SHE SPIES諜影迷蹤
視屏·視評John le Carré returns to television with The Little Drummer Girl. By KEVIN MA John le Carré的小說再度被搬上電視，今次是《The Little Drummer Girl》。撰文：馬樂民
IN 2016, PRODUCTION company Ink Factory, the BBC and Oscar-winning director Susanne Bier brought spy novelist John le Carré back to television for the first time in 25 years with the TV adaptation of The Night Manager. The six-part series was an unqualified success, winning multiple Emmy, Bafta and Golden Globe awards.
Last year, Ink Factory and the BBC returned to Le Carré’s body of work, adapting The Little Drummer Girl into a six-part mini-series. The 1970s-set drama follows Charlie (Florence Pugh), a young British actor with radical political leanings. During a holiday to Greece (cue scenes set on beautiful beaches), she is recruited by Joseph (Alexander Skarsgård), a spy for a secret Israeli intelligence agency, to infiltrate a Palestinian terrorist group after a heinous bombing.
The scripts by Claire Wilson and Michael Lesslie take advantage of the extended TV format, taking time to lay out Le Carré’s labyrinthine plotting. While Charlie’s mission is the core of the story, Michael Shannon occupies a parallel narrative as Martin, an Israeli spymaster with a game plan. Pugh – fantastic as the ruthless femme fatale in Lady Macbeth – gives an intriguing and layered performance as the spy-in-training, but Shannon is the heart of the show as the ruthless puppet master. The American actor’s Israeli accent takes some time to get used to, but his commanding presence lends a dramatic anchor to Le Carré’s dense narrative.
In an inspired choice, the producer recruited South Korea’s Park Chanwook, the innovative stylist who turned violent exploitation cinema into art with his Vengeance Trilogy ( Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, Oldboy and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance), to direct the series. Working with prolific South Korean cinematographer Kim Woo-hyung ( 1987: When the Day Comes), Park infuses his first TV effort with numerous stylistic touches borrowed from cinema – a washed- out, grey palette imitating films of the era, inventive camerawork and striking editing techniques. By the end of the first episode, it’s clear that The Little Drummer Girl has been placed in the hands of a master. In next month’s Discovery, the Le Carré film and TV tour
2016 年，製作公司Ink Factory、BBC英國廣播公司及奧斯卡獲獎導演Susanne Bier 聯手將間諜小說家John le Carré的作品《夜班經理》改編為電視劇，這是25年來Le Carré的小說首次被搬上熒幕。這個全長六集的劇集空前成功，贏得艾美獎、英國電視學院獎及金球獎多個獎項。
去年 Ink Factory 及 BBC再度從 Le Carré的小 說 中尋 寶，選 中《The Little Drummer Girl》，將之改編為六集的迷你劇集。故事的背景是1970 年代，主角 Charlie （ Florence Pugh飾）是個有激進政治傾向的年輕英國演員。她在希臘度假（劇集有迷人的海灘美景）時，被以色列秘密情報機關的間諜Joseph（Alexander Skarsgård 飾）招攬，在一次令人髮指的炸彈襲擊後，滲透一個巴勒斯坦恐怖組織。
編劇Claire Wilson與 Michael Lesslie 利用電視劇較長的篇幅，將Le Carré 原著中錯綜複雜的情節清楚交待。Charlie 的任務是故事的主線，而Michael Shannon飾演掌握全局的以色列特務頭子Martin，則在敘事上與她互相呼應。Pugh在《馬克白夫人的誘惑》中飾演冷酷無情的蛇蠍美人，演技令人讚賞，在本劇集飾演正在受訓的間諜新手，演技層次豐富，將角色演繹得引人入勝。但Shannon飾演性格冷酷，一手操縱大局的特務頭子，才是全劇的重心所在。這位美國演員在劇中帶以色列口音，需要花點時間才聽得慣，不過他舉手投足之間的威嚴與氣勢，卻在Le Carré情節複雜的敘事中起著壓場的作用。
劇集監製別出心裁，邀來南韓導演朴贊郁執導。這位導演以風格創新見稱，他的復仇三部曲（《復仇》、《原罪犯》及《親切的金子》）將渲染暴力的電影提升至藝術層次。朴贊郁與多產的攝影師金宇亨（前作《1987：逆權公民》）緊密合作，在首次執導的電視劇中注入不少電影風格，例如模仿那個年代電影略帶淡灰白的色調，以極具創意的手法運用鏡頭，以及出色的剪接技巧等。看到第一集結束時，觀眾已清楚看出《The Little Drummer Girl》處處流露出大師風範。
下期《Discovery》將推出Le Carré 影視作品之旅，敬請留意