An experiment is under way in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem: a woman, recently
widowed, is starting a trial period in assisted living, mainly to placate
her over-anxious son, whilst in Jerusalem her daughter Noga, a young
harpist, returns from her job with a Dutch orchestra to look after the
family apartment. To enliven her stay, Noga's brother finds work for her -
playing roles as an extra in film, TV, and in the opera Carmen. The random
roles Noga is thrust into resonate strangely with her own life which she
begins to re-evaluate. Central to her past is the fact that she refused to
have children, resulting in the break-up of her marriage. No-one in her
family understood her motives for not wanting children and everyone has a
different explanation for it. Now, a chance encounter with her former
husband reveals his continuing powerful, love as well as a shocking deed
she committed during their marriage. But Noga is a free spirit neither tied
to the past nor defined by it, and always keen to push boundaries. She
lives for her music and is willing to go wherever it takes her. The three-
month experiment proves as much of a test for her as for her mother and
both are radically transformed by the end. A.B. Yehoshua is as creative,
humorous and provocative as ever in The Extra, exploring themes familiar to
him of love, family relationships and artistic ambitions, set mainly in an
ever-changing Jerusalem.