Kara Petersen

Of the documentaries we’ve watched this semester, Sarah Polley’s Stories We Tell is one of my favorites. I enjoyed the mystery behind it – how, as a viewer, you don’t exactly know what’s going on the entire time, especially in the film’s beginning with the individual interviews being set up, including her father in the studio with a script in front of him. Right away, it makes you wonder. I really liked the juxtaposition of everyone’s interviews and being able to see their initial insecurities about being in front of the camera as the film showed the set up of the interview process. I thought that was a nice creative decision on Polley’s part, choosing to include that kind of footage. It gave it a very real feeling, almost made you feel like you were there, sitting right in front of them about to ask the questions.

I appreciated the fact that you’re getting everyone’s side of the story as the story slowly unfolds. There’s so much humor and raw emotion in the film as a whole. The fact that it was seemingly light-hearted even while talking about serious happenings and issues in the past (their parent’s relationship, Diane’s cancer, Michael not really being Sarah’s father) made it that much more appealing. It really keeps you locked in, both mentally and visually.

What I appreciate and admire most about the film is that it shows the way that someone can be brought to life through people’s stories about them. As a viewer, you get so many different opinions (from each of the siblings as well as Michael and Harry), so many different ways of looking at the story or at Diane or at her relationship with others. However, I think one of the overall messages that can be taken away from the film is the unreliability of memory. And the fact that the stories we tell are constantly changing, no matter how many times we’ve told them before.