Thursday, 11 July 2013

Stories We Tell (2012, Dir. Sarah Polley, Canada) (Cert: 12a/PG-13)


Starring: Sarah Polley, Michael Polley, Diane Polley

Actress and film-maker Sarah Polley was raised by two parents in the acting profession, Diane and Michael. With their relationship being occasionally strained, Diane eventually took an acting job for a short period in Montreal, where Michael eventually came to visit. Some time later, Sarah was born but the question of her true parentage was long rumoured within the family. This documentary covers her search to find the truth as well as a look at her late free-spirited mother.

There’s no doubt that Sarah Polley’s life is of a particularly expressive and intellectual bent. Perhaps best known as an actress, she’s also a budding film-maker, political activist and as this film shows, a documentarian. Within the documentary itself, Polley states that she’s making the film with the possibility that she’ll never release it publicly and is making the film simply for her own satisfaction, something that seems often very clear. Jumping around from relative to relative we get to meet some interesting personalities and facets which tie them all together and the differing perspectives make for some interesting interviews and about a woman (Sarah’s mother) who seems extremely interesting in her own right. However, the film has a tendency to self-indulge. Interviews wander away and drag on for a long time, making this film longer than it needed to be and it comes off as slightly ponderous. It’s an interesting insight, and probably serves Sarah well as her own pet project to watch and reflect on personally, but for all its intrigue it could’ve benefitted from a stream-lining on general release.

No comments:

Post a Comment