Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Michael Polley | ... | Self - Storyteller | |
Harry Gulkin | ... | Self - Storyteller | |
Susy Buchan | ... | Self - Storyteller | |
John Buchan | ... | Self - Storyteller | |
Mark Polley | ... | Self - Storyteller | |
Joanna Polley | ... | Self - Storyteller | |
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Cathy Gulkin | ... | Self - Storyteller |
Marie Murphy | ... | Self - Storyteller | |
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Robert MacMillan | ... | Self - Storyteller |
Anne Tait | ... | Self - Storyteller | |
Deirdre Bowen | ... | Self - Storyteller | |
Victoria Mitchell | ... | Self - Storyteller | |
Mort Ransen | ... | Self - Storyteller | |
Geoffrey Bowes | ... | Self - Storyteller (as Geoff Bowes) | |
Tom Butler | ... | Self - Storyteller |
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. Stories We Tell explores the elusive nature of truth and memory, but at its core is a deeply personal film about how our narratives shape and define us as individuals and families, all interconnecting to paint a profound, funny and poignant picture of the ... Written by The National Film Board of Canada
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.