It's hard to write a piece about a film that in itself is a piece of writing. While Sarah Polley's Stories We Tell has been billed as a documentary it is very simply put: more than that. It is an account of a persons life story told from the perspectives of those that surrounded her. It is an investigation not only into the story that is being told, but into how several different perspectives might form what is closest to whatever the truth of the actual situation might be. The word truth is in itself a very vague term that is defined as the quality or state of being true. Is the truth really one, singular way of looking at things or is it different things to different people who see different aspects or varying perspectives of the same events? How much is one person missing of the bigger picture that might inform his or her limited opinion or their "truth" of the matter? There is a whole muddled road one could wander down in search of that unattainable idea that purports itself as what we call "truth" and in many ways that is what Polley has done here. She has taken a figure so vital to her existence yet someone she never really knew and has tried to get to know her through the stories people tell about that figure when she is brought up in conversation. There is a profound severity to everything going on here while each of the storytellers bring that undeniably comedic aspect of the human element into everything they are discussing. It is a film that dissects life and all of the countless stories that happen within it everyday while helping those of us interested in the arc of a lifetime better comprehend that all of these stories were never really set up as stories or planned out beforehand, but are instead the unknown futures of people who have lived out most of their time on earth and have created the events we now look at as inevitable yet caused them genuine reactions in the moment that they actually occurred. There is an element of existentialism to the whole thing, but it is more analyzing how that free will impacts the generations that follow rather than the development of those who exercised it.
Harry Gulkin and Sarah Polley share a moment in Stories We Tell. |
In retrospect, the most poignant message the film sends is that of how we treat our memories. It is a fascinating thought to break down that when a person dies it is those who knew them and their memories with them that will forever shape the legacy of who that person really was due to the fact they are no longer around to represent themselves. How many of these memories become skewed by time and distort the person they really were? There are hints of Polley attempting to uncover this truth about her mother early on in that she has this image or idea in her head of who her mother was, but because it's been so long and she was so young she can only believe that this ideal is nothing more than that and is nothing like the living, breathing being the people who knew her longer and unfortunately, better might have known. Skillfully editing the interviews with a recording of her father reading from a story whose source isn't confirmed until the ending the director lures us in with the dynamics of her family and a key element that everyone loves: a mystery. Though I say at the end of the previous paragraph that it plagued the family for years that is more for the intent of making the film all the more engaging. The truth of the matter is that it doesn't seem to have plagued them as much as having been an accepted facet of the many mysteries Diane left with her family after her untimely death. It was never anything that was taken too seriously and would more than likely have faded into nothing more than myth had it been left alone. This crux on which the story centers not only allows Sarah to come to understand her mother better though, but it also opens up new worlds for her to discover and see the after-effects of a certain incident and how vastly different it can affect the lives of those around you. As I'm writing this I'm trying not to give too much away, but one of the more fascinating aspects of the film is watching how different accounts of the same situation can look so different to the people who considered themselves close to Diane. That where your allegiances have always lied determines how you should feel, but when hearing the account of someone else who unknowingly was just as close to that central figure you begin to see how truly blind we could all be to the countless scenarios we encounter throughout our lives.
Michael Polley in a recording session for his daughters film. |
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