A group of children from poverty stricken areas across China gathered on the outskirts of Beijing. Once, they were confused and challenged by difficulties unimaginable for many of their contemporaries who were used to a comfortable way of life.
一群来自中国各个贫困地区的少年们相聚北京郊区。他们曾感到迷茫，面对着许多习惯于舒适生活的同龄人难以想象的重重困难挑战，

Thanks to a charity sports program – angels of baseball power – launched by Sun Lingfeng, former captain of China’s national men’s baseball team at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, these “children in predicament”, as Sun described them – many of whom are orphans, the children of prisoners or those left behind by parents who have gone missing – now see a silver lining.
得益于2008年北京奥运会中国国家男子棒球队前队长孙岭峰创办的一个名为“强棒天使爱心基地”的公益体育项目，他口中的这些“困境少年”才得以看见一线希望。这些孩子大多都是孤儿、或是父母在服刑，又或是父母失踪被抛弃的孩子。

Recently, the documentary film Tough Out brought this story into the spotlight. Released on Dec 11, it is so far the highest rated Chinese film in 2020 with a score of 8.7 out of 10 on movie review platform Douban and has received acclaim.
最近，纪录片《棒！少年》将这个故事带进了公众视野。该片于12月11日上映，是2020年影评平台豆瓣上评分最高的国产电影，获得了8.7分（满分10分），广受好评。

The filming began in 2016 and showed the world of these children. Due to their broken families and painful childhoods, most of them were hard to get along with. Ma Hu, for example, was angry and disobedient, frequently fighting with others. But when he joined Sun’s baseball team, he had to learn to cooperate with his teammates to be successful. He gradually made use of that strength and defiance in a more positive way. When his team lost a game, Ma would learn to comfort his teammates.
该片于2016年开始拍摄，展现了这些少年们的世界。破碎的家庭和痛苦的童年，令他们大多都很难相处。比如，马虎易怒且不服管教，经常跟人打架。但当他加入孙岭峰的棒球队时，他需要学会与队员合作才能取胜。渐渐地，他将自身的力量与反抗用在了积极的一面。队伍输掉比赛时，马虎会学着安慰队友。

“Whether the children will take baseball as their profession or not, they have already achieved so much,” Sun told China Daily. “By feeling the love of others, they will be able to go on and make a contribution to society in the future.”
“无论孩子们是否将棒球作为他们的职业，他们都已经取得了很大的成就，”孙岭峰在接受《中国日报》采访时表示。“他们通过感受他人的爱，能够继续前行，未来为社会做出一份贡献。”

Unlike many other sports films, Tough Out doesn’t simply focus on the inspiring part. Instead, it shows audiences about the kids’ failures. In the film, this team never won a baseball competition. For this reason, some children lost faith and left the team.
与许多其他体育题材的电影不同，《棒！少年》并不仅仅聚焦于励志情节。相反，它向观众呈现了孩子们的失败。在电影中，这支球队从未赢过一场棒球比赛。因此，一些孩子失去了信心，离开了球队。

“This film is so realistic. The struggles that children experienced – inner conflict and inability to play baseball games – made audiences feel [heartbreak],” noted SWEEKLY magazine.
“这部电影太真实了，孩子们经历的挣扎——内心矛盾与无法参加棒球比赛，让观众感到心碎，”《SWEEKLY》杂志指出。

That may explain why Xu Huijing, the film’s director, loves the English translation of the documentary title Tough Out. “It not only showcases value of sports, but also tells people that failures are an important part of our life,” Xu told The Paper.
这或许是导演许慧晶喜欢这部纪录片英译名的原因。“它不仅展现了体育运动的价值，也告诉人们，失败是我们人生中重要的一部分，”许慧晶在接受澎湃新闻采访时如此表示。

(Translator & Editor: Wang Yue (Intern) AND Wang Xingwei)
https://www.i21st.cn/story/3645.html