The Beach 　海滩

Plot Summary:

For his first major project made after the overwhelming success of Titanic, Leonardo DiCaprio took a risky path in this adaptation of Alex Garland's acclaimed novel, directed by Danny Boyle.

　overwhelming：overwhelm这个动词有“征服、压倒”的意思，那么它的形容词形式就是“势不可挡的、压倒的”意思，比如压倒多数的选票可以说an overwhelming majority of votes。在本文中形容《泰坦尼克》的轰动效应，用overwhelming真是再合适不过了。

Garland's novel centers on a young nicotine-addicted traveler named Richard(DiCaprio), an avid pop-culture buff with a particular love for video games and Vietnam War movies. He is backpacking through Asia with a handful of friends from Europe.

　nicotine-addicted：nicotine是“烟碱”的意思，addict是“沉溺、上瘾”的意思，那么nicotine-addicted就是“吸烟上瘾的”人。李奥纳多在片中饰演的Richard就是这样一个烟鬼。
　backpack：本意是“背包式的东西”，比如背包式降落伞等；另一个重要的意思就是“背包徒步旅行”。与中国孩子不同，很多美国青年都是背着简单的背包周游各地，这样的人就叫backpacker——背包走天下的人。

While in Bangkok, he meets a mad Scotsman who calls himself Daffy Duck (Robert Carlyle). Shortly before Mr. Duck kills himself, he gives Richard a crude map to a place in Thailand that he claims is paradise on earth: beautiful, unspoiled, uninhabited, and where some other wayward souls have settled.

　Bangkok：泰国首都，曼谷。
　crude：“简陋的、粗糙的”，比如“粗略的草图”可以说a crude sketch。《海滩》中Daffy Duck交给Richard的神秘地图就是这样一张简陋的地图。另外crude还有“天然的、未加工的”的意思，比如crude ruby就是“天然未加工的红宝石”。
　wayward：有两个意思，一是“任性的、倔强的”的意思，比如a wayward child就是“一个倔强的孩子”；另一个意思是“难以捉摸的、不稳定的”。朋友，想像一下吧，《海滩》中人间天堂一样的地方，它美丽、纯净、人迹罕至，而且可以使人的浮躁飘摇的灵魂安定下来。

For lack of anything better to do, Richard and his companions try to locate the spot, which, after a dangerous and taxing journey, takes them to a beach as beautiful as Duck said it would be. Richard and his friends settle in, but before long they discover that they are not alone; a large group of fellow travelers has already dug themselves in, and they have established a community with the same social evils that Richard was hoping to leave behind. Just as important, there is an army of natives who grow marijuana in the nearby hills and do not appreciate the presence of these visitors.

　settle in：迁入，搬到某地居住。Richard和他的伙伴们经过艰苦危险的跋涉终于找到这个地方，就如Duck说的一样美丽，于是他们在这里住下来。
　dig sb. in：在口语中很常用，表示“使……站稳脚跟，巩固……的地位”。Richard他们安顿下来不久，就有尾随而来的旅行者也在这里住了下来。
　marijuana：大麻，这就是制做毒品的最基本的原料，和其他植物一样，它的枝叶和花朵看起来很普通，甚至美丽，但全世界有数以千万计的人从灵魂到肉体都为它所控制。在风景如画的海滩，竟然种着许多大麻。记住了吗？marijuana！

The Beach proved controversial during production, partly due to production delays and shifting release dates, partly due to environmental concerns after crew members bulldozed parts of the Taiwanese island of Phi Phi Le for the planting of non-native trees.

　controversial：争论的、辩论的；引起争议的。比如controversial writing论战文字。它的名词形式是controversy，就是“争论、争辩、争吵”的意思，而controvert则是它的动词形式。《海滩》在拍摄期间，也因为延迟、改变发行日期等原因而引起争议。
　bulldozed：是“恐吓”的意思，但这里是“用推土机推平……”的意思。为了使背景看起来更真实，剧照人员甚至用推土机推掉了台湾本岛的树，种上了一些泰国的树。