Stories We Tell

source: Stories We Tell

I watch and enjoy all kinds of movies. But I probably should have listened to the wisest of the interviewees that why would anyone give an EFF about this story? The only remarkable part is the voice of Michael Polley. I only wish he had an interesting story to tell. And Harry was/is adorable. Sometimes our lives hold the key to the best stories. But usually not. Otherwise we'd all be Anna Karenina or maybe Little Red Riding Hood... This just seemed like a desperate attempt to absolve a woman who was incapable of loyalty. Sorry. Not sorry. Ugh. Some things are better left unsaid.

Filmmaker/actress Sarah Polley deserves to be titled in that order, if it makes a huge difference. Yes, she's a luminous actress, but over the past 4 years and 3 films, Polley has ascended into something bigger than that... a woman crafting tremendous, personal works of art that transcend her young age. Polley's latest film, "Stories We Tell" is a documentary, turning the lens on herself and her own family as she scalpels away at the truth of the infectious personality of mom Diane and exactly what happened in the late 70's. Using direct interviews, grainy home video footage and even actor-portrayed recreations, "Stories We Tell" charts the timeline of her family with judicious investigation. Why doesn't she look like the rest of her family? What causes a marriage to fade into boredom and familiarity? And what's the responsibility of future generations to trace the truth of past ones? All of these questions are answered in Polley's capable hands, at great personal cost to all. In actuality, Polley has probably been answering these questions for years now. Her debut film, "Away From Her" was a moving and real depiction of a woman's slow ascent into sickness, featuring a wonderfully nuanced performance by Julie Christie and, obviously, based on the slow progression of cancer that eventually took Polley's own mother when she was just 11 years old. Last year, Polley released "Take This Waltz"... a film starring Michelle Williams as a woman torn between the comforts (and boredom) of marriage and the exciting possibility of an affair. I was on the fence about the film, amazed by certain moments of spontaneity but taken aback by the weird outbursts of Williams' character. After seeing "Stories We Tell", it's clear "Take This Waltz" was more autobiographical than anyone realized. Both films, seen as a fictional and then non-fictional rendering of the same woman- Polley's mother- compliment each other and deepen the conflicted and quizzical feelings Sarah must have about her mother. While most of us can appreciate a parent in the here and now, Polley is recreating her through grainy images, interpretive writing and tough questions. In "Stories We Tell", a unique structure is used where her own father reads aloud from a text (we find out at the end of the film where it came from) and Polley frames the images around the meta-textual musings. It's ironic (and somehow perfect) that the most memorable images of the documentary are stationary reaction shots of Polley as she listens, her face or mouth or eyes tightening or twitching in discovery as the words are made. Not only is it a human moment, but a touching one that forces the audience to discover and relate to her own discovery. The best non-fiction works, like those of Jonathan Caouette or Ross McElwee, not only mine the potential of a great personal story but they allow us unsettling peaks behind the emotional curtain of the author or storyteller. Sarah Polley has created a brave undressing of her family that not only belongs in this class of personal docudrama, but stands head and shoulders above anything else this year so far. www.itsamadmadblog2.blogspot.com

Intriguing, but not as emotionally overwhelming for the audience as it is for the storytellers. There is ever so palpable, cold detachment from the story's emotional spine. Maybe, it's because of the lack of perspective of the person who wanted this story to be out there- Sarah Polley herself. You can sense subtle reactions coming from her whenever she is on screen, for however little time, and build her point-of-view in your head. But that would be just another version of story in this baggage of different perspectives. Also, I would rather she hadn't filmed dramatized clips of real-life incidents and trust the audience's imagination. All that being said, it does not take away anything from the fact that "Stories We Tell" is a fascinating concept. If nothing else, it works as a brilliant think-piece on subjectivity of memories and distorted truth by different perspectives.

Stories We Tell (2012) is a documentary written and directed by Sarah Polley. This movie is unusual because it's actually a biography of the filmmaker and her family, narrated by her father, "starring" her siblings and herself, along with Polley's relatives and family friends. But the film isn't straight biography or autobiography. It's a quest film as well. Sarah's siblings and family friends begin by talking about Sarah's mother, Diane, who died, aged 55, in 1990, when Sarah was 11 . (There's some actual 8mm footage of the family, intermixed with staged footage that has the same grainy look of old amateur filmmaking.) Sarah's mother was beautiful, and she was vivacious and fun-loving. Sarah's dad was a handsome, decent person, but no one would describe him as vivacious and fun-loving. The marriage wasn't terrible, but it was clear to the couple--and eventually to their children--that it wasn't a good match. That much information is established in the first half-hour of the movie. Then the question arises as to whether Sarah's dad is really her biological father. Polley decides to dig for this answer, and interview the same people she's already interviewed, although this time asking the question, "Who's my father?" Polley accumulates information bit by bit, and eventually expands her search to include people who knew Diane when she was performing in a play out of town. As Sarah embarks on this search, the camera keeps rolling, and we go along at her side. It's a fascinating ride, because everyone has part of the picture, but only two people had the answer, and one of them is no longer alive. Stories We Tell is a quiet, careful movie. There's anger, but no shouting, sadness, but no tears. Sarah Polley is in the middle of it all, but she's credited as the director, not as the star. In a way, the star of the movie really is the late Diane Polley, but she's the one person who can't tell her side of the story. That's what makes the whole thing so fascinating. This is a movie you will want to see if you enjoy quiet, thoughtful, serious films. It will work equally well on a small or large screen.

A rather self-centred family documentary. Sarah Polley digs deep into the family relationships by uncovering its very core, the nature of her own parents. What began as an exploration of the chemistry between her parents, unravelled into a big life changing discovery. Two very different people (her mom and dad) got together, got married and remained so until she passed away. An outgoing and lively female ends up with an introverted reserved male. Was she happy? Was she fulfilled? Was she faithful? Whilst undoubtedly interesting, lively and stimulating it is somewhat self-centred, as I initially remarked. There seemed to be an overwhelming emphasis on her deceased mother who appeared as spotless despite two marriages, at the first of which she lost custody of her kids, and an affair that produced a child. Little prominence is given to her (supposed) father who raised her like his own and did not stop treating her as such even after it was established that the producer of this documentary is not in fact his own child. No one of course can blame a child who was deprived of motherly love early on in life but some consideration ought to be given to the father who took part in the upbringing other than going through life considering himself to be insufficient for his former wife. Still, it makes for an intriguing viewing.

I never review movies but hated this so much and didn't find nearly enough vitriol on here. I didn't go into this wanting to dislike it and withheld judgment until the final act. And before I get ripping, I did find the second husband, the polley one, to be likable if completely uninteresting. As other reviewers have stated, this is not an examination of or even a rumination on narrative or recollection or truth or family. The film attempts to explain to us how deep it is in the last act, seeking to justify itself and help us process the deep currents that arnt there. That stuff is clearly tacked on and then overtly hammered home in a specious, ', if we have have the genial gravitas of a liberal arts class or Ira Glass, maybe people will swallow it' way to compensate for the total flimsiness and worthlessness of the film both formally and in terms of character/narrative/thought/substance. I'm shocked that a movie that has to literally state its thesis at least three times toward the end in an attempt to justify its existence, and hopes to pass that off as either clever or deep and 'meta', hasn't been more widely ridiculed, Furthermore, Sarah P is generally unlike able (we hear her voice, and see her in the process of making the film and are imp'icitly supposed to identify with her and root for her without ever being given reason to -and I am a cinephile because I am eager to empathize with the voices and faces on the screen). The mom character, who is sketched broadly and reductively (with the same simple take of her repeated over and over but apparently she was not interesting enough for anyone to have a engaging anecdote), seemed intolerable. And the biological father (Harry?) is one of the grossest people I have ever seen in a documentary. Totally delusional narcissistic clown, totally Embarrassing to watch. Incredible shocking disgusting hate-able narcissism that is emblematic of the worst of the wannabe baby boom generation, just as Sarah P seems to hold down the vapid navel gazing narcissism for gen x or whatever she is. Can more people flay this garbage pleease? Check out Close Up or My Winnipeg for films dealing with the complexity of narrative and origin that actually carry intellectual and artistic weight

I think the marketing blurb had hyped me up to expect something this wasn't. I'd read of bold playing with form and reality, the nature and recall of memory etc... I enjoyed Away From Her very much too, so was hoping for something unusual here. I can't agree with the other reviews here. I didn't find it particularly courageous or bold in its form, or content matter. Some scenes are recreated, it's as clear as day, not formally bold, and I'm perplexed by the reactions. I didn't come away feeling I'd learned much about the human condition, it was more like going to a friend's house, only, a friend I'd only just met and had no connection with, and having her life story relayed to me. There's nothing shocking in the family timeline, which is fine, but there was no great emotional question I could relate to and wanted answered either. It feels more self-indulgent than the personal insight I was expecting. Not a particularly fascinating life or universal family story. Just one girl's pretty-average story. Not to take away from what the Director feels or demean her life experience, but honestly, it felt precious and narcissistic. I find some aspects of my family history equally as interesting but I know no-one would want to see a film about it.

Stories We Tell (2012) **** (out of 4) Incredibly documentary from filmmaker Sarah Polley who as a child heard stories that the man she thought was her father might not have been. Through interviews with friends, families and those who knew her mother, Polley tries to figure out which part of these stories were true and who exactly her father is. STORIES WE TELL is without question one of the most memorable documentaries to come around in a very long time. I think a strong argument could be made that we're living in an era that has given us so many great documentaries but this here is without question one of the very best. The main focus is to find out who Polley's father is but at the same time the film is about so much more. Just seeing what impact a simple story can have on so many people was just interesting to watch in front of us and Polley pretty much turns this into a Hitchcock thriller because you just never know what twist is going to follow. The director does a terrific job at telling this story, bouncing around from those interviewed to help complete this picture but there's also the impact that her mother's decision had on everyone. There are clips of Polley inside a studio listening to the person she grew up believing was her father tell his side of this story. Just watching her reaction to some of these spoken words was incredibly touching. Also, just being able to see how different person tells the same story and what impact this had on them at the time they heard it was something fascinating. Usually many people might ask what makes Polley's story so special that we, the viewer, should invest time in listening to it. I think what makes STORIES WE TELL so fascinating is her story itself really isn't unlike any story we've probably got in our own closet. By hearing Polley's story you really start to think about some of your own stories and how many of them might be true or lies. Polley has made a name for herself with some pretty good indie dramas but this film here is certainly her crowning achievement so far.

If you enjoy spending hours in the company of completely self-absorbed people struggling to make their banal lives somehow dramatic and important, this documentary is for you. It's hard for me to imagine a more pathetic waste of time than listening to the endless jawboning of this clan of no-talents as they rehash sordid but ultimately so-what family events with the gravitas of Walter Cronkite reporting on D-Day. The only thing that is remarkable about the assembled cast as they tell their stories to the camera is how truly clueless and narcissistic each family member is, along with the outer members of their circle. There is plenty of archival video to flesh out the threadbare story. In fact, this tribe of narcissists seems to have shot home video of virtually every moment of their dreary lives -- from having drinks in a nondescript bar to walking down the street, sitting in the kitchen, and so on. Spare us from such bores.