BEST OF FRENEMIES生冤家，死對頭
The first season of Feud highlights an epic Hollywood rivalry. By KEVIN MA《Feud》第一季細說荷李活兩大影后當年的明爭暗鬥。撰文：馬樂民
THE CREATOR OF Nip/ Tuck and Glee, Ryan Murphy, has mastered the anthology series format in recent years with the Emmy-winning series American Horror Story and American Crime Story. While American shows can traditionally drag a story on for multiple seasons if ratings are strong enough, each season of an anthology show is a self- contained miniseries that follows a common theme.
Murphy’s latest creation is Feud, a look at legendary personal rivalries. The first season follows Hollywood divas Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, who shared one of the most famous grudges in Hollywood.
The animosity between Crawford and Davis started early in their careers, but Feud focuses on the period when their fight reached fever pitch in the 1960s with the production of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Looking for a comeback at nearly 60 years old, Crawford (Jessica Lange) set out to find a flashy role and found the novel by Henry Farrell. Crawford needed another marquee name to get the film produced, leaving her no choice but to turn to Davis (Susan Sarandon), who had also fallen out of favour with Hollywood.
Mixing fact and fiction, Feud: Bette and Joan is a wickedly funny insider’s look at old Hollywood, when sexism was rampant and studios spent just as much time covering up scandals as they did making films. Lange and Sarandon, both Hollywood veterans, seem to relish their onscreen rivalry in award- calibre performances. Alfred Molina is equally good as Robert Aldrich, the philandering director caught in the middle of the ego war.
But the series is also a tragedy. As Catherine Zeta-Jones – playing Olivia de Havilland – says in the first episode, ‘feuds are about pain’. The show suggests that Crawford and Davis might have been best friends (echoing a line by Davis’ character at the end of Baby Jane) if they weren’t so conscious about seeing their own flaws in each other. Murphy has more pain in store for the second season of Feud, which covers the story of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.
《凹 /凸容醫》和《吉列合唱團》的創作人
Ryan Murphy，近年擅長製作迷你系列劇集，如獲得艾美獎的《American Horror Story》和《American Crime Story》。傳統的美劇假若叫好叫座，可以一劇多季，把同一個故事延續下去；而迷你系列劇集則以一個共通的主題貫穿每一季，但每一季卻是自成一格的獨立故事。
Murphy的最新迷你系列劇集《Feud》探索多段傳奇的恩怨情仇，首季刻畫兩大荷李活影后 Bette Davis 和 Joan Crawford之間的明爭暗鬥。
Crawford 與 Davis 初出道不久，兩人關係即已勢成水火，但《Feud》聚焦於二人在 1960年代拍攝《蘭閨驚變》時，戲裡戲外都鬥得最激烈的時期。Jessica Lange飾演當時年近六旬的 Crawford，希望憑藉一個亮眼的角色助她東山再起，並決定將
Henry Farrell的小說改編。可是她需要找到另一位大明星，電影才能開拍，於是心不甘情不願地邀請同樣風光不再的死敵Davis （ Susan Sarandon 飾）與她合作。
《Feud: Bette and Joan》的故事將真人真事與虛構劇情共冶一爐，從局內人的觀點出發，抱著嬉笑怒罵的態度來看昔日荷李活猖獗的性別歧視和氾濫的醜聞。Lange 和 Sarandon 演繹一對勾心鬥角的宿敵，表現淋漓盡致兼火花四濺； Alfred Molina 飾演風流成性的導演 Robert Aldrich，同樣唯肖唯妙，他在兩女之間周旋，夾在她們的鬥爭中左右做人難，苦不堪言。
但這個故事也是一場悲劇，就如在第一集中由 Catherine Zeta-Jones 飾演的
Olivia de Havilland 所言：「與人作對總是令人痛苦。」劇中指出，如果 Crawford 和
Davis不是那麼清晰地從對方身上看到自己的缺點的話，兩人其實可以成為知己，這也正好呼應著《蘭閨驚變》中Davis 的角色在片末的一句對白。Murphy 會在第二季探索查理斯王子和戴安娜王妃之間的感情糾葛，為觀眾帶來更多令人心酸痛苦的故事。