MR. CORTISONE, HAPPY DAYS

synopsis

Part stream-of-consciousness diary, part experimental documentary, Mr. Cortisone, Happy Days follows director Shlomo Shir's last years and moments as he battles the recurring tumor which ultimately claimed his life.

Shot over three years, the film follows Shir in and out of hospitals and into his hopes and dreams for a normal life with his wife and newborn child. Moving constantly from the unseen hand behind the camera to the subject in front of it, Shir attempts to create a happy ending to his story. Yet his hopes are shattered with the discovery of aggressive new tumors in his spine. The camera becomes Shir's intimate companion as he flies to New York City where he awaits a series of operations meant to save his life. When he realizes that he is being sentenced to die on the operating table, Shir decides to leave the hospital, high on cortisone and painkillers, and let his soul free.