STORIES WE TELL (2012) ¢ ¢ ¢ ¢
D: Sarah Polley
Sarah Polley's remarkable exposé turns the camera on her own family in a daring experiment that's part documentary, part home movie, part melodrama and (a big part) mystery, the mystery being the identity of Polley's biological father. As with any family dynamic, the issues that come up are complex and intensely personal, and it all revolves around Polley's late mother, an actress whose outgoing personality and zest for life affected everybody who knew her. The combination of home movies and authentic-looking recreations is so seamlessly accomplished, you can't tell what's real from what's not - it all looks real - and the directness with which Polley confronts her witnesses, and their openness answering her questions, can be unsettling. I can't imagine most families wanting to expose themselves like this, or most filmmakers taking on a subject so intimate and pulling it off so brilliantly. It's not a trip most of us would take, but I'm glad Sarah Polley did.
