[影片]Chris and Don: A Love Story
Posted: 2008-08-02 18:17
今天去看了这个纪录片,讲的是英国作家 Christopher Isherwood 和他的美国情人 Don Bachardy 的浪漫史。Isherwood 最有名的作品是短篇小说集柏林故事中的 Sally Bowles,被改编成舞台剧 Cabaret,后来又放上银幕 (Liza Minelli 主演)。
Isherwood 出身英国上层阶级家庭,在剑桥上学时因为性格反叛在考试里讽刺老师而被开除,二十年代末三十年代初跟随WH Auden 跑到柏林混了些日子(所以写了柏林故事)。二战爆发前移民美国,在洛杉矶地区定居下来,在好莱坞干过一阵,参与过剧本写作什么的。曾经追随过印度guru,还翻译过大师的著作什么的。二战期间跟同在美国的毛姆有过来往,曾有传闻说刀锋中的主角Larry Darrell 是以他为原型的。
当Isherwood 在Santa Monica 的海滩上遇见南加本地青年 Don Bachardy 的时候,后者只有16岁,而前者比他大30岁。这部纪录片集中在Isherwood 跟 Bachardy 长达三十多年的爱情历史,大多数时候由现在(已经70多)的 Bachardy 叙述,夹杂一些文史工作人员提供的资料和 Isherwood 自己留下的日记。
他们在一起三十几年没有分开,直到 Isherwood 去世。在Isherwood 的照顾和指引下,Bachardy 成为一个小有名气的肖像画家。在 Isherwood 病逝之前,他给病床上又老又衰弱的他画了许许多多的速写和肖像,最后独自送他上路。此后他仍然过着积极充实的人生,现在仍然是个结实、精神、充满活力和幽默感的老头儿。
这部片子其实不太能满足我的兴趣,因为这是一个过于美好的故事。表面看上去似乎有黑暗的幕后纠结:一个是年长的,成熟的,有名的,混迹好莱坞的老男人,一个是南加州长大的羡慕电影明星的纯真少年,他的人生几乎完全是老情人塑造出来的。从外面看一定是老糖爹控制摆布甚至吸干小狼狗的青春的故事,但结果并不黑暗也不邪恶。Don Bachardy 小时候并不算美貌,是个南加州特产的阳光男孩,一张娃娃脸看上去比实际年龄还小,照片和旧影片上到处是ear-to-ear 的笑容,露出门牙之间的缝。他的说话口音已经完全变成了跟 Isherwood 一样的英国口音,甚至连节奏什么的都相似,有人说 Isherwood 把他变成了自己的 clone。听上去挺 sinister 的对吧?继续看下去我发现其实这并不奇怪。Bachardy 就是那种 empathy 很强的人,他的天赋是画肖像就很说明问题 --- 连自己都说在画别人的时候他自然而然地把自己代入被画的人,从内部体会对方的神韵。
Isherwood 培养他,塑造他,当Bachardy 长大后,两人不可避免地有过暂时的冲突。Bachardy 也需要过自由探索的经历,Isherwood 也放他去飞过,但他后来又回来了。彼此关系中并没有绝对的肉体上的忠实,但是精神上的亲密别人无法替代,直到 Isherwood 去世。
本来我去看这部片子是为了了解 Isherwood,因为很早以前曾经非常非常喜欢柏林故事,对他很好奇。结果这部片子并没有揭示很多关于Isherwood 的个人内幕,他似乎是个很坦然的人,没有什么黑暗面。倒是片子里有很多好莱坞名人的家庭电影胶片!特别是一些名作家:Tennessee Williams, 毛姆,Raymond Chandler!(Chandler 只有一个比较模糊的镜头,半裸着跳进游泳池,而且。。。他有肚腩! 满可爱的。)还有Stravinsky。似乎剪辑进去的 footage 大多是文艺界弯男,不知道这说明什么,Chandler 也是弯的?:renske:
Isherwood 并不是一个革命者,但他在那个年代(五十年代)却是与众不同的坦然,即使周围有很多人对他跟小男孩的恋情侧目,他们从来没有把自己当成受害者,也没有羞惭或者难受或者遮遮掩掩。影片中一个文史工作者说,Isherwood 总是带着 Bachardy 出席社交场合,大大方方地把爱人介绍给电影明星和其他名人,从来没有手挽女人出现假装或暗示自己是直的。他们的周围环绕着文艺界的假直男们,很多是刚跟他们寻欢作乐过的大名人携着夫人太太抛头露面。。。
他们当时的朋友之一是Psycho 男主角 Tony Perkins,一直都拼命地想把自己掰直了,接受了无数心理治疗,也跟女人结婚过,最后还是死于爱滋病 ---- 多么浪费的人生。相比之下,Isherwood 和 Bachardy 一起度过了一段无畏的,坦然的,毫不羞愧的,精神和肉体都相亲相爱的三十几年。Unashamed and unapologetic, how many people, straight ones included, can say that about their love, marriage, and life?
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(The rest is my own nostalgia.)
I was probably 17 or 18 when I first read "Sally Bowles" in one of my brother's books that I read without his consent or knowledge. All the books I read in my teenage years seem to blend in memory now into a blur.
The Isherwood short story fascinated me. I don't believe I knew at the time what homosexuality was. The narrator, a young English expat living in Berlin and carrying the author's own name, had a genuine affection for this apparently attractive and "loose" young English woman who sang badly at the local club. She tried to seduce him a few times, but the story never made clear whether they were intimate or not. Nevertheless she had several unsuccessful love affairs with other men --- heterosexual men who were a bit scummy.
I was fascinated by the sexual ambiguity between them and the vaguely seductive tension in the air. No wonder heterosexual women and homosexual men often have a bond between them. No wonder so many straight girls and women are fascinated by gay men. (Perhaps women naturally bond with the opposite sex who, surprisingly, pose no threat of physically forcing them.) The amused, detached, but tender tone in Isherwood's story tickled like a cat's whiskers. I was wholly ignorant and almost completely missed the point, but still I was captivated.
By now characters like Sally Bowles have become a cliche in literature, but back then she was a rare and fresh creature --- a bit simple in the head with a thirst for life and sex. It is obvious to me that Capote's "Breakfast at Tiffany's" was heavily influenced by Sally Bowles, except that Capote carried deeper sadness and conflicts inside than Isherwood.
I went to the bookstore and reread the story. I still love it. I still love the generous, tender voice of Christopher Isherwood.