The paper before my eyes fades yellow

With a steel pen I chisel on it uneven black

Full of working words

Workshop, assembly line, machine, work card, overtime, wages…

They've trained me to become docile

Don't know how to shout or rebel

How to complain or denounce

Only how to silently suffer exhaustion

When I first set foot in this place

I hoped only for that grey pay slip on the tenth of each month

To grant me some belated solace

For this I had to grind away my corners, grind away my words

Refuse to skip work, refuse sick leave, refuse leave for private reasons

Refuse to be late, refuse to leave early

By the assembly line I stood straight like iron, hands like flight,

How many days, how many nights

Did I – just like that – standing fall asleep?

– Xu Lizhi, I Fall Asleep, Just Like That (2011)

Marcell Jankovics' animated film Sisyphus (1974) opens with a deep breath. A title card featuring the hero's name transforms into a minimal sketch of the mythical character, as he begins to laboriously push a rock up a hill. The first few seconds of the short film are punctuated by a repetitive respiratory soundtrack that puts us at ease, but as his effort increases, his breathing accelerates and the soothing melody transforms into guttural sounds that are too excessive and too difficult to attend to without becoming anxious. He continues to use his entire energy to push the rock and halfway through this two-minute-long film, Sisyphus starts gasping for air until he reaches the top of the hill and he releases a big, almost orgasmic moan. With the rock on the peak of the mountain, he takes a few seconds to catch his breath while the frame pans out to show a huge mountain made up of rocks he has pushed to the top, reminding us that this cursed man will have to start all over again, forever. But Sisyphus leaps on his way down, light on his feet, apparently happy to recommence his task. Like most iterations of the classic Greek myth, Jankovics' take on Sisyphus highlights his physical toil, but with its peculiar and excessive sound design, the film suggests that there is something within Sisyphus waiting to erupt, a scream or sigh that will relieve him from work – even if it lasts only a second.

中文翻译：

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叙事电影中的西西弗式非生产性

眼前的纸渐渐黄了

我用钢笔在上面凿出不均匀的黑色

满满的工作话

车间、流水线、机器、工卡、加班费、工资……

他们训练我变得温顺

不知道如何喊叫或反抗

如何投诉或谴责

只能默默忍受疲惫

当我第一次踏足这个地方

我只希望每个月的 10 号收到那张灰色的工资单

给我一些迟来的安慰

为此我不得不磨去我的角落，磨去我的言语

拒绝旷工、拒绝病假、拒绝因私人原因请假

拒绝迟到，拒绝早退

流水线上我站得笔直如铁，手如飞，

多少天多少夜

我是不是——就这样——站着睡着了？

——徐立志，我睡着了，就这样（2011）

马塞尔·扬科维奇的动画电影《西西弗斯》（1974）以深呼吸开头。当他开始费力地将一块岩石推上山坡时，带有英雄名字的标题卡变成了神话人物的极简草图。短片的前几秒被重复的呼吸配乐打断，让我们感到轻松，但随着他努力的增加，他的呼吸加速，舒缓的旋律转变为喉音，过于过度和难以注意而不会成为焦虑的。他继续用他的全部精力推动岩石，在这部两分钟长的电影中途，西西弗斯开始大口喘气，直到他到达山顶，他发出一声几乎达到性高潮的巨大呻吟。随着山顶上的岩石，他花了几秒钟才喘口气，而画面向外展开，显示出一座由他推到顶部的岩石组成的巨大山峰，提醒我们这个被诅咒的人将不得不从头再来，永远。但是西西弗斯在下山的路上一跃而下，双脚轻盈，显然很高兴重新开始他的任务。像经典希腊神话的大多数迭代一样，扬科维奇对西西弗斯的演绎突出了他身体上的辛劳，但凭借其奇特而过度的声音设计，这部电影表明西西弗斯体内有某种东西等待爆发，尖叫或叹息将使他摆脱困境工作——即使它只持续一秒钟。