這幾天在友格裏，正好談到北非的利比亞，聊來聊去有人提起阿拉伯語言，讓我突然想起了這一部電影，ISHTAR伊斯達，裏面有一段男主角在沙漠中迷路又沒水，絕望之餘碰上軍火商與當地各部族大佬在交易軍火，爲了想要點水，兩人混進去假裝通英語的當地人，居間當起了翻譯，竟也誤打誤撞得幾乎做成了生意....這段男主教假裝會多種阿拉伯方言的劇情，令人絕倒。

Ishtar，本來是巴比倫文化裏面的一個女神，掌管陰柔，代表愛情。

而電影Ishtar是87年的好萊塢中古片。因爲有兩大影帝，達斯汀霍夫曼與華倫比提擔綱，並由法國紅女星，伊莎貝拉艾珍妮演一位回教革命女志士，花了五千萬美元（這在20年前可是大手筆），遠赴中東沙漠，幾乎長達一年工作的時間才完成推出，可是結果被譏爲當時的爛片，並得了一座爛番茄獎，也入選了酸草莓影展。所以拍攝之前之後，都是話題。由於上映後結果是惡評不斷，一敗塗地，只賣了一千三百萬的票房。讓該片的女導演，伊蘭梅（Elaine May，老牌藝人)從此遠離好萊塢。三位影帝后也幾乎絕口不提這部電影。其實這電影沒影評說的那麽糟。

我之前是從未聼過這部電影的。

幾年前有一天偶然在HBO上，看到這電影裏竟然有兩位知名的男演員，於是將電影看完。一向喜歡看喜劇，夠幽默的喜劇對我有絕對的吸引力。個人覺得，這部喜劇故事背景滿不落俗套的，又有實力演員演技的烘托，尤其它暗諷美國政府的中東政策，再對照現在的國際局勢，讓人在大笑之餘，也或多或少的思索起國際間的風雲。

附帶一提，這電影的靈感是來自另一部老片，Road to Morocco（ 鮑勃霍伯，平克勞斯貝主演）。 

Telling the truth can be dangerous business.
Honest and popular dont go hand in hand.
If you admit that you can play the accordion,
No onell hire you in a rock n roll band.

資料來源：維基百科，Rotten Tomatoes，Chuk Rothman Blog。

Ishtar is the Assyrian and Babylonian counterpart to the Sumerian Inanna and to the cognate northwest Semitic goddess Astarte. Anunit, Atarsamain and Esther are alternative names for Ishtar, she "was the divine personification of the planet Venus".

Ishtar（film） is a 1987 comedy film, directed by Elaine May and starring Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman as "Rogers and Clarke", a duo of incredibly untalented lounge singers who travel to Morocco looking for work and stumble into a four-party Cold War standoff. It also starred 　　Isabelle Adjani and Charles Grodin and was shot by Vittorio Storaro. The songs in the film were written by Paul Williams, with additional help from Hoffman and May.

Two down-and-out singer/songwriters (played by Dustin Hoffman and Warren Beatty) who dream of becoming the next Simon and Garfunkel find themselves hitting the bottom of the barrel after their women leave them and their careers never get off the ground. Out of money, and with no prospects of work in New York, they grudgingly agree to accept a gig in Morocco. Before they even leave the airport in Morocco, they are suddenly ensnared into the revolution brewing in the country, and unwittingly get sucked into Middle Eastern political turmoil beyond their wildest dreams. Before their Moroccan adventure is over, Chuck and Lyle question their trust, their loyalty, and their sanity--but never their talent. A would-be road picture a la Hope and Crosby, the film is worth seeing for Hoffmans and Beattys dry portrayals of down-on-their-luck neer-do-wells, and their earnest, off-key renditions of the films original songs. Additionally, the film was beset by production and budget challenges that are now the stuff of publicity legend.

ISHTAR is loosely inspired by the musical road movies that featured partners Bing Crosby and Bob Hope. It is indeed similar, but also much different. The Road pictures were pretty much plotless meanderings —Hope and Crosby get in trouble, with Dorothy Lamour in the middle. Hope wisecracks; Crosby sings and gets Lamour. But the Road pictures were filled with "anything for a joke" lines, self-referential humor, and topical references. Ishtar had none of these. In their place, it had characters. Hope and Crosby always were Hope and Crosby. Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman were Lyle Rogers and Chuck Clark.

Its helped by Paul Williamss brilliant songs. Their tunes are catchy but unmemorable, but its the lyrics that make them such gems．