Crucible

crucible



Y

1. 熔化鍋

2. 嚴酷的考驗



D



–noun 

1. a container of metal or refractory material employed for heating substances to high temperatures.

2. Metallurgy. a hollow area at the bottom of a furnace in which the metal collects. 

3. 

a severe, searching test or trial. 









　

This is a monstrous family. Maria (Liv Ullmann) is flighty and shallow, cheats on her husband, and refuses to come to his aid when he [stabs] himself after learning of her [infidelity]. Karin (Ingrid Thulin) is cold and hostile, hates her husband, cuts herself with a shard of [glass] in an intimate place and then smiles triumphantly as she smears the blood on her face. In one of the film's most devastating scenes, Karin tells Maria how much she had always hated her.



Agnes (Harriet Andersson), the dying sister, has been caught in a crucible of [pain]. Sometimes she screams, wounded animal sounds, and then Anna (Kari Sylwan) comes to her, holds her head to her breasts, and tries to comfort her. Anna is the wholly good person in the movie, who prays to God for the soul of her dead daughter, and moves silently in the background as the family eats at its own soul. She loves Agnes, and would love the others if they could be loved.



shard

–noun 

1. a fragment, esp. of broken earthenware.

2. Zoology. 

a. a scale.

b. a shell, as of an egg or snail.

 

3. Entomology. an elytron (鞘翅) of a beetle.





Bergman never made another film this painful. To see it is to touch the extremes of human feeling. It is so personal, so [penetrating] of privacy, we almost want to look [away]. "Persona" (1966) points [to] it, especially with its use of closeups to show the mystery of the personality; no other director has done more with the human face. 



It's as if "Cries and Whispers," made in 1972, brought him to the end of his attempts to lance the [wound] of his suffering; his later films draw back into more realism, more sensible memories of his life and failings (for no director is more consistently autobiographical). And near the end there is "Faithless" (2000), directed by Ullmann from his screenplay, in which an old man summons actors (or ghosts) to help him deal with his regret for having hurt others.



lance

長矛騎兵

魚叉

【醫】用柳葉刀割開





pang

[a] pang of [remorse] 

hunger pang[s] cf. fang

bout

match, fray, a contest or trial of strength, as of [boxing]

a bout of [illness] 

She's reliving the throes of adolescent-style [awkwardness]. [Between] bouts,



gynecologist

gravid

travail 

the [pangs] of [childbirth] 

convulsion 

writhe

throe(s)

the [pangs] of [childbirth], [paroxysm]

the throes of [battle] 

She's reliving the throes of adolescent-style [awkwardness]. [Between] bouts,



excruciate

expiate 

penance Dissipate

Inflict





lacerate Convulsion

sliver

shard

cuts herself with a shard of [glass] in an intimate place

laminate 

The document is encased in plastic, with the laminating [machine] he has also brought along.

crate 

They're still driving around in the old crate they bought [20 years ago].  

a crate of [oranges]

crucible

grate

His constant chatter grates [on] my nerves.  

to grate on the [ear].  

to grate a [carrot]. 

to grate one's [teeth]. with people grating tulip bulbs to make soup. 



ramshackle

dilapidated 

veer 

The speaker kept veering [from] his [main topic].

The car veered [off] the [road]. 

veneer 

a [cruel] person with a veneer of [kindliness].  

Pallet 

incognito

who helps to [pass] her incognito [kin] [off] as a man in order to avoid detection. 

Tony