The Nun--Steeped in?Catholic imagery

Monday, February 1, 2021 - 01:00

Print Edition??Entertainment

Ruwini JAYAWARDANA?

A?prequel?to the ‘ Conjuring’ franchise, ‘The Nun’ features a Catholic priest and novice?nun sent by the Vatican to investigate a mysterious suicide in 1952 Romania. However as they fig?deeper into the circumstances leading to her death, they encounter ‘The Nun’, an evil entity which had been fended away by divine forces centuries ago but has been released again due to human?folly.?This supernatural form, which has been named Valak, desires to cross over to our realm to invade all that is pure and good.

《鬼修女》是《招魂》系列電影的前傳，講述的是梵蒂岡派來調(diào)查1952年羅馬尼亞一起神秘自殺事件的天主教神父和新修女的故事。然而，當他們深入調(diào)查導(dǎo)致她死亡的情況下，他們遇到了“鬼修女”，一個已經(jīng)被神圣力量抵擋了幾個世紀的邪惡實體，但由于人類的愚蠢又被釋放出來。這個超自然的形體，被稱為瓦拉克，渴望穿越到我們的國度去入侵一切純潔美好的事物。

prequel ?n. /?pri?kw?l/ ?先篇，前篇，前傳（敘述某流行圖書或電影中的故事之前的事情）? Fans waited for years for the first Star Wars prequel. 《星球大戰(zhàn)》的第一部前傳讓影迷期待了多年。

Conjuring??n. /?k?nd??r??/ ?變魔術(shù)；變戲法?? a conjuring trick 魔術(shù)

franchise /?fr?nt?a?z/?n. 特權(quán)；公民權(quán)；經(jīng)銷權(quán)；管轄權(quán)；vt. 給…以特許（或特權(quán)）；賦予公民權(quán)

Novice??n. /?n?v?s/ 1.新手；初學者??I'm a complete novice at skiing. 滑雪我完全是個新手。2.初學修士（或修女）；（修會等的）初學生；3.尚未贏過大賽的賽馬

fig ?n. /f?ɡ/ ?無花果? a fig tree 無花果樹

NOT CARE/GIVE A ?FIG (FOR SB/STH) 對…絲毫不在乎；完全不把…放在心上；認為…毫無價值

divine /d??va?n/ ?

1.天賜的；上帝的；神的??divine law/love/will 天道；上帝的慈愛；天意

?divine intervention (= help from God to change a situation) 上帝之佑；?2.絕妙的；非凡的；極美的

3.?猜到；領(lǐng)悟?She could divine what he was thinking just by looking at him. 她一看就知道他在想什么。4.（用丫形杖）探測（地下水）

Folly??n. /?f?li/ ?

1.~ (to do sth) ?愚蠢；愚笨；愚蠢的想法（或事情、行為）?an act of sheer folly 純粹愚蠢的行動??the follies of youth 青年時期的愚蠢行為

2.（常見于舊時鄉(xiāng)間豪宅花園中的）裝飾性建筑

Shroudedin Catholic imagery, ‘The Nun’ unfurls?in an abandoned Abbey?in Romania. The writers have also taken painstaking?efforts to tie this film to the previous ‘The Conjuring’ series. Though the eerie?looking nun in the predecessor had little screen time, she left such an impact on our minds that the team thought that she is worthy of a film of her own.

籠罩在天主教意象的“鬼修女”故事在羅馬尼亞一所廢棄的修道院展開。編劇們還煞費苦心地將這部電影與上一部《招魂》系列聯(lián)系起來。雖然在上一部電影中，看起來很恐怖的修女很少出現(xiàn)在屏幕上，但她給我們留下了深刻的印象，團隊認為她值得拍一部屬于自己的電影。

shroud ???/?ra?d/??1.裹尸布；壽衣；2.~ of sth覆蓋物；遮蔽物??a shroud of smoke 一片煙霧；3.(黑暗、云、織物等 ) 覆蓋；隱藏；遮蔽?The city was shrouded in mist. 城市籠罩在霧靄之中。4.隱瞞；保密?His family background is shrouded in mystery . 他的家庭背景蒙上了神秘的色彩。

unfurl ?v. /??n?f??l/ （使卷緊的東西）打開，展開? The leaves slowly unfurled. 葉子慢慢地展開了。

abbey ?n. ??/??bi/ （大）隱修院；（曾為大隱修院的）大教堂?? a ruined abbey 破敗不堪的教堂

painstaking ?adj. /?pe?nzte?k??/ 需細心的；辛苦的；需專注的? painstaking research 細心的研究

eerie ?adj. /???ri/ 怪異的；神秘的；恐怖的?? an eerie yellow light 神秘兮兮的黃燈? I found the silence underwater really eerie. 我發(fā)覺水下的寂靜真令人恐怖。

The?unsettling?atmosphere is the key element of ‘The Nun’. Evil at work in a place which is considered to be holy created a powerful impact. ‘The Nun’ capitalizes on this aspect. Plus dark avanues and interiors found in age old churches set off a spooky ambience, setting stage for the perfect background for a chilling tale.

這種令人不安的氛圍是《鬼修女》的關(guān)鍵元素。邪惡在一個被認為是神圣的地方產(chǎn)生了強大的影響。《鬼修女》就利用了這一點。再加上黑暗的街道和古老的教堂內(nèi)部，營造出一種令人毛骨悚然的氛圍，為一個令人毛骨悚然的故事提供了完美的背景。

unsettling ?adj. /?n?setl??/令人不安（或緊張、擔憂）的

spooky adj. ??/?spu?ki/ 怪異嚇人的；陰森可怖的。亦可用more spooky和most spooky。? a spooky old house 陰森森的老房子

ambience ?n. /??mbi?ns/ 環(huán)境；氣氛；格調(diào)?? the relaxed ambience of the city 這座城市輕松的氛圍

Another strong factor which works in favour of the film is the disturbing background score. Garishly gruesome, it contributes to the horror which signals that danger is?lurking nearby. However though these are strong points which might have made ‘The Nun’ a success, the story lacks originality and depth. It plays upon many techniques which have been tried and exhausted throughout the years in films of the same?genre.

另一個有利于這部電影的強大因素是令人不安的背景音樂。它令人毛骨悚然，給人一種恐怖的感覺，表明附近潛伏著危險。然而，盡管這些加分點可能使《鬼修女》獲得成功，但故事缺乏創(chuàng)意和深度。它采用了許多技術(shù)，然而這些技術(shù)在同一類型的電影中已經(jīng)爛大街。

Garishly /?ɡer??li/?adv. 華麗地；過分裝飾地? ? ??

gruesome /?ɡru?s?m/adj. 可怕的；陰森的

Lurking /?l??k??/ adj?潛伏的

genre /??ɑ?nr?/ ?(文學、繪畫、音樂、電影等藝術(shù)作品的) 體裁? .his love of films and novels in the horror genre. 他對恐怖體裁電影和小說的熱愛。

The lead characters are devoid of any personality beyond their mission at hand. Even though actors Demián Bichir and Taissa Farmiga try to play their roles convincingly,?the logic of the tale lets them down badly.

主角們除了使命，沒有任何個性。盡管演員Demián Bichir和Taissa Farmiga努力讓他們的角色扮演得令人信服，但故事的邏輯卻讓他們的角色呈現(xiàn)非常失望。

devoid ?adj. /d??v??d/ ?~ of sth 完全沒有；缺乏? The letter was devoid of warmth and feeling. 這封信既無熱情又無感情。

Aimed at jolting?the viewers throughout the screen time, director Corin Hardy overplays the presence of ‘The Nun’. However soon the onlookers lose their fear of the mysterious being, making its presence more bearable with each screen shot. Not only does it lacks the thrills but the thrills are also absent in this production.

為了在整個觀影期間震撼觀眾，導(dǎo)演科林·哈代夸大了“鬼修女”的存在。然而，很快，旁觀者們就不再害怕這個神秘的存在了，這讓他們對每一幀恐怖畫面都能忍受。它畫面不僅缺乏驚險刺激，而且整部影片都缺乏。

jolt /d???lt/ ?

1.（使）震動，搖動，顛簸??The bus jolted to a halt. 公共汽車猛地一顛停了下來。 ?

2.~ sb (into sth)~ sb (out of sth) 使受到震驚（而采取行動）；喚醒；使覺醒??His remark jolted her into action. 他的話使她猛然醒悟而行動起來。

Similar to most successful franchise films, ‘The Nun’ sets up a sequel. Judging by how the end product turned out, it might be time to lay this horror series to rest!

與最成功的系列電影類似，《鬼修女》也推出了續(xù)集。從結(jié)果來看，是時候讓這部恐怖系列劇歇歇了!

http://www.dailynews.lk/2021/02/01/entertainment/240290/steeped-catholic-imagery