Stories We Tell

Actress and director Sarah Polley's mother died when she was 11. She's understandably interested in finding out more about her, and did something of a quest to learn about her, her father, and her siblings. She found out, quite by accident, that what the family had long joked about--her father was someone else--turned out to be true.

This is the stuff of Stories We Tell, an excellent film about one family. Early on one of Polley's sisters says, "Who the cares about our family?" but of course every family has secrets. Polley's was a big one, though. She is the fifth of her mother's children, but was born when her mother was 42. The mother had been acting in play in Montreal, but was visited by her father during the run. But it turns out she had had an affair, and Polley was the result of that union.

I won't spoil things by telling you who the father is, as it's something of a mystery. But Polley interviews all her family members about the revelation, including her father, who had to be told when the DNA results came in.

Polley, who also directed Away From Her, has a fine visual eye, and her overall thesis--that family stories are crafted and tend to morph into different forms, is an effective one. Her father, Michael Polley, provides a touching narrative that he reads aloud. But I was troubled by one thing, and I think it was intentional. The film, aside from interviews, is a collection of what look like home movies. I was watching the film and thinking to myself, it's a good thing someone took so many movies, and that they are still intact. But then I began to get suspicious, as some of the people didn't look right, and there was too much film of her biological father just walking on the street. Then we get a reveal: Polley is shown directing these scenes, and the actors getting made up.

So these scenes are re-enactments. I have no idea if any of the home movie stuff was real (there are some clips of her mother that have to be genuine, such as her singing, "Ain't Misbehavin'," as Polley is a dead-ringer for her). I get the point--truth is elusive--but for a documentary there shouldn't be obfuscation, and the scenes should have been identified as either genuine or not.

That may be seen as niggling, as the film is very well done. Her family deserved a lot of credit for allowing her to air the dirty laundry.