龙蛇小霸王

★★★☆（四星为满分） 首先，电影的概念听起来就令人担忧：一部演员全是小孩的黑帮片。尤其当我们了解到：《龙蛇小霸王》（注：《巴格斯·马龙》）与其说是儿童电影，不如说它欢快地评论了经典好莱坞犯罪电影中孩子般的价值观和行为。 但看了电影后我们松了口气，《龙蛇小霸王》不像其他任何电影。它是原创且迷人的，还有朱迪·福斯特的特别表演。她饰演一位坚强的夜店歌手，即兴表演了保罗·威廉姆斯的感伤情歌，近似于《吉尔达》中丽塔·海华斯的风格。她从舞台缓慢地走到观众席，对土豪们抛媚眼，总之，她自信得令人惊讶。她在电影中的表演似乎恰到好处；《龙蛇小霸王》几乎完全取决于语气，如果你把小孩放在这种情景中，哪怕执导时有一丝偏差，这部电影都会冒犯到观众。但它没有，而且福斯特的表演尤为正确。 它讲述了一个我们几乎耳熟能详的黑帮故事，关于一个想要接管这片地盘的强硬的新帮派。Da Boss雇佣枪手来保护他的地盘。巴格斯·马龙是他不可或缺的人，但他可能也帮不上什么忙，因为另一个帮派有可怕的新武器。在阿尔·卡彭（注：20世纪20~30年代最有影响力的黑手党领导人）的时代，是机枪。而在这部电影里，是棉花糖枪。像蛋奶派这样的老式武器在单挑时已经不管用了。 电影进行到一半时，我开始好奇怎么会有人想到要拍这样一部电影。编剧兼导演艾伦·帕克说他的灵感来源于《教父》。我不知道，我认为这部电影对小孩的见解要多于对黑帮的。 小孩玩耍的场景是真实的。这是我们长大后所丢失的一样东西：把后院当成是OK Corral（注：美国西部经典枪战发生地）的能力。电影里的小孩并没有表现得好像这是一场滑稽且虚假的表演。对于他们来说，这是真实的。这部电影以一种奇怪的方式达到了黑帮片的效果，我们记得鲍嘉和卡格尼的经典作品也有孩子般的纯真。那时的世界比较简单。而如今这个世界如此复杂，也许只有小孩才能理解鲍嘉的角色。

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Ushering in UK televisual and advertising practitioner Alan Parker ’s foray into the form of feature film, BUGSY MALONE is one of a kind, a comical pastiche amalgamating American Prohibition era gangster turf war with vintage musical numbers, and idiosyncratically, all the players on screen are prepubescent teens, an ingenious wrinkle hasn’t been imitated ever since (directing children is never a cakewalk, kudos to Parker for the resolution).

NYC speakeasy boss Fat Sam (Cassisi, a would-be luvvie in the making has he not retired from acting in 1982), is bedeviled by the surging attack of “splurge guns”, a new weapon devised by his nemesis Dandy Dan (Lev) to eliminate his cohorts and take over his business. He turns to our hero, the street-smart boxer scout Bugsy Malone (Baio) for help, who is struck by coup de foudre with a budding singer Blousey Brown (Dugger) in the speakeasy, who is aspiring for a Hollywood career.

Although the story-line digresses and slacks off erratically, BUGSY MALONE’s main allure comes from the novel discrepancy and amusement spawned by putting grown-up material into the mouth of a bevy of underage amateurs (save Jodie Foster’s minxy moll), and by whom Paul Williams’ retro adult-voiced strains are lip-synced, the titular theme song is a standout, and a barnstorming Foster steals the limelight as easy as falling off a log in her number “MY NAME IS TALLULAH”.

As a family-friendly novelty, machine guns are substituted with toy guns, blood with cream, automobile with pedal vehicles, and everything leads to a havoc-wreaking custard pie throwing climax to top off house-playing hilarity. No denying it is lots of fun to watch such a finely manufactured gallimaufry, yet the movie only intrigues us but never evolves into compelling, partially thanks to a disgruntled Florrie Dugger (who wisely stays away from acting afterwards) hasn’t got a scintilla of chemistry with a more proactive Baio, only prompts any spectator to wonder why doesn’t Parker cast Foster in the leading role instead, who struts and slinks way heads and shoulders above everyone else with a palatable air of insouciance and va-va-voom, such a pity.

referential entries: Parker’s SHOOT THE MOON (1982, 5.4/10), MIDNIGHT EXPRESS (1978, 7.9/10)