Life, death and choosing
How the makers of film `My Happy Ending' arrived at their subject
When Julia (Andie MacDowell) walks into an English hospital for chemotherapy, she has her problems — her recent West End play bombed, and roles back in America aren't what they used to be — but Julia still has plenty of fight (and arrogance) left in her, and, with a daughter soon getting married back in the U.S., a lot to live for.
In the chemo ward, she meets three women in different phases of their cancer treatments and lives. The marketing material for “My Happy Ending” (opening today in theaters) talks about how these women help Julia “face adversity with humor and camaraderie while coaching her for the most challenging role she has ever played — herself.”
But the movie, based on a hit Israeli play by Anat Gov, written while she was dying from cancer, has more on its mind than a feel-good tagline. (Spoiler alert: This article explores a major plot development.) In the hospital, Julia learns that she has stage 4 cancer and that the brutal chemo regimen will perhaps buy her an extra year or so, leaving her facing the question of whether she wants to continue the treatment as the doctors insist or to enjoy whatever time she has left.
“No one talks about death and preparing yourself for death,” says Sharon Maymon, who directed the film with Tal Granit.
“The most important thing for Julia becomes to resolve everything in her life before she dies,” Granit adds. “That's more important than having more time or the wedding or anything.”
The duo are drawn to controversial topics and are deeply invested in the freedom of personal choice — their film “The Farewell Party” was about euthanasia. Granit and Maymon are gay and say personal choice is now being threatened by the rise of the right wing in Israel, where they live.
The two, along with screenwriter Rona Tamir — who is also from Israel but lives in New York — spoke by video about life, death and choices. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q
How much do you each think about your own mortality?
GRANIT ❯❯ Every day.
TAMIR ❯❯ Since I was 6. That's not even a joke. I have a close relative in a very bad health state — the kind where a lot of people would say, I would just shoot myself in the head — so, especially for the past 18 years, I've thought about what is a life worth living and who gets to decide. The one person who should get to decide is you. You determine the worth of your life.
GRANIT ❯❯ This film is about the freedom of choice in a broader way. Sharon and me come from LGBTQ community, and in Israel until now we could be proud about it, and we hope it will stay that way. And when I gave birth, I did it at home, which was controversial and not everyone was supportive, so it's about the freedom to choose at each crossroad.
Q
How much does your LGBTQ identity and your Israeli identity shape that outlook, and how differently might this play to an American audience?
MAYMON ❯❯ I think there's no difference. It's a universal story — we will all die at the end.
TAMIR ❯❯ I wrote this long before Roe was overturned but I do think at this point a female character taking charge of her life and body hits a chord here.
TAMIR ❯❯ The movie is not about cancer or about dying or death. It is about life. The setup is there to enhance the celebration of life and the fact that we can choose. Israelis are very good at celebrating life.
Q
Israel exists in a perpetual existential crisis. Does that influence how you celebrate life?
TAMIR ❯❯ I'm sure it plays a part.
GRANIT ❯❯ There is a character that survived the Holocaust. We don't touch on it in a huge way, but the way we're educated — there was a Holocaust and there could be another and we should be thankful for being here now.
TAMIR ❯❯ Judy, that character who survived the Holocaust, has decided to fight to the bitter end. The movie is not advocating for any decision, just for choice.
Q
If you were in her situation, what would you do? MAYMON ❯❯ I had thyroid cancer 20 years ago. They took the tumor out. It was a short dance with death. I said, “Give me everything. I just want to live.”
Q
But you were younger and it wasn't stage 4. What about in her situation?
MAYMON ❯❯ That's a hard question. I think it depends on what you want to do with that short amount of time left — do you want to add a year to your life but be in a chemo room? For myself, if it was two years with chemo or one year without it, I'm taking the two years.
GRANIT ❯❯ You cannot know what you will feel. You need to be in the moment. You can say whatever you want when you're healthy, but when you get to that point, sometimes you'll want more and sometimes you won't.
My father is 86. He said, “I never want the hospital. Don't do anything if something happens to me. Please.” And then he got cancer, not a severe one, but he did everything. And he's now healed.
TAMIR ❯❯ A friend's dad said to her, “Don't worry, I've got a gun and a Harley and I'm going to finish it.” He got pancreatic cancer, which was brutal. Six months later, the guy is 90 pounds and a shell of what he used to be and he's holding on. I know someone else with (multiple sclerosis) who ended it even though his girls were about to get married. He could not take it any longer.
When we were saying, “There's only one person who should make this choice” it's really that person at that moment.
The healthy self does not know your sick self.
GRANIT ❯❯ You have to keep it open and have the opportunity to choose.
Maymon