New Film by Matan Yair - A Room of His Own

 A Room of His Own, directed and written by Matan Yair, premiered at the Jerusalem Film Festival last night. It is a wonderful coming-of-age film about a teenager learning to handle the expectations of others and the difficulties of maturing.  This is Matan Yair’s third feature film.  His debut film was Scaffolding, an award-winning film which was reviewed on this blog.

Similar to Scaffolding, this film is also about a 17-year-old high school senior who has trouble understanding how to curb his impulsiveness and his enthusiasm for sharing what he is thinking, even if it is not terribly socially polite or correct. 

In A Room of His Own, Uri is an awkward and socially inept teenager, who has only one friend, and has a unique perspective on the world. Since his parents are going through a separation, his mother has moved into his bedroom.  They hug and share tender moments each night before going to sleep.  In his pre-army interview, Uri mentions that he shares a room with his mother, and suddenly he realizes that perhaps this is something that should have been kept secret.

The film touches on many subjects such as dealing with divorce, awakening sexuality, and how to handle his relationship with his sister who is in the army and only comes home on the weekends. Much of the film, however, is about Uri’s desire for a relationship with his disappearing and clueless father, and, on the other hand, his strong relationship with the sports teacher at his school.  It is also about the crude way that comments based on the Holocaust, on memory, on the terror of the Nazis, and about Goebbels and Goring, creep into his conversation.

According to the remarks by the filmmaker at the screening last night, this film has autobiographical details and is about “the period that my mother and my siblings tried to keep our heads above water.” His mother, weary and suffering from the separation from the father, is portrayed in a wonderful way, as a woman working hard to move ahead in her job, and as a loving figure to her son and her daughter.

This is not a film with a lot of action.  Rather, Matan Yair provides us with insight into the high school years which can be so difficult for young people. He is a talented filmmaker, with a subtlety and preciseness as he casts his gaze on a particuilar period or situation.