怪誕的形體，以及烹飪的血腥景象。一名女子出現，眼裡閃耀著火光。她大口吞食，隨後便失去蹤影。
04:56 漫步 Interlude
The Sightseer hikes Taiwan’s mountains.
遊客攀登臺灣的山岳。
05:44 古堡 The Old Castle
Mussorgsky imagined a painted castle, with a
troubadour shown singing in the foreground for scale. A castle, of course, is
an artificial island. In Taiwan Photowalk
the island itself is the citadel, with its mountains offering refuge. The
Sightseer becomes one with the landscape as images recap the rising of the
island itself over eons of geologic time.
穆索斯基想像著一幅彩繪的城堡。在前景中畫了一位哼著歌的吟遊詩人，做為比例尺。城堡當然可說是一座人造的島，而在《臺灣漫步影像》中，臺灣島本身就是一座城堡，它的山脈提供了屏障。隨著影像扼要重述臺灣島在萬古迭代的地質變遷中隆升的過程，遊客與地貌也逐漸合而為一。
10:14 漫步 Interlude
The Sightseer arrives at a beach.
遊客來到一座海灘。
10:44 杜樂麗花園 Tuileries Garden
Mussorgsky’s music evokes children playing games in a park and whining to their mothers. Taiwan Photowalk shows young adults on a double date full of ‘fun and games.’ Not all games are equally fun for everybody.
穆索斯基的音樂喚起一邊在公園玩耍，一邊向母親發牢騷的孩子們。《臺灣漫步影像》則呈現出兩對年輕情侶一同約會、盡情遊戲的歡樂模樣。然而，並非每個遊戲都能讓所有人盡興。
11:40 牛車 The Ox Cart
Mussorgsky had in mind a painting of oxen pulling the cart of a Polish peasant. Taiwan Photowalk finds the modern equivalent of the cart in big machines and their operators.
Goods are unloaded early and distributed throughout Taiwan’s cities. In a parallel story, Kaohsiung zookeepers feed an elephant—an animal said in Asian tradition to support the world. A high-rise building takes shape under a crane as dusk arrives.
穆索斯基想著一幅波蘭農民坐在牛車上的畫像，《臺灣漫步影像》則以巨大的機器及其操作員作為現代版的對照。
貨物一大清早便被卸下，分送至臺灣的各個城市。而在另一個平行的故事中，高雄的動物園管理員正在餵一頭大象——在亞洲傳統文化裡，大象被視為撐起世界的支柱。隨著夜幕降臨，高樓大廈在起重機的運作中逐漸成型。
14:45 漫步 Interlude
The Sightseer navigates urban sidewalks. She notices a playground.
遊客穿過城市的人行道，她注意到一座兒童遊樂場。
15:32 雛雞之舞 Dance of the Hatching Chicks
Mussorgsky found music in a sketch of ballet
costumes for children that made them look like chicks ready to hatch. Taiwan Photowalk takes us inside
Taiwan’s pre-schools, whose busy occupants construct towers, perform feather
dances, read clocks, and confront toy dinosaurs. Two of their classmates
assemble a puzzle map.
穆索斯基從一幅兒童芭蕾舞裙的設計草圖中找到音樂靈感。舞裙的設計令孩子們看起來像是正要破殼而出的小雞。《臺灣漫步影像》引領觀眾走入臺灣的幼稚園，裡頭的孩子們忙著築塔、跳羽毛扇子舞、判讀時鐘、對抗玩具恐龍。兩位同學完成了一張地圖拼圖。
16:40 窮富猶太人 Samuel and Schmuÿle
Mussorgsky’s music, taking its cue from a set of portraits, renders a contrapuntal argument between rich and poor men in a market. Taiwan Photowalk interprets the polyphony as competing voices in an election season.
First it is the headliners, shown on banners
and pamphlets, that catch the eye—issues, incumbents, challengers. Soon a pair
of foot soldiers, campaign volunteers for rival parties, step out. They spend a
busy day rallying support for their candidates. All the voices, large and
small, now overlap and rise. We soon see that more unites these rivals than
divides them.
This concludes the first half of Mussorgsky’s
piece.
這段穆索斯基的音樂源自一組人像，以對位法帶出富人和市井窮人間的爭執。《臺灣漫步影像》將此段複音音樂詮釋為選舉季節裡的競選之聲。
首先引人注目的是旗幟與宣傳冊子上的主角——議題、現任執政者，以及在野挑戰者。接著，兩個敵對黨派的競選志工出場。這兩名基層戰士過了忙碌的一天，到處為候選人拉票。大大小小的聲音全都疊在一起，交織上揚。我們很快就會發現，在這些競爭對手之間，團結的力量大過分裂的力量。
穆索斯基這首作品的上半部至此結束。
18:53 漫步 Promenade II
The music begins as it began at the first, but does not progress in exactly the same way. Where earlier the Sightseer made her way along Love River, she now navigates a landscape populated by artistic creations. Her gaze is drawn skyward as the movement closes.
這段音樂的開頭與首次出現時相同，但後續的發展則有所變化。遊客先前是沿著愛河漫步，而現在她徜徉於布滿藝術作品的地景之中。隨著樂章邁入尾聲，她的凝視轉向天空。
20:18 市集 The Market at Limoges
We are plunged into life’s frenetic activity. Mussorgsky was inspired by a rendering of a busy French market. Taiwan Photowalk takes us through north Taiwan and into Taipei City, where life is always on the go. Among the impressions that fly by we note a whimsical clock shaped like a chicken and a student making a manga of a strange witch. An angel raises a hand, baptismal water flies, and the pace quickens into—
我們驟然陷入了生活的狂噪喧囂。穆索斯基以一幅法國市場裡的繁忙景象為靈感，《臺灣漫步影像》則帶著我們前往北臺灣，走進臺北。在那城市裡，生活是無盡的忙碌。
在一幕幕飛逝的影像中，我們看見一台古怪的公雞造型時鐘，還有一名學生畫著詭異的仙姑漫畫。一名天使舉起手，受洗之水飛濺，節奏加快，變成——
21:35 墓窟 Catacombs / 23:16 Cum mortuis
A dead stop. Mussorgsky took inspiration from
a scene of the Paris catacombs in which the artist had included himself. Taiwan Photowalk takes us to Jinbaoshan,
the mountainside mortuary on Taiwan’s north coast.
The barrier between observer and scene dissolves. The Sightseer steps into the world of the dead.
死寂的停頓。畫家描繪了一座巴黎的地下墓穴，並將自己繪入畫中。穆索斯基參考這幅畫，創作出此曲。《臺灣漫步影像》帶領觀者前往位於臺灣北海岸山坡上的墓園——金寶山。
觀景者與景觀之間的分野逐漸消失，遊客踏進了冥界。
25:20 女巫的小屋 House on Bird Legs: Baba Yaga
Baba Yaga is a witch in Scandinavian and Slavic folklore. She lives in a house that bears a large clock on its side. Her dwelling is surmounted by giant bells and propels itself through the forest on giant bird feet. She pursues mortals in order to grind their bones into powder for baking into her food.
The macabre images in Baba Yaga stories were
inspired by cremation practices in snow-covered areas. Where these stories are
told, homes often display darkly whimsical ‘Baba Yaga clocks.’ Instead of a
cuckoo popping out as each hour chimes, a witch does; hanging weights, shaped
like chicken feet, bob underneath. Mussorgsky’s music was inspired by a design
for such a clock.
芭芭雅嘎是斯堪地那維亞及斯拉夫民間傳說中的巫婆。她的房子側面有一面大時鐘。屋頂上有座大鐘，屋子底下長了巨形鳥爪，撐著這棟房子穿梭在森林之中。她追獵凡人，用人骨磨成的粉末烘焙食物。
芭芭雅嘎故事中所描述的那些駭人景象，其靈感來自於冰雪國度的火葬儀式。在流傳這些故事的地區，家家戶戶時常可見黑暗怪誕的「芭芭雅嘎之鐘」。每個小時從這種咕咕鐘裡跳出來報時的不是布穀鳥，而是巫婆。鐘座底部懸著狀似雞腳的垂墜，在下方來回擺盪。穆索斯基的音樂正是受到這種鐘的設計所啟發。
Taiwan Photowalk confronts us with the fire-eyed woman from ‘Gnomus.’ Hers is a realm of dissolution, dismemberment, disintegration. Her attributes never appear all at once, but lunge in pieces from the dark. The Sightseer, trapped, curls and disappears. The viewer now becomes the pursued.
Extinction, though, can go hand in hand with evolution.
《臺灣漫步影像》讓我們再度直面〈侏儒〉中那位眼露火光的女子。她所主宰的領域充滿了崩亡、支解、潰裂，她的特質從不一次示現，而是在黑暗中一點一點地猛然襲來。遊客成了籠中鳥，她蜷起身子，而後消失。現在，觀看者成了新的獵物。
不過，滅亡也和進化相應相生。
28:34 基輔城門 The Great Gate of Kyiv
An architectural drawing of a Ukraine monument became, in Mussorgsky’s music, a heavenly destination of Orthodox chant and pealing bells.
Our Taiwan Photowalk brings us to a pillar connecting earth and sky. The Sightseer arrives. She is greeted by the child she met at the start of her journey. Together, they begin their ascent.
在穆索斯基的音樂中，那幅烏克蘭的古城門建築畫化作東正教的聖詠與宏亮的鐘鳴，直上天聽。
《臺灣漫步影像》帶著我們前往連接天地的高柱。那名遊客也到了，她在旅程的一開始曾見過的那孩子，就在此地等著迎接她。於是，她們攜手併肩，一同飛升。
Watch Taiwan Photowalk
觀賞《臺灣漫步影像》
A T Beaune Channel @Vimeo
唐博訥 Vimeo 頻道
Complete 完整影片 https://vimeo.com/atbeaune/taiwanphotowalk
Trailer 預告 https://vimeo.com/atbeaune/trailer-taiwanphotowalk
A T Beaune Channel @YouTube
唐博訥 Youtube 頻道
Complete 完整影片 https://youtu.be/hjf1qLFTQWo
Trailer 預告 https://youtu.be/eTCBcOgfpYo
