Stories We Tell

Given that Stories We Tell is a competently made documentary about a woman who spent the mid-century flaunting conventional mores and it is depicted from a rather unique point-of-view, her daughter, Sarah Polley, conceived out-of-wedlock, it is no surprise that critics would, at least initially, shower it with effusive praise. Of course, it is inevitable that a film so praised would meet somewhat harsher viewings from those who see it in the shadow of the initial hype and so it was that, unfortunately for this movie, thus there grew a gap between its perceived quality and what the many voters for the Academy felt was needed to deserve an Oscar nomination.

And not without merit. Though I saw only the latter half I could notice, especially in light of the post-screening discussion, the film’s flaws. Two stand out: its use of far too many interviewees and its slow pace. Both are linked.

Because there are two plotlines, the life of the mother and the daughter’s journey of discovery to learn about that life, including her own conception via an affair, and her reactions to its revelations, it is hard to justify, as some in class may have pointed out, more than two, maybe four, characters: Principally the mother and daughter and mother’s husband and lover. Beyond that all characters and interviewees are there to provide only additionally perspectives and information about her mother’s life.

Unfortunately, the documentary burdens us with not only the perspectives of the immediate family but those of friends as well, even when the point was already hammered in. For example, when we hear the brother tell us he overheard a phone conversation between his mother and someone else that she “was pregnant and was not sure about who the father was” a little over half a year before her daughter’s birth we don’t need a further interview with a friend of the mother about a conversation she had with said brother. It’s superfluous and drags the story.

This means the movie drags where it should just move on to the next scene. To make the point further, the movie could’ve easily ended with her telling the husband, the man who raised her, about her parentage and then skipping over to the man’s letter. There was much that could’ve been cut and trimmed. It seemed as if Sarah Polley wanted to tell so much about the story she had no idea what needed to be cut.

Therefore we have a deeply personal documentary of no small quality, especially for a debut, but not enough to merit an Oscar nomination. Still, it was a decent debut.


Stories We Tell. Dir. Sarah Polley. Prod. Lee, Anita; Basmajian, Silva. National Film Board of Canada. Roadside Attractions. 2012. DVD