The Manor Review- By Michael Carlisle

Title: The Manor

Year: 2013

Director: Shawney Cohen

Country: Canada
Language: English

Ontario born ShawneyCohen began his film career as a digital effects artist for James Issac’s underwhelming Jason X. Slowly he received greater work with much more respected films and filmmakers; in 2003 Cohen was the CG supervisor for Alexander Witt’s Resident Evil: Apocalypse, and in 2007 he became the 3D animator for David Cronenberg’s critically acclaimed A History of Violence. Recently Cohen, along with fellow Canadian Mike Gallay, has decided to make the jump to Director. Their debut documentary The Manor is certainly making an impression all along the prairies. 

The Manor is an intimate documentary about Director Shawney Cohen’s odd Jewish family. They have owned a peculiar strip club/hotel in Guelph, Ontario, Canada since Stawney and his brother were born.  We follow their days of mediating fights between strippers, changing the bottles in the liquor room and making sure the club isn’t run into the ground. We also see real soul shattering characters that will make your stomach quench in despair.

Cohen’s film is shocking in its honesty, having many moments and characters that are almost too melancholy to sit through. For instance Roger, Shawney’s father, is a 400 pound man who is absolutely unbearable. He has a foul mouth and always needs to say the last word. Shawney’s mother Brenda is the exact opposite of this; a frail Holocaust survivor with anorexia, she gains most of the audience’s sympathy. The Director makes it clear that the club is the cause of their problems.

While watching the film I was thinking; what is the point?  Is there any redemptive quality? Then I compared Cohen’s family to my own and realized that maybe my family isn’t that terrible after all. There is great healing power in Cohen’s film because while your family may seem insufferable, they aren’t as bad as this family. At first the film is depressing, but eventually it becomes inspiring.

In conclusion, The Manor is a unique documentary and the filmmaker is brave for doing it. He doesn't attempt to polish his family, but rather creates an atmosphere of honesty. Though he never thought it would turn into anything special, it is slowly becoming a modern Canadian hit, with critics praising him left and right.  3.5/5