一九四三年六月，張愛玲在英文月刊《二十世紀 / XXth Century》第四卷第六期的影評專欄“On the Screen: Japanese Productions”中，發(fā)表了電影“鴉片戰(zhàn)爭 (萬世流芳) / The Opium War”的英文影評。影評全文掃描請見美國夏威夷大學馬諾阿分校哈密爾頓圖書館中的電子版館藏（可直接下載PDF）：
http://evols.library.manoa.hawaii.edu/handle/10524/32551

The Opium War

The Opium War[鴉片戰(zhàn)爭] (Toward Eternity[萬世流芳]), a joint production of The China Film Co.[中國電影股份有限公司], The China United Film Production Co.[中華聯(lián)合制片公司], and the Manchoukuo Motion Picture Co.[滿洲映畫協(xié)會] In the leading parts: Kao Chan-fei[高占飛], Wang Yin[王引], Mon Nah[蒙納], Yen Djuen[嚴俊], Lee Hsiang-lan[李香蘭], Nancy Chen[陳云裳], Yuan Mei-yun[袁美云].

Modern Chinese do not like to have their attention drawn to certain features of old Chinese life. Any reference in foreign films to such things as bound feet, pigtails, or opium smoking, invariably calls forth indignant protests. Until The Opium War no Chinese film has ever made the slightest allusion to the opium habit which, we must admit, is still prevalent in China today. Hence The Opium War deserves much praise for its candor, its many-sided approach to a painful subject. In other respects, too, the film is an event in China’s brief movie history. In spite of all handicaps and limitations imposed by the consequences of a world war, in spite of the fact that the capital employed was only a small fraction of that spent on even a minor Hollywood production, the result is impressive.

The story revolves around the rise and romance of Viceroy Lin Chih-hsu[林則徐], the dominating figure in the Opium War of a hundred years ago. A subsidiary plot concerns a friend of Lin’s and a girl selling candy in an opium den. Lin and the two women in his life fight against the opium habit in the masses. Lin’s friend struggles against the habit in himself, and the candy girl against that in her lover.

The film is already crowded with dramatic material. The excuse for adding a romance “which might have been” as a subplot is probably to provide a role for the Manchoukuo star Lee Hsiang-lan. With her songs, Miss Lee proves to be the most eloquent spokesman of the piece; for the dialogue, though polished and concise, is not free from the doubtful mixing of modern phraseology with the classical language—the usual trouble with costume plays.

On several occasions, the actual words from Lin’s official decrees are inserted into the dialogue. Kao Chan-fei, in the part of the Viceroy, recites them in a clear, colorless tone. Kao’s attitude toward the role is evidently one of great reverence bordering on fear. The same fear limits the makers of the film in the scope of their interpretation. In keeping to the beaten track of romantic melodrama, they show themselves distrustful of the ability of the audience to follow more complicated political and military developments. This distrust does not take into account the fact that the Chinese public, trained during the last thirty years to be attentive newspaper readers, is now extremely well versed in journalistic literature and would prove fully receptive to Lin’s story, the mere straight telling of which would be deeply moving.

Lin miraculously defends Canton with the scanty forces and ammunition at his command. The British leave Canton to attack the ports farther up the coast. China makes a humiliating peace, undoing all that the Viceroy has accomplished against the importation of opium. The film does not sufficiently utilize such excellent ready-made drama and chooses instead to magnify an attempted assassination for its climax. All we see of the Opium War is a map showing the British expedition. During the action in Canton, the movie is preoccupied with the intersection of the parallel careers of Lin and his old flame, an enterprising lady who echoes his crusade against opium and, leading the population like a rather un-Chinese Joan of Arc against the British, dies in battle.

The beginning is a masterly synthesis of concrete details. Mon Nah and Yen Djuen animate the opium-den scenes with their robust caricatures of Britishers. Viceroy Lin is nursing his hatred, gathering up his power for the blow. At last he strikes, and meets with defeat. As a stimulus for revenge, the defeat portrayed is too paltry, largely due to the story being fined down to individual threads when it should expand. At the signing of the treaty, we hear that Lin has been dismissed and banished. He leaves Canton, exchanging stately speeches with the adoring multitude that sees him off. On his way he visits the grave of his old love.

As the girl who, but for a misunderstanding, would have married the Viceroy, Nancy Chen overacts. Her technique clashes with the straight-forward acting of Lee Hsiang-lan and Wang Yin (Lin’s friend) and with the reticence of Kao Chan-fei. Yuan Mei-yun as Lin’s wife is charmingly Chinese.

Considering the fact that the Chinese film industry has never before handled such a large capital and so great a number of talents as in The Opium War, this clinging to details is justifiable. Most of the detail is very well done, for example the one chopstick on the pot in which the medicine is boiling, to ward off evil spirits. In a few instances still greater historical accuracy would have helped as, for example, in the manner in which the slave girls hold the arm of their mistresses and in the performance of proper kowtows.

The film provides a splendid background of the China of the last century—the shameful part of which present-day China, with her more mature self-consciousness, is no longer anxious to keep in the dark. — Eileen Chang[張愛玲]

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二〇〇二年四月，中國華僑出版社編輯出版了《張愛玲文集·補遺》一書，收錄有陳炳良先生對本篇影評所做的中文翻譯，現(xiàn)引用如下，以供參考：

鴉片戰(zhàn)爭
《萬世流芳》（中華、中聯(lián)、滿映聯(lián)合出品。高占非、王引、蒙納、嚴俊、李香蘭、陳云裳、袁美云主演。）

現(xiàn)代中國人不喜歡看舊中國的某些東西。如果外國影片有纏足、蓄辮和吸鴉片的鏡頭，準會引起憤怒的抗議。在“萬世流芳”之前，沒有中國影片涉及吸鴉片。而我們得承認吸鴉片至今仍甚普遍。因此，“萬世流芳”對這慘痛題材坦誠地從多個角度來處理，是值得我們贊揚的。另一方面，這影片在短暫的中國電影史上是件值得大書特書的事。雖然由于世界大戰(zhàn)做成各種的阻礙和限制，而且資金也有限(和好萊塢的小規(guī)模制作相比，也有小巫見大巫之別），但成績卻很好。

故事主線圍繞著鴉片戰(zhàn)爭的主角——兩廣總督林則徐的崛起和他的戀愛故事；副線則描述林氏的友人和一個在鴉片煙窟中賣糖女郎的關系。內容是林氏和他的兩個女人在群眾中鼓吹戒煙，他的友人本身要戒煙，而賣糖女郎則幫她的愛人戒煙。

故事本身已不乏戲劇性的材料。影片中“想當然”的愛情故事大概是為安排滿映的李香蘭的演出而加上去的。李小姐的歌藝使她成為片中所演角色最適當?shù)娜诉x。片中對話雖然精確洗練，但仍文白參半，是古裝劇常有的毛病。

有幾次，林氏的文告里面所用的字句被插入在對白之中，演林氏的高占非用清晰而平淡的語氣說出來。高氏對這角色明顯地崇拜到近乎恐懼。同樣的恐懼使制片人對詮釋方面有所限制。他們走回愛情劇的老路，表示出他們認為觀眾不能明白復雜的政治和軍事的發(fā)展。事實上，中國人在過去三十年中已習慣看報紙，對林則徐的故事已可接受。如果把林的故事如實地說出來，那已是非常感人的了。

林氏奇跡地用很少人力和火力就保住了廣州城；英軍轉攻北部沿海港口；中國屈辱求和，把林氏的禁煙成績一筆勾銷。這些好的現(xiàn)成材料沒有在影片中用上，反而用謀殺不遂作為全片高潮。關于鴉片戰(zhàn)爭，我們只看到一張英軍進攻路線圖。在廣州攻防戰(zhàn)時，影片只交叉描寫林氏及其舊情人的工作。后來舊情人響應林的禁煙運動，帶領群眾抵抗英軍時，扮演一個不怎么道地的圣女貞德，在戰(zhàn)場上犧牲。

故事開場把真實的史事綜合得非常好。蒙納和嚴俊用他們對華人強烈的諷刺把鴉片煙窟的氣氛演活了。而林總督則在積憤，蓄勢準備一擊。但是一擊不中，全盤皆輸。片中把作為激發(fā)復仇意志的失敗場面演來過于輕描淡寫。主要是因為故事在應該發(fā)展時卻收束到個人身上去。在和約簽訂，林氏被革職流放，他在離開廣州時對崇信他的群眾說了得體的話，還到他舊愛的墳頭憑吊。

陳云裳飾演那個如果不是因為小小誤會便會嫁給林則徐的女子。她演得過火一點。她的演技和李香蘭、王引（飾林氏的友人）的直率，和高占非的不茍言笑配合不來。至于飾林夫人的袁美云則非常中國式，令人喜愛。

由于中國電影制作從沒有動用像《萬世流芳》這么多的資金和這么多的好演員，我們對一切細節(jié)的要求是合理的。大部分的細節(jié)處理得很好，把筷子插在煎藥的罐子里用來驅走惡鬼，就是個例子。但是如果注意到婢女要扶著女主人的手和怎樣叩頭等細節(jié)，以實現(xiàn)歷史真實感，那就更好了。

這部影片給我們上世紀的中國，一個非常好的縮影。中國現(xiàn)在對本身已有成熟的了解，不再急于把往日的羞辱掩蓋起來了。 — 陳炳良譯

                                    認識《萬世流芳》的角色
   中華、中聯(lián)和“滿映”，聯(lián)手投資三百萬，聯(lián)合張善琨、朱石麟、卜萬蒼、馬徐維邦、四大導演，同時聘請陳云裳、袁美云、高占非、王引以及滿洲明星李香蘭五大明星，于1942年10月20日開始動手打造這部《萬世流芳》。據張善琨先生介紹，“本來我們預定《鴉片之戰(zhàn)》列入中聯(lián)第一期出品，后來發(fā)現(xiàn)劇本上有許多缺點和不妥之處，為鄭重起見，便將此片暫緩拍攝，并請周貽白先生等重新修改劇本，并加以修正，費時數(shù)月，方始全部脫稿。同時滿洲映畫會社來函通知我們，愿意和我們合作，并派李香蘭小姐來滬，加入演出。我們?yōu)樵鰪婈嚾萦嫞稍ㄖ鹘窃涝坪透哒挤且酝?，再加入陳云裳、王引等多人。同時導演一職，我們四個人共同合作擔任指揮工作，也許是工作效能上，比較有些成績”。可見《萬世流芳》能夠被搬上銀幕，確實頗費周折。
     據聞，《萬世流芳》原名《鴉片之戰(zhàn)》，關于改名，導演之一張善琨給了一個說法，“于《鴉片之爭》之所以要改名為《萬世流芳》，第一，后者比較動聽一點。第二，此片乃以林則徐一生的事跡為主，所以更名為《萬世流芳》”。
    故事的發(fā)展，主線集中在林則徐身上，當他寄居于福建巡撫張師誠府中求學時，張師誠的女兒張靜嫻傾慕他，旋則徐因張巡撫多疑，憤而離其家，但是張靜嫻誓則初徐之外，決不下嫁他人。其后，則徐被縣令鄭大模聘為西席，旋榮膺榜上，林則徐以大漠盛情難卻，遂與其女鄭玉萍結為夫妻。朝廷命令林則徐為欽差大臣，剿滅艷片毒害，達年也于此時投奔林則徐麾下，經官民一體努力，禁煙大為見效。英方為保護鴉片經營，即訴諸武力，因而展開了歷史的鴉片之戰(zhàn)。初英軍不支，旋轉攻防力不足之長江沿岸，南京告急，清廷乃急于英國締結停戰(zhàn)協(xié)定，英軍趁戰(zhàn)勝之余，在廣東省內非法枉為，人民不滿，與英俊相抗，最后一滴血，為國效忠而死。最后，林則徐復原職，旨其墓致祭，追念不置，廣州民眾留下“萬世流芳”四字于墓前。以紀念其貞烈。飾演林則徐的高占非，體格魁梧，在上海的演員中居第一位。這次他對局中人性格的刻畫，將那種莊嚴肅穆的書生氣質都顯示了出來，不過一位偉人應具有的那種韌性的毅力，似上欠缺，從容貌上看去，一副忠厚相貌，他的面部表情，稍顯呆板，生命的力，也不夠活躍。
    張靜嫻自徐去后，其父即故世，而其兄深受表現(xiàn)吳景仁唆使，甘與無賴為伍。張靜嫻悲憤之余，乃與其俾人遁入空門，創(chuàng)“戒煙丸”以救世人，林則徐之岳母也仰仗此丸脫離苦海。鄭玉萍乃親往庵中致謝，相見后彼此均誓要為禁演而努力。張靜嫻臨終肯定的說：我們中國人每一個人都有用！并從秋月的言行里，表現(xiàn)了“前者撲到，后者繼起”的勇猛的民族精神。這一點，給觀眾無限的啟示與希望。飾演張靜嫻的陳云裳，曾以木蘭風姿，名震銀壇，張靜嫻與花木蘭，同是歷史上的巾幗英雄，這次她的演技未見突出，不及花木蘭的那么動人，當然，張靜嫻的性格最初是比較沉悶，終因痛于現(xiàn)實的教訓，憤而遁走空門，創(chuàng)戒煙丸，組平英團，最后，她的性格變了絕對相反的兩種人物。
    一向楚楚動人的袁美云飾演鄭玉萍，當林則徐來到家中坐西席時，因一首歌曲打動林則徐，恰逢林則徐生病時，鄭玉萍悉心照料，兩人彼此傾心，在林則徐高中之時，兩人共進洞房。之后一直陪伴在林則徐，上江南，下廣州。
    鳳姑，原本是富家小姐，家人因吸食鴉片，最后破產，淪落為賣糖小妞，并在煙窟中演唱戒煙的歌曲而遭到老板毆打，所幸獲得潘達年的幫助從中逃離，最后兩人心心相悅，喜結連理。滿映紅星李香蘭飾演的鳳姑，一邊賣糖一邊歌唱，眼神非?；铎`突出動人。給人印象最深的，是她驚人的歌唱天才，聲音高亢，但有質感。
潘達年，本是林則徐同窗好友，受煙毒甚深，乃沉湎于英國人葉利阿妥和瑪麗安娜所設的鴉片窟中，當看見林則衣錦還鄉(xiāng)之時，愧感交集，歌女鳳姑以激勵，致引起窟主不滿，將鳳姑痛毆，達年仗義，大鬧煙窟，與鳳姑遠避深山，鴉片之癮，借助張靜嫻所制的“戒煙丸”得以解除。
    除了以上的武打明星之外，還有“兩對夫妻”是不容忽視的，一是扮演葉利阿妥的嚴俊，他從舞臺跳上銀幕，過去演過不少的外國舞臺劇，所以他對于外國人的動作頗有心得，這次雖然僅僅幾場戲，大名也未列入領銜之列，可是將劇中人陰險刁滑的心理，刻畫得非常明朗，這次他的成績，是超乎一般人之上。譬如演另一個英國人瑪麗安娜的蒙納，過去也曾演過舞臺劇，但這里的語調及動作，卻叫人看了非常不舒服，矯揉造作，怪聲怪氣的，雖然是個反派人物，表演技術卻不能給觀眾感官上一種美感。二是《萬世流芳》姜明與飾袁美云母親，自始至終演得都能把握住個性，演技非常突出，可是連他們的姓名都沒有，頗有遺憾。