Love Has Nothing To Do With It

A mother is forced to stay inside with her son, who is under house arrest, while she interminably turns things over in her mind and tries to get to the truth of who he is.

Rina (Hasfari) is having a hard time of things. She just wants to get out of the house for a little while and maybe run to the shops for a few messages and such, but she can’t. Somebody’s slashed her tyres, meaning that the car isn’t going anywhere, and her next door neighbour is being really difficult towards her, forgetting his commandments and turning his back on her in her time of need. So, Rina turns right back around and goes back inside, faced with the oppressive, stifling air of the house which hasn’t seen an open window or fully drawn-back curtains for quite some time.

At home with her, is Dean (Yarom), Rina’s son who is under house arrest and awaiting trial the next day. It has been a long, hard slog being at home with Dean all this time, trying to keep him hidden from view and away from prying eyes, as well as the odd flying projectile, and also having to feed him, clean up after him, and deal with his overt noises and ablutions. Rina is really at the end of her rope, and everything is truly getting her down, so when she decides she wants to hear the story from Dean about his activities and his arrest, she isn’t in the mood for anything but the truth.

You see, Dean was arrested on the charge of soliciting and sodomy, for relations he had as a teacher with a pupil. Everybody in the community has heard the news and already found him guilty, and so have been making their feelings felt vocally and violently any chance they get. After a clash with a home-invader, Rina finally faces up to how she feels about the shame her son has brought her.

Set up as a pressure-cooker chamber piece, Love Has Nothing To Do With It spends the fifteen minutes it has trying to make the audience as uncomfortable as possible in the home of Rina and Dean. The dark, oppressive interior of the house, which is also mirrored in the mind and face of Rina, is captured clearly by cinematographer, Zohar Mutayn, while the sound design bundles sound upon sound from ticking clocks to crashing crockery, to help keep an unnerved feeling front and centre of the film. Hanna Azoulay Hasfari does a solid job of portraying Rina’s unease, and genuinely looks tired at everything she is having to deal with as the story progresses, while Yossi Yarom is surprisingly indignant as Dean, forced to account for what he has done to people who will never understand.

There is a strong sense of direction and scope from writer/director, Yotam Knispel, who brings everything together to fulfil his vision for what Love Has Nothing to Do With It should be. He creates the tension in the house really well, and sets up a scenario that engulfs the viewer entirely when telling his story, using sound and lighting to their fullest to help. Underneath though, there’s a lot missing from the film that is never aired properly, leaving us guessing at most of what is happening behind the scenes. The way that Dean defends himself, and the words that he uses, sow doubt as to his innocence against the charges, while we are left guessing who is at fault, as everybody seems to be to blame in some way. If there is an analogy or a metaphor at work for bigger, more political themes, it is never expressed outright, and if one isn’t there, then everything seems muddled and complicated for no reason, and that in itself would be an opportunity lost.

While Knispel’s motivations and themes are right there on the surface, there is no accounting for what is actually trying to be said underneath it all. Naturally, the complicated nature of human relationships precludes the idea that things could be wrapped up neatly in a nice little package, but in the end we’re no wiser or further forward than we were at the start. The idea of a ‘mother’s love’ winning out over all is truly tested throughout the film, but we are never party to any realisations that are made over that time, only that it is difficult for everyone involved. But then again, maybe that is the whole point after all.