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Stories We Tell
- Director: Sarah Polley
- Writer: Sarah Polley; Michael Polley
- Producer: Silva Basmajian; Sonia Hosko
CGiii Comment
"A film that excavates layers of myth and memory to find the elusive truth at the core of a family of storytellers."
Bollocks...
This is about the revelation of a deceitful life, pure and simple.
And, out of a reverential respect, it fails to actually say - straight-to-the-camera - what the film is actually about...which makes it rather interesting in a more bitter than sweet way.
The deceit is, quite cleverly, continued by the filmmaker herself...and, then she makes you wonder: what is real???
It's difficult to tell...as Ms Polley, practically, says nothing - her gay half-brother tries to ask the most important question: Why make this film??? Eliciting a rather vague answer.
It's an emotional story, infused with a certain nobility (by Michael), tinged by naivety (by Sarah) and encumbered by a numbing arrogance (by Harry).
It should have been called: Secrets We Keep.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
In this inspired, genre-twisting new film, Oscar®-nominated writer/director Sarah Polley discovers that the truth depends on who's telling it. Polley is both filmmaker and detective as she investigates the secrets kept by a family of storytellers. She playfully interviews and interrogates a cast of characters of varying reliability, eliciting refreshingly candid, yet mostly contradictory, answers to the same questions. As each relates their version of the family mythology, present-day recollections shift into nostalgia-tinged glimpses of their mother, who departed too soon, leaving a trail of unanswered questions. Polley unravels the paradoxes to reveal the essence of family: always complicated, warmly messy and fiercely loving.
Cast & Characters
Michael Polley as Himself - Storyteller;
Harry Gulkin as Himself - Storyteller;
Susy Buchan as Herself - Storyteller;
John Buchan as Himself - Storyteller;
Mark Polley as Himself - Storyteller;
Joanna Polley as Herself - Storyteller;
Cathy Gulkin as Herself - Storyteller;
Marie Murphy as Herself - Storyteller;
Robert Macmillan as Himself - Storyteller;
Anne Tait as Herself - Storyteller