Film review: Stories We Tell - a parental documentary from Sarah Polley
(12A)
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Canadian actor Sarah Polley has made a patchwork documentary about her parents that is deeply affectionate and sometimes very moving, though her insistence on its multi-voiced complexity (and which many critics have rolled over for) seems to me unwarranted.
At its centre is a portrait of her mother, Diane, an actress and casting director who was the life and linchpin of the family. She had tragedy in her bones – on the collapse of her first marriage she lost custody of her children – and her second marriage to Michael Polley, a British actor, was also problematic.
It transpires that Diane, while in Montreal to do a play, had an affair with a producer named Harry Gulkin. Following years of rumour and endless family footage on Super 8, we learn that Harry is Sarah's father.
But here's where the big claims for the film founder. The Polley siblings agree that it was an open secret, and the "stories" they tell pretty much correspond with one another: all the palaver about ambiguity and perspective is window-dressing.
It distracts, only slightly, from the heart of the matter, which was Diane Polley's love of her children and her crushingly premature death from cancer, aged 54.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments