“Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaky feeling you'll find that love actually is all around.”
Love actually (2003)
(兩部電影都有Hugh Grant欸)
看不見的城市
去倫敦的前一晚,我想了很久旅途上應該看什麼書,不想看太政治的、太沈重的、太催淚的,最後在書櫃上選了一本關於旅遊的書,Italo Calvino 的 Invisible Cities。
出發前不只一個朋友跟我說,倫敦並沒有他們所想的那麼有文化,叫我做好期望管理。
到埗第二天,我去了Tate Modern,那邊商店的店員看到我手上拿著的書,說他也很喜歡,問我有沒有讀過作者的其他著作,我說還沒有,這本書也不淺,他說對呀,作者把真的說的好像是假的,假的又被他說成真的一樣,我說這才是Invisible Cities嘛,他笑了。
那個週六,我去了Notting Hill也順便逛一下Portobello Road Market,在二手書店買了一本I Choose Peace,關於Bernard Shaw和戰爭的回憶。然後帶著那本書匆匆趕去音樂節 ,旁邊再旁邊的男生說這本書好像很有趣,問我借來看,然後他看著Shaw的生平又感嘆說,這會不會太悲哀呀?同時另一邊的老伯說他很興奮,因為終於看到Future Islands,還一直比搖滾手勢。
昨天吃晚飯的時候,侍應說他來自西班牙,我們談政治,他說他是左派(leftist),然後說起加泰隆尼亞和直布羅陀,還有中港、中台關係,他都毫不陌生。
最深刻的還是跟房東的對話,他是一名導演,不算很有名,但能在IMDB搜尋到也很不容易了。他說他也愛村上春樹、王家衛,還很喜歡韓國電影,我說《下女誘罪(下女的誘惑/小姐)》拍的真美,他也興奮地贊同。
基於這些交流,我確實很難認為倫敦人比我想像的缺乏文化,在我去過的講英語的國家中,最喜歡聊天、最不忌違講政治的、涉獵文化藝術最多的,真的非倫敦莫屬,更不用說那邊有藏品最豐富的博物館及藝術館(他們說許多文物都是不義之財,不應覺得驕傲)。
臨行前,我寫了一封信給導演房東,也把帶去倫敦看的書留給了他,我說”What happens in London, stays in London”,他回覆說這本書他沒看過,但改編自這本書的話劇是他最最喜歡的,真巧合。
這本書把旅遊的經歷說的很浪漫,浪漫不是因為豔遇,而是因為作者說,人總帶著許多想象、假設來到一個新城市,旅遊的所見所聞必然改變人原有的印象,並為該城市的種種符號添上新的意義,因此在你踏足新城市的那瞬間,腦海裡那個城市的面貌也會隨之消失。
“Memory's images, once they are fixed in words, are erased," Polo said. "Perhaps I am afraid of losing Venice all at once, if I speak of it, or perhaps, speaking of other cities, I have already lost it, little by little.”
對於倫敦,我就只寫那麼多,讓其他記憶在腦海裡保鮮,希望你們探索過後,也會喜歡倫敦。
分享一部在Notting Hill取景的電影,《摘星奇緣/新娘百分百》,雖然劇情很cheesy,但每次看還是覺得很浪漫,光是把男主角設定為又紳士又幽默卻又愛面子的獨立書店店主,已經夠「英倫」了吧?
最記得有一幕落難明星躲到了男主角的家,問”Can I stay for a while?”,男主角回答”You can stay forever.”
再聽一首The Beatles 的 In my life,關於城市、人與回憶的歌。
https://youtu.be/-eCh3y5VROM
There are places I remember all my life
Though some have changed
Some forever, not for better
Some have gone and some remain
fathers and daughters imdb 在 Fathers and Daughters 的相關結果
Fathers and Daughters is a 2015 drama film directed by Gabriele Muccino and starring Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried, and Kylie Rogers. ... <看更多>
fathers and daughters imdb 在 Fathers and Daughters 的相關結果
A Pulitzer Prize-winning author (Russell Crowe) checks into a mental health facility after the death of his wife, while his daughter (Amanda Seyfried) falls ... ... <看更多>
fathers and daughters imdb 在 Fathers & Daughters (2015) 的相關結果
A Pulitzer-winning writer grapples with being a widower and father after a mental breakdown; 27 years later, his grown daughter struggles to forge her own ... ... <看更多>