好萊塢狂想曲:汽車(chē)三巨頭登上大銀幕
????維拉斯克在書(shū)中引述了兩人的對(duì)話(huà): ????魯茨:“我們要做的是在每輛汽車(chē)上多投資一千美元,提升汽車(chē)的核心品質(zhì),增加它的價(jià)值。這樣我們就能賣(mài)出更好的價(jià)錢(qián)?!?/p> ????瓦格納:“我明白。可問(wèn)題在于,就算汽車(chē)質(zhì)量提高了,也不能馬上賣(mài)出好價(jià)錢(qián),我們?cè)趺床拍馨具^(guò)中間的這段苦日子?” ????魯茨:“如果我們繼續(xù)大打促銷(xiāo)戰(zhàn),最終就無(wú)利可圖了。一旦利潤(rùn)為零,就算翻再多倍也還是零?!?/p> ????瓦格納:“別跟我扯財(cái)務(wù)——我比你更擅長(zhǎng)。這個(gè)系統(tǒng)讓我們無(wú)法脫身。我們現(xiàn)在唯一能做的,就是開(kāi)足馬力往前沖?!?/p> ????(維拉斯克在批注中解釋道:“所有對(duì)話(huà)都根據(jù)至少一位參與者的回憶重新進(jìn)行了整理;并向其他相關(guān)人士驗(yàn)證了對(duì)話(huà)的準(zhǔn)確性?!保?/p> ????而福特公司的兩位主要人物得到的待遇要溫和許多,這也恰恰適合他們的能力。通過(guò)大舉借貸,他們讓福特躲過(guò)了破產(chǎn)厄運(yùn)。平易近人的比爾?福特看上去并不出眾,卻頗受人愛(ài)戴(他只是偶然得到掌管這家汽車(chē)公司的機(jī)會(huì)),可由湯姆?漢克斯飾演,而湯姆?克魯斯這位總是面帶笑容、本領(lǐng)高超,讓超人也黯然失色的銀幕硬漢則飾演艾倫?穆拉利。 ????福特在安阿伯市福特公司辦公室里秘密會(huì)見(jiàn)了穆拉利,希望將這位波音公司(Boeing)高管招入麾下。正是這次密會(huì)為兩人的友情奠定了基礎(chǔ)。 ????福特:“我非常擔(dān)心公司未來(lái)的命運(yùn)。如果能有一位有過(guò)類(lèi)似經(jīng)歷的人來(lái)領(lǐng)導(dǎo)公司,情況也許會(huì)好得多?!?/p> ????穆拉利:“你知道,我是一名工程師。我負(fù)責(zé)解決問(wèn)題,進(jìn)行創(chuàng)造。如果你想扭轉(zhuǎn)目前的局勢(shì),得有個(gè)計(jì)劃?!?/p> ????(福特提出研發(fā)燃油經(jīng)濟(jì)型混合動(dòng)力汽車(chē),并且要足夠環(huán)保)。 ????穆拉利:“真是英雄所見(jiàn)略同!我一定要把它變?yōu)楝F(xiàn)實(shí)?!?/p> ????(僅僅經(jīng)過(guò)幾周的猶豫,穆拉利就下定了決心。最后,他撥通了福特的電話(huà)): ????穆拉利:“你的條件讓我無(wú)法抗拒。我希望能與你一起拯救這家偉大的公司?!?/p> ????福特:“太好了!你什么時(shí)候過(guò)來(lái)?” ????這部戲中有一位主要配角——全美汽車(chē)工人聯(lián)合會(huì)(United Auto Workers)主席羅恩?蓋特芬格爾。每次汽車(chē)公司提出方案,降低汽車(chē)業(yè)沉重的用人成本時(shí),他都會(huì)從中作梗。該角色可由威廉?達(dá)福飾演。 ????但在一場(chǎng)關(guān)于薪酬福利讓步的談判中,蓋特芬格爾與菲亞特(Fiat)公司CEO塞爾吉奧?馬爾基翁棋逢對(duì)手,針?shù)h相對(duì)。蓋特芬格爾最常用的策略是,突然站起身,然后一言不發(fā)地離開(kāi)會(huì)議現(xiàn)場(chǎng)。 ????馬爾基翁(阿爾?帕西諾飾演):“你以為我他媽是傻子嗎?我們得拿出一個(gè)更有競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力的工資標(biāo)準(zhǔn)和工資結(jié)構(gòu)來(lái)!” ????蓋特芬格爾:“德國(guó)人來(lái)的時(shí)候,我相信了他們。之后,我別無(wú)選擇,只能支持瑟伯勒斯。你是第三個(gè)聲稱(chēng)自己要拯救這家公司的人。我憑什么要相信你?” ????馬爾基翁:“我可不像瑟伯勒斯的那些廢物,我懂怎么運(yùn)營(yíng)一家汽車(chē)公司。別的方面我可能不在行,但是經(jīng)營(yíng)汽車(chē)公司,我可是行家?!?/p> ????《汽車(chē)往事》中還有許多重要的配角,例如:福特公司的馬克?菲爾茲(喬治?克魯尼飾演),帥氣的外表并未妨礙他在職場(chǎng)上取得令人注目的成就;史蒂夫?葛斯基(達(dá)斯汀?霍夫曼),自稱(chēng)“快言快語(yǔ)的紐約猶太人”,他是通用汽車(chē)公司敢說(shuō)真話(huà)的人;另外一位打醬油的配角九十多歲的投資家柯克?科克萊恩則由布拉德?皮特飾演【因?yàn)槠ぬ卦陔娪啊斗道线€童》(The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)中有過(guò)飾演老年人的經(jīng)歷?!?/p> ????演員的選派應(yīng)盡快進(jìn)行,因?yàn)楣适轮械慕巧S時(shí)可能發(fā)生變化。美國(guó)汽車(chē)業(yè)風(fēng)云變幻,龍頭老大的位置大家輪流坐莊。誰(shuí)知道會(huì)發(fā)生些什么?如果喬治?C?斯科特依然在世,由他來(lái)飾演通用公司CEO丹?阿克森,或許會(huì)為我們帶來(lái)一場(chǎng)精彩的好戲。 ????譯者:劉進(jìn)龍/汪皓 |
????Here's an exchange that Vlasic quotes: ????Lutz: "What we've got to do is put another thousand dollars worth of goodness into the car to give it more value. You can command better prices then." ????Wagoner: "I understand. The problem is, how are we going to live through that time when the vehicles are better, but we are not commanding better prices?" ????Lutz: "If we keep this incentive war going, we're going to give whole margin away. Once your margin is zero, you can multiply it all you want, and it is still zero." ????Wagoner: "Don't get all finance-y on me -- that's my specialty, not yours. We're trapped in this system. The only thing we can do is to move full-steam ahead." ????(In an author's note, Vlasic explains: "Conversations were reconstructed based on the recollections of at least one participant; others involved were asked about their accuracy.") ????Over at Ford, the principals get much gentler treatment, as befits their ability to steer past bankruptcy by taking out a monster loan. Picture Tom Hanks as Bill Ford, the popular, easy-going everyman (who incidentally controls an auto company), and Tom Cruise as Alan Mulally, the ever-smiling, high-energy action hero who makes the superhuman look ordinary. ????The seeds for the Ford-Mulally bromance are planted at a secret meeting in Ann Arbor at Ford's house where Ford tries to recruit the Boeing executive to the automaker: ????Ford: "I'm pretty fearful of what I sense is coming at us, and it would be so much better if I had an executive who had been through what we're about to go through." ????Mulally: "Remember, I'm an engineer. I solve problems, and I create things. If you're going to turn this around, you need a plan." ????(Ford brings up fuel economy, hybrid cars, and protecting the environment). ????Mulally: "God, I have your vision too! I have to make that happen." ????(But Mulally's decision to "make that happen" comes only after several weeks of dithering. Finally, he places a call to Ford): ????Mulally: "This is just so compelling. I want to turn around this great company with you." ????Ford: "Oh my god. How soon can you get here? ????A key supporting role in this melodrama belongs to the United Auto Workers' president Ron Gettelfinger, who throws a wrench in the works every time a solution appears to ease the industry's crushing labor costs. Paging Willem Dafoe. ????But Gettelfinger meets his match when he battles Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne over concessions on wages and benefits. Gettelfinger's favorite tactic is to get up and leave the meeting without saying a word. ????Marchionne (played by Al Pacino): "Do you think I'm fucking stupid? We need to come up with a competitive wage rate and structure here!" ????Gettelfinger: "I believed the Germans when they came in. Then I had no choice but to support Cerberus. You are the third guy saying you are going to save it. Why should I believe you? ????Marchionne: "I know how to run a car company, not like that nonsense at Cerberus. I may be lousy at a lot of other things. But I know how to run a car company." ????Once upon a Car contains plenty of meaty supporting roles as well: George Clooney as Ford's Mark Fields, whose good looks don't prevent him from building an impressive career; Dustin Hoffman as Steve Girsky, the self-described "fast-talking New York Jew" who became GM's truth-teller; and a walk-on role for Brad Pitt as nonagenarian investor Kirk Kerkorian (that's Pitt as an old man in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.) ????Casting should start as soon as possible because roles could change. Leadership of the domestic industry seems to rotate every few years, and another company may find itself on top. Who knows? If only George C. Scott was still with us to take on the role of GM CEO Dan Akerson. |