打开心世界

两位女主非常好，化学作用气贯长虹，抵御暴风雪。

我不反对画外音，从头到尾画外音直接搬字过纸是偷懒，想想编剧之一是短篇小说的原作者先生，肯定是舍不得改。

导演摄影两位主演都尽力了，原料如此，巧妇难为。

令人扼腕的是，说一千道一万的绝世之恋，还是落到那只“我无能为力”的杯具中，想象代替不了一切，只留下酸涩的反高潮。

其实她只需要一本9毛钱的地图册，一匹马。

一支来福枪。

片中拍出了近年最好的初吻之一，农场荒原暴风雪，摄影剪辑一流......但我总觉欠缺点什么。

单纯再现伤痕沉湎痛苦，难免陷入sentimentalism的坑。

我无所谓HE或BE，但是电影需要一个觉醒时刻/cathartic relief，以对抗这压迫和无力，不然，再美的叙事，也终结于虚空。

友邻分享了网友的一段话，我十分赞同。

在我看来TWTC的败笔就是剧本的走向，也反映了直男的思维定式和局限。

无论文字多么好，美则美矣，灵魂缺氧，或曰，灵魂仍是隐约的警告和训诫。

即便他写出情感之绚丽，感叹女人的不幸，仍是那种苦难抒情的调子，单向的抚今追昔，只是赞叹追抚，囿于既定叙事中。

牺牲不可避免，等一等，牺牲的不可避免？

真的没另外的选择了吗？

在漫长的不被看见的历史里，有没有不认命的人，做出不认命的事，被尘埃湮没在男性主导的主流叙事外？

想想华老师的《房客》和其它女性们？

南市买辔头，北市买长鞭，朝辞戴尔去，暮宿丛林边。

若士必怒，伏尸二人，流血五步，今日是也……

再次说，导演三人组非常棒。

但是我愿意跳出剧本“铺陈美丽与哀伤”的逻辑，在“伤”的情绪之外，想一想别的。

网友“Tallie是具有叛逆性格的，她用很‘放’来形容自己，她告诉Abigail小时常不听父亲的话。

我们不要忘记，编剧和原著是直男。

在创作女同角色时会有成见。

他们可以写她逃，跑路；Tallie可以崩了Finney，在那鸟不拉屎的地方没人会发现。

但编剧写她放弃，听天由命，殒亡。

这是他们的选择。

”开始也有写叛逆的性格，写着写着觉得不对，惯性上来，就把她写成美丽与哀愁了。

这是他们的选择。

Abigail平素沉默寡言，但静水流深，谁能预料当人的至爱一个又一个被剥夺时，能产生的爆发力？

他们写她陷入巨大痛苦，在想象中复仇和自洽，这是他们的选择。

父权的压迫和暴力，偏远边陲的生活艰辛，对女性生存的挤压；困境下有情人终究不成眷属，确实非常动人。

这样的书写带来的感动是审美上的满足。

这种抒情仍然是循守陈规的。

感时花溅泪，恨别鸟惊心，确实是好句，也是诗人的情绪，不是花鸟的，究竟诗人不是花也不是鸟，花鸟只是情绪的寄托。

正如在主要是男性书写的历史中，女性是弱者，被欣赏被惋惜者，默认了一怒为红颜的是男人，没想过红颜一怒为红颜。

说到这我又要说华老师，她的好处是拥有另一种想象力，从缝隙中开花发芽，从边缘写出了颠覆，transgression from the margin。

电影瑕瑜互见。

编剧三星。

Mona Fastvold作为导演发挥的余地不多，虽然加入了一些很好的细节，但对剧本没有大改，把大部分创作空间用在调度和视觉语言上了，四星半。

配乐略过火，三星半。

毫无疑问，Katherine Waterston和Vanessa Kirby五星， 如蜜如电。

PS：我很喜欢这部电影，也有issue。

我的issue不在电影，在原著和编剧，在从女性角度看世界和想象力。

从源头上说，原著作者虚构了一位生活于1850年代新英格兰的边远农场女性的家庭，感情和生活。

她和丈夫的关系，她的爱人与丈夫的关系，在故事中不可移除，她们夫妻关系的negotiations，是情节转折的动力。

作者无法或不愿想象男性的缺席。

在视觉化之后，就会有人谈好男人、坏男人、OK男人，也会重复那个固有误解：女人因为没有遇到好男人或婚姻不幸，才去同性那里抱团取暖。

避开热门对比，就说短篇，也是历史小说，虚构的，日记体的，英国作家萨拉·华特斯的《灵契》，没男人什么事，是BE，是完全的女性角度，想象力很大胆。

大小姐是受了哪个男朋友/丈夫的冷遇转而做姬吗？

不存在。

说到历史想象力，维多利亚三部曲的另两部长篇更是想象力丰富。

成王败寇，历史大部分是强者记录，但它有A面和B面，我们何不多去想象没有人写下来的B面。

说一个久远一点的电影，1985年的Desert Hearts，美国，小地方，乡下，银幕之内不见男主。

电影不讨论好男人坏男人。

电影的对焦点，把观众的注意力集中在两位女主如何看待世界，如何对待感情和未来。

这也许才是被期许的world to come。

I imagined continuing to write in this ledger, as if this were life, as though life were not elsewhere.夏天即将结束的时候，阿比盖尔这样写道。

此言一出，当时心里一阵凉，好在这并不是电影的最终句点。

在自然环境和时代观念双重局限下，有情人并无太多出路，但能够用一整本账簿（多用于记载农场作物营收）记下一段感情，无论结局如何，都有弥足珍贵的价值。

从这个意义讲，阿比盖尔的日记与《女孩肖像》的女子堕胎画具有相似的记录价值，男权历史叙事中被遗失的独立女性形象跃然纸上，是记录，也是反抗和颠覆。

女版《断背山》之谈自去年威尼斯以来已经见诸中外影评版块了，这类评论会引起不满吗？

起码发行商（到目前为止）头脑很清楚。

但由断背山之谈可以想到的，或许是“同夫”形象在主流艺术电影界终于崭露头角。

过去观看《远离天堂》、《谁先爱上他的》，甚至《霸王别姬》，都对同妻形象难以忘怀，但同夫未曾多见，此番《打开心世界》可以说也打开了新视野，而同妻和同夫的不同作用、影响、意义也是个太值得深入的话题了。

从本片的正反面同夫教材，到男同志片中多数极其正面的同妻形象，从本片精准刻画的男性脆弱到男同志片中较多见的同妻自主，某种程度上，似乎又可以上升到男女之别。

就本片而言，两位男性角色提供了19世纪中叶“同夫面对妻子情感转变”的两个代表性形象，有作为男性的共通之处，也有作为个体的较大差异，为同夫银幕史注入了一定思路。

此外，男性本身在恶劣生存环境中的脆弱性、需老婆照顾等桥段（感冒被照顾、暴风雪被帮忙“营救”）就令人眼前一亮，如果是男性写的日记难说有这种情节。

1856年左右发生的事情，欧迪亚《希斯特斯兄弟》讲述两兄弟在西部淘金差点被自然吞噬，互帮互助才保住性命；在发生于东部边疆的本片中，塔莉之死实际上也可归因于恶劣生存环境、落后医疗水平，但另外一重要因素是丈夫的重视程度。

电影并未直接给出说明，但通过阿比盖尔与塔莉的交谈基本可以得知塔莉夫妇的感情濒于破碎边缘。

试想一下，如果换作阿比盖尔照顾塔莉，会不会不同结局？

不得而知，但塔莉就算活着，和性格暴戾的芬尼相处的日子肯定不会好过。

在异性恋层面，阿比盖尔有退路（戴尔人还算可以吧……），塔莉无退路，也是造成这个故事让人止不住叹息的原因。

起初以为阿比盖尔是内向，后来想想则没那么简单。

一、内向？

迟钝？

“女创世者”刚看完电影时隐约感觉到阿比盖尔的内向，但经过几天的沉淀后总觉得不完全是内向，直到看到原著小说中的“slow-hearted”才有些回过神来。

草丛依偎时，塔莉形容阿比盖尔像是栖息在农家庭院的麻雀，从未离开，但也从未（敢）接近。

虽然阿比盖尔随后的回答向塔莉敞开了爱的怀抱，但依然改变不了这段感情前期颇为“单向”的事实：从来都是塔莉主动拜访她。

阿比盖尔最勇敢的尝试就是在天气恶劣的晚上，悄悄拿着望远镜偷看塔莉，不论有多么想念、担忧，她真的就像是麻雀一样安居一隅，等待塔莉拜访，只有当时间隔得太长、感觉不对时，才“走出第一步”，但从结果来看有些为时已晚了。

但阿比盖尔是内向吗？

也不尽然。

她在与塔莉的亲密关系中从羞怯到主动，从初见的含蓄到后来的专属微笑，从“被邀请才去”到最终的主动前往，无不体现着阿比盖尔的主观能动性。

回到电影中没有出现的“slow-hearted”，这个词在小说中出现在最后一段，也即电影最后阶段阿比盖尔的“I image”时刻，小说中这样写道：

“slow-hearted”不是一个正式单词，各大词典并无收录，查阅词源可知它来自圣经《路加福音》第二十四章、第二十五句（Luke 24: 25），版本诸多：A! foolis, and ſlowe of herte for to bileue in alle þingis whiche þe prophetis han ſpoke. ——"Luke" in the Wycliffe version (first printing, c. 1384)And he sayde vnto the: O foles and slowe of herte to beleve all yt the prophetes have spoken. ——"Luke" in the Tyndale version (1526)Then he said to them: O foolish, and slow of heart to believe in all things which the prophets have spoken. ——"Luke" in the Douay–Rheims version (Challoner's revision, 1749–1952)And he said unto them, O foolish men, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! ——"Luke" in the American Standard version (1901)And He said to them, "O inconsiderate and slow in heart to believe on all that the prophets spoke! ——"Luke" in the Literal Standard Version (2020)路加福音和其他福音讲述的都是耶稣生平，学界认为路加福音的内容更详实。

“slow-hearted”出现的第二十四章讲的是耶稣复活后，两个信徒在前往以马忤斯（耶稣死亡、复活之处，信徒听说耶稣在那儿死而复生便去寻找）的路上巧遇刚复活出来的耶稣，但这两个信徒没认出他来，于是耶稣对他们说：“无知的人哪．先知所说的一切话、你们的心、信得太迟钝了。

”听着耶稣的讲解，后来这两位信徒心领神会，才认出他来，随后耶稣圆满升天。

“slow-hearted”（迟钝）的典故就出自于此，一定程度可以看作阿比盖尔遇上塔莉的对照。

但电影最后的“I image”部分拿掉了这句“迟钝”自叹，转而是以最后一个画面对应了“迟钝”之说的宗教神学典故，用文艺复兴画家米开朗基罗《创造亚当》式构图（简中世界首先指出这一象征的应是@Pincent），想象了即将到来的新世界，塔莉是创世者，阿比盖尔则是被创造的人，这一创作手法赋予了电影较强的神性意味，也暗示了塔莉“死而复生”、阿比盖尔延续其神性意志的愿景。

故事的开始，阿比盖尔因女儿的去世而不再去教堂做礼拜、不再信奉宗教概念上的“即将到来的更好世界”（the notion of a better world to come），但塔莉的出现让她重新看到了这样“更好世界终将到来”的可能。

这一神性表达，在阿比盖尔对她俩（在树林中）“无数快活之后会不会播撒新生事物”的描述中似也有所指。

加入了这一层神学创世论后，可以想象阿比盖尔并不是“内向”那么简单，通篇的画外音（日记）作为其心理活动的内在展示，可以看到当爱到来的时候，她并不能立即厘清这一从未发生过的情绪涌动（化学反应），只有体会过后才能正视自己未被发掘的欲望。

在塔莉到来之前，农场的劳动、对夭折女儿的思念和平淡的夫妻关系或许是阿比盖尔的终生归宿，但塔莉的出现拓宽了阿比盖尔的人生维度，塔莉的影响永远留在了阿比盖尔的身体和意识，重燃了她的生活信心：她也许会重拾缘起童年的智识学习、她的账簿将不再是账簿、她拥有了想象的能力……

Mona Fastvold二、阿比盖尔知情时间差电影和短篇小说最关键的一处区别，是阿比盖尔得知塔莉死讯的时间点。

这一改编尤为体现创作者魄力和创造力。

小说中，在阿比盖尔收到塔莉的信后不久、阿比盖尔仍在脑海措辞回信时，戴尔收到了芬尼的信，告知塔莉死讯。

这一男男通信行为很能体现芬尼的性格修养，他不可能不知道塔莉之死对于戴尔之无足轻重、对于阿比盖尔之晴空霹雳，但仍然选择把信写给戴尔。

也就是塔莉生前从未读到阿比盖尔的回信、阿比盖尔在前往质询芬尼之前就已知塔莉之死。

电影的处理是，阿比盖尔收到塔莉的信后，写完回信寄出，塔莉读到了阿比盖尔的回信，但首先是被芬尼“截获”并大声朗读，这不仅加深了夫妻隔阂，更深化了芬尼的阴暗面，可以想见其男性自尊大受挫败，前文所质疑的芬尼对塔莉病情的重视程度也来源于此。

之后，出于担忧（房屋内发现血迹），阿比盖尔看完地图二话不说上路了，行路过程配上塔莉来信内容画外音，表现阿比盖尔充满希望的迫切心境。

在直面芬尼时得知塔莉死讯时甚至还存有一点不相信，但真正看到塔莉尸体后发出惨叫，这个处理太强大了，这声惨叫意蕴之深、张力之猛，电影看完到现在还心有余悸。

更具智慧的是紧随其后的性爱场面安排，把它们集合到一起，在特殊时刻一次性放出，情感瞬间喷涌而出，回忆和现实的对比，冲击力震撼至极。

当然，按照前文“神学创世论”，塔莉之死、复活都是通往新世界的必然之路，对于阿比盖尔来说，塔莉永远活在她心里，只是明白这一点需要一个适应的过程。

Mona Fastvold对sex scene了然于胸这一改编强调了生死两隔的瞬间画面、情感张力，影像化角度可谓最高潮段落，与最后的平静结尾形成动态呼应，给这个悲伤故事画上了充满希望的句点。

实际上最后镜头的处理，从戴尔到塔莉，或许就对应了阿比盖尔的心理转变。

结尾的“账簿或许是我的终生归宿”，至此，也有了升华于字面之上的内涵。

三、结构、细节的琐碎思考与塔莉的相识改变了阿比盖尔，具体如何改变、改变成了什么样，体现了创作者的精妙、细腻构思。

日记的叙述始于当年一月一日，冬日严寒，早起洗土豆准备早饭，透过窗户见到冰霜大地，一天的劳作即将开始。

这种生活在如今被称为“看得到头”，但却是阿比盖尔、塔莉们的普遍生活情形，无法改变、无从改变。

尽管生活艰难贫乏，阿比盖尔的日记文笔却有她独有的细腻温暖（“奶牛没有受苦”），这种细腻温暖在遇上塔莉后，逐步从书面日记文本走出，体现在她的一举一动，到“惊喜”（astonishment and joy三连叹！

）场面被释放到了极致。

关于这场“astonishment and joy”戏，导演想要表现一种初吻后的神情，至于如何演绎则完全取决于Katherine Waterston的演员自我修养。

阿比盖尔在日记里自省时把不善言辞的自己比作缠绕生长于花盆的根茎（pot-bound root），极不善于表达对他人的喜爱。

但与塔莉接吻后的阿比盖尔好像正在发生质变，如何体现这一质变？

Katherine Waterston用半躺、舒展的身体语言诠释这个过程，花盆被打破，看不见的、压抑内心的（时代社会性别）系统制度不再（能）统治阿比盖尔的生活了，而这一切全凭她俩的情谊。

从这场戏可知Katherine Waterston有内化剧作文本并将其外化于身体语言的表演能力，颇让人称奇！

KW即兴发挥的神来之笔

阿比盖尔日记自述

Mona Fastvold

Katherine Waterston

pot-bound root

1760 - 1856由这场戏想到《女孩肖像》的篝火段落。

篝火之后是初吻，而在这里，“惊喜”之前是初吻，或许可以这么说，篝火和惊喜的情境都是两人对爱情的终极确认，氛围神秘叵测、思绪魂牵梦萦，感染力和沉浸性直击灵魂。

电影世界里近乎一个世纪的间隔，大西洋两岸见证了某种相似的爱情际遇。

经历完与塔莉的点点滴滴，阿比盖尔独自走上山坡（电影中是屋顶）眺望远方景色，想象、自省，对生活有了另一种态度，与开头“洗土豆”开始新一天不可同日而语，形成本质心态区别。

这样的对比、变化也体现在农场日志从乏味的农业记录、夫妻生活，蜕变为情感满溢的自我发掘之旅。

日记开篇

日记结尾阿比盖尔记得父亲对母亲毫无要求，除了……（大段大段的劳动、家务要求），但母亲从未出现在父亲的账簿中，除了母亲买裙子时。

受邀去塔莉家吃饭，阿比盖尔专门去市场买了件蓝裙，这一行为意蕴颇深。

情节铺垫和情绪烘托上，从买裙子开始就一步步进入了“悲伤”时间，节奏把控精准且冷酷。

买裙子时看到周边的母亲抱着小孩，阿比盖尔心中被激起的涟漪体现在她躲闪的眼神；村庄农户家的女儿葬身火海，等于让她又经历了一次丧女之痛；剑拔弩张的邻居聚餐，回过头看，却成为与塔莉的在世永别……这组戏犹如三记重拳，连贯、高效、致命，看得人伤感之余不得不佩服创作者的高超手法。

观影时两个“笑点”，笑中带苦。

初吻后，阿比盖尔沉浸在喜悦中无法自拔，好像失魂落魄的少女，等戴尔回家后才被拉回现实，（戴尔做完了他的工作，而阿比盖尔astonishment and joy了一天）这时都天黑了……一次亲热时，两人达成了美妙共识：我们的亲热放松身心，有利于农场发展……这两个场景再次放大了时代环境、自然环境对人的压迫，两个有趣的灵魂在夹缝中寻求解脱之道。

两处声音处理也让我印象深刻。

第一次接吻时门廊上狗的踱步声、草丛依偎时的树枝掉落声。

前者，两人间压抑情愫到达临界点时的紧张感被狗狗踱步声听觉化，后者，多是出于被发现的恐惧，而“被发现”本身也有较多指向，比如不好好关心农场事务，但首当其冲的还是“女同性恋”概念的隐秘和陌生，作为男性财产的女性进行这种恋爱的高风险性不言而喻。

四、唯爱永生塔莉之死以及结局引发了不小的探讨，具体着眼于宗教神学内涵和悲剧性。

原著和电影的宗教意味浓厚，除芬尼狂热阅读圣经和两个众人赶赴教堂做礼拜的全景镜头外，还表现在用词用典（“迟钝”、“法老的心”等等），以及宗教意义上的地狱、天堂、未来世界概念（“做礼拜”行为背后的理论基础）。

然而塔莉的遭遇证明了这些构成“信仰”的要素并未赋予当时女性生活任何积极意义，反而成为恃强凌弱者的通行证，具有较强的讽刺意味。

从小说和电影所有的文字、影像能够看到的，是一个不再信奉宗教的女人和一个被男性以教义为法则迫害的女人互相帮助的悲哀故事，可以联想阿比盖尔提出的“在牢笼歌唱”，如果没有神学介入，这个时代的牢笼对塔莉们会是更好还是更差？

这应是小说和电影提出的又一问题。

这一问题的答案，可能在里维特探究18世纪《女教徒》跌宕命运时就被揭开、在欧洲启蒙运动时已有过系统论证。

电影最后让塔莉重新出场，提出了“想象”（imagination）的重要价值。

前文认为塔莉的这次出场带来了积极向上的语境，因其构图的神学意义对应故事标题“The World to Come”包含了生者和复活的死者共同生活的圆满“未来世界”愿景。

若从现实物质的方面考量，“想象”、“希望”这类飘忽的心理寄托式念想至多是困苦中的一丝慰藉，但也正是这种念想才不至于让她成为行尸走肉，所谓时代的微光。

优秀的艺术作品总有超越时代的能力。

抚今追昔，人类发展已基本克服过去年代的致命白喉，然而宗教阴云的笼罩却从未消散。

本片反映的女性生育义务、最近的《从不，很少，有时，总是》揭示当代女性堕胎身不由己，证明“未来世界”远未到来，2021年的现实能否完胜1856年的现实？

这是电影留下的终极课题。

参考文献1. Biennale Cinema 2020 - Press conferences (6 September 2020) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR-SuQHAMN8&list=WL&index=6&t=14073s2. Rueda de prensa ''THE WORLD TO COME'' (Perlak) V.O. – 2020 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOalupYJAEc&list=WL&index=73. DP/30: The World To Come, Katherine Waterston https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3bd8tLmLH8&list=WL&index=5&t=2145s4. 'The World to Come' Cast On Creating a Same-Sex Romance Set in a Time That Had No Words for It https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeBQHFAHHIg&list=WL&index=45. 'The World to Come' Cast On Making A Movie About 'Vanished' Voices https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYvjLKNcRY4&list=WL&index=36. Face2Face with Mona Fastvold - Director of The World To Come https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psJ9yjR-s0Y&list=WL&index=27. @Pincent 对《打开心世界》的短评 https://www.douban.com/people/1692454/status/3284003482/8. INTERVIEW WITH MONA FASTVOLD [DIRECTOR]: ‘THE WORLD TO COME’ – A CINEMATIC DANCE FOR THE IMAGINATION https://www.theitalianreve.com/interview-with-mona-fastvold-director-the-world-to-come-a-cinematic-dance-for-the-imagination/9. COVER STORY WITH KATHERINE WATERSTON: ‘THE WORLD TO COME’- THE RISK OF BEING WHO YOU ARE https://www.theitalianreve.com/cover-story-with-katherine-waterston-the-world-to-come-the-risk-of-being-who-you-are/10. 维基百科“路加福音”https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/路加福音11. 维基百科“创造亚当”https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/創造亞當12. WIKISOURCE “Luke (Bible)” https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Luke_(Bible)13. 维基文库 “聖經 (和合本)/路加福音” https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/聖經_(和合本)/路加福音14. 光和盐 “Luke 24: 1335 路加福音 第二十四章 1335节” https://sites.google.com/site/saltandlightenglishstudy/christianity/online-bible-study/bible-study-in-chinese/book-of-luke/luke-24-13-3415. Katherine Waterston: ‘I would love to make this film five times’ https://lwlies.com/interviews/katherine-waterston-the-world-to-come/16. The World to Come (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_k57hlvte0&list=OLAK5uy_lBDBkNbo2dL-e4agr-yEie7SeTvHAhd00&index=2217. THE WORLD TO COME | Official Trailer I Bleecker Street https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhQu4tcHLeU&t=12s18. Katherine Waterston - THE WORLD TO COME - 77 Venice Film Festival https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfXkq2LG09Q19. The World to Come - Sundance Film Festival 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgKZ0JzWn0420. Biennale Cinema 2020 - The World to Come (Red Carpet) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o17FumD9Y7Y21. Sundance Film Festival 2021 Q&A for The World to Come - festival.sundance.org https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ0YQfU460g22. Vanessa Kirby and Katherine Waterston on Their LGBTQ-Themed Period Drama ‘The World to Come’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qrwAiLlQXc&list=WL&index=523. Vanessa Kirby & Katherine Waterston on Developing Voice and More in 'The World to Come' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkbYqsf0vcc&list=WL&index=324. Mona Fastvold, Vanessa Kirby, Katherine Waterston & Casey Affleck Talk 'The World to Come' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WqI9g99b_U&list=WL&index=2&t=14s25. THE WORLD TO COME Interviews - Vanessa Kirby, Katherine Waterston, Christopher Abbott, Mona Fastvold https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgUq41CuyRc&list=WL&index=126. 'The World to Come' star on complexity of portraying a 19th century lesbian romance https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/world-come-star-complexity-portraying-19th-century-lesbian-romance-n1258007?cid=sm_npd_nn_fb_ma&fbclid=IwAR1Z2tI8VgUF1ocYyHyI_FRMoslR49FaW8wm1RE2kJMvBkegSsF6I0Wz6kE27. New Frontiers - The Music of 'The World to Come' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckGz6kQeACE28. Q&A: Katherine Waterston Says All These Lesbian Period Dramas Indicate a ‘Problem, Not a Pattern’ https://pridesource.com/article/qa-katherine-waterston-says-all-these-lesbian-period-dramas-indicate-a-problem-not-a-pattern/29. Watch This One: Mona Fastvold’s Gay Romance ‘The World to Come’ Breaks Out Big at Venice https://www.indiewire.com/2020/09/mona-fastvold-gay-romance-the-world-to-come-venice-2020-1234584778/30. Love Thy Neighbor. https://news.letterboxd.com/post/643224783909175296/love-thy-neighbor-mona-fastvold31. Katherine Waterston On Her Queer Frontier Romance, ‘The World To Come’ https://www.huffpost.com/entry/katherine-waterston-the-world-to-come-fantastic-beasts_n_6023e498c5b6c56a89a5d7c932. The World to Come Puts Queer Women's Emotional Journeys Front & Center https://www.pride.com/movies/2021/2/12/world-come-puts-queer-womens-emotional-journeys-front-center?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=movies33. THE WORLD TO COME | Scene at The Academy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdfXRR7RgEY&list=LL&index=434. In Conversation: The World to Come - PRESENTED BY GLAAD + OUTFEST https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5pI0oO8wqc

这部电影在看第一遍的时候，将精力大致集中在了台词文本上，再看第二遍的时候，才更多地关注剧情、构图、场景、心理活动等内容。

或许是因为男女思维方式不同地原因，发现在捕捉演员情感细微之处，女导演所呈现出来的画面往往更加细腻，自然。

尤其是像这种文本性又很强的女同性恋片，它的一字一句，每个画面所对应的电影镜头或许都只是冰山一角。

而导演要做的就是让观众透过画面的冰山一角窥探其全貌。

在我看来，本片的导演恰恰做到了这点。

怀着对这部电影的喜爱之情，以及对文本台词的浓厚兴趣，遂将阿比盖尔日记中的台词整理下来。

Tuesday, January, 1st, 1856Fair and very cold.This morning,ice in our bedroom for the first time all winter.（天气晴朗而寒冷，我发现卧室结冰了，这是今年的第一次）The water froze on the potatoes as soon as they were washed.With little pride,and less hope, we begin the new year.（土豆刚洗好上面水就结成了冰.没有一丝锐气，也不抱任何希望,新的一年又开始了）On the porch after sunup,I could hear the low chirping of sparrows in the hedgerows that are now buried in the snow.（站在日出的门廊，我能听到麻雀的声音，它们在雪中的树篱上低鸣）Dyer has maintained that with good health,and a level head,there is always an excellent chance for a farmer willing to work.（戴尔一直坚信，只要有好的身体，保持头脑冷静，那么勤勉的农民就一定会有好运降临）He feel he can never fully rid himself of his burdens.And I’m certain that because his mind is in such a bad state,it affects his whole system.（他觉得自己永远也无法摆脱那些负担.我敢肯定，那是因为他的精神状态很差，这影响了 他整个人）He told me this morning that contentment was like a friend he never gets to see.（他今天早晨告诉我，满足对他来说遥不可及）Since our acquisition of this farm,my husband had kept a ledger to help him see the year whole.（自从收购了这个农场，我丈夫就开始记账，为理清一年的财务情况）This way he knows what each crop and field pays from year to year.（这样他就知道每年每种作物，每块地的收成）And Dyer has asked me to keep a diary of matters that might otherwise go overlooked.....（戴尔当我写好备忘录，避免忘记一些事情）From tools lent out to bills outstanding.That I have done.（像是借出的工具或者未付的账单我一直在写）But there would be no record in these dull and simple pages of the most passionate circumstances of our seasons past.（但这些单调而简约的记录从来没有记录我们真正重要的事，我们过去的岁月）No record of our emotions or fears.Our greatest joys.Our most piercing sorrows.（没有记录过我们的心绪，我们的恐惧，我们的幸福，我们刺骨的悲伤）With our child,it was as if I’d found my bearings.But I too rarely told her that she was our treasure.（有了孩子后，我仿佛找到了人生的意义，但是我很少告诉她，她是我们的珍宝）She often seemed separate from us,as if she was working at just fitting in where she could.（她很独立，好像在努力适应身边的一切）There is something so affecting about mute and motionless grief and illness in a child so young.（有些事情如此令人心痛，她小小的身体经历着无言而凝滞的忧伤和病痛）She put her arms around me and said nothing else.But it felt like we were speaking.（她双臂环抱着我，什么也没说，但又像什么都说了）I have become my grief（我沉溺在悲伤之中）Sunday, February, 3th“Welcome sweet day of rest”,says the hymn.（“迎接幸福的安息”，赞美诗是这样写的）And Sunday is most welcome for it’s few hours of quiet ease.（星期天是最受欢迎的，因为大家可以享受片刻安宁）As for me ,I no longer attend.After the calamity of Nellie’s loss,what calm I enjoy.（至于我，我不再参加了，在失去了内莉后，我想获得安宁）does not derive from the notion of a better world to come.（不是为了未来或者死后的天堂）I want to purchase an atlas.（我想买本地图集）Monday, February ,4thWhy is ink like fire?Because it is a good servant,and a hard master.（为什么说墨石是火？

你能驾驭它，它就是忠仆，你不能驾驭，它就是难缠的魔鬼）My self-education seems the only way to keep my unhappiness from overwhelming me（我不断学习，好像只有这样才能从悲伤中保持自我）She saw I had noticed her hair,and admitted she had been vain about it as a girl.（她看到我注意到了她的头发，她承认，从小她就对自己的头发感到自豪）She said that back then,she’d worn it longer and plaited in a bun at the back of her head.（她说那时候他的头发比现在长，然后在后脑勺上扎个马尾）In the winter sun through the window,her skin had an underflush of rose and violet.（冬日的阳光透过窗户，她的皮肤呈现出玫瑰和紫罗兰的颜色）which so disconcerted me that I had to look away.（它使我如此不安，以至于我不得不把目光移开）As always,when it came to speaking and attempting to engage another’s affections,circumstances doomed me to striving and anxiety.（像往常一样，当我想说话或者试图吸引别人注意力的时候，我总是对周围一切感到焦虑）From my earliest,I was like a pot-bound root,all curled in upon itself.（从少年时代起，我就像一颗长在锅里的树，所有根全部蜷缩在一小块空间）Thursday, February ,14thDyer’s third night with the fever.（戴尔发烧的第三个晚上）I’ve restored him somewhat with an enema of molasses,warm water and lard.Also a drop of turpentine next to his nose.（我尝试让他舒服些，试了灌肠治疗，用糖浆 温水 和猪油灌肠，还在他的鼻子滴了松节油）I spent the day reconsidering my conversation with Tallie（我花了一整天回忆我和胎莉的谈话）We compared childhood beds......Mine in which the straw was always breaking up and thinning out.And hers,which was as hard,she claimed,as the Pharaoh’s heart.（我们比较了小时候的床，我的床是稻草的，总是散架，很松软.她说，她的床非常硬,像法老王的心一样）Her manner is sweet and clam and gracious.And yet her spirits seem to quicken,at the prospect of further conversation with me（她的举止甜美 平静 亲切 ，还有她的精神似乎在变好,希望能和我进一步交谈）I find that everything I wish to tell her loses its eloquence in her presence（我发现我有很多想说的在她面前说不出口了）Tuesday, February ,19thMy reluctance seems to have become his shame.His nighttime pleasure,which were never numerous,have curtailed even more.（我的不情愿似乎成了他的耻辱.他本来就不多的晚间娱乐时光甚至变得更少了）And I have so far refused to engage his persistence on the subject of another child（到目前为止，我一直拒绝接受他在另一个孩子的问题上执着的追求）Monday, February ,25thFinney and Tallie’s bond confounds me.At tines,when their eyes meet,they seem yoked in opposition to one another,while at other times,there seems a shared regard.（芬尼和泰莉的关系使我困惑.有时，当他们的目光相遇，他们看起来像敌人，而在其他时间，似乎有一个共识）There is something going on between us that I cant unravel.（我们之间发生了一些我无法想明白的事）The great storm began with a faint groaning in the northeast. It was like a noise of a locomotive.（大风暴开始了，东北方向传来微弱的呻吟声，那声音就像火车发出的噪声）Monday, March ,17thHalf the chickens are lost.I dug ice and snow from their dead open mouths in an attempt to revive them.（一半的鸡都死了，我从他们半开的嘴里挖出冰和雪，试图救活他们）The Widow Weldon’s son,on his rounds,reported that Tallie had gotten home sately,with ,he thought,only a bit of frostbite.（威尔顿寡妇的儿子，在他巡逻的时候，告诉我泰莉已经安全到家了.他觉得泰莉只是有点冻伤）Thursday, April ,10thBiscuits and dried mackerel for breakfast.Dyer has augmented the padding in the cattle pens with his hoardings of maple leaves and old straw.（我们早餐吃了饼干和干鲭鱼，戴尔给牛栏里补充了一些稻草，还用枫叶和干稻草做了一个临时栏杆）It always seems that Tallie will never appear.But I remind myself that time and the needle wear through the longest morning.And I have noted that when she does arrive，my heart is like a leafBorne over a rock by rapidly moving water.（似乎泰莉永远不会再出现了，但我数着日子，用针线活打发漫漫清晨.我意识到，当她真的到来时，我的心就像一片落叶被湍急的水流推向了岩石）Saturday, April ,12thI spent the last two days...Very damp,cloudy and cool.Smoky.Perhaps the forest is somewhere on fire.（过去这两天，空气是潮湿的，多云的，凉爽的，如烟雾般的，也许森林深处着火了）Monday, April ,14thA terrible bad spring so far,but the clover has come up through it,and is all right（到目前为止，这都是一个糟糕透顶的春天，但是三叶草已经长了出来，还不错）Thursday, April ,17thRain in torrents nearly all night.The lane is flooded and the ditches brim full.（倾盆大雨几乎下了整夜，巷子被淹了，水沟也溢满了）This morning,only a slight shower.Tallie came later than her usual time today.She offered no explanation.（今天早上只有毛毛细雨，泰莉今天比平时来得晚，她没有做出任何解释）Tuesday, April ,22thI felt,looking at her expression,as if she were in full on a flood tide,while I bodded along down backward.And yet,I never say on her countenance the indifference of fortunate towards the less fortunate.（我能感觉到，从她的表情中感觉到，她好像乘着风速般极速前进着，然而我却在倒退,然而，我从未从她的脸上看出幸运之人对不幸之人的漠不关心）Friday, April ,25thAstonishment and joy,Astonishment and joy,Astonishment and joy,（惊喜与喜悦，惊喜与喜悦，惊喜与喜悦）Friday, May ,30thThe sunshine streaming through the branches makes a tremendous farrago of light and shade.We hold our friendship between us and study it,as if were the incomplete map of our escape.（阳光穿过树枝，明暗交错,我们保持着友谊，逐渐深入,就好像那是我们逃跑的残缺地图）When the day is done,my mind turns to her,and I think,with a special heat.（一天结束，我的思绪飞向了她，还带着一股特殊的激情）“Why are we to be separated?”（“为什么我们注定要分开？

”）When she left,I was like a skiff at sea with neither hand nor helm to guide it.（她离开的时候，我就像是海上的小船没有手也没有舵来引导）Sunday, June,8thAll afternoon,a hawk has been using a single cloud above us as its own parasol.（整个下午，一只鹰一直在用我们头顶上的云当做自己的遮阳伞）Our whole house now seems both angry and repentant.God help us.（我们全家现在看起来记愤怒又后悔.上帝保佑我们）When three days went by without a word from her.I stole over to her house to look on her from what I imagined to be a vantage point of perfect safety.（三天过去了，她一点消息也没有，我悄悄地来到她家附近一处我认为绝对安全的高地看她）By turning the lens piece,I could draw her face hearer,and hold it there until she turned away.（通过运转镜头，我能清楚的看到她的脸，并保持这个位置，直到她转身离开）Her image provoked a sensation in me like the violence that sends a floating branch far out over a waterfall’s precipice before it plummets.（她的形象在我心中激起了千层浪就像一根漂浮的树木在有悬崖的瀑布上突然下降.Monday, June,9thMerciful father...Turn the channel of events.（仁慈的天父，转动了命运的齿轮）Wednesday, June,11thDyer has been silent all day,and I was happy to be left in my solitude.（戴尔一整天都沉默不语，但我很高兴自己能待着）My mother once told me in a fury when I was a little girl that my father asked nothing of her except that she work in the garden,harvest the produce,preserve the fruit,tend the poultry, milk the cows,manage the household duties,and help out in the fields when needed.（我还是个小女孩的时候，母亲曾怒气冲冲的告诉我，我父亲除了让她在花园里工作对她毫无要求，收获果实，保存果实，照料家禽，给奶牛挤奶,管理家务，在需要的时候帮助他们.）She said she appeared in his ledger only when she purchased a dress.（她说只有在买衣服的时候才会出现在他的账本上）And how have things changed?Daughters are married off so young that everywhere you look a slender and unwilling girl is being forced to stem a sea of tribulations,before she is even full-grown in height.（事情是如何改变的，女儿们这么年轻就嫁人了，到处都是苗条又不情愿的女孩被迫去阻止一片苦难的海洋.甚至在她身高发育完全之前）The Mannings’ oldest daughter tipped over an oil lamp and it set the house ablaze.（曼宁家的长女翻倒了一盏油灯，然后房子就着火了）From the house by the flames,she heard calla from her sister who was trapped in the upper loft.（被救出来之前，她听到被困在阁楼里妹妹的呼救声）Back at the table.Tallie kept strict custody of her eyes.Her husband’s mood seemed to have darkened.He served the pastries and creams himself,leaving only her plate empty.（回到桌子上，泰莉一直控制住自己不四处乱瞟.她丈夫的情绪似乎变得阴沉起来.他亲自端上糕点和奶油.只有她的盘子是空的）Saturday, June,21thMy heart a maelstrom.My head a bedlam.A whole week an no visit from Tallie.No word.（我的心是个大漩涡，我的脑袋一片混乱，整整一个星期，泰莉都没来看我，也没有她的消息）My anxieties often force me to stop my work.and pace the house like an inmate.I have to see her.（我太焦虑了，没法干活，我像个囚犯一样在屋子里踱步，我必须见到她）Monday, June,23rdDyer said Mrs. Nottoway recalled spotting their caravan on the county road in the late evening,heading northwest.She believed she spied Tallie’s figure alongside her husband’s but was unsure.（戴尔说诺托维夫人有看到他们的大篷车，深夜里沿着乡间小路上往西北方向去了.她觉得她看到了泰莉的身影，和她丈夫一起，但是又不确定.）A hired hand,she thought,was driving the second wagon.（她觉得有一个雇工正在驾驶第二辆马车）Sunday, June,29thI spotted the sheriff on his way to church.I conveyed my accusations,to no response.（我在警长去教堂的时候碰到了他，我向他报告了此事，但没有得到回应.Dyer said that no one would investigate a crime without evidence that a crime had been committed.（戴尔说没有人会调查一起没有证据证明的罪犯）I refused to calm myself.so he tied me to a chair and administered laudanum.（我拒绝冷静下来，所以他把我绑在椅子上，给我注射鸦片酊）Monday, June,30thBleary and short of breath from the laudanum...I wake weeping,retire weeping,stand before my duties weeping.（因为鸦片酊使我精神不济，呼吸急促，我哭着醒来，哭着睡去，哭着看着我要干的活）Sunday, July,6thI am a library without books,a sea of fear,agitation and want（我是一座没有书的图书馆，我是恐惧，焦虑和欲望的海洋）Dyer speaks of how much we have for which to be grateful.I sit violently conscious of ticking clock while he weeps at what he imagines to be his own poor,forgotten self.（戴尔说我们有很多值得感激的东西，当他为自己想象中的，可怜的，被遗忘的自我哭泣时，我坐在那只觉得滴答作响的闹钟吵得厉害）Wednesday, July,9thDespite some hours without the laudanum,I was so befogged and wild with grief,that Dyer left me for the afternoon.unsettled and way or my state.（尽管有一个小时没有打鸦片酊，我还是如此迷茫，如此悲伤.戴尔今天下午没有管我.对我的处境感到不安和担心）Tuesday, July,22nd收到来信Abigail,Abigail,Abigail.I’m sorry that all I have to send you is this letter, and I’m sorry for all that a letter cannot be.Even the best letter is just a little bit of someone.I’m sorry I never dot to say goodbye,and I’m sorry that we seem to have traded one sort of misery for another.It turns out that houses deep in the backwoods always seem to be awful and unnatural in their loneliness.If there were only a ruined abbey around there with bats in it,the view would be pertect.Our roof is ramshackle and sheds water nicely in dry weather,but we have to spread milk pans around the floor when it rains.Still,outside the kitchen,there are already anemones and heart’s-ease,and even prettier flowers which my stupidity keeps me from naming for you.I believe I’ve enjoyed myself less these last few weeks than any other female who ever lived.During what little time I have to my self,Finney reads aloud instructions for wives from the Old Testament.But when it comes to the Bible,I have to say that there are a lot of passages he may know word for word,but which haven’t touched his heart.I can’t account for his state of mind except to say that my company must be intensely disagreeable to him.And if that’s the case,I’m sorry for it.What’s to become of the thousands of our sex,scattered out in the wilderness,and obliged to tax our strengths?I felt as if,at that selfsame hour when our prospects were brightest,that in the dim distance a black shadow approached.And yet still,imagine the happiest for us of the sort in which who two families previously at daggers drawn are miraculously brought together on love’s account.It is your face I bear trough the night.It is to you I devote a dreaming space before I turn myself to sleep,but there is no sleep.It’s as if within me everything clamors for air,and I think if it’s like this now,what will it be like later?I send you what love and support I can.I send you all my heart’s hopes.Abigail.Please know that force alone couldn’t have gotten me here to a place like this.I was told I had to act in support of interest,happiness and the reputation of someone I once loved.（请记住，只靠蛮力是不可能把我带到这样的地方来的.我被告知我必须采取行动来维护.我曾经爱过的人的利益，幸福和名誉）As far as I can figure,we’re now still only about 85miles apart.But of course,people like us don’t go on long visits.（据我所知，我们现在距离只有85英里,但是当然，像我们这样的人是不能出远门的）Dyer refused first to permit my departure,and then to accompany me,and only caught up to the cart at the end of our property and climbed aboard.We were the very picture of anguish,rattling along side by side .（戴尔先是拒绝我的离开，然后跟着我，追上了马车，我们用尽钱财，爬上了船.我们就是痛苦的真实写照，肩并着肩摇摇晃晃）The night was fair and warm with the appearance of a coming rain.A shower.（那天天气晴朗，暖和，似乎要下雨了.下的是阵雨）It’s so hard to write about hoe much I want to thank you,but I have to set start somewhere.Abigail...I want to tell you that being with you,even alone,has been like being a part of the biggest and most spacious community I could ever imagine.（很难写出我有多么感谢你，但我必须开个头,阿比盖尔...我想告诉你，跟你在一起，即使是一个人，也像是成为了我能想象到的最大最宽敞的社区一员）I feel closer to you than I would a sister since everything amazing that I feel.I chose to feel.（我和你比和亲姐妹还要亲，因为我感受到了那些美妙的事物.我选择去感受）And do you know what memory it is that I most cherish?（你知道我最珍贵的回忆是什么吗）It’s of you turning to me with that smile you gave me，once you realized that you were loved.（是你意识到我爱你时你转向我报之以微笑）I have no way of knowing what is to come,but I do know that all of the trust.and care and courage we shared that will all shine on us,and protect us.You are my city of joy.（我无法知道将会发生什么，但我知道，我们彼此之间的,相互信任，相互关心，相互鼓励，都会照耀我们，保护我们）You are my city of joy.You are my city of joy.（你是我的欢乐之城，你是我的欢乐之城）Sunday, August,31stWeather very hot and sunny.I cleaned out the shed,which was full of rusty and dusty rubbish.（天气炎热，阳光明媚，我把棚子打扫干净了，那里到处都是生锈的，满是灰尘的垃圾）Washed the window,and preserved apples for the winter.Fourteen dollars from the sale of our milk and butter.（擦洗过窗户，把苹果封起来过冬，我们的牛奶的=和黄油卖出去14美元）I have cut my hand with a paring knife.I console myself with the conviction that someday in the future when Dyer is forced to travel to Syracuse for feed or supplies,I will join him,and take his rifle and go to Skaneateles and kill Finney where he sits.（我的手被削皮刀割伤了，我以坚定的信念安慰自己如果未来某一天戴尔不得不前往锡拉库扎寻找食物和生活用品，我会和他一起带着他的步枪去斯卡尼阿特勒斯杀了芬尼）Dyer has been at work on the barn.Each day,we enact our separation.Sometimes after it gets dark,we walk over the hills across our upper fields ,for the wide,wide view.（戴尔一直在谷仓工作，每一天，我们之间的隔阂都在扩大，有时天黑以后，我们翻山越岭，穿过高地，为了有广阔的视野）And Dyer tries to imagine us as we were,while I try to imagine Tallie,and that cordial and accepting home that existed solely in our dreams.（戴尔试图想象我们还是原来的样子，但我想着泰莉，和那种亲切又包容的家庭，可惜这一切只存在于我们的梦中）I imagine Tallie and Nellie somewhere together.and Nellie running her brush through Tallie’s hair.（我想象着某个地方，泰莉和内莉在一起，内莉用梳子梳着泰莉的头发）I imagine banishing forever those sentiments of my own that she chastened and refined.（我想象着永远放逐那些由她切磋琢磨而成的我的情感）I imagine resolving to do what I can for Dyer.（我想象着我下定决心要为戴尔尽我所能）And I imagine continuing to write in this ledger,here,as though this was my life.（我想象着继续在这本账簿上写下去，在这里，好像这就是我的生活）As though my life was not elsewhere.（好像我的生活不在别处）

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来源：https://subslikescript.com/movie/The_World_to_Come-9738716 Tuesday,January 1st, 1856.Fair and very cold.This morning,ice in our bedroomfor the first time all winter.The water frozeon the potatoesas soon as they were washed.With little pride,and less hope,we begin the new year.On the porchafter sunup,I could hear the low chirpingof sparrowsin the hedgerows that arenow buried in the snow.Dyer has maintainedthat with good health,and a level head,there is alwaysan excellent chancefor a farmer willing to work.He feels he can never fullyrid himself of his burdens.And I'm certain that becausehis mind is in such a bad state,it affects his whole system.He told methis morningthat contentment was likea friend he never gets to see.You're late with the milking.She wasn't suffering.And you?Since our acquisitionof this farm,my husband had kept a ledgerto help him see the year whole.This way he knows what each cropand field paysfrom year to year.And Dyer has asked meto keep a diary of mattersthat might otherwisego overlooked...From tools lent outto bills outstanding.That I have done.But there would be no recordin these dull and simple pagesof the most passionatecircumstancesof our seasons past.No record of our emotionsor fears.Our greatest joys.Our most piercing sorrows.With our child,it was as if I'd foundmy bearings.But I too rarely told herthat she was our treasure.Would you like to try?Like this, papa?That's it.She often seemedseparate from us,as if she was working atjust fitting in where she could.They saw his brothersand sistersand they werethe mouse's family...There is somethingso affectingabout mute and motionless griefand illnessin a child so young.She put her arms around meand said nothing else.But it felt likewe were speaking.I have becomemy grief.I have become my grief."Welcome sweetday of rest",says the hymn.And Sunday is most welcomefor its few hours of quiet ease.As for me.I no longer attend.After the calamityof Nellie's loss,what calm I enjoydoes not derive from the notionof a better world to come.I want to purchase an atlas.- It could be a bother.- No, no. No bother.Who is that?His name is Finney.- His wife Tallie.- Hyah!I met themat the feed store.They seem to keep to themselves.They're renting the Zebrun farm.Monday, February 4th.Why is ink like fire?Because it is a good servant,and a hard master.Did you say something?I want to purchase an atlas.I suppose there are morefrivolous purchasesone could make.I've saved 90 cents of my own.I can't imagine a better wayto spend it.Could buy your husband a gift.What better giftcould I give himthan a wifewho is no longer a dullard?My self-educationseems the only wayto keep my unhappinessfrom overwhelming me.Good afternoon.I've been using a broomon my porch.The snow is so dry.I'm Tallie.Abigail.I hope I'm not intruding.No.I just, I needed to get awayfor the day.The farm is a slaughterhouseright now.My husband is killing his hogs.Would you like to come in?Yes, I'd love that.Or we could just stayout on the porch, shivering.I know it's the dullestof all thingsto have an ignorant neighborcome byand spoil a Sunday afternoon.Oh, no,you're the most welcome here.But I know the feeling.Sometimes, I imagine duringthe Widow Weldon's visitsthat I've been plunged up tomy eyes in a vat of the prosaic.Oh, Widow Weldon!She got going on the countylevy once...She sawI had noticed her hair,and admitted she had been vainabout it as a girl.She said that back then,she'd worn it longerand plaited in a bunat the back of her head.In the winter sunthrough the window,her skin had an underflushof rose and violetwhich so disconcerted methat I had to look away.As always,when it came to speakingand attempting to engageanother's affections,circumstances doomed meto striving and anxiety.From my earliest youth,I was like a pot-bound root,all curled in upon itself.I hope I'm not keeping youfrom something.No.I'm glad you've come.Finney saw your husbandat the cooperage.He mentioned his new methodfor farrowing his piglets.With some asperity?My husband mentions everythingwith some asperity.I told him that once,and...he observed in response thatit seemed to be quite a favorto get a kind word from me.And I told him that if hewas married to himself,he'd soon find outwhat a favor it was.My mother always saidthat having childrenwould resolve that dilemma.My mother made the same claim.And yet...Here we are...Both childless.My daughter, Nellie,would have been five today.Oh.How did she pass?Diphtheria.Last September.I'm so sorry.- Hello.- Oh.Good afternoon.I'm Dyer.Tallie.Oh, it's late, isn't it?I should be getting on.Don't go on my account.Oh, no.That's a nice wrap you have.Thank you.I never receive complimentsfor my clothes.I'm so glad you've come.Meeting you has made my day.It has?Well...How pleasant and uncommonit is to make someone's day.Thursday, February 14th.Dyer's third nightwith the fever.Drink this.I plan on getting sickmore often.My wife smiles at me.Promise me you're not gonna die.That would be the oppositeof my intention.I've restoredhim somewhatwith an enema of molasses,warm water and lard.Also a drop of turpentinenext to his nose.I spent the day reconsideringmy conversation with Tallie.We compared childhood beds...Mine in which the strawwas always breaking upand thinning out.And hers, which was as hard,she claimed,as the Pharaoh's heart.I should betaking care of you.I agree.Her manner is sweetand calm and gracious.And yet her spiritsseem to quickenat the prospect offurther conversation with me.I find that everythingI wish to tell herloses its eloquencein her presence.So how did you cometo meet Dyer?He was the oldest sonof a neighbor.He helped outon my father's farm.And was he instantly smittenby you?He was, wasn't he?He was instantly smitten by you.He admired what he viewedas my practical good sense.You don't countenance wordslike "smitten", do you?I suspect I useall the same words you do.I suspect you don't.In speech,yes, because you're shy.But I bet you're moreaccomplished in your writing.Thank you.Your good sense, that's allyour husband was smitten with?And my efficient habits.That's all?My handy ways.Dyer likes mechanical things.I have no doubt he would'vebeen happierhad he been allowed to pursuethe natural scientific bentof his mind.Circumstances forced himinto farming.And despite all of that,his heart compelled him to you?Well...You would have to ask himabout that.And what would you sayif I asked you?I suppose that as a suitor,he was...not generous, but he was just.And that he was affectionate,if not constant.I wasn't sureof his suitability.But my family felt that moreimprovingmight be in the offing.After all, it is a long lanethat has no turning.You both have muchto be thankful for.We do.It's still too soon.Sorry.Tuesday, February 19th.My reluctance seemsto have become his shame.His nighttime pleasures,which were never numerous,have curtailed even more.And I have so far refusedto engage his persistenceon the subject of another child.Evening.This is myhusband Finney.And you already know Dyer.Our paths have crossed.And this is the Abigailthat I've been mentioning.My wife talks about you asif you're all about the house,and everythingreminds her of you.Oh, well, it's all I can dobut sit cross-legged and morosewhenever she's away.- Come in.- Thank you.The rain so heavythat it broke down our mill.Did you miss me?Yes.You look different.No...Finney seems agreeable.Yes, he is,when he chooses to be.I guess I'msupposed to offer a toast.But when it comesto the social graces,I'm about as smooth as comingdown a rocky hill in the dark.What my husband meansis he's so happyto finally get together,and to see Dyer again.Cheers.Part of what I valueabout my wifeis how she taught me toassociate with my fellow beings.Finney, that's a handsomeneck tie you've chosen.Thank you.But with my neck,my head sticks out like achicken in a poultry wagon.Your tart waswonderfully savory.Oh, did you like it?I'm so glad.I was worried I wouldn'thave enough eggs- because we had an accident.- Oh.My hired hand pulled down abox of eggs and broke two dozen.I announced that he wasunlucky to eggsand no longer allowedto approach them."Unlucky to eggs."I like that.I told him that his shirthad so many holes,he can make a necklace of it.Well, we often wishwe could afford a hired hand.We've suffered a great deal fromthe carelessness of hired hands.Mr. Holt's hired hand is saidto have swum his horseover the canal despite the cold.Really?Yes.Winter's been so hard,sometimes Mrs. Weldon's sonhas had to deliver the mailon skis.Now our letters can get lostat breakneck speed.Did you write letters to Talliewhen you were courting?I did.And did Tallie keep them?Only Tallie knows for sure.Monday, February 25th.Finney and Tallie's bondconfounds me.At times, when their eyes meet,they seem yoked in oppositionto one another,while at other times,there seems a shared regard.There is something going onbetween usthat I cannot unravel.Hold this here.Okay.Thank you.Hello, Dyer.Well, hello.You're off?Yes, to town.Have a good day.She'll be pleased to see you.Happy birthday!Brought you some things.Hand-knitted?I hoped you'd like them.I do.An Atlas!The United States of America.Oh and a little pot ofapple sauce with an egg on top.My feet are freezing.Oh, let me warm them.How's Finney?He's Finney.Ah, it tickles.My husband recordstrespassers in his journals.And this morning,when I asked himwhat he intends to doabout them,his response was so unpleasantthat I...resolved to visit you...so that there would be somethingin my dayother than his meanness.Dyer thinks he hasmany estimable qualities.He does.And he also uses a ledger tokeep accounting of whom I visitand how long I stay.Why?I have no idea.As he's gotten more like this,I've given up tryingto figure outall the peculiarities of his...odd little world.I suppose he's especiallyunhappy with me since...I'm yet to give him a child.What does it feel like?Like nothing at first.But then when she beganto stir...it's like butterfliesflapping their wings.Later, like a rabbit...when she kicked her legsat night.It frightens me.The thought of havingnone of that.And of giving birth.Most of us feel that way.But...when the time comes,I will be there...to guide you through it.Dyer must want another child.I understand.Birthday gifts.A box of raisins.That needle caseyou've been needing.And a tin of sardines.You spoil me.Oh, you got giftsfrom your new friend.She left hours ago.I just saw her leave.The great storm beganwith a faint groaningin the northeast.It was like a noiseof a locomotive.Help!Come closer, girl.It's warmer over here.I'm sorry, I'll be going.You should wait it out.Come on, mare.Dyer!Dyer!Dyer!How long would it bebefore I receive word of Tallie?How long could I wait?How long will the feedin the barn last?Each cow eats 26 poundsof forage every day.You should know that.They start to skinny downafter three days.Heard the newspaper predictsthe storm'll let up by then.But that's probably based onan expert's consultationof a goose bone."In a real crisis of nature,we're all at another's mercy."Yes.My mother liked to say,"We tumble from onemortification to another."When I was seven, an earthquakeknocked down our house and barn.Did I tell you?Never.- An earthquake?- Yes.I remember something woke mebefore dawn.I don't know what.My father was calling out.But I couldn't tear myselfaway from the window.I saw birds flutteringin the air, afraid to set down.The river was roiling,and I couldn't move.And then...Finally, I jumped downto our collapsed stairwell,as all my brothershad done before me.And we all huddled togetherin the dark on the porch.Later, my mother saidthat the dread never fullywent away after that.She said, "What was safe ifthe solid earth could do that?"Mother.Tallie! You're frozen!Tallie! Stay awake!Stay awake!Open your eyes! Open your eyes!Keep your eyes open!Keep your eyes open!Look at me.I would die without you.Then you're safe.Because I am here.Monday, March 17th.Half the chickens are lost.I dug ice and snowfrom their dead open mouthsin an attempt to revive them.Hobnails...For better traction.The Widow Weldon'sson, on his rounds,reported that Talliehad gotten home safely,with, he thought,only a bit of frostbite.We haven't seen your frienddown the lane for a while.Finney took her to Oneonta.So everything is tediousand lonesome?Thursday, April 10th.Biscuits and dried mackerelfor breakfast.Dyer has augmentedthe padding in the cattle penswith his hoardingsof maple leaves and old straw.It always seemsthat Tallie will never appear.But I remind myself that timeand the needle wearthrough the longest morning.And I have notedthat when she does arrive,my heart is like a leafborne over a rockby rapidly moving water.Hello. Oh!Oh! Careful.Stay. Sit, sit.Saturday, April 12th.- I spent the last two days...- Very damp, cloudy and cool.Smoky.Perhaps the forestis somewhere on fire.Your nose is being gracious.Monday, April 14th.A terribly bad spring so far,but the cloverhas come up through it,and is all right.And how's Finney?The soul of patience.He's mentioning again the ideaof migrating west.You're planning on moving west?Perhaps.I had an uncle who moved to Ohioand came to a desperate end.Which is what onemight expect from Ohio.- Tomorrow?- Hm.Thursday, April 17th.Rain in torrentsnearly all night.The lane is floodedand the ditches brim full.This morning,only a slight shower.Tallie came laterthan her usual time today.She offered no explanation.I'm sorry that your childhoodwas anything less than joyous.Joyous it was not.But I made my own happinesses.My husband says, "Godputs heavy stones in your path,it's up to usto step over them."Stones are whatthe fortunate receive.My mother's mother was bornin 1780right here in Schoharie County.I often wonder at the courageand the resourcefulnessof those women.Imagine faring forthinto a wilderness,hoping to build the foundationsof a home.Maybe they had a certain highhopefulness that we don't have.When can you come?Tuesday.- Hello, Tallie!- Good day.Was your afternoon gladsome?Yes, it was, very.- Goodbye.- Goodbye.I felt,looking at her expression,as if she werein full sail on a flood tide,while I bobbedalong down backwards.And yet,I never say on her countenancethe indifferenceof fortunatetowards the less fortunate.Good day.Good day.Are you sick, too?Not at all.I was hoping to compare colds.I'll make you tea and honey?What?Every morning I wake upand I think that I neverwant to be far from you.And under your influence,since you're so good with words,I've composed a poem.It's entitled..."Oh, Sick and Miserable Heart,Be Still."When I was a little girl,I thought I could cultivatemy intellectand do something for the world.But my life has surprised meby being far more ordinary.You're talking about that momentthat I have dreamed about,when we're carried in triumphfor having done somethingwonderful or received at homewith tears and shouts of joy.Do you know what I wonder?Is it possible...that such a moment hasn'tyet come for either of us?I think it has.Or that it could.You do.So what do you think?What do you think about us?I don't know howto put it into words.Well, try.- I have tried.- Well, try again.What do you imagine?I imagine that I lovehow our encircling feelingsleave nothing out...for us to want or seek.I've presumed too much.It's been my experiencethat it's not always thosewho show the leastwho actually feel the least.Just my dog's toenailson the wood.Why didn't you dowhat you attempted to do?I worry you'll catch my cold.You smell like a biscuit.I have to go home.Astonishment and joy.Astonishment and joy.Astonishment and joy.You haven't accomplishedany of your responsibilities.- Do you need assistance?- No, I don't think so.So it's a cold platefor supper tonight?I'll milk the cows.Friday, May 30th.The sunshine streamingthrough the branchesmakes a tremendous farragoof light and shade.We hold our friendshipbetween us and study it,as if it were the incompletemap of our escape.When the day is done,my mind turns to her,and I think,with a special heat,"Why are we to be separated?"Your smile stopped.Is it meant for someone else?Sorry, my mind was elsewhere.We need calico and buttonsand shoe thread.Am I troubling you,sitting here with you like this?Not at all.I may be late coming to it,but I've learnedconsideration of others.I've learned the needfor human sympathyand the unfulfilled want of it.I feel I've provided youwith sympathy.I suppose that's so.The smile returns.Good day.Oh.I believe that intimacyincreases goodwill.And if that's the case,then every minutewe spend togetherwill make usmore cheerful workers.Won't our farms benefitfrom that?Won't our husbands?All our burdenswill be lightened.When she left,I was like a skiff at seawith neither hand nor helmto guide it.They're cleaning out the drainunder the street along the fork.And several peopleare down with fever.Holt came by to hang the bacon.He still hasn't recovered frombeing beaten by two strangers.He had to be hauled to his homein his cart.He said the men who did itwere gonna kill him,and then realized they weremistaken as to who he was.Lately, it seems likeall you talk aboutare highwaymenand house breakers.On the contrary,I often deferto your sensitivities.And I haven't eventold you aboutall the reportsin the county of menwho've poisonedand killed their wivesbecause I haven't found ita fitting subject for supper."Killed their wives,"he used those words?Mm-hm. those words.Have you had any disagreements?Yes, about my wifely duties.I told him that I was opposedto it, that I was not willing.And he accepted that?Well, he hasn'ttouched me since, so...But I made myselffeel better...by composing a poem.Can I readyou the opening stanza?You can read me the entire poem.No, I'll start withthe opening stanza."I love flowering gardens.I love creeping plants.I love walking in the air,but I fear swarming ants."I don't think I cansupport the rhyme.You see why I didn'tread the whole thing?I'm sorry.I've always been contraryand maladroit.Earlier, I... I felt that...whenever I would draw closeto you, you would retreat,and that, if I kept still,you would returnbut you'd stay at a distance,like those sparrowsthat stay in the farmyardand won't come into the house.- That's not how I feel.- How do you feel, then?When I was in school,the teacher had meread "Cordelia"to an older boy's "King Lear."Near the end of the play,the king and his daughterare imprisoned,but he views itin a positive way."Come, let's away to prison,"he says."We two alone shall singlike birds in a cage."Imprisoned...In a positive way?Well, maybe that one has to readthe entire play.It may be only in playswhere peopleare imprisonedin a positive way.You don't think there's a cagethat could work to our benefit?I just...I only know that...I've never liked cages.I hope you had a good afternoonin Shangri-La or Timbuktu,wherever it is you've been.I had a busy afternoon, yes.I would think.Five hours you've been gone.I went to the drapers.I couldn't find anythingI liked.Then I stopped by the tinkerfor a sack of coffee,but he's now asking 60 cents,and I only had 50.Then I thought I would buy youa treat of some kind,but Mr. Arnolds reminded methat I still owedfor my last transactions so...I was forcedto close up my purse.Tell me everythingabout your day.Don't hold anything back.You're not interested inhow your wife spends her time.I don't feel I have a wife.I feel I have a selfish whorewho...who'd rather wander offto another man's housethan contribute any labor.Well, Dyer was offin the fields,and her houseis on the way back home, so...So it's just Abigail and youtittering and gossipingaway the hours?Enjoying each other's company.I have certain expectations,and you have certain duties.We've talked all night and dayabout your expectations.I will not stay with a womanif it continually requirescontention.Well, then you shouldn't staywith me, should you?Don't ask for morethan you can handle.Sunday, June 8th.All afternoon, a hawk has beenusing a single cloud above usas its own parasol.To ward off others of its kind.Our whole house nowseems both angry and repentant.God help us.When three days went bywithout a word from her,I stole over to her houseto look on herfrom what I imagined to bea vantage pointof perfect safety.By turning the lens piece,I could draw her face nearer,and hold it thereuntil she turned away.Her image provokeda sensation in melike the violencethat sends a floating branchfar out overa waterfall's precipicebefore it plummets."For the wife does not havethe authority over her own body,but the husband does.Do not deprive one another,so that Satan may not tempt youbecause of your lackof self-control."Ephesians 5:33. "Submit to yourown husbands, as to the Lord..."Monday, June 9th.Merciful father...Turn the channel of events.Wednesday, June 11th.Dyer has been silent all day,and I was happy to be leftin my solitude.Hello!Tallie...We haven't seen you for days.Have you been ill?- Nothing serious, I hope.- Ho!She's been under the weather.- Good afternoon.- Good afternoon.We want to invite you to dinneragain this Saturday next.But it's our turn.We should be feasting you.In the meantime,please be our guests.We'd love to.Six?- Six it is.- Hup!My mother once told mein a furywhen I was a little girlthat my fatherasked nothing of herexcept thatshe work in the garden,harvest the produce,preserve the fruit,tend the poultry,milk the cows,manage the household duties,and help out in the fieldswhen needed.She said she appearedin his ledgeronly when she purchased a dress.Am I anywhere in there?I'm recording spring expenses.And how havethings changed?Daughters are married offso youngthat everywhere you looka slender and unwilling girlis being forced to stema sea of tribulationsbefore she is even full-grownin height.That's its purpose!Come on. Come on.Morning.Morning, Jim.Morning, ma'am.I've got a new book for you.Do you know,I'd actually like to seethat blue dress you have there.All right, lady.Over here!It's two and a half.I'll take it.My change?Thank you.The Mannings' oldestdaughter tipped over an oil lampand it set the house ablaze.- Fire!- Ho! Ho!- Fire!- Before she was drivenfrom the house by the flames,she heard calls from her sister,who was trappedin the upper loft.Get her out of there.Cassie!Get her out!Get her out!Your wife is to be commendedon her hospitality and cooking.I can recall the day...No, thank you....when every family was fed,clothed, shot, sheltered,and warmed from the productsa good wifegathered withinher own fence line.I heard down by the loggersthat Mrs. Mannings' oldestgot fiercely burnedin the house fire.- Cassie.- And died.Yes, she did.Well, as my father used to say,"The supreme disposerof all eventsdoes sometimes disappointour earthly hopes."What a marvelous hanging lamp.Finney purchased it sothat everyone could readwith equal ease around the room.I wasn't brought up to readover much,but I do believe a fathershould give his childrenevery chance to improve.Children being a sore pointin this household.And yours, I'd expect.You'll have to forgivemy husband.Even so,whatever misfortunesarrive at my doorstep,I seek to improve my lotwith my own industry.I...I study my options closely,and just attend to everythingwith more vehemence.Well, then you should becommended for that.I'll give you an example.When I first began farming,I was so vexedat my own inabilityto stop my dogs barkingthat one January,during a storm,I held the dog aroundthe corner of the barn in a galeuntil it froze to death.I nearly froze to death myself,at least froze my hands,even with my heavy work gloves.That is reprehensible.Did I see outsidethat you use an old shovel plow?Well, since you're interestedin my machinery,I have a hinged harrowthat's been giving me trouble.The spikes catch the rocksand roots, and they break off.Well, our harrowhas upright discs.Work better?Yeah, it seems to.Bring the desserts.I think we're stuffed.My husband insistson his pastriesand preserved fruits and creams.Well, good.What is happening?Are you in danger?What happened to your neck?No, I just took a fallover a fence.I hadn't heard.There are many things aboutwhich you haven't heard.Back at the table,Tallie kept strict custodyof her eyes.Her husband's moodseemed to have darkened.He served the pastriesand creams himself,leaving only her plate empty.Saturday, June 21st.My heart a maelstrom.My head a bedlam.A whole weekand no visit from Tallie.No word.My anxieties often force meto stop my workand pace the houselike an inmate.I have to see her.Ho, ho!Tallie! Tallie!What has happened?They're gone.And no goodbye?We need to call the sheriff.And report what exactly?That our neighbors moved?It's the Zebrun farm.They were renting.I'll go then.For what reason?There's blood!And you never had an accident?So we'll just do nothing?I'll make the roundsof the neighbors.And if we are not satisfied,we can take your fearsto the sheriff.Thank you.Monday, June 23rd.Dyer said Mrs. Nottowayrecalled spotting their caravanon the country road in thelate evening, heading northwest.Mrs. Nottoway?She believed she spiedTallie's figurealongside her husband'sbut was unsure.A hired hand, she thought,was driving the second wagon.Sunday, June 29thI spotted the sheriffon his way to church.I conveyed my accusations,to no response.Dyer said that no one wouldinvestigate a crimewithout evidence that a crimehad been committed.Calm myself?I refused to calm myself,so he tied me to a chairand administered laudanum.Monday, June 30th.Bleary and short of breathfrom the laudanum...I wake weeping,retire weeping,stand before my duties weeping.Sunday, July 6th.I am a library without books,a sea of fear,agitation and want.Dyer speaks of how much wehave for which to be grateful.I sit violently consciousof the ticking clockwhile he weepsat what he imaginesto be his own poor,forgotten self.Wednesday, July 9th.Despite some hourswithout the laudanum,I was so befoggedand wild with griefthat Dyer left mefor the afternoon,unsettled and wary of my state.Tuesday, July 22nd.- Weldon?- Good day.The renters at Zebrun's farmare gone.Did they leavea forwarding address?No. You've got a letter.Hyah.Is it from her?It is.- Oh.- Origin?Onondaga County. Do you know it?It's north of Syracuse.Are you gonna read it?To myself.Abigail, Abigail, Abigail.I'm sorry that all I haveto send you is this letter,and I'm sorry for allthat a letter cannot be.Even the best letteris just a little bit of someone.I'm sorry I never gotto say goodbye,and I'm sorry that we seemto have tradedone sort of misery for another.It turns out that houses deepin the backwoodsalways seem to be awful andunnatural in their loneliness.If there were onlya ruined abbeyaround here with bats in it,the view would be perfect.Our roof is ramshackle and shedswater nicely in dry weatherbut we have to spread milk pansaround the floor when it rains.Still, outside the kitchen,there are already anemonesand heart's-ease,and even prettier flowerswhich my stupiditykeeps me from naming for you.I believe I've enjoyed myselfless these last few weeksthan any other femalewho ever lived.During what little timeI have to myself,Finney reads aloudinstructions for wivesfrom the Old Testament.But when it comes to the Bible,I have to say thatthere are a lot of passageshe may know word for word,but which haven't touchedhis heart.I can't account for his stateof mind except to saythat my company must beintensely disagreeable to him.And if that's the case,I'm sorry for it.Ho...Good afternoon!Afternoon.Whoa.Hey.I've got something for you.There you go.Thank you.Good day.Hyah. Come on.- Is it for me?- From Schoharie County.- Your Abigail.- Give that to me.Give it. Finney, give...Finney!"What's to becomeof the thousands of our sexscattered out in the wildernessand obligedto tax our strengths?I feel as if,at that selfsame hourwhen our prospectswere brightest,that in the dim distancea black shadow approached.And yet still,imagine the happiest of unionsfor us of the sortin which two families previouslyat daggers drawnare miraculously broughttogether on love's account.It is your faceI bear through the night.It is to you I devotea dreaming spacebefore I turn myself to sleep,but there is no sleep.It's as if within me everythingclamors for air,and I thinkif it's like this now,what will it be like later?I send you what loveand support I can.I send you all my heart's hopes.Abigail."Please knowthat force alonecouldn't have gotten me hereto a place like this.I was told I had to actin support of interest,happiness and the reputationof someone I once loved.As far as I can figure,we're now still only about85 miles apart.But of course,people like usdon't go on long visits.Dyer refused firstto permit my departure,and then to accompany me,and only caught up to the cartat the end of our propertyand climbed aboard.We were the very pictureof anguish,rattling along side by side.The night was fair and warm withthe appearance of a coming rain.A shower.It's so hardto write abouthow much I want to thank you,but I have to start somewhere.Abigail...I want to tell you that beingwith you, even alone,has been like being a partof the biggestand most spacious communityI could ever imagine.I feel closer to youthan I would a sister sinceeverything amazing that I feel,I chose to feel.And do you know what memoryit is that I most cherish?It's of you turning to mewith that smile you gave meonce you realizedthat you were loved.I have no way of knowingwhat is to come,but I do knowthat all of the trustand care and courage we shared,that will all shine on usand protect us.You are my city of joy.You are my city of joy.Whoa.Might I askyour business?We've come to see Tallie.Where is she?I heard you on the road.You made such a racket.I took you for the tin knocker.We've ridden for three days.We are not leavingwithout seeing her.I'm not concerned with what youwill or will not leave without.Keep a civil tongue,friend.Where is she?I treated her with tea of sootand pine-tree rootto good effect,but sickness always testsour willingnessto bow beforethe greatest authority.My guess isthat it was diphtheria.No!There is somealienation from marital...What time is it?I don't care.- I have to go.- You're gonna make a mark.Come on.Come on.Come on.Sunday, August 31st.Weather very hot and sunny.I cleaned out the shedwhich was full of rustyand dusty rubbish,washed the windows,and preserved applesfor the winter.Fourteen dollars from the saleof our milk and butter.I have cut my handwith a paring knife.I console myselfwith the convictionthat someday in the futurewhen Dyeris forced to travel to Syracusefor feed or supplies,I will join him,and take his rifleand go to Skaneatelesand kill Finney where he sits.Dyer has been at workon the barn.Each day,we enact our separation.Sometimes after it gets dark,we walk over the hillsacross our upper fieldsfor the wide, wide view.And Dyer tries to imagine usas we were,while I try to imagine Tallieand that cordialand accepting homethat existed solelyin our dreams.I imagine Tallie and Nelliesomewhere together,and Nellie running her brushthrough Tallie's hair.I imagine banishing foreverthose sentiments of my ownthat she chastened and refined.I imagine resolving to dowhat I can for Dyer.And I imagine continuingto write in this ledger,here,as though this was my life.As though my lifewas not elsewhere.I've always fearedthat I would bring misfortuneto those I loved.Are you really saying nothingto that?I don't know where to start.I can't imagine what morewe could do for one another...with our constraints.You can't?I can't.You can't?Well, then...It's a good thing we rememberthat our imaginationscan always be cultivated.

小說與電影改編原著裡，Tallie出場比較平淡。

不曉得她什麼時候搬來，但是她的狗在1月8日先在鄰居來往道路吠聲引起注意。

1月15日Tallie同樣是為了避開Finney殺豬氛圍，不經意拜訪Abigail。

好像這段情事是意外地逐漸發生。

所有電影回眸一望都是重要行為語言電影把Tallie出場往後延到2月3日，她坐在搬遷的馬車上與Abigail對望，暗示神秘連結已然存在。

從季節意義來看，苦寒一月份交待Abigail與Dyer生活方式、喪女悲痛，以及她寫筆記的由來、遺憾沒有喜怒哀樂可以紀錄。

等到2月10日Tallie便從雙層樓房走出，從山路往下走到Abigail住處，此時積雪半融與綠色草地交錯，也代表心境開始轉換。

這段山路取景角度非常神奇，難得在電影中可以讓主角看著心愛的人從開闊遠景慢慢走來與逐漸遠離，這樣盼望實在太糾心了。

第一次來訪，積雪半融兩位主角在書中相會次數不算多，Abigail對於Tallie莫名的心動感覺，全部集中在原著1月15日初訪紀錄。

她只是撩撥頭髮電影將書中整段由外而內循序分散到其他會面：例如片中2月10日第一次接觸，Abigail提到Tallie散發玫瑰與紫羅蘭的容貌，令她不好意思直盯：In the winter sun though the window, her skin had an under flush of rose and violet that disconcerted me until I look away.片中2月17日一起拔雞毛，觀察Tallie說話方式，對方想要聊得更深入：Her manner is calm and mild and gracious, and yet her spirits seem to quicken at the prospect of further conversation with me.（藝術電影常用人物裸露來形容無所隱瞞，本片此刻不適合褪去衣服，或許用拔掉雞毛來象徵想要獲得真心話吧。

）片中2月25日，Abigail獨自擠牛奶，意識到兩人有特別情愫：There seems to be something going on between us that I cannot unravel.在兩人交往過程，Tallie大部分是主動者，電影表演方式更突顯她的行動。

片中2月17日一起拔雞毛之後，Tallie詢問Abigail與Dyer相識過程。

Abigail吐露Dyer並不是符合理想伴侶，但只能硬著頭皮繼續相處。

說完Tallie輕扣Abigail小指，背景是壁爐火光如愛之烈焰。

壁爐火光常代表熱愛但在原著，這一段「靈感」出自書中1月22日，Tallie初訪一週後未再現身，像是Abigail內心獨白，在最後寫道And so our hands were joined if our hearts no yet knitted together. 好像是指她和Dyer有手牽手但沒有心連心。

然而在電影不談Dyer，轉換成Tallie輕扣Abigail手指，強調兩人才是交心伴侶。

電影在Tallie輕扣小指後，緊接著就是Abigail婉轉拒絕Dyer求歡。

Abigail的生日禮物是Tallie與Dyer一場競爭。

Abigail在原著想要的是字典，Dyer並沒有任何批評。

Abigail在片中一開始就指明地圖集，還被Dyer消遣一下。

Tallie在原著與電影都以地圖集作為禮物。

誰能獲得芳心，高下立見。

Abigail生日當天，原著與電影都提到Tallie鞋子浸水，脫鞋後Abigail親手為Tallie取暖。

不同的是書中的Tallie居然經過一大段對話還能神色自若接受Abigail服務，並一度閉眼享受按摩。

電影劇本比較了解暗戀者的緊張情怯，Tallie很快就把腳收回。

Tallie一度不敢置信Abigail要摸她的腳生日之後出現一場冰風暴。

原著裡人物只能躲在屋中，擔心天氣預報和憂慮存糧。

Dyer向Abigail倒述小時候經歷大地震，恐懼久久不散。

Abigail憐惜他，兩人同床共枕拾回熱情。

導演在這段另外發揮，予兩對夫妻深深同情。

片中Dyer冒著風雪將牲畜趕到穀倉，受阻無法回家。

還好Abigail綁著繩子，循線救回Dyer，於是命運共同感促成他們拾回熱情。

Tallie則是前往Abigail家半路遇風雪折回，途中逃離可能遭受性騷亂的遮蔽處，冒險回家嚴重凍傷，Finney就算是壞人，也急著救回妻子。

冰風暴三個星期，Abigail以為再也不見Tallie蹤影，沒想到她出現了。

書中3月4日描述Abigail內心衝擊：When she arrived my heart was like a leaf borne over a rock by rapidly moving water. 同一天也寫出她在Tallie離去時依依不捨：as if she were in full sail on a flood tide while I bobbed along down backwaters.電影改用3分半鐘的影像描述兩週時光堆疊上述兩句話的重量。

片中Tallie於4月10日再度出現。

鏡頭已變成一片青山，Abigail看著Tallie從山坡緩步走近。

盼到人來，悸動之心如落葉被急流沖向岩石接著Tallie來訪頻率，不再是書中一週又一週，而是每隔兩三天，兩人弄毛線圈、擠牛奶、坐看夕陽、曬衣服、併肩漫步⋯⋯顯出感情不斷升溫。

這可能是大家嚮往的退休生活最後到了片中4月22日，Abigail看著Tallie背影，道出她的依依不捨。

目送背影，她乘風疾去，我越退越遠這段3分半鐘影像還有更重要的任務是烘托三天後已到臨界點的告白。

原著是Tallie出現後一週即告白，電影醞釀手法相對細膩。

書中3月11日對這場告白處理得有點曲折。

前面寫了很多其他事情，最後突然寫到在微小燭光下回憶Tallie來訪，氣勢較弱。

此段電影劇本大幅改寫，彰顯Tallie力量，也讓兩位主角大秀演技。

告白之路片中發生於4月25日，這天鏡頭反過來隨著Tallie下山走近Abigail家中，一路跟著背影進入廚房，再像男主人般坐在椅上。

Tallie胸口明顯起伏，好像呼吸急促，等到Abigail回神，她直接破題：Every morning I wake up and I think that I never want to be far from you.看到Abigail沒有同樣反應，只好開玩笑自己寫了詩”O Sick and Miserable Hearts, Be Still”。

小說沒有這種現代告白：我每天都不想離開你其實書中Tallie沒有直接破題，但是無緣無故提到這首詩暗為告白楔子。

Abigail把話題轉到自己從未實現成就大事的期望，長大後只是庸庸碌碌。

Tallie把話題引回，質疑想要感受成就、滿足、喜悅的期望，能不能此刻在我們身上實踐？

在Tallie追問下，Abigail承認兩人親密的感覺達到別無所求的滿足。

下一段吻戲大概在女女電影可以排名前幾大佳作，很難得看到吻戲不只是單純角度和動作，而是欲語還休百轉千折。

Vanessa Kirby努力壓抑的下顎搶盡鏡頭。

下顎搶盡鏡頭電影演出效果較原著青出於藍，比較一下原文描述：She leaned forward and offered me her lips kiss and then turned her cheek, which I then kissed instead. I asked why she hadn’t done as she was going to do, and she had no reply. So I took her hands and then er shoulders and, with our eyes fully open, brought my mouth to hers.原著與電影都用連三次Astonishment and joy表現Abigail感受，但要配上Katherine Waterston雙手敞開仰臥長桌，才算傳達極致喜悅。

Astonishment and joy一般觀眾可能不會注意，片中日期突然從4月25日一下子跳到5月30日，最後如何補回這段缺頁歸功於導演創意。

場景突然變成風光明媚日頭高照。

等到只留兩人同處，馬上激烈擁吻。

Tallie直接結論兩人親密關係能夠利己利人幫助農莊三贏：I believe that intimacy increases goodwill⋯⋯Won't our farms benefit from that? Won't our husbands? 後來畫面切到Abigail獨自裸身在床，暗示兩人已有肌膚之親。

書中沒有這種尺度書中在告白兩週後，雙方才會面。

一見面並沒有激情四射，而是先討論的是彼此的感覺，這是什麼樣感情，該如何應對⋯⋯雙方處於摸索狀態，後來Tallie便提出那個利己利人的歪理緩解焦慮。

她們當時沒聽過針對女同志的批判，對於同性戀情並不感到羞恥，也不存在道德負擔。

這天在原著中激情尺度只限於「微微愉悅」：We spent the interval thereafter consoling each other and allowed ourselves some gentle excitement.接下來一次會面，電影有大幅更動，加入原著中未曾出現對話，兩人竟然談論《李爾王》，大概是北歐導演神來一筆。

場景更是綠意盎然，兩人舖席躺臥在大樹下，Tallie下著紅裙，上衣扣子完全敞開，雖然沒什麼動作，畫面傳達濃厚春心盪漾，不像原著都在屋子裡談話。

綠蔭紅裙，春心盪漾片中當天話題大致源於書中4月1日內容，包含Tallie三行詩、與Finney不和以及殺妻新聞。

最大重點是Tallie認為以前Abigail一直和她保持距離不敢靠近。

書中這個話題僅止於Abigail表示現在會熱情接納Tallie。

但在片中Tallie繼續追問以前你為什麼不敢接納我？

Abigail便提到《李爾王》啟示，樂觀地把牢籠視為保護網，好像暗示Abigail過去用暗戀方式繼續和Tallie見面，現在則可以躲在婚姻掩飾下和Tallie暗通款曲。

不過Tallie表明她不喜歡牢籠。

可想而知Finney作為她的獄吏，比Dyer之於Abigail，更為凶險。

片中這一段添加兩人突然聽到樹枝被踩斷聲音，她們沒有看到人影，回頭繼續談話。

下一幕就是Finney揶揄Tallie在香格里拉午後時光，暗示Finney已經知情，危機逐漸增高。

其實Dyer在生日送禮那天就心理有數書中一週後，仍不見Tallie人影，a hawk has been using a single cloud above us as its own parasol. 在上空盤旋的老鷹象徵不安，電影還加碼讓Dyer雙手血淋淋處理飛禽。

Abigail終於一反過去被動，不想空等Tallie，趁著夜色迫近Finney農莊，用單筒望遠鏡察看Tallie安危。

這是書中最令我感到激昂段落。

這一段天氣運用，電影和原著順序不太一樣。

書中是在大雨過後，Abigail趁雨停了才去偷偷察看Tallie。

片中是察看Tallie之後，雨水落在Tallie往來的山坡路上，Abigail窗戶流下雨滴。

一般而言，下雨的場景通常代表劇中人內心落淚的電影語言。

流淚的山坡路

Tallie再次出現，她和Finney坐在馬車上，邀請Dyer和Abigail前來聚餐。

Tallie不能說話，所以Abigail在書中當天只好紀錄地方新聞。

片中則是讓我們看到這輛馬車走在Tallie往來的山坡路上。

此刻馬車像是負棺的靈車。

赴宴之前，電影做了不少更動，讓Abigail憤怒達到最高點。

Abigail看到Dyer忙著筆記突然惱火，她想到母親說她做完所有家務，只有在買衣服時才會出現在父親筆記上成為一筆開銷。

她感歎女孩還沒成年就出嫁，提前面對人生無盡難題。

這段在書中原是聚餐一週後，看不到Tallie所生感歎，不過片中Abigail不再被動，聚餐一週後就採取行動，這種感歎改到赴宴之前，累積Abigail爆發力。

片中Abigail為了聚餐特別到鎮上購衣（剛好呼應上述買衣才會出現在筆記上的一筆開銷），遇上Manning樓房發生火警，眾人無力滅火，只能眼睜睜看著女孩燒死。

Abigail在大火前咬牙切齒，預告Abigail對即將來臨的悲劇同樣無從著力。

憤怒之火其實這個火災出現在原著Tallie告白同一天，反諷的是書中女孩並沒有立刻被燒死，而是被水潑到受寒，罹患肺炎過世。

在那個艱困時代，不論如何救治都難逃一死。

那場四人餐敘，Finney完全展現父權思維和殘忍暴力性格。

通常為了長期居留會對鄰居保持和諧形象，如此毫不掩飾，顯示他根本不想再待下去了。

席中Dyer和Finney討論到犁鏟，書中只是一句話帶過。

片中大段談起鉸鏈式和圓盤式不同，最後Finney詢問你家的比較好用嗎？

我不寒而慄，Finney把Tallie視為可以更換的不良工具。

片中聚餐一週後，Abigail始終等不到Tallie出現，決定單槍匹馬騎去找她，主動發現Finney農莊已經人去樓空，而不是如書中等到鄰居轉告消息。

片中Abigail自己向警長報告Finney遷居疑點，也不像書中是由Dyer出面。

Abigail因為情緒激動，被Dyer施以鴉片酊鎮定。

他算是相對溫和的男性，但是丈夫對妻子下藥，現代人都會感到不可思議。

可能是因為連Dyer都會用藥物來控制妻子，電影把它延續到Tallie死因，暗示Finney可能用藥過量毒死妻子。

原著最後轉折是Tallie從新居來信。

導演另外加碼演出Dyer想要一起讀信，被Abigail拒絕。

這封信除了描述Tallie悲慘新生活，關鍵點是提供所在位置。

Abigail回信之後，接著就啟程前往探視（其實是救援），這不就是那本地圖集賦予女性行動力的意義嗎！

可惜原著是在Tallie死後，Abigail才啟程，動機已經被弱化了。

片中Tallie收到Abigail回信，電影故意對比Finney不顧Tallie隱私，拿走信件朗讀。

書中Abigail來不及回信，那只是她打算寫下的內容，Tallie到死前一直孤寂無助，沒有得到Abigail安慰。

其實書中Abigail收到Tallie死訊並未馬上動身，她大哭兩天，又被施以鴉片酊，四天後才決定不顧反對探視，Dyer攔阻不成才跟著上路。

原著對三天路程沒有太多著墨，電影影像處理非常豐富，讓Abigail從柔軟女子變身戰士。

Dyer無奈地從床上起身，Abigail俐落整理行囊。

馬車進入峽谷，兩旁是高聳綠林。

Abigail一向藍衣白衣，這次全身穿著紅色代表熱血沸騰。

她內心迴盪Tallie信件，像是強力召喚促她登上征途：do you know what memory it is that I most cherish? It's of you turning to me with that smile you gave me once you realized that you were loved.

我最珍貴回憶是你第一次意識到我愛你而轉身對我微笑此行終點是依舊不假以顏色的Finney。

原著Abigail毫無收穫，連Tallie墓地也無從得知。

片中Abigail還能看到Tallie香消玉殞最後一面。

當她同臥身旁，導演拉出時光機器，一串纏綿悱徹蒙太奇。

從告白之後，片中消失六個星期，自4月26日到6月5日，兩人有時天天相見，直到老鷹開始盤旋⋯⋯我認為這段象徵愛與死並列的纏綿蒙太奇是近期詮釋最好的激情戲。

原著是在筆記上紀錄一段無人知曉秘密情事，電影進一步探索隱藏在筆記沒寫出的激情。

Abigail回到老家，在書中第一句就是她割傷手，像傷了心。

片中Dyer也曾經姆指受傷，那天就是Tallie送給Abigail的生日禮物打敗Dyer的禮物。

片中有一段Abigail默默發願，如果有機會再接近Finney農莊，要用來福槍把他斃了。

書中沒有這一段，因為她在原著性格偏向柔弱。

書中結尾是 I imagine continuing to write in this ledger, as though this was my life. As though my life was not elsewhere. 好像Abigail只是收斂到筆記裡。

電影選擇書中另一段作為結尾，更加催淚。

原著提到Abigail與Dyer只能貌合神離繼續共同生活。

片中Dyer試圖爭取Abigail，她回答 I can't imagine what more we could do for one another...其實這一句在書中是Abigail曾對Tallie訴說。

片中Dyer和Tallie一起追問Abigail，你沒辦法嗎？

Abigail拒絕Dyer。

Tallie則是安慰她：imaginations can always be cultivated.最後Abigail與Tallie閉上雙眼，想像不曾離去的春閨夢裡人。

催生電影The World To Come 短篇小說作者Jim Shepard長於從歷史研究發展故事，本書靈感來自他撿到一本年代久遠的農莊記事本，記錄日常的天氣和作物播種收割等雜事，卻在頁面邊緣出現一行字“my best friend has moved away, I don’t think I will ever see her again.” （我的好友搬走，我再也見不到她了）。

我讀過原著，直覺作者把這段女女戀寫得太溫和含蓄。

當時我不太適應這篇文言文風格，而且兩人在書中會面大約七次，其中三次親密接觸其實相當節制，結尾悲劇收場雖悵然，似乎不夠合情合理，不曉得電影公司看中什麼特別之處？

催生電影第一位推手是Ron Hansen。

他專長美國拓荒時代歷史，是The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford（刺殺傑西 ）原著作者及電影編劇，此片讓Casey Affleck(凱西·艾佛列克)演技開始受到重視廣獲好評，當年奪得National Society of Film Critics（國家影評人協會獎）最佳男配角。

Hansen與Shepard相識，想要聯手推出另一部拓荒時代電影，找上凱西・艾佛列克獲得支持。

時機正好，他得到奧斯卡男主角之後取得Amazon Studios合約，2017年自組製片公司Sea Change Media。

事後來看Hansen最大貢獻是將片中食衣住行細節影像化，尤以凱西·艾佛列克所拿古樸削蘋果器為代表。

片中主角永遠忙著各式各樣粗活，傳統夫妻關係在艱困環境中彼此煎熬，沒有空間追求自己夢想。

然而全由異性戀男子發展這個女女戀劇本，在這年頭欠缺女性觀點恐怕引人非議。

艾佛列克認真考慮Hansen提議，找來第二位電影推手，自家公司的製作人Whitaker Lader出面整合兩位編劇。

團隊努力讓故事更聚焦在兩位女主角，增加相處次數，還原對話和互動。

劇本文字非常優美，我發現幾乎都從小說原封不動搬移，當初閱讀原著並無特別感受，但劇本再透過Katherine Waterston（飾Abigail）詩意旁白， 喜怒哀樂在銀幕上鮮活起來，也幫我真正體會原著女性聲音。

Lader關鍵使命是找到導演。

她曾經在日舞影展擔任電影創投業務，因為日舞工作機緣賞識挪威女導演Mona Fastvold首部作品The Sleep Walker，邀請她來執導。

Mona Fastvold這部電影沒有雄厚資金，但Fastvold不願意妥協數位拍攝、綠幕特效、人工佈景等，她堅持16mm攝影機，取景於羅馬尼亞喀爾巴阡山脈，還要求四季變化真實景觀 ，於是拍攝時程變成非常嚴苛的24個工作天。

劇組就隨著季節更迭多次來回拍攝。

取景地點是人煙稀少沒有車輛行駛的森林深處，工作人員得徒手搬運設備，還要避免山區野狗攻擊。

山路難行導致Vanessa Kirby（飾Tallie）和藝術指導Jean- Vincent Puzos都扭傷腳踝。

Vanessa Kirby第一天就受傷，被劇組揹著移動，好幾場戲改成坐在椅上演出。

不曉得這部片是否證明Lader製作功力，後來她跳槽大型製片公司Imagine Entertainment獲得專屬製作合約。

Fastvold很勇於挑戰旁白。

它常見於回憶倒述、引用書信、表達內心的古老技巧，被現代電影人嗤之以鼻，貶為偷懶取巧。

導演反向操作加重旁白，Abigail不論有沒有和別人對話，常可以聽到她的內心話，甚至壓過對話。

這個旁白效果不像有些喜劇用於表達心口不一致，而是突顯Abigail藉由內心世界忍耐現實生活。

導演從一開始便屬意Katherine Waterston飾演Abigail。

導演認為她能詮釋隱藏秘密。

她很喜歡這部劇本，希望等她生完小孩來接演。

Waterston內斂演出完全符合角色性格。

有些人會訝異她在最後一段纏綿蒙太奇出現胸部激突，其實只是育兒哺乳的附加效果。

選定Abigail之後，要尋找相反特質的Tallie。

導演看中Vanessa Kirby，因為她有種嬉戲精力，能掌握幽默時間點，具有控制權。

為了從蕭瑟冬季突顯Tallie，化妝師Gemma Hoff將她髮色染紅，還加上一點雀斑。

對Abigail而言，紅髮的Tallie就像春天來臨。

原文發表於 https://www.orange-review.com/2021/03/the-world-to-come.html

Katherine Waterston攝於錄音室

Vanessa Kirby攝於錄音室

这部片9分都不为过吧，编剧，导演（才35碎）），演员，台词，节奏，对那么晦涩文艺的原著短篇小说的改编，，，还有等等都不止8.1分吧，比卡罗尔落地，比菊石文艺，比烧女紧凑，觉得应该是姬片中的扛把子了，怎么会只有8.1分呢？

还有哪个姬片里的两女主能如此般配到无与伦比天造地合，沃特斯特那么深情敏感，科比的层次感和性张力。

还有哪个姬片里有同夫表达的那么真切的？

一个包容传统一个暴虐自私，没有吧。。。

剧情惨到极致的清教徒世界的女子怎么能盼到新世界的来临呢？

苦逼到爆的片子，惨到不能刷两遍的片子，怎么能不炸裂整个姬圈？

那么用的太多了，因为实在对8.1分看不下去了。

致敬影片的所有工作者。

“The New World Is Yet To Come ”这大概是最能表达我对本片感受的一句话吧。

《打开心世界》看完了，思绪万千五味陈杂。

影片以盖布瑞拉第一视角和大量旁白，讲述一位19世纪初美国偏远地区穷苦农妇的生活，和内心渴望被爱、被改变的期待。

盖布瑞拉善于文字表达，早早嫁作人妻，每天按部就班做着“妻子应该做的事情”。

塔莉和丈夫搬到盖布瑞拉附近，是位不愿承担丈夫所说“妻子应做之事”的美丽农妇。

塔莉问她为什么嫁给丈夫的时候，盖布瑞拉回答：他人虽不长情，但人很深情。

这就埋下了她丈夫可以陪着妻子坐3天3夜马车去见她妻子担心的女人之伏笔。

虽然夫妻两人每天没什么话可讲，可她丈夫还是不会离开盖布瑞拉。

塔莉的丈夫则是一位小肚鸡肠疑心重的男人，这也预示着这是一出悲剧。

塔莉丈夫用日记无比详尽地记录自己妻子出去时长和谁见面，还会告诉塔莉“隔壁村庄有人用毒药毒死妻子”的信息我就猜到塔莉估计会BE。

当看到塔莉和丈夫不辞而别搬走，盖布瑞拉给塔莉写信最终被塔莉小心眼丈夫发现还大声朗读那份爱的倾诉信后，我气得骂了句脏话！

塔莉和盖布瑞拉的感情被塔莉丈夫发现，塔莉被丈夫毒死....盖布瑞拉找上门发现塔莉死的哭泣，还有最后盖布瑞拉像失了魂的每日流泪都让我难过不已。

我也在这些台词中得到了之前不理解盖布瑞拉和塔莉彼此产生爱意的原因。

塔莉的旁白解答了一切：和一个在一起可以让自己快乐、舒服、产生共鸣的人在一起才是爱。

我太喜欢她们对于羞涩内敛喜爱的用词描述。

虽然没有《烧女图》和《菊石》的爱那么热烈，但都非常真实把“本过着平凡普通生活，突然有个人闯入自己世界”的惊喜、爱恋、仰慕、共情描写出来。

其实，有些对话太过于晦涩难懂，当时男权主义背景下农妇们的爱只能躲躲藏藏。

不过，我挺喜欢塔莉低沉声音和橘色金发的。

可惜，塔莉已死，盖布瑞拉会永远活在悲伤之中。

The New World Is Yet To Come.

在遇到Taillie之前，Abigail的世界是孤独无望的——与一位无法满足跟自己精神世界沟通交流的丈夫生活在几乎与世隔绝的深山中；失去了自己唯一的女儿，她也曾是自己与丈夫的唯一连结。

但Abigail似乎也是矛盾的，她在这般绝望的生活中，仍然坚持要给自己买一本地图册，试图让自己从悲伤中抽离，这仿佛是她如即将燃烧殆尽的灰烬般的生活中深埋的一颗火种。

送她这本图册的不是她丈夫，是Taillie。

也是Taillie，能看到她的才华然后被她影响，进而让自己颠沛的心平静下来。

所以Taillie能复燃Abigail内心深处的火苗，并且将让它愈烧愈烈。

Abigail很聪明也很敏感，她早就意识到了自己内心的火苗，这有在她第一次与Taillie打照面后写日记时的独白体现出来——“Why is ink like fire, Because it is a good servant and a hard master.两个灵魂的相遇相知与相爱，可能无关性别。

你懂我，我懂你，我们能让彼此的世界充满joy and astonishment,能给彼此只属于对方的笑容与温情。

每个灵魂本都是孤独甚至可怜的，最真实的那一部分一旦被看见与被关爱，被触动是自然而然的事情，每个灵魂应该都有权利去寻找去感受这份生命的鲜活。

影片中初吻后的Abigail将这份鲜活体现得淋漓尽致，“It's like the pot-bound root finally gets to stretch out.”(主演Katherine 的原话)。

在这份珍贵面前，没有性别的限制。

而这些，都能在Abigail的世界中看到。

但俗世如鸟笼，如监狱，有着冰冷的枷锁与禁令，为了不让潜在的火苗成为威胁自己的隐患，大多数的那方大概都会选择扑灭火苗吧，无论那火苗对少部分人来说有多么绚丽与珍贵。

这也是影片中的社会背景所赋予Abigail和Taillie的东西。

我最欣赏Abigail的地方就在这里。

树林中她与Taillie的谈话，她说“We two alone shall sing like birds in the cage”，夹杂着很矛盾很复杂的感情，体现了她在背离于社会标准时的应对方式，很无奈，但乐观。

这根植于Abigail内心的矛盾性也贯穿到了电影的结尾， Taillie死后，Abigail用想象把Dyler看成Taillie，只不过，这时候成了One bird singing in the cage。

那充满着悲情的生命张力，似乎更加强大了，对Taillie的那份情，似乎也更深了。

前言：旁白式的电影很容易让人错过剧情的发展脉络，写不了优美的评论，鄙人只能干点粗活，整理了一遍本片的时间线，电影节奏清晰可见，是一篇引人入胜的散文诗。

（截图使用的是弯弯字幕组的版本）1856年1月1日电影开始的时间，地点：纽约当年世界其他的地方处于什么状态？

英法在美俄支持下准备发动第二次YPZZQC正值咸丰帝在位英国著名拉拉安妮李斯特已经走了16年夏洛蒂勃朗特去年逝世美国人均GDP17美元，买一本地图册需要花费2美元此时距离爆发南北战争还有5年距离爱迪生发明电灯还有23年距离女性获得选举权还有64年2月3日周日阿盖看到塔利和她的丈夫架着马车离开，初见，像丈夫打听马车上那位红发人妇是谁？

阿盖说她想要买一本地图册。

2月4日阿盖再次表达想要买地图册，遭到拒绝。

2月X日塔利第一次上门拜访阿盖，一聊半宿。

（原著中是1月15日）2月14日晚上照顾生病的戴亚时，阿盖回忆起她们下午聊天的内容。

2月X日（14日-19日之间）似乎塔里找阿盖一起做家务已经成为日常，塔利喜欢在话题中进攻阿盖的感情生活，非要她讲出内心对婚姻的感受。

单手插袋？？？？？

2月19日阿盖拒绝房事，因为还没有准备好再要一个孩子2月X日阿盖和丈夫去塔里家拜访四人晚餐，两位男士试图主导话题，但塔盖沉浸在属于她们自己的快乐中。

2月25日

阿盖挤奶的时候一直在回想那天晚餐时塔利夫妇的表情，又发现自己因此心神不宁而烦上加烦。

下午，戴亚出去干活，塔利如约而至，给她带来了一直想要花费昂贵的地图册（拾取极其重要的道具！

）得到的回报是阿盖亲自捏脚。

塔利讲述自己的婚姻生活，表达出其中的不幸福，询问对方是否要第二个孩子来打探阿盖的性生活。

每一次对话都是明修栈道暗度陈仓。

暴风雪来临，如厉鬼催命，塔利和马在路上。

3月17日塔利冻伤，数日未见阿盖，甚是想念，而阿盖被老公批评，你又对一切失去了兴趣。

4月10日，春意盎然

正在做针线活的阿盖，一抬头便从窗户里看到远处塔利和她的狗。

距离上一次见面，已经一月有余。

4月12日 阴天

好像又恢复了见面的频率，塔利说你的鼻子好可爱4月14日 有史以来最糟糕的春天塔利说芬尼在考虑搬去西部的事，阿盖着急的上前一步问要搬去西部？

塔利说也许吧，明天见4月17日（数日）这一天的BGM特别好听看夕阳晒衣服仿佛一对和谐美满的老夫老妻

4月22日散步，聊童年，说好下周二见阿盖目送塔利离开，像大海中反方向的船

4月25日

突如其来的告白，互相试探到热吻，蕴藏多日的情绪一触即发，但时间到了塔利慌张的走出房门，差点走错方向，而阿盖张开双臂，仰躺在画面中央的姿势，是导演给我们观众继续激情的想象，也是阿盖自己的想象，荷尔蒙溢出，空气里满是湿漉漉的温度。

当她的双手用力挤奶的时候，在想什么？

（再一次出现挤奶的细节）而塔利回到家中，看着镜子里自己的身体在想什么？

4月26日 4月28日 4月29日 4月30日 5月1日 5月2日 5月14日 5月16日 5月19日以上闪回，9天亲密的睡觉5月30日 私奔路线丈夫注意到了阿盖开门时脸上一闪而过的失望，只有塔利和笑容一起出现。

两人热吻，阿盖先腿软。

6月3日闪回-亲密的睡觉6月4日树林里，倒挂靠在树上，奇怪的姿势，爱让人迷失。

关于牢笼和自由的分歧用一个吻结束，回去亲密的睡觉（闪回）

6月5日闪回-亲密的睡觉6月8日 故事到这里急转直下，危险正在酝酿。

阿盖的丈夫射杀了一只黑鸟，在阿盖面前给它开膛破肚说用来警告它的同类，这很难说不是一种警告。

3天没有塔利的消息，阿盖竟然去他们家屋外用望远镜偷窥。

6月9日瓢泼大雨，阿盖仍旧深陷道德与感情的旋涡中6月11日塔利和丈夫架着马车经过，阿盖追上去问几天没见，是否安好，塔利没有说话，丈夫替她回答生病了，但脸上的伤戳破了谎言的泡沫。

6月14日四人晚餐，这一次两位男士完全掌控了餐桌上的话题，两位女士战战兢兢几乎没有交流，只有一句：还有你很多不知道的事。

6月21日

又是一次长时间的见不上面，阿盖心神不宁，坐立难安之下终于决定主动去找她，却发现人去楼空，剩下一块血手帕。

6月23日阿盖得到消息，有人看到塔利和丈夫搬迁去了西部的方向6月29日阿盖向当地警长报案，无人理会6月30日 盖，崩溃

7月6日盖，持续崩溃

7月9日盖，戒迷幻药

7月22日时隔一个月，收到塔利的来信，信的开头是这样的，你好 阿盖，血色将至。

8月X日（推算的）再收到塔利诀别一样的信件后，阿盖执意要赶去北部见塔利。

尾声对结尾的处理，是导演一步一个伏笔埋到最后的王炸。

当所有人以为塔利就这么死了，她们连活着的最后一面都没见到而抱憾终身时，突然闪回的床戏让此时下坠的氛围得到升华。

“缠绵像海里每一个无垠的浪花”“ 像水面泡沫的短暂光亮”“是我的一生”8月31日 最后一篇日记塔利死后，阿盖身体里的某一部分也随着去了，树林里塔利再一次回眸，是对观众的凌迟，也是她对爱人的恋恋不舍，此时影片把情绪推到最高处又戛然而止。

THE END