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Birthday Girl
生日女郎 由于发达国家与发展中国家之间生活水平的巨大差异，近些年来在西方一些国家兴起了从发展中国家“邮购”新娘的活动。前苏联解体后，许多俄罗斯姑娘通过这种方式到西方国家寻找“幸福”。关于这种形式的跨国婚姻所产生的问题时常见诸报端，主要是女方受到男方的虐待。但也有关于女方卧薪尝胆最终得以用离婚手段取得男方家产的事例。今年年初上映的“生日女郎”就取材于跨国婚姻中的诈骗。故事在开头平淡无奇，后面却充满了令人意想不到的转折，结尾更是出人意料，是一部揉和了幽默、浪漫和犯罪悬念的电影。 John Buckingham is a young man working for a bank at a small town in England. His honesty and shyness impress his colleagues but it is also a barrier for him to get a date. One day he finds an on-line match-making company "From Russia with Love"1 where customers can pay a certain sum of money to get a Russian girl as a bride. He decides to have a try and picks up a girl named Nadia because she is pretty and does not have bad habits such as smoking according to the on-line information. Besides, she is learning English and they will have no problem in communicating with each other in daily life. Meeting Nadia at the airport, John is surprised to see her simple luggage. On the way of driving home, John is more surprised to see the girl lighting a cigarette. What's more, she cannot understand what John is trying to tell her. At the dinner table, the two eat silently. They have to resort to2 body language to get the message through. Nadia takes out a gold ring and insists that John put it on. Disappointed, John phones the match-making company several times to complain,but only a recording machine answers his calls. At night, sleepless John is trying to figure out what to do when Nadia tiptoes to his room and to John's surprise, makes love to him without a word. In the morning when Nadia is having a shower, John sneaks into her room and examines her luggage. He finds a pistol-shaped lighter, a pair of binoculars, and some childhood pictures. After he goes to work, Nadia also gives the house a thorough search and her harvest is some adult magazines and some pornographic videos on pervert sexual behavior,3 especially bondage. So when John presents a Russian-English dictionary to Nadia after coming back from work, Nadia takes out the magazines and videos to John's astonishment. In the evening, they try out these methods without even uttering a single word. John begins to like the girl and decides not to send her back to Russia and demand reimbursement4 from the match-making company. A feeling of trust is building up in John as Nadia not only does all the housework and cooks for him but also satisfies him sexually. The girl is also working hard on her English. Soon they do a lot of things together although Nadia's English is still quite poor. One day Nadia tells John, with the help of the dictionary, that it is her birthday that day and she expects a party for her in the evening. John is very happy to oblige and prepares a big cake and some candles. Just as Nadia is to blow the candlelight, the door bell rings. Nadia jumps up and reaches for the door. She is thrilled to see two men who embrace her passionately. John is puzzled and demands an explanation. They tell him that they are Russian actors working in England and one of them is Nadia's cousin. They also show their passports to John who is still not totally convinced. But he has to let them stay overnight at least. In the morning, when John gets up and goes to the
kitchen for breakfast, he is shocked to see Nadia tied up onto a chair.
The two men threaten to kill Nadia if John fails to do what he is told:
get money from the safe in the bank he works for. Since he has no choice,
John takes two cello cases5 to the bank, pretending to practice after
work. When he finds a chance, he gets all the money from the safe into
the cases and runs out of the office as fast as he can. The kidnappers
are waiting for him in his car and John throws the cases into the car
and drives away madly. As John requests, the two bandits relieve Nadia
from the rope on her When they check into a hotel room, the bandits tie John up to the toilet. It takes a long time for John to untie the rope. When he gets out of the toilet, John is surprised to see that Nadia is also tied up in the bedroom and the two men are gone with the money. After untying Nadia, John gives her a heavy slap on the face condemning her for framing8 him. The truth is that they have cheated quite some people for their money in this way over the past years. But this time Nadia has developed feelings for John and quarreled with the two guys who thus decided to abandon her. Furious John is determined to take Nadia to the nearest police station and give himself up9. As they enter the police station, Nadia suddenly feels sick and has to go to the toilet. She tells John that she is pregnant. Out of sympathy for Nadia and fearing to be jailed, John drives off the police station with Nadia. John decides to take Nadia to the airport and send her back to Russia while he bears the consequences of the incident by himself. On the way they learn from the radio that the information about John and the car he is driving has been broadcast over the country. They have to abandon the car and walk to the airport as fast as they can. When it gets dark, they enter a forest and light up a bonfire10 to keep warm. They talk about life and the future, feeling a bit sad. As soon as John takes Nadia safely to the airport, he bids farewell to her fearing to be discovered. Nadia gives him the binoculars as a gift before he leaves. Outside the waiting room, John wants to have a last look at Nadia. He raises the binoculars. But what he sees again surprises him. The two bandits are also there and they're kidnapping Nadia. Worrying about Nadia's safety, John follows them to a nearby hotel. Looking through the window from outside, John sees one of the bandits assaulting Nadia. He breaks into the room and struggles with him. After a hard combat, John knocks out11 the bandit and ties him up. Nadia tells John that all the money is in the pockets of the bandit's trench coat12. They also take away the man's passport so that he will not be able to follow Nadia to Russia. Seeing Nadia off at the airport, John hands the trench coat to her, telling her to use the money for the baby. Nadia refuses to take it saying that the money does not belong to her and that John might be pardoned if he returns the money to the bank. But John insists that Nadia should take the money because it does not belong to him either. When Nadia touches the bandits' passport and ticket, she hits on13 an idea and whispers it to John. After some hesitation, John accepts theplan. At the airport check-in counter, John gives the
bandit's passport and ticket to the officer while talking casually in
Russian with his compatriot Nadia at the neighboring counter. Taking
him as a Russian, the officer lets him in without asking any question.
Walking on the corridor to the airplane, they two smile to eachother
happily. Nadia tells John that her real name is Sophia and John replies
that his is still John. Birthday Girl John's Monologue about His Decision to Get a Bride from Russia "OK. We need think about that England is just a small island. I mean I know that I'll give you about 20 million girls to choose from. But if you live in a small town and you work long hours, you just not gonna get the chance to meet them all. I suppose I never really believe in that stuff about falling in love with the girl next door. I mean for start I don't know how to go next door. But when it is, say, you have to meet your love in your life in the local supermarket. We all have someone in our past who's one's skeleton1, if you like. We all got at least one person, as it were, under the back yard, not literally2 of course. I should say that some people on the face might not understand what I'm doing. It could be a little bit sad. I think it's a quite brave move, quite brave, reasonable thing to do." Assessment on John by His Bank Manager "John Buckingham, deputy head of new business, yearly report: John listens and comprehends well, when communicating is his most sufficient method, and displays effective verbal communication skills in dealing with both customers and colleagues. In January, John narrowly missed promotion to head new business of the branch, but was rewarded in March when he became a trusted holder of the keys to the vault3. This was the mark of ten years on the floor service. Customer relations: although John is sometimes reticent4 in engaging with customers on one occasion, John shows first class communication skills in delicate customer situations. Problem solving: John identifies most problems within appropriate time frames. He usually resolves or minimizes5 most problems before they grow into larger problems. As a local boy, John's a recognizable face to customers, so valuable too in maintaining lasting relationships, although John still has some reluctance to or has problems in carving out new relationships face to face. Judgment: John makes able decisions in most areas of his job. John follows instructions conscientiously and responds well to personal directions. And in most situations, he assumes his responsibility for his own actions and the outcomes. On the whole, John grasps the central principles of banking in the new century, he understands and responds to the past structure on the floor. In conclusion, John should be satisfied with his
performance. This has been a sound workman-like year for him, much the
same as last year." |