巴克

1998年，罗伯特雷德福拍摄了《马语者》，深情、亲切、怀温、细腻、舒缓，这部温情的电影也成了经典，只不过我总是对其中雷德福扮演的马语者心存怀疑，真的有这样的人么？直到我看了这部纪录片。《巴克》记录的是个名叫巴克的驯马师的平常生活和人生故事。一般驯马总要用些暴力的手段逼着烈马就范，有些手段甚至是非人的残忍的，巴克却与众不同，他似乎与马之间总能很快的建立类似人与人之间的信任，不用什么暴力手段就能让马对他言听计从，好像他真的能和马对话一样。最重要的是在雷德福拍摄《马语者》的时候，请来的技术指导就是他，他才是真正的“马语者”。关于这段经历，片子中有段描述，为了拍摄马将头埋到斯嘉丽怀里的画面，剧组花了整整几个小时都没有成功，因为特技马被训练得时刻要看着训练师。于是巴克说用他自己的马试试看，好莱坞的那些专业人士都不太相信，没想到只用了20分钟就完成了这个感人的镜头。现在巴克每年也花上好几个月在北美旅行，到各个马场教授自己的驯马方式。片中有很多镜头表现，他说“Your horse is a mirror to your soul, and sometimes you may not like what you see. Sometimes, you will”，借着这句话引出了巴克的童年经历。原来他有着悲惨的童年阴影，小时候他梦想着成为一个靠表演花式套绳的明星，而且他也成为了一个小有名气的花式套绳童星，他和哥哥在爸爸的带领下到处表演，甚至拍摄了广告。可他爸爸是个十分令人生畏的人，唯有妈妈才能带给他安慰和安全感，随着妈妈的离世，哥俩的噩梦生活开始了，妈妈的离开让他爸爸开始酗酒，进而不断的殴打他。终于，有人将他带离了父亲身边，收养了他，他也接触到一个驯马的导师，从此开始了他驯马的生活。从他童年的经历，也能看得出他为什么能与马建立如此的信任，那些总是不停用鞭子抽打马的驯马方式像极了他爸爸在小时候对他干的事情，所以他明白那是什么感觉，幼马就像孩子，它可能不懂事，可能很淘气，但是只是抽打也许能达到一时的目的，却会对马造成伤害。有些人觉得他是有神奇能力的“马语者”，其实他只不过是能用平等的态度对待马而已。电影中有好几次展示他如何建立这种平等的信任，看似简单，其实暗藏不少技巧，不过马也是能感受到你的情感的，你这么对待它也也会相应的回应你。美国风光，放荡不羁的牛仔，典型的美国平等精神，这部电影很好的将美国人的主流观念融入其中，将一个人的大半生娓娓道来。

《巴克》，是本届圣丹斯电影节的放映作品。讲述了当年赞誉很高的电影《马语者》（The Horse Whisperer，1998，P.S.那年女主Scarlett Johansson年方十四）的技术指导巴克的故事。这位顶级的驯马师，有一个受虐的童年，敏感丰富的内心，和睦的家庭，幽默健谈的性格，深入浅出的人生哲学。它可以是一部关注动物驯化的影片，可以是一部教育片（片中无数次提到对待马就像对待孩子一样），可以是一份员工指南，可以是任何具有积极意义的思考载体。所谓的积极意义，是本人一直很欣赏的角度——自我反思。片中有几段非常耐寻味。首先是人与马的关系。巴克童年时期，随父兄表演套绳，母亲去世后，经常遭到严厉父亲的毒打。父亲用马鞭抽打他的背部和手臂，留下永久伤痕。这种方式，恰恰是那个年代驯马师对待马匹的惯用手法。而终于从父亲手中逃出的少年巴克，在养母家一段关键性的成长，造就了成年巴克对待马的态度和方式，他坚信马儿就像孩子一样，首先要懂得尊重，人与马应当建立彼此尊重、相互信任的关系，而不是征服与被征服的关系。于是，巴克对待马的态度，和当年父亲对待他的态度形成鲜明的比照。人与马的关系，推而广之就是人与动物的关系——或者更谨慎一点——人类与被驯化动物的关系。尊重不仅限于人类社会，人与动物之间，同样应当以和谐的方式走向和谐，而非暴力的方式走向征服。同理，爱也不仅局限于人类社会，动物界同样很吃这一套。其次是人与人的关系。巴克驯服那匹三岁种马未果，与马主人的一段对话。“你对待马的态度，就是你对待生活的态度；其实不是马的问题，而是你的生活出了问题。”这番话非常直白，女主人彼时流下了悔恨的泪水。一个人的控制欲太强，而多半又是感情用事、固执己见，是很容易情绪化的。控制好自己的情绪，和尊重一样，是处理好个人与外界关系的两个并行不悖的因素。但并不意味着你就应该一味退让忍让和妥协，在家庭中，这叫溺爱，在人际上，这叫放纵。社会的规范，原则性的东西，应当坚持，文化的功能，本身也在教化。一个被放任自流的个体，最终的结局，就是社会和所爱对他的放弃，而社会和所爱绝对要付相应的责任或沉痛的代价。最后是个体与自我的关系。如片中那位女驯马师所说：“马儿是一面镜子”。马作为整部片的主要线索，作为驯马师的驯服对象，的确起到了镜子的作用。推而广之，个体与自我往往需要以一个外在的媒介来充当镜子的功能，或者是你全身投入的职业，或者是你毕生钟爱的事物，或者是某个亲近的人、崇拜的对象，总之，我们需要通过它们来进行持续的反思。自己对待他人或它物的态度和方式，会形成我们惯常依赖的思维定势。最表层的也是最普遍的，就是出了事，总习惯在行为对象、合作伙伴或者周遭环境找原因，却忽略自我反省。这也是为什么，现代人在困境面前容易焦虑、躁动。巴克的养母提到一句“上帝眷顾那些具有灵活性的个体”，灵活性既可指肢体行动的敏捷，也可以是思维的能动性。一个心思敏感的人，若能利用这种特质体察现象或行为对象的细节部，能够感知周遭环境的细微变化，并且及时反思自己的行为，尽快进行作用与被作用之间的调适，这本身就是一种自我超越。驯马师的职业作为一个媒介，帮助巴克最终克服沉默内向的性格，成为一个健谈而富有幽默感的人——并不是说但凡沉默内向就是负面，但驯马早教师的职业要求与马互动的同时，与学员有良好的沟通，才能帮助学员与马建立信任关系，驯马师的沉默内向就成为一种前进的障碍；而在克服了这一性格弱点后，巴克的童年经历反倒化为一剂良药，共同激发了他的人生哲学和处事智慧。

        The first impression I got after I read the introduction about BUCK, I wasn’t attracted. I didn’t really care about a horse whisperer. And I kept wondering how the director had pitched to the producers, since it risked being like a personal commercial. Besides I don’t do horse riding and know next to nothing about it. But after watching it, I realized the film is not really about horses. Buck said it at the beginning of the film: “A lot of times, rather than helping people with horse problems, I’m helping horses with people problems.” As the director Cindy Meehl said, BUCK is a human story. It relates to the audience whoever they are and whether they like horse or not. And I believe good documentaries are about people, about people’s conditions, about people’s struggles and how they try to get out of plight. BUCK is one of them. The whole film tells us how Buck handles the negative legacy his father left him in his boyhood and how he treats horses in his special way. It also tells about his family, his relationship with his wife and charming daughter. These themes relate to everyone. Let alone people in America love to talk about trauma and to learn stories about therapeutic journey. So BUCK, which is essentially about people dealing with trauma and creating good legacy, was very much likely to become a hit.        Generally the cinematographic style is cinéma vérité, nothing really special. But I like it that almost all interviews were set in situations – on the pasture, near a truck, at home – which reflected the identites of the interviewees instead of inside drab offices. At the beginning of the film, Buck says, “I’m heading off to my office.” And the ranch is his office. I enjoy the music, too. Whether it is the work-like-a-charm western country music or the cello playing, it collaberates with the scenes very well.         The filmmakers also had some luck. Near the ending of the documentary, Buck had to deal with a horse whose brain had been damaged at birth. He pointed out to the horse’s female owner that he saw a lot of her own problems from the horse. The owner admitted in front of the camera and cried. This wasn’t easy to capture. I think this makes the film stronger in terms of showing how Buck can read people through their horses and how he really is helping horses with people problems.        Manohla Dargis of New York Times called Buck’s approach to horses “Zen-like”. I don’t agree with this statement. However it did remind me that Hannah Arendt once wrote: “Power and violence are opposites; where the one rules absolutely, the other is absent.” Although the relationship between Buck and the horses is not necessarily about power and control, Buck seems more mesmerizing than his peers because he refuses to resort to violence while most of his peers do.        Buck wrote a letter to his abusive father. “I don’t want you to die thinking that I hate you. You're my dad and because of that there’ll always be a bond between us. I want you to know that I forgive you and I don’t hold any hard feelings. You made mistakes, but those are things you have to live with. But you're my dad and I still love you as my dad.” People would assume Buck resented his father. But Buck wasn’t holding grudges. David Edelstein of NPR wrote a film review about BUCK, in which he stated: “Our therapeutic culture is lousy with stories of people struggling to spin childhood traumas into something positive, something that leaves the world a better place than the one that damaged them.” That Buck didn’t make a big deal of the painful past, didn’t babble about his father’s abuses makes the history more heart rending, I believe. Pains are more painful if presented with silence.         Also the recounting of how Buck and his brother had been treated by his father also reminds me of the dad-beat-children scene in LAST TRAIN HOME. I would say beating children is not uncommon in China, where I came from. But from my perspective, a lot of parents do that because they are using children to vent their own pain from sufferings. Those parents who are not doing well, whose rights are encroached upon, who suffer injustice more likely will be abusive of their children. So I’d really like to know why Ace had been so cruel to his children. Personally I feel that the failure to talk to Buck’s father is a pity for the film. (It didn’t tell me whether Ace died or not.)

豆瓣8.0分，圣丹斯电影节纪录片大奖——这些标签让《巴克》成了一部“高分纪录片”，但看完才发现，它根本不需要这些光环。巴克·布兰纳曼本人，就是那个传说中的“马语者”，而且比1998年罗伯特·雷德福主演的电影版更狠、更温柔、更真实。影片开场就是一个让人心碎的画面：巴克回忆自己的童年——被父亲虐待，母亲软弱，最后被送走。他说：“我和马有很多共同点，它们也知道被伤害是什么感觉。”这一下就把全片的基调定死了：这不是一部教你如何驯马的教程，而是一个创伤幸存者如何用另一种方式去爱。巴克的马术方法说白了就两个字：尊重。他从来不强迫马做任何事，而是等它自愿靠近。听起来玄乎，但看他工作现场——一匹暴躁的种马，十五分钟后温顺地跟在他身后，就像被施了魔法。但巴克说：“我不是在驯马，我是在跟它交朋友。”这种理念放在今天依然很超前，毕竟大部分驯马师还在用鞭子和铁嚼子。《巴克》被专业评价为“温柔振奋、直击心灵的非凡作品”，一点不夸张。最打动我的不是他驯马多厉害，而是他对自己女儿的教育——他教女儿要温柔，但也要有边界，就像他对待马一样。那一刻你会明白：他治愈马，其实是在治愈曾经那个受伤的自己。幕后花絮里有个细节：导演辛迪·米尔本身就是马术爱好者，在巴克那里学习四天就被彻底折服。也难怪她能拍出这种“非典型纪录片”——没有画外音，没有过度煽情，只有巴克平淡真实的日常。圣丹斯的评委说奖项实至名归，但我觉得，这片子如果只是获奖，反而对不起巴克的深度。当然，也有观众觉得节奏太慢，没什么戏剧冲突。但我想说：真正的治愈从来都不是戏剧性的，而是像巴克那样，一天天地，用温柔对抗世界的激烈对抗。