百年50部英文燒腦電影賞析：[7]Doubt 虐童疑云

Set in 1964 at a Catholic church in the Bronx, New York, the film opens with the progressive-minded Father Flynn(Philip Seymour Hoffman)giving a sermon on the nature of doubt noting that, like faith, it can be a unifying force. The next evening, Sister Aloysius(Meryl Streep), the strict and conservative principal of the attached school, discusses the sermon with her fellow nuns, the Sisters of Charity of New York. She asks if anyone has observed unusuaI behavior that would inspire Father Flynn to preach about doubt, and instructs them to keep their eyes open should any such behavior occur in the future.

Sister James(Amy Adams), a young and naive teacher, observes the closeness between Father Flynn and Donald Miller, the school's only black student and an altar boy. One day during class, Sister James receives a call asking for Donald Miller to meet Father Flynn in the rectory. When he returns, Donald is distraught and Sister James notices the smell of alcohol on his breath. Later, while her students are learning a dance in the gymnasium, she sees Father Flynn placing a white shirt in Donald's locker. Sister James reports her observations to Sister Aloysius.

Under the pretext of discussing the school's upcoming Christmas pageant, Sisters Aloysius and(to a lesser extent)James voice their suspicions that Father Flynn's relationship with Donald may be inappropriate. Several times Father Flynn asks them to leave the matter alone as a private issue between the boy and himseIf, but Sister Aloysius persists. Finally, he is pressured into admitting that Donald had been caught drinking altar wine, and he had promised Donald not to tell anyone about the incident. Having now been forced to break that promise and reveal the truth, he will need to dismiss Donald as an altar boy, which he had been trying to avoid. Before leaving, Father Flynn tells Sister Aloysius he is displeased with her handling of the situation. His next sermon regards gossip and how it is easily spread.

Initially, Sister James is relieved and convinced of Father Flynn's innocence, but Sister Aloysius's belief that he has behaved inappropriately with Donald is unshakable. Sister James later asks Father Flynn about the shirt she saw him leaving in Donald's locker, having not revealed this detail to Sister Aloysius. They discuss his relationship with the boy. Father Flynn offers a reasonable explanation for the situation and Sister James's doubts are assuaged.

Sister Aloysius meets with Donald Miller's mother regarding her suspicions. Mrs. Miller(Viola Davis)shocks Sister Aloysius with her disinterest in the alleged misconduct on Father Flynn's part. As far as she is concerned Donald need only last to the end of the school year, as graduation from a prestigious church school would increase his chances of going to a decent high school. It is hinted that Donald is homosexual and revealed that his father is abusive, with the implication that one causes the other. Mrs. Miller begs that Sister Aloysius drop the matter, feeling that Father Flynn is a source of inspiration to Donald and a shield from the abuse he receives at home. She becomes angry when Sister Aloysius refuses to compromise and threatens to throw Donald out of the school. Mrs. Miller believes that Donald would be punished for a thing he was not the cause of.

Following his final sermon, Father Flynn steps down from the pulpit and shakes hands with the members of the congregation. Some time later, Sisters Aloysius and James are sitting together in the church garden. Sister Aloysius tells Sister James that although Father Flynn resigned, the bishop has appointed him to pastor at a larger church and its parochial school, in essence promoting him to a more prestigious position. She then admits she lied about speaking to a nun at Father Flynn's former church, and thus drove him out with no more than her suspicions; her justification is that if Father Flynn truly were innocent, he would not have given in. Repeating a line from earlier in the film, Sister Aloysius says that “in the pursuit of wrongdoing, one steps away from God.”

Sister Aloysius concludes that one also pays a price in pursuing wrongdoing. She breaks down in tears and says to Sister James: “I have doubts…I have such doubts” And with no actual proof that Father Flynn is or is not innocent, the audience is left with its own doubt.

電影從1964年紐約布朗克斯區(qū)的一個天主教堂開始，開明豁達(dá)的神父費林(菲利普·賽默·霍夫曼飾)正在布道講解“懷疑的本性”。他指出，就像信心，懷疑可以成為一種凝聚的力量。第二天晚上，修女愛勞希斯(梅麗爾·斯特里普飾)，嚴(yán)厲、保守的教會附屬中學(xué)的校長，和紐約慈善機(jī)構(gòu)的修女們一起論道。她問是否有人觀察到什么異常行為促使費林神父談?wù)搼岩?，并指示她們今后繼續(xù)盯緊任何此類行為的發(fā)生。

修女詹姆斯(艾米·亞當(dāng)斯飾)，一個年輕天真的老師，注意到費林神父和當(dāng)勞·米勒(學(xué)校唯一的黑人學(xué)生兼祭壇侍童)之間關(guān)系親密。一天上課時，詹姆斯修女接到了一個電話，要當(dāng)勞·米勒到教區(qū)長家去見費林神父。當(dāng)當(dāng)勞回來時，顯得心煩意亂，詹姆斯修女注意到了他的一身酒氣。后來，她的學(xué)生在體育館學(xué)習(xí)舞蹈，她看到費林神父在當(dāng)勞的儲物柜里放了一件白色的襯衫。詹姆斯修女把她觀察到的情況報告給了愛勞希斯修女。

借口要討論學(xué)校即將到來的圣誕慶典，修女愛勞希斯和詹姆斯小范圍述說著她們的懷疑，即費林神父和當(dāng)勞之間可能的不當(dāng)?shù)年P(guān)系。費林神父幾次要求她們別管這個男孩和他自己之間的私人問題，但愛勞希斯修女仍然堅持。最后，迫于壓力，他承認(rèn)當(dāng)勞因偷喝圣酒被捉，他答應(yīng)當(dāng)勞不把這件事告訴任何人?，F(xiàn)在被迫違背諾言，揭示真相，他將不得不辭掉當(dāng)勞的祭壇侍童之職，之前他一直在努力避免。離開之前，費林神父告訴愛勞希斯修女，他對她的處理表示不滿。他的下一次布道是關(guān)于流言的，以及流言是如何快速傳播的。

最初，詹姆斯修女放下心并相信費林神父是無辜的，但愛勞希斯修女堅定不移地認(rèn)為他和當(dāng)勞行為不當(dāng)。后來詹姆斯修女詢問費林神父，她看見他往當(dāng)勞柜子里放了一件襯衫是怎么回事(之前她并沒有把這個細(xì)節(jié)透露給愛勞希斯修女)。費林神父與詹姆斯修女討論了他和當(dāng)勞之間的關(guān)系。費林神父為這件事情提供了一個合理的解釋，平息了詹姆斯修女的疑慮。

愛勞希斯修女會見了當(dāng)勞·米勒的母親，談起了她的懷疑。讓愛勞希斯修女非常震驚的是，米勒太太(維奧娜·戴維斯飾)對費林神父涉嫌的不當(dāng)行為沒有興趣。她關(guān)注的只是等到最后這個學(xué)年結(jié)束，作為著名的教會學(xué)校的畢業(yè)生，當(dāng)勞·米勒會增加去一個像樣的高中的機(jī)會。她還暗示當(dāng)勞是同性戀，表明他的父親因為這個原因打罵他，是因為這個原因才導(dǎo)致那樣。米勒太太懇求愛勞希斯修女放棄，她覺得費林神父是當(dāng)勞的心靈源泉，也是遭受來自家庭打罵的盾牌。她為愛勞希斯修女拒絕讓步并威脅要把當(dāng)勞逐出學(xué)校感到非常氣憤。米勒太太相信當(dāng)勞將會受罰，而他并沒有過錯。

在費林神父的最后一次布道之后，他走下講壇和會眾成員握手。過了一段時間之后，愛勞希斯和詹姆斯修女一起坐在教堂的花園里。愛勞希斯修女告訴詹姆斯修女，雖然費林神父辭職了，但主教已任命他為一個更大的教堂以及教區(qū)學(xué)校的牧師，實質(zhì)上將他提拔到一個更顯要的位置。然后她承認(rèn)她撒了謊，謊稱自己與費林神父之前所在教堂的一個修女談過話，然后僅僅出于自己的懷疑而將他趕走;她的理由是，如果費林神父真的是無辜的，他就不會屈服。重復(fù)電影早些時候的一句臺詞，愛勞希斯修女表示，“一個人從事不道德的行為就相當(dāng)于違背上帝。”

愛勞希斯修女的結(jié)論是，一個追求不當(dāng)行為的人也要付出代價。她流著眼淚對詹姆斯修女說：“我懷疑……我有這樣的懷疑。”電影并沒有實際證據(jù)證明費林神父是或者不是無辜的，把懷疑留給了觀眾。