Stories We Tell
Dir: Sarah Polley
2012
****
Stories We Tell is unique and intriguing documentary that asks what truth really is especially when looked at from different viewpoints. Polley uses very personal family secrets in asking and exploring these questions and so the documentary comes across as an exercise in personal discovery as much as anything else. Her family are visibly weary of her methods but go along for her sake. A family member even goes as far telling her on camera exactly why the film will not work and what he says makes sense. Somehow though this bizarre but somewhat hypnotic documentary works and even excels as it covers far more ground than I think Polley initially thought it would. The key to the film though is the advice given to Polley by her father to 'inject humour when the film gets all serious'. She does this and her timing is unpredictable but impeccable, making the film the wonder that it is.