Stories We Tell (2012) Reviews

• Not as billed, maybe better

  mightythor472013-06-15

  If you watch this movie expecting it to be as advertised, you may be disappointed, or at any rate bemused. The thumbnail summaries that I have read, as well as the movie's own introductory passages, all present it as an exploration of how different people create different stories from the same event. I think this may be what the director set out to do. But in fact, in the end everyone pretty much agrees about what happened, with one or two notable exceptions. What Sarah Polley ended up creating is a meditation on what breaks families apart, and what holds them together. The insights are important, and often counterintuitive, and sometimes startling. What captured my interest, and moved me deeply, was not the detective aspects of the story -- not the revealing of family secrets -- but the gradual unraveling of their causes and effects. For this, the format of the film -- interviews with many family members and family friends -- is absolutely crucial. Some reviewers have complained that the interviews become boring and repetitive. I admit that some patience is required in hearing them out, but it is amply repaid. I am also grateful to Sarah Polley for trying to do something different on screen. In the featureless landscape of contemporary cinema, Stories We Tell is a landmark.

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• "Stories We Tell" is rich and affecting storytelling at it's finest.

  swp_19882013-07-22

  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.

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• Sarah Polley is one to watch

  javaman-72013-01-06

  I saw this at the Canadian top Ten Film Festival at the TIFF Lightbox in Toronto in early January of 2013. It was preceded by a "Mavericks" Q&A featuring Director Sarah Polley with the Festival's Artistic Director. Polley is best known in the USA as an actress in films such as Splice. This is her third feature as director, all of which have been chosen for the Canadian Top Ten. Even though it is a documentary about her family, it is quite riveting, with more than a few surprises. The interview style, camera work and narration are both innovative and effective. One of the interviewees asked her if she has any idea what she is doing, and she said no. After you see this, I think you will disagree. Sarah Polley is one to watch . . . as a writer-director.

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• Sarah Polley contemplates her navel

  asc852013-09-22

  After reading about the great reviews the so-called expert critics gave this movie, this was a huge disappointment in so many areas. Which mostly are: 1. One of the themes of this movie (articulated by Polley herself) is that, "does the truth depend on who does the telling?" That implies (at least to me) that there would be some disagreement on different aspects of the story. There are no disagreements...everyone doesn't know every single detail, but everyone is consistent. And Polley keeps repeating this theme towards the end of the movie. She's a smart woman...what the heck is she talking about? Did she think that if she didn't bring this up that all that would be left was a story that was too thin and too self-indulgent? I thought that while this is a very interesting story for the Polley family, it was not an interesting film about it. That leave us with a very self-indulgent film. 2. The film was too long. This could have been wrapped up about 20 minutes earlier, or the film could have been 20 minutes shorter. Again, self-indulgent. I don't know Sarah Polley, but she seems like a good person, and her family seems like good people. But the film just didn't work.

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• Sarah Polley's touching documentary wallows in greatness both in cinema and emotion...

  ClaytonDavis2013-05-09

  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.

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