Can You Ever Forgive Me? - Too good to be true

Can You Ever Forgive Me? has been a sleeper of sorts down under, despite its international acclaim. Its limited release is really a shame as it's a real gem. The film is based on a true story of biographer and literary forger Lee Israel.

Melissa McCarthy plays surly Lee with aplomb. Her drinking buddy cum partner in crime, Jack Hook, was a role tailored (in both senses of the word) for Richard E, Grant.

Lee is chalk to Jack's cheese. He is a charmer while she has had a charm by-pass. Her wit is caustic, his self-mocking. He is ostentatiously stylish to her drabness. In addition to their homosexuality, they share a great deal. They are eccentric misfits who have reached the bottom of the barrel, financially and socially. Alcohol oils their collaboration.

As always, New York City provides wonderful sets: the sleazy bars alongside the romance of quality bookshops and book dealers.

For most people in the early 90s, it's just the dawn of the digital age. Letters, handwritten or tapped out on typewriters, are still the norm. Email is still to come for most.

The targets of Israel's scam are easily fooled in this pre-information age, despite the high quality content screaming that it's too good to be true. Many see what they believe, some turn a blind-eye through greed, others are collectable devotees. It was a tribute to Lee's writing skills.

Director Marielle Heller 's second feature film maintains a good balance of drama and comedy.

This is not Wall Street fraud and in many ways they are victimless crimes. To really enjoy this film as I did, it is best not to dwell too long on the ethical aspects of this story. Like the protagonists, the celebrity authors are long gone.

A Fantastic Woman (Una Mujer Fantástica): Validating Love

Francisco Reyes & Daniela Vega at the Berlinale 2017
Image courtesy Martin Kraft (Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0)

A Fantastic Woman (Una Mujer Fantástica) set two firsts at this year’s academy awards. The highly acclaimed winner of the 2018 Oscar for best foreign language film is the first such award for a Chilean film. In addition its star Daniela Vega was there as the first openly transgender presenter.

When I saw the film I was unaware of any of this, in fact only knew the title and that it's a Spanish language film. What a delightful surprise! The extravagant praise for its director/co-writer Sebastián Lelio and Daniela has been more than well deserved.

[Please excuse any spoilers.] When the partner of transgender woman Marina dies suddenly, her world implodes. She is brutally ostrichised by Orlando’s family as she struggles to cope with the loss.

It is difficult not to reach for the cliché kitbag. The confrontation is disturbing and painful. At the same time, her personal journey is also joyous and uplifting, love and life affirming.

Daniela’s powerful, passionate performance as Marina is one of the best of the academy year. Her talent as an aspiring opera singer brings added depth to her character. Co-star Francisco Reyes gives a strong, professional performance as Orlando.

Lelio displays the filmmaker's craft at its very best. The tight direction and script grip the viewer from the start. The backdrop of 21st Century Santiago underlines the complexity of this very modern drama. The Chilean Spanish is surprisingly easy to follow for novices. This official trailer should whet your appetite:

The film has certainly brought out not-unexpected arguments online. This exchange is just part of the reactions to distributor Curzon Artifical Eye’s preview post on their Facebook page:

Xabier Santesteban: Science says that this guy has still XY chromosomes.

Kaisa Mäenpää: Wow, another transphobe misgendering a trans woman, how original haha. Modern science literally says gender and sex are not the same thing (check it out yourself, because you clearly haven't), and that even though sex can be determined by looking at chromosomes, gender can't.

Daniela raised some of the issues in a recent interview for the Guardian:

“The film wants you to question where you stand in society. Are you with Orlando’s family or with Marina? Instead of answering questions, the film’s trying to ask questions about everything. What bodies can or can’t we inhabit? Which love stories are valid and which aren’t? Why is it that certain groups oppress other groups because they’re not within what they consider normal boundaries?”

Valeska Freire, founder of Magic Haus Films, http://www.magichausfilms.com/team has been one of many to promote this discussion:

Let’s have conversations about transgender people and the civil right issues they have to deal with in Latin America. #AFantasticWoman. Best foreign language film to get an #Oscar 2018.

— Valeska (@modestia_aparte) March 5, 2018

It's a topic that is trending across the globe. Recent instances include:

Sport: Hannah Mouncey Becomes First Transgender Player in Australian Women’s State League Football

Journalism: Marvia Malik, Pakistan's First Transgender Newscaster, Wants to Change Societal Attitudes Toward Her Community

The Queen of Ireland: Champion of Same Sex Marriage

Panti Bliss Gets Standing Ovation for Fierce TED Talk on Homophobia

We were on our way to see The Queen of Ireland at Carlton's Cinema Nova when we came across a political march in Melbourne's CBD. Seems everything is connected these days.

Marriage Equality Rallies Hit Sydney And Melbourne https://t.co/tU4DzfFdts #marriageequality #noplebiscite #auspol

— Alastair Lawrie (@alawriedejesus) October 8, 2016

This documentary is promoted by Transmission Films as 'An uplifting documentary about Ireland's superstar drag queen Panti Bliss as she rises from ‘giant cartoon woman' to one of the highest-profile activists in the LGBTIQ community.'

The film is actually about Rory O'Neill whose occupation is that of old fashioned drag queen. His life intersects dramatically with the successful Irish referendum on marriage equality in 2015. The connections between his private story and his public exposure as a champion of the cause climax in his triumphant return to his hometown of Ballinrobe.

The Queen far exceeded my expectations. Plain-clothes Rory is a thoughtful, engaging person, quite unlike his alter ego in many ways. Director Conor Horgan gives us a very sympathetic portrait. The documentary deserves the praise it has received.


The Australian situation, with a proposed plebiscite on same sex marriage, appears to parallel Ireland. However, having this vote has been opposed by most of the LGBTIQ groups down under. A referendum is not required to change the law, as was the case in Ireland. Nor is a plebiscite binding on the Australian parliament. Former PM Tony Abbott and opponent of same sex marriage adopted the policy as a tactic to delay giving his government members a free parliamentary vote. His successor Malcolm Turnbull supports marriage equality but agreed to the proposal to placate the right-wing of his party.

The Labor Party opposition has rejected the proposal, arguing for a free vote in parliament, citing both the cost ($A 200 million) and the negative social and psychological impact on gay people and their families. The plebiscite bill is likely to be blocked in the Senate. The Guardian reported recently:

Advertisements for the anti-marriage equality case in the Irish referendum caused a majority of LGBTI people to feel angry and distressed, according to a new study.

The survey of 1,657 Irish LGBTI people also found that only a minority of respondents would be prepared to face the referendum again if they did not know about the eventual successful outcome.

Rory/Panti refers to this aspect when meeting referendum supporters after the result.

His journey is one that is well worth following.