BBC纪录片：《杜甫：中国最伟大的诗人》
BBC纪录片
本片的另一亮点，BBC请来国宝级演员、《指环王》中甘道夫的扮演者伊恩・麦克莱恩（Ian McKellen）爵士朗诵杜甫的诗，当然了，是翻译的英文版杜诗。
麦克莱恩曾出演众多莎士比亚剧作，这一次，他用深沉优雅的莎剧腔诠释了《壮游》《观公孙大娘弟子舞剑器行》等15首杜诗。
宇文所安
BBC是如何把杜甫介绍给世界的？
片中把杜甫放在历史视野和比较视阈中展开讲述。
Born in 712, the age of Beowulf in Britain，Du Fu lived through the violent fall of China's brilliant Tang dynasty.
杜甫生于8世纪的唐朝，对应于英语文学传统，那是英雄叙事长诗、古英语传说《贝奥武夫》的时代。他的一生，经历了盛唐的倾颓。
对于中国诗歌悠久的诗歌传统，BBC 给予了极大的认可。
China has the oldest living tradition of poetry in the world, more than 3,000 years old, older than Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.
中国有着世界上最古老的、迄今仍在活跃的诗歌传统，上下延续三千年，比荷马史诗《伊利亚特》和《奥德赛》更古老。
There is Dante, there's Shakespeare, and there's Du Fu.
BBC毫不吝啬地用“最伟大”来形容杜甫，不仅是对中国而言，更是放在世界文学的大范围，把他同但丁、莎士比亚相比肩。
杜甫的一生，亲历了唐朝的由盛及衰。
杜甫出生于一个有悠久传统的官僚家庭，杜甫降生后，他家庭的声势已经不如往日显赫，渐渐衰落下来。
观公孙大娘弟子舞剑器行并序
㸌如羿射九日落
When she bent back, you saw nine suns falling shot down by Yi, the god of archers
矫如群帝骖龙翔
When she leapt, you imagined gods astride flying dragons in the clouds
来如雷霆收震怒
When she advanced you expected thunder and lightning from a gathering storm
罢如江海凝清光
And when she stopped, you saw the soft light over a vast, calm sea
短暂当官随后对仕途失去信心，就在这时，杜甫结识了人生中的挚友——李白。
两个中国文学史上最伟大的灵魂相遇了。比杜甫年长11岁的李白，为他带来了无穷的灵感启发。
李白去世后，杜甫在《梦李白》中对他的思念肝肠寸断：
故人入我梦，明我长相忆。
You've been in my dreams as if you know how much I miss you.
恐非平生魂，路远不可测。
I feel as if you are no longer mortal, the distance between us is so great.
片中以儒家的“忠君爱国”解释为何杜甫渴望入仕，始终忧国忧民。他对百姓的关怀，在《自京赴奉先县咏怀五百字》之中体现得淋漓尽致：
朱门酒肉臭，路有冻死骨。
Behind the red lacquered gates, wine is left to sour, meat to rot.
Outside the gates lie the bones of the frozen and the starved.
香雾云鬟湿，
Her cloud-like hair sweet with mist
清辉玉臂寒。
Her jade arms cold in the clear moonlight.
何时倚虚幌，
When shall we lean in the empty window together in brightness
双照泪痕干。
Our tears dried up?
颠沛岁月里，杜甫将对往昔繁华的眷恋以及对破碎山河的凄然，凝于《春望》一诗：
国破山河在，城春草木深。
The state is destroyed, but the country remains. In the city in spring, grass and weeds grow everywhere.
感时花溅泪，恨别鸟惊心。
Grieving for the times, even the blossom sheds tears.
烽火连三月，家书抵万金。
Beacon fires have been burning for three months now. A letter from home would be worth 10,000 in gold.
明皇幸蜀图 唐代 李昭道
好雨知时节，当春乃发生。
The good rain knows its season when spring arrives.
...
晓看红湿处，花重锦官城。
Dawn sees this place now red and wet, the flowers in Chengdu are heavy with rain.
长沙对杜甫来说是一个庇护所，就像二战时的卡萨布兰卡。
文章千古事，得失寸心知。
Great literature is for a thousand ages, whether it succeeds or not, you know in the heart.
前辈飞腾入，馀波绮丽为。
后贤兼旧列，历代各清规。
The early writers first made poetry take wings and soar.
Later ones have enriched their works.
Each generation produces its own fruits.
Writers stand in different ranks, but true fame surely is no random favour.
这部不到一小时的纪录片，既为西方介绍这位来自中国的伟大诗人，也是通过探访现代中国，试图找寻杜甫与我们当下生活的关联。
杜甫，或是说，诗歌，正是急剧变化的现实洪流中潜藏的某种永恒，为我们，特别是处于疫情危机中的人们，源源不断提供着某种信念。
And for the Chinese, Du Fu is 'more than a poet. For generations he has been the guardian of the moral conscience of the nation.'
对于中国人来说，杜甫“不仅仅是一个诗人，还是这个国家良知的守护者”。正如诗中所云：“文章千古事，得失寸心知”。
一千多年来，杜甫的诗持续引发着中国人的共鸣。
而现在，杜甫忧国忧民的诗篇，将在更广阔的世界流传。