"She's not Jewish! I mean, why don't you go waste your time on a Jewish Girl." - Roger Cohen
What happens when your family structures its life exclusively around one institution, and that institution happens to be a strip club? This is the surprising question that Shawney Cohen and Mike Gallay's excellent film The Manor asks. The answers that the film provides over its short running time are equally surprising; I found myself wanting to spend more time in the company of these fascinating people, despite the quiet tragedy at the centre of the family. The Manor is an impossible film to describe, as all the individuals it documents are such deeply contradictory figures they can't help but come across as genuine, deeply conflicted, and worthy of understanding.
But the heart of the film belongs to mother Brenda Cohen, and her devastating struggle with an eating disorder. The Manor performs the almost miraculous task of bringing her struggle to life, and throughout the film the audience desperately yearns for her recovery. The rest is best left unsaid, as part of the pleasures of viewing the film. When the credits roll, one is simply left with the wish that Shawney finds his niche; that Sammy get outs from under his father and succeeds; that Bobby finds peace; that Susan finds comfort; that Roger sells the damned club; and most of all, that Brenda finds happiness and health. To leave a documentary with such strong wishes for people we don't even know is the highest compliment that can be paid to these two talented filmmakers.
