老外拍《台灣牡蠣》 逗趣看東西差異

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老外拍《台灣牡蠣》 逗趣看東西差異

中國時報【江家華╱台北報導】美國籍導演馬克賈瑞及製片米歇爾賈瑞兄弟執導的
《台灣牡蠣》，講述一名來台的外籍英文老師墜樓身亡後，因無人認領屍體，兩個與他
相識卻不熟的外國人賽門和達倫，決定「綁架遺體」，沿著台灣東海岸尋找下葬地點。
一路上，兩人遇到和尚、幫派、原住民等各種台灣人，發生許多荒繆逗趣的遭遇，探討
關於死亡、生命等普世議題的東西方差異。

「這並非我的真實故事，而是集合許多外籍朋友在台灣的故事。」美國喬治亞大學畢業
後，馬克一九九九年來台，當時只是基於西方年輕人大學畢業後，都有四處旅行的傳統，
他來台短暫旅行三個月，沒想到遇上九二一地震，這一待就是三年。片中觸及異地人害
怕死在他鄉和浪漫的愛情故事，都是發生在他身邊朋友的例子。

馬克說，他只是想藉由拍攝此片，呈現台灣曾帶給他的美好。他重新走訪東台灣，發揮
參與著名影集《勝利之光》、坎城金棕櫚獎電影《永生樹》和《馬奎斯的三場葬禮》的
經驗，讓電影景緻看來格外美麗。

他在片中加入初到台灣遇到的文化衝擊，如在街上見到情侶吵架、暴力相向，他充當和
事佬；或主角賽門拜訪原住民朋友時，原住民騙他們喝下蜜蜂釀的酒，還要把蜜蜂嚼爛
的有趣片段。

他也想洗刷台灣人對於西方人的刻板印象，如賽門回到台灣朋友開的酒吧，對於在酒吧
喧譁、把妹的外國人不以為然，「透過旅程的洗練，男孩意外變成熟了。」

馬克不諱言，電影腳本受到諾貝爾文學獎得主威廉.福克納小說《我彌留之際》影響，
小說描述美國南方農夫本德恩將妻子遺體運回家鄉安葬的旅程。他也以美國經典鄉村音
樂襯托公路電影的氛圍，「我很訝異大部分台灣人對於這些歌曲的熟悉程度，像
《Country Road》都能朗朗上口。」


Expatriates on the Road, With a Dead Body
‘Taiwan Oyster,’ a Search for a Resting Place

By KEN JAWOROWSKI
Published: October 17, 2013

Like someone using a thin smile to hide a heavy heart, “The Taiwan Oyster”
employs a comic veneer to camouflage a deep sense of melancholy. This is
a film that holds tight to its sorrow while trying not to scare you away.

Set in Taiwan among a group of young American expatriates, the plot begins
at a party, where a drunken guest decides to leap from one high-story
balcony to another. In a nerve-racking scene, he comes up short, and days
later his body lies unclaimed in a morgue.

Simon and Darin, two kindergarten teachers, take it upon themselves to
steal the corpse of this man they barely knew and bury it in the countryside.
That leads to some standard road-trip misadventures — a cute woman
joins them; ill-tempered gangsters appear — and to a sweet sadness as
Simon uses the journey to reassess his lonely life.

“I’m not afraid to die,” Simon (a disarmingly mopey Billy Harvey) says.
“I’m afraid of being insignificant.” Darin (Jeff Palmiotti, working a tad too
hard) is a contrast irresistible to screenwriters: a rascal eager to party. “I
find my solace in the arms of beautiful women,” he replies. “C’mon, you’re
depressing me, man.”

“The Taiwan Oyster,” directed by Mark Jarrett, alludes to “As I Lay Dying”
“Easy Rider” and “Lost in Translation” as its scenes linger for a few extra
moments to build a forlorn mood. Part romance, existential meditation and
dark comedy, the film, like its perplexed characters, isn’t always certain of
what it wants to be. Yet in the end it does pretty well for itself, despite
those self-doubts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/18/movies/taiwan-oyster-a-search-for-a-resting-place.html?_r=0

“The Taiwan Oyster”
http://www.thetaiwanoyster.com/TheTaiwanOyster_PressKit.pdf