最后的直男

  2015年圣诞节，我在东德一个安静的小镇上完成了【最后的直男】的翻译。一天都窝在宿舍里没有出门，只知道凌晨下了场淅淅沥沥的小雨，商店超市都关着。这个德国人心目中最重要的节日对我这样的异乡人来说反而是倍感孤独无聊的时刻，所以，还不如老老实实呆在房里，喝一口茶，写一行字。
  几周前，看完【Please Like Me】心血来潮在微博上私信了QAF中文站的主页君，希望可以加入字幕组为LGBT电影做一点贡献。由于本身就在Fix字幕组翻译美剧的经历，没多久就收到了主页的回复。三两句的交谈之后，就拿到了【最后的直男】的生肉，权当是一份实习作品了。
  在这里要先提一句，由于手头的英语字幕文件是机译的产物，几乎没有一句话是完整的，因此也给翻译造成了很大的困难。而OACFan字幕组此前就有这部作品的熟肉放出，在翻译过程中此版本给了我很大的帮助。特此感谢。
  老实说，对于一部电影来讲，这样的标题和海报是相当粗制滥造的敷衍。文件传过来的时候，脑子里全是大写的浮夸。这股浮夸劲直到电影开始一段时间后才得以收敛起来。电影一开始是库伯婚前的单身派对，一开场就是一个袒胸露乳的脱衣舞娘在一群男人间跳舞。这一幕更是让我默默地在心中打下了“烂片”的评价（即使是自己翻译的作品），然而庆幸的是，故事很争气，一路从低估慢慢的爬到了顶端。
  影片展现了五次库伯和路易斯相会的情景，第一次是那场单身派对后，第二次是四年后，然后是第六年，第九年和很久以后。他们在第一次发生关系之后，就在彼此“心上播下了种子，一颗在内心深处燃烧着的种子”（影片中引用文学作品的一段话），此后每年的同一天，他们相约在同一个酒店的同一个房间见面（除了第五年库伯爽约那一次），影片选取了其中的四次，向我们铺开他们的内心世界。
  在翻译的时候，我发现影片中有很多前后呼应的地方。比如第五年，路易斯讲到自己有一个漂亮的弟弟，所以大家看到他的时候只会说他是”聪明的那个“，在第九年的相会时，他问库伯为什么只和他一个男人发生关系，外面总有那么几个比他好看的，库伯回答”也许我更喜欢聪明的“；以及第五年库伯向路易斯提到自己父亲的突然离世，在第九年库伯表白时路易斯正是用此来拒绝了他的爱。从这些微小的细节里，能够感受到他们对彼此的爱意。那是一种很隐秘的感觉，有些话你自己说了也没往心里去，但是若干年后他还能跟你提起，这对于一段感情来说，也算是弥足珍贵的了。
  影片中还有三处比较煽情的段落。一次是第五年，小库和路易斯在阳台上聊到接吻的话题，路易斯提到了他们之间的“火花”；一次还是那一年，他们跳完舞提到路易斯的祖母的时候；还有一次是第九年，小库承认自己觉得和路易斯有“火花”（这也是一个呼应）。这三处，在翻译的时候是最令我感慨和动容的。还有那句我认为是全局最有分量的话：You can't find love in a locked room. You can read about life, or you can live it. 我将它翻译成：你在锁着的房间里是找不到爱情的。要么旁观别人的人生，要么自己潇洒地活着。
  随着时间的推移，如果说路易斯是在一步步走向理性和成熟，那么库伯则是在一点点陷入沉沦。借着三个问题这个游戏，两人的情感状态也被逐一呈现出来。路易斯从一开始的暗恋，到最后为了小库的家庭捏造了一个莫须有的男友，一边背负着孤独和痛苦，一边爱着一年只见一次的枕边人；而库伯从发生关系的那一夜起，就陷入了对路易斯的爱的恐慌之中。一边是自己的家庭和生活，一边是自己的幻想乡，到第九年他向路易斯袒露心迹的时候，也是他梦醒的时候。
  全剧每一次的相会，都伴着路易斯读一本书的情节，也伴着他将书页撕掉的场景。书中的内容是路易斯内心所向的隐喻，而撕书的动作则是对于现实的妥协和无奈。至今仍让我不能释怀的，是第九年库伯离开时路易斯那个心碎的眼神，那是一种满怀不甘的妥协，因为他知道，他期待很久的那一份感情最终还是由他亲手埋藏了。
  看见影片的评论里提到，这是小成本电影的一个典范。诚然，就场景来说，除了最后一幕在野外，近两个小时的剧情几乎都是在同一个房间拍摄完成的。道具，灯光也极其简单朴素，配乐也还算走心，虽然有几处音乐配得还挺莫名其妙的。一部小成本电影能够达到这个效果和思想深度，确实可以算是够本的了。
  此外，电影在刻画人物上存在一处硬伤，即人物的感情转变。好几个场景里原本因为矛盾和分歧沉默的两个人，下一秒突然就画风一变，气氛又活跃了起来。要是我身临其境估计尴尬症都要犯了。或许也只是我一个外行人的一点拙见吧。不得不承认的是，该片确实也算是某种程度上的情欲片了（笔者在翻译两处情节的时候可耻地硬了），露鸟的镜头也是看得人菊花一紧。结尾强行给个HE发点糖也是没话说，其实如果到第九年他们分开就结束，这部作品应该还会更有深度一点。不过谁又不希望他们最终可以有好的结局呢？归根到底，这还算是一部值得一看的好电影。

不算福利的福利
1.结尾鸣谢中内裤赞助商是 Andrew Chritian
2.片尾曲是Kevin Henry的【Next Year】，【老友记】S06E10

如果翻译过审，会在这里贴上下载地址，希望大家支持。

Two best friends – one straight, one bisexual/gay – hook up just before the straight guy gets married. It’s the start of a decade long affair where the guys meet for one night a year to have sex, catch up and let loose. However what should be a secret but simple bit of fun soon becomes something more complicated for both of them.

That’s the set-up for writer/director Mark Bessenger’s The Last Straight Man, which shows us five of the mens’trysts over a 12-year period. With the film coming to DVD (it’s out this week in both the US and UK), we took the opportunity to chat to Bessenger about his movie, how the actors dealt with the sex and nudity, and whether gay people have a double standard about ‘straight’ men having same sex affairs.

Where did the idea for The Last Straight Man come from?
I wish I could say it was autobiographical, but it actually sprang from the budget. I knew my next feature would have to keep costs down, so I began to wonder if I could set a movie in one location and keep it interesting for ninety minutes. From there, it just built itself up: a hotel suite…one night every year afforded the opportunity to let characters grow…two men…best friends…one straight and one gay would provide the drama…unrequited love and sexual curiosity would provide the conflict…and there it was.

Have you ever fallen for a straight friend yourself?
I’ve had some pretty hard crushes on some of my straight guy friends, but yes, there was one that I was on the verge of falling in love with. Thank goodness it never happened. He was married with kids and it would have been a disaster. But, if he had been gay, it would have been glorious. We got along so well.

How did the main actors, Mark Cirillo and Scott Sell, get involved?
Scott was the first actor cast. When I was writing the script, I happened to see Scott in an episode of a local web show from Detroit, Michigan. It was a horror series, and Scott was great and had the perfect look for the Cooper character. I contacted him on Facebook, struck up a conversation and when the script was completed, I sent it to him to see if there was any interest. He wanted to try out, and I video auditioned him. He did a great job, and that was that.

Another actor had initially been cast as Lewis, the gay guy, but a month before the start of production, he backed out—a director’s nightmare. Several other good actors were contacted, including some who had originally auditioned for the part, but they turned it down, mostly because of the nudity and sex. One turned it down because of the “dirty bottom” joke! Producer Benjamin Lutz suggested I auditioned Mark Cirillo. They were friends because they had both been in another movie together (The Men Next Door), and Mark had done comedy and nudity in that film. So we brought Mark in, and he was great, so the two leads were complete.

Is it true that you initially thought about having different actors playing the two main characters at each of their meetings? Why was that scrapped?
Yes. Originally, I thought it would be fun to have different actors play the same characters every time they met. Maybe even actors of diverse races. It would give me the opportunity to work with more good people and add an interesting spin to the film, but the producers discussed it with me, and we ultimately decided it was too gimmicky an idea. The audience would have to get acquainted with the characters anew each time which would make it harder to build upon their story arcs. Plus, each concurrent set of actors would have to work within ever-tightening parameters, as they could only perform within the boundaries set by the preceding actors, which wouldn’t be as much fun. So we scrapped the idea.

Due to the setup of showing us some of the men’s yearly meeting, there’s a fair amount of nudity and sexual situations. Was that difficult to handle on set? Were the actors concerned about it at first?
Mark Cirillo had done nudity in previous films so it wasn’t a big deal to him (although now that the movie is done, he has told me he’s amazed at how much skin and sex there is in it), and when we were recording the audio commentary for the DVD, Scott revealed that ‘those’ scenes had almost prevented him from accepting the role. Both actors were very brave, but I have to give special props to Scott, who basically flew across the country to meet a group of people he didn’t know and get comfortable enough around us to take off his clothes and show butt and peen.

We rehearsed the scenes (clothed) extensively before we began filming, so the actors were relaxed and familiar with each other’s bodies, so I think that made it easier for them. And while we shot with a small crew, it was still difficult to get people to work on the film, due to the fact that it was GAY sex and MALE nudity. Even the women on the shoot were, I was told, uncomfortable. But I am always about challenging boundaries, so I take that as a badge of honor. And everyone behaved professionally. Even the telling of dirty jokes on set was practically nonexistent.

How much of a challenge was writing the script? You want us to get to know these men, but you are seeing them in quite limited periods. Was it difficult to keep it natural but still fully flesh out the characters?
Not at all. It was probably one of the easiest scripts I’ve ever written. Once I knew who these two guys were, and what I wanted each annual reunion to be about, the creation of the script just flew. I believe once the outline was done, I wrote it in a week. There was a very minimal rewrite after I let a few friends read it.

The film deals with the complexities of sexuality. It can often be a tangled thing with many people having different ideas about how peoples’ sexuality works and how/whether it can change. As the movie deals with people whose sexuality is being challenged or changing (at least in their own minds), how did you ensure that felt real?
I think a person’s sexuality is pretty much set at a young age with fuzzy borders. When I was a kid, I knew I didn’t feel the same way about girls as I did about boys, but I still thought I would get married to a woman some day and have kids. This was the ‘Barbie Dream House’ fantasy, and I didn’t realize it was really a gay fantasy. In high school and college, I became convinced I was bisexual and even bedded several women in an attempt to prove it to myself, but it was never as satisfying as it was when I had sex with men. Finally, I decided to just admit the truth to myself and came out as gay. So, did my sexuality change? No. Just my own interpretation (or frantic attempt at labelings) of what I thought I was, not what I really was.

And I believe this is true for a lot of people. One ‘straight’ male friend and fuck buddy told me that he considered himself totally heterosexual…he just liked to suck dick once in a while. To me, that is not straight, but to HIM, it absolutely is. So was his sexuality changing? I don’t think so. I think he was bisexual with a preference for women, but if he had come to this realization, his sexuality wouldn’t change, just his interpretation of it. And I found this fascinating and tried to incorporate this into Cooper’s character to help give him that authenticity.



I was also interested in how the guys’ meetings are supposed to be about escape and fun for both of them, but it quickly becomes apparent that there’s more to it than that. Do you think people can have ‘friends with benefits’ relationships that don’t get more complicated?
I really don’t. Sex, even if it’s originally just for fun, implies a certain amount of intimacy between the people involved. Now, I’m talking about ongoing sexual relationship, not going to a bathhouse or a sex club. When we have sex, we are revealing ourselves to another person in many ways. We are exposing our bodies, our pleasures, our fetishes, our psyches…everything that makes us who we are. I don’t think you can expose those aspects of ourselves to each other and not have it emotionally take hold somewhere.

It’s often difficult to get gay-themed films made. How did you go about getting financing the film?
I wish I could say I sold my body for a night to an Arabian prince and raised the entire budget by morning, but in actuality, we approached distributors, friends and investors but no one wanted to bite. Even a couple of porn companies. My biggest surprise was how many ‘out and proud’ homosexual men were actually afraid to put money into a gay production because their families and friends might disapprove. We tried an IndieGoGo campaign that failed miserably. Ultimately, a production company came through for us after reading the script and thinking it was great. Who was I to disagree?

I’m often intrigued when watching movies in which married men have an affair with another guy, whether the ‘cheating’ character would seem as sympathetic if he was having an affair with a woman. Do you think that’s true and that perhaps gay-themed cinema has a bit of a double-standard on that issue?
It is a double-standard, because cheating on a committed partner IS cheating. But I think we are more apt to forgive a married man sleeping with a gay man because men cheat to fulfill something they’re not getting in their normal relationships. If he’s having hetero sex at home and seeks out other hetero sex, it’s harder to forgive, because he’s looking for more of what he’s already getting. But if a married man is seeking out gay sex, we believe (or often WANT to believe) that it’s because he’s searching for something more than just sex. He’s looking to fulfill some part of his makeup that his wife, or any woman for that matter, isn’t satisfying. And so he finds it with other men. For a lot of gay men, we understand that search, since so many of us have experienced it ourselves, and so, we’re more willing to forgive that transgression. But if we were to see a movie about a married gay couple in a committed relationship and one of them cheats on his spouse with another gay man, I don’t think it would be as well-received.

The film seems to have had a great reaction at film festivals. Are you pleased with how audiences have reacted to the movie?
Yes. I was surprised at how few GLBT festivals in the U.S. wouldn’t take the film. When you’re rejected, you don’t get an explanation. But I was always told that it could be for any reason: too long of a running time, not funny enough, a festival programmer was feeling particularly unattractive that day and didn’t want to book a film where someone else found love…anything. But I always had a feeling the sexual frankness of the film scared some of them off. Even GLBT fests in the Bible Belt can be pretty conservative.

Are you a fan of gay-themed cinema yourself? What are some of your favourites?
Yes, I love gay cinema. I love movies in general, but gay cinema feels like it speaks more to me than other genres (except horror, but that’s an essay in itself) because it’s easier to see myself on the screen. I could name several films, but I’m going to restrict myself to two, both by the same director: Joseph Graham. This guy is such a good filmmaker, it hurts. His first film, Strapped, is a character study of people living in an apartment building as they encounter a male escort who has just had a client and cannot find the exit. After working his way through the literal and figurative maze-like hallways, he learns something about himself. It’s a beautiful piece of work. Now, Joe has a new film coming out called Beautiful Something. He’s putting the finishing touches on it right now. He graciously asked me to watch it…and it’s simply brilliant. It’s about our relationship with art and how that effects all aspects of our lives. It’s gorgeous, sexy, amazingly directed and the acting is devastatingly wonderful. Keep an eye out for that one. It’s flat-out my favorite gay film to date.

Are you working on anything new. Is there anything you can tell us about it?
Oh yes, things have been very busy at the Bessenger film factory. Currently, an older feature I directed and was thought lost has been rediscovered. It’s called Rhapsody and is available for streaming and download on amazon.com, or for purchase on Blu-ray on eBay. It was my first gay feature, shot in Chicago in 1994. When it was found, we remastered the footage, re-scored the music and re-edited the picture. There were a LOT of montages. A LOT, lol. Anyway, it’s recently been made available.

The very first feature film I ever directed, a horror/comedy/action/martial arts film called Ninja Zombie may be finally seeing the light of day next year. I was told it was too ‘mean-spirited’ by a distributor and so let it collect dust in my garage until recently someone came calling for it. Look for that one early in 2016.

And currently, I am in the middle of production on a new project called Confession. It’s a 16-scene anthology made up of gay male monologues in which each character confesses a secret to someone; sometimes a friend, sometimes directly to us. Each piece differs from the rest in tone or genre. One is a comedy, one is horror, one is romantic, one is disturbing, a few are erotic, there is a concert film, dancing and puppets; some are dark, some are light…I hope all are entertaining. And yes, there’s sex and nudity, lol.

We should finish post by the end of April and will be making the film festival circuit this year while seeking distribution.

I hope these films will appeal to ‘our’ audience, and that your readers will seek them out and enjoy them!

        首先想说的，这部电影应该是这一年多来看过的同影里面最爱的一部了。
        我不知道你们有没有过这种感受，就是以前听过的一首歌你并不喜欢，可是在某个时刻某个瞬间当你在听到这首歌的时候，会觉得它是如此的动听，我觉得我们都会在某个时刻或是难过或是开心的时候喜欢上一首歌，一部电影或者是一个人。或许这部电影给我的感觉就是这样，所以我真的很爱这部。
       对于电影的结局，从电影开始的我就希望库和路易斯能有个好的结尾，因为他们的高颜值也因为“最好的朋友”这个梗对同志来说真的是硬伤，我想大多数的同志都爱上过自己最要好的朋友，而电影里库和路易斯也一样，他们是如此的深爱对方，如果这份爱能来得早一些，早在库结婚前或者有小孩前那么或许他们就能幸福的在一起。对于库来说，他不愿意也不喜欢和别人接吻，哪怕是对自己的妻子，他觉得那种亲密是要可以和他分享灵魂的人才可以的，而影片中和路易斯的最后一吻是如此轻松和自然。我不能揣测这个结局到底是指的什么，但是我想库他已经找到他的灵魂伴侣，那个可以和他分享生命中的一切的男人，虽然这个男人早就出现在他生命中了。也许库和路易斯不能像情侣、爱人一样生活在一起，但是我相信他们在彼此生命中绝对是最重要的。
       最后我想说的是我觉得路易斯很伟大，他不希望库成为像他那样的人，所以他选择放手，对于这个我真的不禁感慨生命中真的有些人是很想要爱，却爱不起，不是因为怕受伤怕失败。在这个现实的世界，我们都像是迷途的星星，想要照亮别人的同时也被别人照亮，可是我们改变不了这个残酷的世界，又不想让这个世界来改变我们，只能伪装自己，伪装得和异性恋一样，深怕朋友或者亲人戴着有色的眼镜来看待我们。
       致那个我们生命中很想爱却爱不起的人，愿天下有情人终成眷属。