Stories We Tell

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.

I saw this film as part of a month-long series of documentaries at my local public library. Throughout the film, I was struck by the seeming incredible luck that the director had in having access to so much timely and relevant Super 8 movie footage of the family in their younger days. That all became moot when, near the end of the closing film credits, it is revealed that every single member of the family in past and present was portrayed by an actor. In effect, it is not a true documentary at all but the very well written and directed retelling of someone else's family story. The audience at the viewing I attended had much the same reaction--thinking that we had just been taken for a very elaborate ride.

Sarah Polley continues to become one of the most innovative and inventive directors working today and its proved by what she spills out on the silver screen in her newest endeavor Stories We Tell. A compelling and personal documentary about her own life, Stories We Tell blends and fuses the magic of non-fiction with the imagination of the cinematic mind.

Telling the story of her own inception, family life, and personal struggle with her own sense of being, Sarah Polley invites the audience into a world that otherwise would seem shameful and dreary but ends up rising triumphant and inspired. While documentaries often take a very serious, somber, and issue-driven approach, Polley's film proves that real life can be just as magnetic without an epiphany of theatrics or cheap camera tricks. Stories We Tell takes cinematic risks that pay off tremendously in both execution partnered with Iris Ng's stunning cinematography. This is one of the best things that the movies have offered this year yet.

When one takes on a personal subject like their family, you always run the risk of starting your film with a wall between you and the audience from the first frame. Family is one of those things that you can only appreciate when you're a part of the madness. If I sit here and tell you countless stories of brothers and sisters bickering, falling in an apple ditch, or simply the origin of our creations, a disinterest may become prevalent because what makes my story any more real than yours? Unless we have some extraordinary circumstances, family is all relative and subjective. Polley's family feels real. While there are painstakingly clear alignments between my family life and hers, the film goes beyond anything that documentaries have offered viewers before. It's not too often you grow to care about members of a family in a 108 minute stretch unless your last name is Brady, Seaver, or Winslow. It's amazing to watch one story, told from different perspectives, yielding different results and emotions. Why Polley decided to do it, I'm not so sure. Maybe it was her own way of making sense of her unfortunate hand that was dealt or perhaps it was a way of release, living with so many unanswered questions, possibly still until this day. I'm grateful she let me in to tell her story. We should all be grateful.

There are surprises, innuendos, and things that the film embraces that must be saved for anyone on the first viewing. All I can say is, Polley has likely set a new precedent and encouragement for filmmakers to do similar experiments in the future. A film such as this that follows the life of people like Jack Nicholson or Angelina Jolie would definitely build an anticipation for many to see. Stories We Tell is kind to soul and heartwarmingly relevant. A film to be remembered. The film played at this year's Montclair Film Festival and is scheduled to be released May 17, 2013.

Actress and filmmaker Sarah Polley decides to make this film about her family history, with a particular early focus on her mother who died many years prior. In building the story of her family she draws on all those alive who were involved and this is probably as much as you want to know. Many others have put too many details in their comments without warning and I think this is unfair as this is a film that is better when you come at it without knowing everything. Polley tells this story in a way that is engaging and interesting. Early in the film one of the contributors asks "who would want to know about our family" and it is a fair question since, although it has famous members – they are really not that famous. In reality though the film is structured and delivered in such a way that, while you may not have an interest in this specific family, their story is engagingly told.

On this level I liked the film and I thought it worked well, but I have to disagree with the comments made by many in regard what it else it does. Many have praised the film for showing how stories get fragmented and twisted and how perspectives etc influence their telling and indeed Polley herself lays this out as the goal for the film when she is asked towards the end. Perhaps it is because she said it so clearly that some assumed she'd done this and perhaps it is also the reason why it stood out to me that she didn't, even though I liked what she had done with it. The problem with this goal is that, while the story over the past few decades may have been half-told, twisted and gradually revealed with different people knowing or thinking different things, in the film this is not the case at all. Indeed the thing that makes the story so engaging is that it is so well structured to be gradually delivered, be clear and be interesting on its impact on the family. Everyone contributing knows the full story and while they may have different opinions on small things or motivations of others, there really isn't something like Rashomon here where the same thing is different from different angles. There are no questions left, no doubt at any point really – we get introduced, follow the story quickly and efficiently and are left at the end with everything neatly done.

The irony is that for me the film works well like this. I enjoyed the story and how well told it was and I found the contributors to be honest, human and engaging. It is a very personal and human film and this was the quality I took from it. I still had no reason to care about this specific family over any other, but it worked nonetheless. To me it is almost a shame that Polley laid out this alternative goal because she really doesn't get anywhere near achieving it and indeed if she hadn't said anything about it I would never have guessed such an objective was ever on the table.

It works for what it is, but in terms of its own goals it is unsuccessful – but it still worked for me.

Sarah Polley has set the stage in mind for many years to tell a simple story. Much like the process of forming a story, things are always taken back to the storyboard and new influences are introduced. Sarah ultimately made the natural choice to deliver this story by simply setting the basis and allowing each party to tell the story as they know it, in every detail from each individual memory.

Stories We Tell works a unique twist on the documentary format and allows the audiences into the life of the family and friends who knew the filmmakers mother, Diane Polley. An eccentric ball of energy with the appearance of an open book, she might have really been a big mystery and her secrets could cause a rift throughout all those connected. Family and friends from all corners step up to the plate and what's heard are a melding of scripted order and the unscripted nature of each individual and their memories of the events that unfolded. At times it's an interview, at others it's a humorous interrogation; we witness the mystery unfolding in a truly compelling, warm and emotional fashion. It's a wonderful case study on human beings and how we shape ourselves throughout a lifetime and the events that can change our lives forever. It's fascinating to see how we all perceive moments and how our memories contain them. Different characters have different takes and yet the feelings resonate the same.

Sarah Polley took the right path and remained on the sideline and behind the camera until it was absolutely paramount. The real people tell their stories and actors portray history with an uncanny authenticity. It delivers the reality and the real people involved without bogging down the narrative. This is rich and affecting storytelling at it's finest.