天外魔花

天外魔花
(Invasion of the Body Snatchers)

Don Siegel
1956|B&W|USA|80 min

播映時間與地點
10/17 (六) 20:30
蘇格貓底二手書咖啡屋

★1994年美國國家電影保護局典藏

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《天外魔花》(Invasion of the Body Snatchers)改編自傑克芬尼(Jack Finney)的科幻小說，講述的是類似豆莢的外星人企圖利用細胞附身人類以征服地球的故事。這部電影在1956年獲得成功好評，並在1994年列入美國國家電影名冊，並在推出後半個世紀內擁有四個翻拍版本。

第一個翻拍是1978年的菲利浦考夫曼(Philip Kaufman)的《變形邪魔》(Invasion of Body Snatchers)，第二個翻拍版是1993年的《異形基地》(Body Snatchers)，第三版是1998年《老師不是人》(The Faculty)，第四版是2007年妮可基嫚(Nicole Kidman)主演的《恐怖拜訪》(The Visiting)。
四個翻拍版，只有菲利普考夫曼的版本成功，1993和1998甚至是2007年的評價都非常普通。原因在於1956和1978年的版本都適時地反映了當時的美國社會，與其說他們是科幻電影，不如說他們是政治諷刺電影。1956年的背景是對共產主義滲透的恐懼與麥卡錫白色恐怖的迫害，1978的美國則背負水門事件的陰影與越戰傷痕。兩個不同的年代都因某些政治事件導致社會的不信任感，也因此豆莢人的入侵造成難分敵我的恐懼成為現實生活的投射。

但1993年與1998年的美國正處太平盛世，因此這種電影只能淪為單純的科幻恐怖或商業娛樂片，無法引發共鳴或更深層的思考，特別是1998年的校園版，除了敵我難分的概念相同外，整部故事的架構與目的已淪為單純的young age異形追殺片，加上傳統邪不勝正的happy ending，除了異形和虐殺電影顯得沒有重點。2007年的美國則是懼怕恐怖主義和伊斯蘭教的反攻，因此電影裡「模仿、擬真」的滲透就和現實的恐懼不成對比，加上電影沒有更強力、更突出的變化，使得2007年的改編版慘遭滑鐵盧。

導演唐席格(Don Siegel)在處理《天外魔花》時，把原著的喜劇結尾改成凱文麥卡錫(Kevin McCarthy)嘶吼的問號。表面上這似乎是反共的宣導電影，暗示「匪諜就在你身邊」，豆莢人的冷靜、和諧似乎會替世界帶來和平，但這種烏托邦的背後卻忽略基本人權，甚至以類似狩獵邪教的暴力行為排除異己。且類似植物構成的外星人雖然模仿人類唯妙唯肖，可本質卻是冷酷而機械的，看似和平卻完全抽離了「人」的本質，以集體意識呼應寡頭政治，並以剔除異議人士諷刺白色恐怖，連獨善其身者也難逃一劫。

由於《天外魔花》在政治社會的暗示，使他對後來的電影產生相當大的影響。1978的《變形邪魔》不但刻劃了美國人的越戰傷痕和水門事件後的互不信任，電影找來《天外魔花》的男主角凱文麥卡錫客串，重現他在1956年的驚惶失措，原始版的導演唐席格也在本片客串了一位計程車司機，讓電影頗有承先啟後的意味。同時，1978的版本也增添了原著裡外星人發現外來者時所沒有的尖聲嘶吼，使電影增添了一股妖氣，而這特色也被1993年的《異形基地》拿來使用。

（撰文：章聿珩）

Dr. Miles Bennel (Kevin McCarthy) returns to his hometown to practice and finds that several of his patients suffer from the same paranoid delusion, claiming that their friends and relatives are imposters. Bennel is skeptical at first, but later he finds that these alleged imposters are able to answer many detailed personal questions about their victims' lives. Thus, he begins to believe that things are wrong. Bennel then receives a friend's phone call asking him to take a look at his pool table, on which a number of strange but perfectly-shaped human bodies appear, worrying him further. People around him are transformed one by one during their sleep. Can he stay awake and come up with a plan to rescue himself and his beloved? This sci-fi classic, directed by Don Siegel, is undoubtedly one of the most horrifying movies in film history.

"The Invasion of the Body Snatchers" is as much a sci-fi horror movie as a political thriller, even though the original story writer Jack Finney as well as the director denied this interpretation. The audience can watch the movie in two perspectives. It may symbolically refers to oligarchy through people's collective consciousness, foreshadowing the terror of communism behind the Iron Curtain. The director added the part that the protagonists are reported by everyone in town to the military and the police as they are the only ones that have not been transformed, creating a scene of horror which possibly would appear in a Communist society.

On the other hand, "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers" also raises an interesting question on whether the so-called "peace" can be achieved only based on a certain degree of sacrifice as well as the blind obedience to the state apparatus. Such submission shuts emotions and makes human beings soulless. Can it be that if not for the heterogeneity in society, there would not be famine or war crimes? Can the doom in the eyes of Bennel be the most perfect blueprint for Utopia? This logical dilemma constitutes this movie's unique appeal.

（撰文：彭中嬿）

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