The Deep End 暗夜摇篮曲

Ready for a moody film noir? "The Deep End" is set to entertain with its hallmarks of the genre: gritty characters, improbable plot twists, and lush visuals which earned it the award for Best Cinematography at this year's Sundance Film Festival. Based on Elizabeth Sanaxy's novel "The Blank Wall", the film is the second feature by David Siegel and Scott McGehee, whose previous film, "Suture", contained similar themes about the disruption of stability.

The story revolves around ordinary mom Margaret Hall (Tilda Swinton), whose quiet suburban life is disturbed when she finds out her 17-year-old gay son is seeing a sleazy bar owner. The story intensifies when she finds said lover dead near the family's property. Thinking that her son must be involved in the murder, Margaret springs into protective-mother gear and disposes of the body, without thinking of the consequences.

The nightmare is indeed far from over, when unsavory associates of the man come to blackmail Margaret with an amateur porn tape of her son with his lover. Margaret and the blackmailer, Alek (Goran Visnjic), end up developing a strange bond, which is part of the film's payoff.

Never sinking into melodrama, the story is buoyed by ironic twists, Swinton's considerable acting ability, and evocative cinematography. The film has also earned kudos for respecting the audience's intelligence and never taking the easy way out.

The widespread distribution of "The Deep End" marks a departure for Tilda Swinton, an icon of independent film. While you may not have heard of her before, she has a small but fierce following based on her mesmerizing performances and interesting roles. Swinton's passion for close-ups--where she says "figurative cinema becomes art"--is evident in her new film, which critics say may earn her an Oscar.

Swinton hails from an upper-class Scottish family in London and was educated at Cambridge before working in theater. Her foray into film began with a long collaboration with English art house director Derek Jarman. Later successful films of Swinton's include "Female Perversions", "Love is the Devil", and her most well-known work to date, "Orlando", in which she played a man who lived for more than 400 years and became a woman. Swinton became a bankable actress in the wake of that movie, but continued to choose unorthodox and challenging roles.

Her character in "The Deep End" is an apparently ordinary suburban mom, but one that is shaken out of complacency by dramatic events. Swinton likes the fact that her character is forced to think and question things, which she says is all too rare in female roles. Her performance may make her a household name, but regardless of impending fame, Tilda Swinton has her feet firmly on the ground and continues to maintain her creative integrity.

想看一部阴郁的黑色电影（注）吗？《暗夜摇篮曲》正准备以它的这类特征来娱乐观众：果敢坚毅的角色、匪夷所思的剧情转折，以及丰富的视觉效果， 从而荣获今年圣丹斯电影节最佳摄影奖。这部影片是根据伊丽莎白·沙娜希的小说《The Blank Wall》改编而成，是戴维·西格和史考特·麦基合作的第二部 影片，前一部影片《缝合》与本片相似的主题是关于社会安全遭到破坏。（注：犯罪电影的一种，以晦暗的摄影手法与背景不祥的音乐作为烘托，着重描写愤世嫉俗的反派角色）

故事围绕一位平凡的母亲玛格丽特·霍尔（蒂尔达·史温顿饰）展开，当她发现自己17岁的同性恋儿子与邋遢的酒吧老板交往时，她平静的郊区生活因此而被搅乱了。而在她发现所说的情人死在她家附近后，故事情节就更加激化了。想到她儿子肯定卷入这起谋杀案，玛格丽特立即进入保护子女的角色，不计后果地处理了尸体。

恶梦到此并未结束，这个男人的狐朋狗友们拿来业余爱好者拍的她儿子和他情人的色情录影带来勒索玛格丽特。玛格莉特和勒索者亚历克（高伦·维斯吉克饰）最后发展成一种奇特的关系，这是电影高潮的组成部分。

本片从未沦为情节剧，故事以讽刺性的曲解、史温顿出色的演技，令人回忆的摄影得到维系。影片也因为尊重观众的智慧，绝无投机取巧，敷衍了事而赢得了赞赏。

《暗夜摇篮曲》的广泛发行标志着一个独立制片的偶像蒂尔达·史温顿的一个新的开始。以前你可能没听说过她， 但她凭着魅力四射的演出和吸引人的角色，拥有了一群人数不多但狂热的拥护者。史温顿钟爱特写镜头，她曾说：“象征性电影是艺术”，这在她的新上映的影片中一览无遗，影评们说那可能会为她赢得奥斯卡奖。

史温顿来自伦敦的一个苏格兰上层阶级家庭，在踏入戏剧界之前在剑桥受过教育。她涉足电影界始于与英格兰艺术电影导演德里克·贾曼的长期合作。后来，史温顿受欢迎的电影有：《黑色芳心》、《Love is the Devil》，和迄今为止最出名的作品《美丽佳人欧兰朵》。她在剧中扮演一个男人，活了四百多年后最终变成了女人。史温顿也因为这部影片而成为了可以保证票房收入的女演员，但她仍继续接演一些非传统而具挑战性的角色。

她在《暗夜摇篮曲》里的角色，显然是个普通的郊区母亲，而不是一个被激动人心的事件从自满中摇醒的人。史温顿喜欢她的角色被迫去思考与质疑，她说，在女性的角色中，这是十分少有的。蒂尔达·史温顿的演出或许会使她成为家喻户晓的人物，但尽管她的名声唾手可得，蒂尔达·史 温顿仍然脚踏实地，继续保持她创造性的人格。