你能原谅我吗？

对不起，《你能原谅我吗？》 Can You Ever Forgive Me?

改编于李·伊斯雷尔Lee Israel的同名自传小说。

在美国真要当个作家不是件容易事。李（梅丽莎·麦卡西 Melissa McCarthy饰）就是这样一个专写文人传记的作家。尽管她的著作甚至在“纽约时报”畅销书列上过榜。可现在她已经过气了，也没有了工作，不单一无所有，还欠几个月的房租，自己宝贝的猫病都没钱治，日子一天比一天难过。

她往往醉醺醺的，再加上个烂脾气到处得罪人，把自己的生路都断了，因此51岁的她只能做得就是不时要耍点无赖，或者乘机小偷小摸。总的来说，日子过得结结巴巴或者更糟。最后她不得不把自己珍藏的赫本的亲笔信卖掉了。又过了两天，她在图书馆的书里看到夹着一封作家范妮·布莱斯的信。她把信又卖了个好价钱。当然这不是个长远过日子的办法。就这样，她开始了山寨名人信件的绝招。然后再出售给一个个旧书店。虽然没有致富，但也做到了衣食无忧。

在酒吧里，她还结识了个流浪汉杰克（理查德·E·格兰特 Richard E. Grant饰）。也是个不靠谱的家伙，不单酗酒，还吸毒，有时候还做点贩毒的生意。两个人臭味相投，因此谈的都挺投机的，成了好朋友。当李发现了自己不单被警察钉上了，而且上了书店老板的黑名单后，她安排了杰克去推销这些假信。

当然最后他们两人都被抓起来了。为了轻判她接受认罪。判决是监外执行五年。

她把这段经历写成了这本书。她于2014年74岁去世。

李·伊斯雷本人

虽然有“窃书不能算偷”的说法，但李还是被抓了。不过总的说起来，她还是个雅贼。为了山寨这些信件，她还买了好几个旧打字机，模仿作家的签字，再凭自己对作家的知识而对信件添油加醋。判刑后，她还看到自己的假信在市面高价出售。所以她对自己一手还很骄傲。在法庭认罪时，她觉得这是她一生最得意的一段时间。

从李的经历来看，在美国当作家不容易。美国没有什么作家协会。一旦卖不出作品就要饿肚子。所以她有段时间靠救济过日子，当然这也不能作为她犯罪的理由。

由此可以得知，作假真是件技术活。连续剧《古董局中局》，就知道中国也有假古董。作者马伯庸的微博里提到以前上海藏书家潘明训先生收藏的《黄氏补千家集注杜工部诗》结尾处制版人的名字和制版日期被人删去了，这样一册元版古籍就提升到了宋版。造假这码事，古今中外雷同。

可以想象到当她刚从大学毕业出来后，意气风发，为作家名人写传记，而且上了“纽约时报”的畅销书榜。只因为一本失败的书而每况愈下，最后穷困潦倒。一步错，就走向了深渊。

李·伊斯雷尔令我想起另一部电影，《派克夫人的情人》“Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994)”，朵诺西·派克也是纽约的犹太女作家，不过她一生要开心多了，她不是同性恋。结婚后仍然有无数朋友，她在自己文艺圈子几乎天天聚会谈笑风生，接着在好莱坞写剧本而大展身手。但最后回到纽约时，老友和丈夫都已离去，没有子女，没有广场舞，就剩下她孤身一人，醉醺醺的在街上晃来晃去，同样的令人感叹到她的寂寞。作为一个知名作家，这部电影也几次提到她。

本片得奥斯卡剧本改编奖提名。

导演玛丽埃尔·海勒 Marielle Heller曾经导过《少女日记》“ The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015)”（见我的博文“《少女日记》不是《少女之心》”）

梅丽莎·麦卡西以本片和《伴娘》“ Bridesmaids (2011)”得奥斯卡提名，以本片和《女间谍》“Spy (2015)”得金球奖提名（见我的博文“《女间谍》”）。

英国演员理查德·E·格兰特以本片得奥斯卡和金球奖提名。

A pet project for Nicole Holofcener for years (who was set to direct it with Julianne Moore and Chris O’Dowd heading the cast), the final fruition of a biopic about New York biographer-turned-literature-forger Lee Israel (1939-2014) shifts its director chair to her fellow female director Marielle Heller, CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? becomes the follow-up of her Sundance darling debut feature THE DIARY OF A TEENAGE GIRL (2015), with Holofcener and Jeff Whitty taking the writing credits, Melissa McCarthy starring as Israel and Richard E. Grant as her partner-in-crime Jack Hock (all received their Oscar nominations except Heller).

Scarcely there is anything exciting in Israel’s criminal peccadillo (apart from a tense letter-purloining episode inside the library of Yale University), who forges letters written by deceased celebrities (from Fanny Brice, Noël Coward to Dolly Parker, and the key is to fake their signatures, that’s when an Xerox machine comes quite handy if you have a pair of deft, steady hands), often inputting her own wits into the contents to raise the appeal, then sells them to antique bookshop owners to earn fast cash, yet, it is a fiendishly ingenious idea, because as long as these memorabilia can attract potential collectors, most of these buyers don’t give a toss about its authenticity, but there is also a catch, sometimes, it is difficult to fool a connoisseur who pays handsomely for their collection, also, you cannot sell too many items without rousing suspicion (that “avuncular” slip-up is really embarrassing).

From the start, in the early 1990s, 51-year-old Lee is dead strapped, fired from her wage labor, once a New York best seller, her upcoming biography about Fanny Brice cannot secure an advance, living alone in her cluttered apartment with a long-in-the-tooth cat, her misery should arouse sympathy but any commiseration dissipates vanishingly whenever she talks. A curmudgeon who unabashedly professes that she likes cats far more than her own kind (and later duly proves that with her action), and apparently has no family or friends, Lee belongs to that rarified group of movie protagonists who is not equipped with any modicum of charisma, but that doesn’t make her less human, conversely, among others, McCarthy’s vastly lived-in performance makes every aspect of her humanity coruscate and bubbling with intensity and veracity, we might not want to meet a character like her, but nonetheless, she is there, indomitably represents the unglamorous, unsympathetic side of ordinary beings which narrative cinema often intends to overlook.

The friendship between Lee and Jack, gels naturally from their common propensity of libations. But sex is definitely off the table because of their similar queer orientations, Jack, a small-time drug dealer who seems to sleep rough without a permanent residence, much balances off Lee’s cynical nature with his unapologetic flamboyance, and Grant has a whale of a time in inhabiting his idiotic, happy-go-lucky persona to the hilt, even in the final reveal of his impending fate, Jack is Jack, nothing sentimental or phony is doctored into their tenuous, but unalloyed bond chiefly borne out of a mutual necessity, once that phrase passes, Holofcener and Whitty script makes sure nothing wishy-washy remains.

Many a supporting female performance scintillates with their own strength, Dolly Wells as Anna, one of the bookshop owners, is extremely eloquent in conveying the trickiest part to elicit a tangible romantic feeling towards a dumpy Lee because she peers through her prickly carapace and intuits something tender underneath, but their romance is better not ignited (which Lee snuffs it roundly), as not everyone in real life is prone to act against one’s best judgement. Jane Curtin simply kills it as Lee’s pragmatic agent Marjorie, who does not mince words to pinpoint Lee’s problems with sharp asperity, and Anna Deavere Smith, appears only in one scene as Lee’s ex-lover Elaine, totally shatters our expectation of a comforting figure when Lee seeks out her help, instead, she rams home her mixed feeling of bitterness, weariness and insouciance that persuasively speaks volumes of why their relationship has fallen through.

Carving out an engrossing narrative and teasing out compelling performances out of an assortment of un-cinematic elements, Heller’s CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? not just ushers in a new era of female filmmakers strenuously and felicitously tackling thorny issues like their male counterparts, but also brings a new form of character study to the mainstream audience, if we don’t want other people’s sympathy in real life, likewise, cinema needn’t desperately bank on compassion-inducing characters to make for a rewarding viewing experience, as this film beautifully attests, for what it is worth, humanity is a many-faceted creature.

referential entries: Björn Runge’s THE WIFE (2017, 7.0); Hirokazu Koreeda’s SHOPLIFTERS (2018, 8.4/10).

Rows of mansions,cubic office with rigorous work rules,old fashion jazz music.....you can make a decent guess about the location without seeing the actual neiborghood.And yes it's new york, again.From countless films depicting people living in this metropolis,This one is the newly update with similiar background but a memorable twist.

New york is the epitome of big cities.In one corner,billionaire is drinking wine in Michelin restraunt,in another,charlatan is stepping on the bench hawking his wares.Everybody is busy surviving in this merciless capitalized junggle.Lee Isreal is this lady so ordinary that get no one's attention but made her own special story.When our protagonist Lee Isreal met her publisher,all she got were bitter words,"you can't success if you dont play the game","you can be an asshole when you're famous".A person have to work his ass off to climb the social ladder in this city or you be knocked out.

Lee Isreal,whose books stood on the discount shelf,can hardly make a living after losing her job.But as the implication of her name and her unpopular interst on jewish writer,she would probably contrive some crafty ideas.And here it is.By selling her old letters,she explored a whole market of "originals".Her unfond skill suddenly became an advantage.Piece by piece,she started to make famous writer's letter that escaped the scrutiny of most people.Not everyone could imitate this.That's explain her cherishment of those fake originals and her anger when her friend Jack try to sell her letters arbitarily,"these are literature treasures!!"

While revealling Lee's history of counterfeit,the story also shade light on her life and freindship.She is an lonely lady with a sick old cat,an alcholic with a gay drinking buddy, and a book writer with limited recognition.She share her secret fraud with jack and sharing became a bond of genuine freindship but when the bookshop owener want to extend thier freindship,the fraud become an obstacle.Just like she want to write book without concerning sales,she want to be a good neighbor but can't make her own room clean,all these contrary narratives somehow decriminalize her as a fraud but a midlle-aged poor lady who deserve some sympathy.When the final scripts rolls in,we know that her letters that personating other famous writers was so impressive that even some biography included them before knowing it's fake.Even an honest people may show a bit of admiration,at least i do.

Another great story,wonderful music.Norah jones song describe new york city as a beautiful disease,this melancholy tone sing well with the story.When the film gives a few shots of new york city,it create not familiarity but a sphere of possibilities,you just don't know if the people walking by is a delicate criminal ,a talented writer or a cat lover,maybe all of them.

电影的奇妙之处是端坐屋中，却能尝遍天下酸甜苦辣的人生。不看这一本《你能原谅我吗》，我压根无从知晓一个纽约的过气作家会如何穷困潦倒。

电影不是很好看，但触动神经。开篇Norah Joans的爵士歌曲和身材笨拙年已51岁的失意作家形成反讽对比，同样是讲书店、书信，可不是那本经典的《查令十字街84号》的优美克制；同样是生活拮据窘迫，也无法够上沈三白芸娘的贫士风雅，这就是一个孤独得只剩下一只猫的爱的女人挣扎于世的故事。触动我的是两位演员的表演，不露痕迹，真实残酷，才华横溢，同时获得奥斯卡最佳女主角和最佳男配角的提名。

女主不可爱，但让人同情，再卑微的灵魂也要有自己的一憩之地，更何况是受过教育曾经畅销的作家。安慰来自江郎才尽后意外发现的造假书信技能又带回了久违的成就感，安慰也来自同是天涯沦落人两只酒杯碰撞的温暖和笑声，终究还是被命运欺负和碾压，自己的选择怪不了任何人，也由此写下了这段自传，成全了这本电影。

真人真事，无奇不有，此刻在世界上无数个城市黄昏时匆匆走过的人群里，不知道有多少我们不了解的人生，大家各自珍重。

这位女作家浑身上下都是缺点，肥得油腻、言语粗鄙，工作能力差，不合群脾气大，为了生存还干起伪造名家手信真迹的违法勾当，最终上了法院。可就是这样一位壳比肉厚的女人，却让人心生可爱之情。有人说，如果她再理性一些选个好工作，生活不会这么艰难，有人说，她满身是刺肯定很缺爱。不知道什么原因造就了如今的她，但是我确定她活得并不邋遢并不虚弱，反而比世上许多条件看似更优厚的人更加认真地对待生活、也更加期待未来的可能性。通过她我仿佛看到造物主的智慧，因为这样鲜活有力量的生命不容易的生活着，让我们看到了人之为人生而不凡的模样，看到了光芒从裂缝穿透出的力量，看到了万花筒折射出的不一样的色彩。仿佛一颗投入湖面的石头，激起内心深处的涟漪，唤醒内心沉睡着的老虎。只不过她是真老虎，她有自己的武器，有自己的骄傲，有自己的信仰，而这恐怕是百分之八十的人都未必拥有的幸运。 感恩，世界上有着如此多不像我这样的人儿的存在，他们的故事都是我们每天观看的精彩电影。

身边只有一只猫的中年女作家Lee，因为性格古怪又不注意个人行为被出版商解雇。生活落魄从变卖书籍到忍痛割爱变卖名人真迹，尝到甜头后开始伪造名人书信。此时她结识了满嘴胡言浮夸又不靠谱的gay蜜Jack，两个过去心比天高的人，惺惺相惜，成为了互损酒友。

整体故事虽然过于平铺直叙，但夹杂的冷幽默和到位的爵士配乐都非常加分，而且男女主都太会演了，Melissa尤其让人惊喜，她把以前喜剧方面的天赋都收敛起来，把Lee Israel这个人物刻画的生动、有趣、脆弱、敏感，可爱可怜可悲。

影片最后重逢的高光片段，互相调侃中的真情流露简直让人心碎。“我犯了错，但是我不后悔，这是我一生中最美好的时光，”生活的真相就是这样不是吗？

（btw我对片中无处不在的Courier字体毫无抵抗力！