DADDY NOT SO COOL老爸的樂與怒
Guillaume Canet refuses to act his age in Rock’n’Roll. By KEVIN MA Guillaume Canet在《Rock’n’Roll》中拒絕認老。撰文：馬樂民
MALE SUPERSTARS LIKE
George Clooney and Leonardo DiCaprio may have mastered the art of ageing gracefully as they approach middle age, but most actors probably still feel a certain pang when they’re told that they’re past their prime.
That pang sets off a midlife crisis of epic proportions in Rock’n’Roll, a French take on neurotic comedies like Curb Your Enthusiasm, by actordirector Guillaume Canet ( The Beach, Tell No One). Canet stars as a fictional version of himself in a meta docu-comedy that mocks midlife insecurities and the French film industry.
In the film, 42-year-old Canet lives a humdrum family life with partner Marion Cotillard (also playing herself ). He has just been cast to play a father for the first time, but his ego is bruised when his young female co-star tells him that she never saw him as cool. Trying to prove that he’s still young enough to rock, Canet undergoes a journey of reinvention that turns into self- destruction.
Francophiles will be happy to know that Canet’s celebrity friends are also in on the joke. In addition to cameos by Gilles Lellouche, rock legend Johnny Hallyday, Yvan Attal and Ben Foster, Cotillard gives a rare comedic performance that lampoons her reputation as a serious prestige actress. Poking fun at her work in Canadian director Xavier Dolan’s It’s Only the End of the World, Cotillard spends most of the film practising Québécois so she can be in Dolan’s next film. At one point, she even says she’s only drawn to roles with ‘an accent or a disability’ – a reference to her work in La Vie en Rose and Rust and Bone.
Rock’n’Roll may seem like a vanity project, but Canet’s film is actually a brutally funny act of self-deprecation that asks the audience to laugh at him. It’s a cautionary tale that suggests the best way to age gracefully isn’t to act young, but to just sit back and accept it.
天王巨星如George Clooney 和
Leonardo DiCaprio等，隨著人到中年，都懂得優雅變老之道。但大多數演員聽到別人說他們韶華不再時，卻難免心有戚戚然。
《Rock’n’Roll》就以嬉笑怒罵來刻畫這種中年危機，這部出自演員兼導演 Guillaume Canet (前作《迷幻沙灘》、《Tell No One》)之手的神經喜劇，可說是《Curb Your Enthusiasm》的法國版。Canet在這部介乎紀錄片及喜劇之間的電影中，飾演一個虛構的自己，嘲諷中年危機和法國電影圈。
在本片中，42歲的Canet與伴侶 Marion Cotillard (同樣飾演自己)過著平淡乏味的家庭生活。有天他接拍一部新片，首次飾演一位父親。可是當飾演他女兒的年輕演員對他說，在她眼中他從來都既不有型亦沒有格時，令這位老戲骨的自尊心頓時受到重創。為了證明自己寶刀未老，
Canet展開東山再起的樂與怒歷程，最終卻以自我毀滅收場。
法國文化的粉絲一定樂於知道 Canet 多位名人好友亦粉墨登場助陣，除了Gilles Lellouche、搖滾傳奇 Johnny Hallyday、Yvan Attal 和 Ben Foster 客 串 亮 相 外，女 友
Cotillard 也罕有地發揮喜劇細 胞，將自己態度認真及地位崇高的女演員形象嘲諷一番。在片中她拿演出加拿大導演 Xavier Dolan的《愛到世界盡頭》來開玩笑，為了能再參演他的作品，更瘋狂苦練魁北克法語。她甚至直言自己只會被「有口音或殘障」的角色吸引，直指她在《粉紅色的一生》和《銹與骨》的演出。
《Rock’n’Roll》驟眼看來似乎是一部充滿虛榮的電影，但Canet 其實是透過這部不留情面地搞笑和自嘲的作品，讓觀眾盡情地取笑他。這是一個警世的故事，告訴大家優雅地變老的最佳方法，並非努力裝年輕，而是放鬆和接受現實。