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Scott Pilgrim turns 10: how the cult film gave fans a perfect snapshot of
Toronto's indie music scene
《歪小子史考特》上映十周年：完美呈现多伦多的独立乐坛缩影，献给摇滚粉丝的邪典电
影
The movie based on Bryan Lee O'Malley's graphic novels featured some of the
city's biggest indie acts
这部电影是根据Bryan Lee O'Malley的漫画故事改编而成，并有不少多伦多的大咖独立艺
人参与其中
Edgar Wright's film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was supposed to be a hit when
it came out 10 years ago. Instead, in the years since it failed at the box
office, it has transformed into a cult classic. (Universal Canada)
十年前甫上映时，由Edgar Wright执导的《歪小子史考特》被视为强档热门。而虽然当初
票房惨遭滑铁卢，在时光推移下居然成为了一部邪典经典。（Universal Canada）
"You guys doing anything fun while you're in town?"
"Fun? In Toronto?"
“你们在市区有发生什么好玩的事吗？”
“好玩？你是指多伦多吗？”
August 2010 felt like the perfect confluence of Canadian indie-rock culture.
On Aug. 2, Arcade Fire, the Montreal band that put its hometown on the music
map in 2004 with its breakout album Funeral, released its highly anticipated
third record, The Suburbs. It went on to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
2010年的加拿大独立摇滚文化已臻成熟，而该年8月似乎达到了巅峰。2004年时以首张专
辑《Funeral》惊艳四座的乐团Arcade Fire，在音乐地图上为家乡蒙特娄光耀门楣后，于
2010年8月2日发行了万众期待的第三张专辑《Suburbs》，并随即空降成为Billboad 200
大单曲的冠军。
It was the apex of a decade that saw many Canadian acts including Broken
Social Scene, the New Pornographers, Wolf Parade and Metric breaking through
internationally, and the cherry on top came the following year when, in
February 2011, The Suburbs won the Grammy Award for album of the year. It was
a culmination of a growing critical consensus around Canadian music, a rising
star that also happened to catch Hollywood's eye. If a film blended in that
music and culture into its foundation, it, too, could be poised to ride that
wave of success, right?
十年前正是加拿大人在演艺圈发光发热的时期。越来越多的加拿大艺人打开了国际知名度
，如Broken Social Scene、the New Pornographers、Wolf Parade和Metric；而迅速窜
起的加拿大音乐也吸引了好莱坞的注意，因此衍生的评论与支持也日益发酵。于是，加拿
大人在2011年2月迎来了锦上添花的好消息：《The Suburbs》赢得了葛莱美年度最佳专辑
的殊荣。因此，如果有人能将加拿大的音乐与文化融入电影中，那么这部电影应搭上这波
成功的热潮才对。
On Aug. 13, 2010 Scott Pilgrim vs. the World was released. A film adaptation
of Bryan Lee O'Malley's graphic novel series, Scott Pilgrim, the Edgar
Wright-directed film was projected to be a hit. Michael Cera starred as Scott
Pilgrim, a boy who falls for the new girl in town (Mary Elizabeth Winstead),
but must defeat her seven evil exes in order to date her. Scott Pilgrim vs.
the World combined an eye-popping and fantastical comic book style with tried
and true elements of musicals, action blockbusters, coming-of-age dramas and
rom-coms — all set in the city of Toronto.
2010年8月13日推出的《歪小子史考特》是改编自Bryan Lee O'Malley的小说漫画，在
Edgar Wright的执导下预期将大受欢迎。由于Michael Cera饰演的主角Scott Pilgrim煞
到刚搬来镇上的女孩（Mary Elizabeth Winstead饰演），他必须打败她七位邪恶的前男
友才能成功与她约会。《歪小子史考特》将吸睛的奇幻漫画风格与不败的音乐剧元素、卖
座动作情节、青少年剧情和爱情漫画氛围相结合，并以多伦多为所有故事的发生背景。
▍A flop-turned-cult hit
But, in its opening weekend, the film debuted at no. 5 and only earned $10
million, nowhere near the $85 million production budget that went into making
it. By commercial standards, it was deemed a flop. Some claimed it was too
Canadian, others argued that having Cera anchor the film was a mistake. It
would initially seem as though Hollywood made the wrong call altogether and
that the film's financial failure, much like the "Who is Arcade Fire?"
comments that greeted the band's Grammy win, was a sign that perhaps critical
consensus was out of sync with mainstream taste, and that the popularity of
Canadian indie rock, among other elements of the film, wasn't enough to
bolster a film to worldwide profit.
▍砸锅作品变成热门的邪典电影
然而，该部电影在上映的第一个周末票房仅获得了第五名，甚至最后以1,000万的总票房
作结，和8,500万美元的制作预算相差甚远。就商业角度而言，《歪小子史考特》可说是
重大惨败。有人认为这部片的“加拿大味”太重了，也有人认为找Cera主演才是大错特错
。在那时看来，这一切似乎只是因好莱坞制片商同时犯下了许多错误决定而酿成；而这部
电影的商业滑铁卢也可能意味着当时的电影专业与主流品味相悖，就如乐团Arcade Fire
在获得葛莱美奖时，网友纷纷留言问道“他们是哪位？”。或者，也可说加拿大独立摇滚
在那时的普及程度，还不足以撑起一部电影的国际票房。
But almost immediately after its theatrical run wound down, the film formed a
cult following (not without the help of a ceaselessly enthusiastic Toronto
fanbase). Now, 10 years later, it's being heralded as a film that was ahead
of its time, predating the mega success of box office-smashing superhero
films (the Marvel cinematic universe launched in 2008, but took some years to
really take off) and acting as the launching pad for some of film and TV's
biggest stars now (Brie Larson, Aubrey Plaza, Anna Kendrick).
不过，就在该部电影的戏剧宣传结束没多久，在多伦多热情粉丝不放弃的推广下，该部电
影旋即拥有了一批奉其为邪典的粉丝。十年后的今天，这部电影被誉为是走在时代尖端的
漫改先驱（票房必卖的英雄电影漫威宇宙虽早在2008年推出第一部作品，但也花了数年才
红遍全球）；甚至，还是如今票房电影和电视影集中许多大明星的发迹起点，如Brie
Larson、Aubrey Plaza和Anna Kendrick。
The film is also a neat snapshot of that indie-rock era. Written between 2004
and 2010, O'Malley's books were loosely based on his time living and playing
music in Toronto. "I was in a bunch of bands," O'Malley told Weird Girls. "I
always play music on and off; comics kind of took off more than music, but
I've always enjoyed music." That part of his life, and his experiences
lugging band gear across the city's vibrant music scene, had one of the
biggest influences on Scott Pilgrim.
事实上，《歪小子史考特》也称得上是当时独立摇滚圈的完美缩影。这本由O'Malley自
2004年写至2010年完成的作品，有部分是以他住在多伦多时玩音乐的一段岁月为背景。
O'Malley这么对Weird Girls说道：“我当时是断断续续地在玩音乐、也参加过不少乐团
。在我的人生中，漫画算是比音乐重要一点点，但我仍不放弃对音乐的热爱并享受其中。
”而他这一段人生过程，和曾扛着乐器走在街头、参与多伦多乐坛勃发展的经历，对该部
电影的影响可谓至关深远。
Protagonist Scott (who is named after a song by '90s Halifax band Plumtree)
is a bassist in a band called Sex Bob-omb, and most of the series' adventures
revolve around a series of battle-of-the-band gigs that would also double as
battlegrounds for Scott and the villainous exes of Ramona Flowers, the object
of his affection/obsession.
电影中的一连串冒险主要是以一系列的乐团battle为故事核心。主角史考特在乐团Sex
Bob-omb（乐团名是参考九零年代成军于哈利法克斯的乐团Plumtree某首歌的歌名）中担
任贝斯手，为了争取心仪对象Ramona Flowers的芳心而决定与她各种邪恶前男友对决，进
而展开一系列的乐团battle。
When time came to translate Scott Pilgrim from the page to the big screen,
Wright had a sturdy blueprint for its visual identity. But how would they
bring the sound of the series' universe to life?
在决定将史考特的故事从书本上重现于大萤幕上时，Wright已在心中确立了其视觉形象的
蓝图。不过，这些制片要如何将这部漫画世界中的音乐呈现给观众呢？
▍Creating the sound of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
The answer was a mix of local and international talent. Behind the scenes,
Sloan frontman Chris Murphy was tapped as the musical director, teaching and
guiding actors through performing as musicians on-camera. (Mark Webber and
Alison Pill, who play two-thirds of Sex Bob-omb, had never picked up an
instrument in real life prior to shooting the film.) For its soundtrack,
Wright called up friend Nigel Godrich and Beck to helm Sex Bob-omb's scrappy
garage-rock anthems, giving the band just enough of a polish so that the
performances were enjoyable to watch, but also sloppy enough to be believable
that a group of twenty-somethings could throw them together.
▍打造《歪小子史考特》的音乐内容
透过将在地人才与国际专家的技术结合，剧组找到了答案。乐团Sloan的主唱Chris
Murphy成为该片的音乐指导，教导并指引演员们如何在镜头前“演”一个音乐人（因为
Sex Bob-omb的另外两名成员Mark Webber和Alison Pill在拍摄前从未碰过任何乐器）。
至于《歪小子史考特》的电影原声带制作，Wright则邀来了音乐人好友Nigel Godrich和
Beck来形塑Sex Bob-omb较为粗糙的车库摇滚（garage-rock）曲风。如此一来，具一定音
乐水准的演员将能在电影中呈现让人享受的乐团表演，但同时稍嫌落漆的表现也足以让人
相信这是年轻人二十几岁该有的样子。
Local indie-rock heroes Broken Social Scene and Metric were also brought
onboard to round out the sonic identities of other featured fictional bands:
Crash and the Boys, and Clash at Demonhead.
加拿大本土的独立摇滚看板名人Broken Social Scene和Metric也加入他们的行列，协助
塑造片中其他虚构乐团的音乐风格，像是Crash and the Boys，以及Clash at Demonhead
。
Clash at Demonhead, particularly, was inspired by Metric, a fact that singer
Emily Haines has called both flattering and insulting. "It's sort of like a
nightmare version of us," she told TIFF. When the band members were first
approached by Wright to contribute a track to the film, the synth-rockers
pulled up "Black Sheep," a track that missed the cut for their fourth studio
album, Fantasies, but felt like the perfect fit for the Brie Larson-fronted
Clash at Demonhead, a Toronto outfit that has gained international acclaim.
(According to Aubrey Plaza's Julie Powers, Clash at Demonhead opened for the
Pixies.)
特别的是，Clash at Demonhead其实是受到Metric启发而创造的乐团，而这件事让该乐团
的主唱Emily Haines认为既荣幸又不好意思。她向TIFF表示：“我觉得他们根本是我们
Metric的噩梦版。”此外，当导演Wright初次向团员们接洽并希望他们为电影写首歌时，
这群合成摇滚人马上抛出了〈Black Sheep〉。这首歌是他们未能收录进第四张录音专辑
《Fantasies》中的一首歌，而该曲的风格正好适合以Brie Larson为主唱的Clash at
Demonhead。这个充满多伦多风情的乐团在片中获得不少国际的赞声，且Aubrey Plaza饰
演的 Julie Powers还说Clash at Demonhead居然受邀为the Pixies的暖场嘉宾。
"When I had finally heard, in the film, her version of it," Haines recalls,
"I think she did a great job, it's completely different from me ... I only
wish I could be as badass as the characters he created. I'm glad that we
inspired him, but that it wasn't too close to us."
Haines回想道：“当我终于在电影中听到Larson唱的版本时，我觉得她表现得很好，跟我
风格完全不同。真希望我能像电影中创造的角色一样耍狠耍帅。总之，我很荣幸我们成为
创作的灵感之一，只是Clash at Demonhead跟我们乐团的实际风格并不相像。”
Larson's band takes the stage at Lee's Palace, one of the only real music
venues featured in the film, shining a light on the physical scene in Toronto
(The Rockit was also featured but because it closed in 2005, they had to
recreate the entire set.) Even restaurant chains like Pizza Pizza and Second
Cup were cleverly shot in the same neighbourhoods to maintain a geographical
continuity that most films shot in Toronto rarely abide by — that's if
Toronto is lucky enough to get to play itself, another anomaly.
Larson的乐团登台演出的Lee's Palace是全片少数几个真实存在的音乐场地之一，而这也
是成为片中多伦多实际场景的亮点之一（The Rockit虽然也出现在电影中，但因其早在
2005年便关门大吉，剧组得重建整个布景才能重现场地）。此外，为维持地理环境的连续
性，这部片连Pizza Pizza 或Second Cup这种连锁餐厅都会刻意选在同一社区取景，但其
他同样以多伦多为背景的电影却很少如此操作；侥幸的话，这座城市或许还有机会以“本
尊”之名在电影中出场，只是这到时也会成为另一段奇谈了。
Broken Social Scene's contributions were slightly different from Metric's.
Their songs for Crash and the Boys, one of Sex Bob-omb's battle-of-the-bands
opponents, were a far cry from the anthemic rock songs the band is best known
for. So instead, members Brendan Canning and Kevin Drew created something
that was heavier than what they would normally produce, with instruments
thrashing up against each other in short, powerful bursts — literally so
short that, in the film, Scott's roommate Wallace heckles them from his seat:
"It's not a race, guys."
Broken Social Scene为本片原声带贡献的成果与Metric有些不同。Sex Bob-omb其中一个
battle的对手Crash and the Boys正是演奏他们所写的歌，而该曲的风格与其原先激励人
心的招牌乐风有着天壤之别。由团员Brendan Canning与Kevin Drew携手打造的这首歌，
不仅节奏较他们平常的风格还要强而有力，两人甚至要求所有乐器以简短、强劲的爆发力
同时大力敲击。事实上，这首节奏的急促程度让片中坐在观众席的史考特室友Wallace都
忍不住挖苦道：“你们是在比谁快吗？”
Throughout the film, Wright ensures that every corner of the screen and its
setting honours the city it takes place in. For Wright, Scott Pilgrim vs. the
World is a love letter to O'Malley's heartfelt comics, but the film is also a
love letter to Toronto. Characters are spotted reading issues of alt-weeklies
Eye Weekly and Now Magazine; Scott and his pre-Ramona love interest, Knives
Chau, frequently shop at the record shop, Sonic Boom; Ramona has a New
Pornographers album cover in her living room. Haines, whose voice doesn't
technically come up during the Clash at Demonhead performance (all the actors
recorded their own vocals, which were used in the film), can be heard later
on as Broken Social Scene's "Anthems for a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl" is played
in the background in one pivotal scene. These are all Easter eggs lovingly
planted for true Torontonians to see — and to feel seen.
为了向这座城市致敬，导演Wright对片中出现的每个角落和场景都非常小心翼翼。《歪小
子史考特》不仅仅是写给O'Malley这部温暖漫画的情书，也同时是一封写给多伦多的告白
。举例而言，电影中的人物会阅读《Eye Weekly》和《Now Magazine》等周刊、史考特和
前任情人Knives Chau时常去逛一间叫“Sonic Boom”的唱片行，而女主角Ramona的客厅
则贴著一幅New Pornographers的专辑封面海报。此外，Haines的声音一开始虽未出现在
Clash at Demonhead的表演中（因本片所有演员会另外录制声音以用于电影中），但后面
重要的某幕以Broken Social Scene的〈Anthems for a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl〉作为
背景音乐时，观众便能听到她的声音。而除了要让真正的多伦多人发现这些隐藏彩蛋外，
导演的贴心举动也是为了让多伦多人感到被世界所看见。
▍How has the film aged?
Of course, Toronto is made up of many thriving music scenes, from punk to hip
hop. (It is, after all, the home of the biggest hip-hop artist in the world.)
So Scott Pilgrim's representation of the city's indie-rock scene is fairly
narrow and, quite notably, white. But that, too, is reflective of how indie
rock, as a genre back in the early to mid-2000s, was mostly dominated by
white acts. Even a scan of the audiences in the film show a mainly white
demographic, further alienating a character like Knives who is often referred
to as just a "Chinese schoolgirl" in the film.
▍这部电影是如何转大人的？
无庸置疑的是，多伦多的乐坛蓬勃发展，从庞克到嘻哈等风格都应有尽有（毕竟这里也是
世界知名嘻哈歌手Drake的家乡）；而《歪小子史考特》不仅反映出这里的独立摇滚圈较
为狭隘，且众所皆知地对白人族群有利，也反映了这门从2000年代早期发展至中期的音乐
种类，多是以白人乐手为主流。甚至对片中观众的种族光谱加以检视时，也会发现群众中
的白人占了多数，从而让Knives一类通常只被视为“中国裔女同学”的电影角色更加孤立
。
But I can relate to Knives. As someone who fits her description — a
Chinese-Canadian who was born and raised in Toronto — and who attended many
shows at Lee's Palace and various other venues across the city, being one of
a handful of non-white concert attendees is a very real experience. And the
film, whether it was deliberate in its representation or not, was honest in
its depiction of those spaces instead of leaning into Toronto's prominence as
one of the most multicultural cities in the world.
而笔者本身也是多伦多土生土长的中国裔加拿大人，也去过Lee's Palace和多伦多的其他
场地看过很多表演，所以像Knives做为非白人演唱会上少数来宾的感受，对笔者而言可说
是非常真实。无论导演是否有意为之，但《歪小子史考特》的确将多伦多的各种面貌忠实
呈现在观众眼前，而不刻意着眼于这座城市包容多元文化的优点。
Underneath all the portals and superpowers, though, Scott Pilgrim is a
perfect snapshot of the Toronto music scene in the 2000s. From the iconic
landmarks to the less talked about lack of representation, Toronto's
indie-rock scene provided the film with a grounded and lived-in foundation
atop which Wright built a colourful, fantastical world. And in the 10 years
since it came out, the film has already aged into quite a time capsule: Sonic
Boom has since moved locations twice; the Lee's Palace interior will
definitely throw off tourists who come in hoping to grab a beer at the back
bar, which has been redesigned (and which was, at the time of filming,
leading the crew to recreate the original layout); the Rockit is now on a
rapidly growing list of venues that have shuttered.
撇开传送门和超能力等奇幻元素不谈，其实《歪小子史考特》在细看之下，可说是多伦多
2000年时期的乐坛缩影。无论是代表性的地标或因不具标志性而较少提及的特色，在
Wright为该片打造的缤纷、奇幻世界观中，多伦多当时的独立乐坛也成为其中的稳定基础
。《歪小子史考特》在推出了十年后仿佛浓缩成一个时光胶囊，毕竟片中的唱片行Sonic
Boom早已搬了两次家；此外，Lee's Palace的室内设计经过重新整修后，原想来此在后面
吧台喝上一杯啤酒的旅客也都败兴而归（这项工程也使得剧组在拍片时必须重建原本的面
貌），而Rockit如今也关门大吉，眼见停业的景点清单在短期内越列越长。
With those community-oriented spaces growing more vulnerable every day due to
the COVID-19 pandemic, Scott Pilgrim's valorization of music venues reminds
us of the importance of these places and why we must continue to help keep
them alive, however possible. Watching scenes of crowded parties and fans
standing shoulder to shoulder will definitely elicit fond memories of
communal gatherings, but as a whole, re-watching Scott Pilgrim makes us miss
live music the most, eager to reignite the scene with loud, buzzing bands.
这类群聚的在地空间虽因新冠疫情变得日益危险，幸好《歪小子史考特》点出了这些地方
的价值。除提醒人们这些地方存在的重要性外，也道出了人们应想尽办法守护的原因。拥
挤的人潮、肩并肩的歌迷，看着《歪小子史考特》出现的这些场景总让人想起那些与人相
聚的美好回忆；更甚者，重温这部电影会让人最怀念的是聆听现场表演的震撼，并迫不及
待能再次看着嘈杂的乐团大声演奏并为之感动。
Until the next time we're allowed to step into Lee's Palace, though, Scott
Pilgrim vs. the World is the next best thing: a dream-like universe that we
can continue finding comfort in.
虽然疫情使人暂时无法踏进Lee's Palace，但观看《歪小子史考特》仍让我们有机会尽情
享受音乐。至少，置身在这梦幻般的漫画宇宙中，我们随时能找到心灵上的安慰。
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