拉斯维加斯（2005）（上）

roughly three miles from the center of town,
正对着91号♥高速公路
on frontage bordering Highway 91,
这是条通往洛杉矶的两车道公路
the two-lane road to Los Angeles.
走出这里 在荒凉的沙漠里 西格尔告诉自己的伙伴
Out there in the barren desert,Siegel told his associates,
他们可以开♥发♥一个地方 超越城市的限制
they could open a place that would be beyond the city limits
超越城市投币机税覆盖的范围
and the reach of the city slot tax.
更好的是
Better still,
有足够的空间来建造成熟的度假胜地
there was space enough for a full-fledged resort--
有着赌场和游泳池的高消费场所
an upscale joint with a casino and a swimming pool
还有停车场
and a parking lot.
两座散开的汽车旅馆 ‘埃尔.兰乔.维加斯’
Two sprawling motor inns,the El Rancho Vegas
和‘最后边界’
and the Last Frontier,
已经做好了模型
had already been built on that model,
到此为止 他们一直在做正派的生意
and so far,they'd been doing a respectable business.
现在 西格尔的老熟人比利.威尔克森
Now,Siegel's longtime acquaintance Billy Wilkerson,
《好莱坞报道》的出版商
the publisher of the "Hollywood Reporter,"
正在为第三座旅店筹款
was trying to raise money for a third--
那是个迷人的场所
a glamorous place
和他在日落大道拥有的夜♥总♥会♥一样
like the nightclubs he owned on the Sunset Strip.
本.西格尔结束了对拉斯维加斯的审视
PILEGGI: Ben Siegel then wound up looking at Vegas.
他说 战争已经结束
And he said,"The war is over."
那是1945 1946年间
It's 1945 and '46.
美国希望狂欢
America wants to party.
开始缅怀国家经历了一场可怕的战争
Got to remember the country had been through a horrendous war.
美国正在寻求好时光
America was looking for a good time.
他说 让我们花钱吧
He said,"Let's invest money."
西格尔的同伙化了1500万美元
NARRATOR: Siegel's associates ponied up 1.5 million--
足够买♥♥下威尔克森项目三分之二的股份
enough to buy a two-thirds stake in Wilkerson's project.
西格尔告诉记者 现在的计划是建造
"The plan now," Siegel told a reporter,was to build
该死的最大的 最豪华的赌场和酒店
"the goddamn biggest,fanciest gaming casino and hotel
你们该死的一辈子都没见过
you bastards ever seen in your whole lives."
他称它为‘火烈鸟’
He would call it The Flamingo.
在本.西格尔开放火烈鸟之前
PILEGGI: Before Benny Siegel opened the Flamingo,
拉斯维加斯赌场的样子
the look of the casinos in Las Vegas
整个都是牛崽赌场
were all cowboy casinos.
他们是西部人 地面上都是木屑
They were western-- there was sawdust on the floor.
本.西格尔来后
Benny Siegel comes in,
他在沙漠中♥央♥打造了一座城市迈阿密海滩酒店
he creates an urban Miami Beach hotel in the middle of the desert.
你突然走进赌场
Suddenly when you walk into a casino,
不会碰到有家伙头戴牛仔帽
you're not met by a guy with a cowboy hat
佩戴左轮和牛仔徽章
and a six-shooter and cowboy chaps;
不 你会碰到有人身穿燕尾服
no,you're met by a guy in a tuxedo,
你会碰到迪恩.马丁那样的家伙
you're met by a guy that looks like Dean Martin.
有着自己炫耀的气氛 整个地面铺上地毯
NARRATOR: With its swank atmosphere,wall-to-wall carpeting
新奇的空调系统
and a newfangled air-cooling system,
火烈鸟会最终成为
the Flamingo would eventually become
来自好莱坞人群钟爱的热点
a favorite hot spot for the Hollywood crowd.
然而在1947年春天建设最终完成时
But by the time construction was finally completed in the spring of 1947,
西格尔的预算超支了450万美元
Siegel had overrun his budget by four and half million dollars,
辛迪加的情绪变糟了
and the syndicate's mood had soured.
几个月后 西格尔在他女朋友的
A few months later,Siegel was gunned down
比佛利山庄住♥宅♥里被枪杀了
in his girlfriend's Beverly Hills home
兰斯基的代表为辛迪加接受了火烈鸟
and Lansky's deputies took over the Flamingo for the syndicate.
到那时 拉斯维加斯的消息一经传出
By then,the word on Las Vegas was out,
来自全国各地聪明的家伙
and wise guys from all over the country
都开始逃向沙漠
had already begun decamping to the desert:
有来自凤♥凰♥城的辛迪加赌马老大 格斯.戈林鲍姆
from Phoenix,syndicate bookmaker Gus Greenbaum,
有来自明尼阿波利斯的当地的黑帮老大 私酒贩大卫.伯曼
from Minneapolis,local mob boss and rumrunner Davie Berman,
有来自克利夫兰的梅菲尔德道帮派以前的头目
and from Cleveland,the one-time kingpin
莫.达理兹
of the Mayfield Road Gang,Moe Dalitz.
当这些家伙来到这里后
PILEGGI: When these guys came here,
这里就像是道德伦理的洗车场了
it was like a morality or ethical car wash.
到这里后 就洗去自己的罪孽
You came here,you were cleansed of your sins,
秉承了合法之人了
you were now legitimate and legal.
我与你无干系 你洗你的
I didn't care what you did,you got a wash.
50年前的拉斯维加斯是个孤岛 荒芜之岛
MAN: Las Vegas of 50 years ago was an island,a desert island,
是享乐过度 堕落的边缘地带
an outpost of hedonistic excess,of vice.
在美国其它地方 每四年
Everywhere else in America,every four years
都要进行地方检察官的改选
when the district attorney needed to get reelected,
他会去捣毁赌窝
he busted the gambling dens.
然而这里是个孤岛
But here is this island
在这里坏人变成了好人
where bad could become good,
非法的变成了合法的
where illegitimate could become legitimate.
他们来了 禁锢没有了
MAN: They came out here and the shackles came off.
他们可以在公开做
They could do in the sunshine
他们以前在来的地方躲在阴暗角落做的事情了
what they could only do in the shade where they came from.
他们对自己说-我知道他们会说的-
And they said to themselves-- I know they said it--
这里是我们的家园
"This is a place to make our home.
这里是养育家人之地
This is a place to raise our families."
正如一位居民说的 现在的拉斯维加斯
NARRATOR: As one resident put it,Las Vegas was now home
社会上的恶棍比世界上任何地方都来得多
"to more socially prominent hoodlums per square foot than any other community in the world."
这里很快就成了犯罪集团的理想庇护地
It was also fast becoming the ideal front for organized crime,
随着像‘雷鸟’和‘沙漠客栈’这样的赌场
as new casinos like the Thunderbird and the Desert Inn
在91号♥公路边兴起
sprouted up on Highway 91
赌资抽头以自己的方式
and the cash from the skim found its way
流入黑帮的口袋
into the pockets of mobsters
犹如远方的芝加哥和迈阿密
as far away as Chicago and Miami.
内华达当局对此无能为力
Nevada authorities could do little about it.
赌博招来指责 道德肮脏
COOPER: Gambling was so stigmatized and was so morally impure
唯一能融♥资♥的途径就是非法资金
that the only way you could finance this was with illegal funds.
因此赌博的利益与黑帮的利益
So the gambling interests and the mob interests
因为机构相互交织在一起
were intertwined with the establishment.
从家庭教师协会到摩♥门♥教♥徒 到商人 各色人等
Everybody from the PTA to the Mormons to the businessmen,
对此不闻不问
they saw nothing,they heard nothing,
不理不睬 - 金钱滚滚而来
and they did nothing-- the money was rolling in.
对于内华达来说 这是个魔鬼交易：
NARRATOR: For Nevada,it was a devil's bargain:
若不是黑帮
Were it not for its shady citizens,
拉斯维加斯很可能退回到沙漠
Las Vegas may well have shrunk back into the desert.
但是一个蒸蒸日上的赌城由黑帮管理
But a thriving gambling town run by reputed mobsters
在国家权力中心是不可能获得更多的尊重的
was not likely to earn much respect in the centers of national power.
现在的问题是
The question now was
不是华盛顿不来过问 而是什么时候来过问
not if Washington would come calling,but when.
很多人来此定居
WOMAN: A lot of people who settled here
抱有前沿的心态
had a real frontier mentality.
因此那种态度就是 你不要来管我的
So that attitude of "Don't regulate me,
不要来告诉该做什么 别来限制我
"don't tell me what to do,don't fence me in,
尤其是联邦政♥府♥
especially if you're the federal government,"
至今还是这样
still prevails today.
我们第一次搬来时
MAN: When we first moved here,
开车从家里出发 向北开上500英里
you could ride out my backdoor and ride 500 miles north
只是条两车道
and only cross two paved roads.
当时你感觉到相当地方便
You used to feel like it was pretty wide open.
你认识自己的邻居 大家都相互交流
You knew your neighbors-- everybody talked to each other.
孩子们总是一起出去打猎
The kids were always out hunting rabbits,hunting coyotes.
他们会跳上马背去绵羊山
They would ride clear back to Sheep Mountain--
那里有一些以前的印第安人的洞穴
and there are some old Indian caves back there--
他们度过一整天 然后才回家
and they'd spend the day and then come home.
你不必担心他们去了哪里
You didn't have to worry about where they were
和谁在一起
or who they were with
因为你知道大家都住在一块
because you knew everybody in the neighborhood.
在5英里方圆 只有20户人家
There was only 20 families in the five-mile area.
这就是农村的生活方式
It was a rural way of life,
我们在这个小街区里正把它试图保留下来
and we're trying to maintain that in this little block right here.
但他们正在慢慢地消失
But they're slowing chipping away.
如果他们坚持某种有计划的发展
If they would have had some kind of planned growth,
那本来就是件好事
this could have been a good thing.
但是一旦你失去了水 失去了可用的土地
But when you run out of water and you run out of usable land
人们开始挤在一起
and you start crowding people together
只是为了唯一的目的 就是赚取额外的钱
just for the sole purpose of making an extra buck
来代替发展生活质量的努力
instead of trying to develop a quality of life
代替人们所希望的生活方式