Aharon has devoted his life to raising his son Uri. They live together in a gentle routine, away from the real world. But Uri is autistic, and now as a young adult it might be time for him to live in a specialized home. While on their way to the institution, Aharon decides to run away with his son and hits the road, knowing that Uri is not ready for this separation. Or is it, in fact, his father who is not ready?
Despite having a close familiarity with the story for some time now, I still find myself deeply touched every time I pick up the script and read it again. The character of the father, Aaron, is very sensitive and fragile; his futile attempt to try and protect his autistic son from the world that surrounds them stirs in me strong feelings of identification.
When the two of them embark on their journey of escape, and we gradually realize that the movie is not about a father and his autistic son, but rather about a man who is running away from the world while his devotion to his son is serving him as a protective shield from dealing with his own life, the story becomes more complex and I find myself even more interested and engaged
with it.
I love the characters, the relationships, the way Aaron has reduced his needs to
accommodate his son’s, and the transformation they experience throughout their journey. I believe that if I’m able to convey these characters as they are, from the written page to the screen, together with the bittersweet and humorous tone of the script, the audience will also fall in love with them.
I envision the film directed from a slight distance, observing. The main shot in my mind is a two-shot of the father and son, the camera documenting them without really
intervening, but also confining them, almost imprisoning them, to the frame, as if they’re handcuffed to each other, holding each other, one life grasping at the other.
I envision the moment of their separation as the first moment in the movie where each one of them is “given” the entire frame to himself, by himself. Each one of them will be present in the world, in his world, lonely and looking at the other. Separating for a moment despite all the feelings that connect them. Growing up.
