Milwaukee Film Fest 2013: Stories We Tell

The word relatable gets tossed around a lot and denigrated. (Maybe because it makes us think of poorly-written female protagonists in romantic comedies?) But there's a reason it remains such an endurable concept in our increasingly image-driven world. After all, discussing the nature of truth and memory, and whether there even is a truth to discover, becomes so much more enjoyable when such questions are filtered through one family's story.

The family in question here is that of filmmaker Sarah Polley, who directs and writes “Stories We Tell,” a documentary that seeks to uncover the truth of her and her family's past, in particular her mother and Polley's discovery that the man who raised her may not be her biological father.

Since Polley's mother Diane died of cancer when she was eleven, Polley had to rely on telling her mother's story through the eyes of people who knew her. But even is there is such a thing as the truth, can it really be discovered in such a fashion?

“Stories We Tell” certainly does its best. The documentary uses Diane's story, particularly the revelation of how Polley came to be conceived, which is retold through interviews with Diane's family and friends, along with old footage (this is a family of artists) as well as recreated footage with an actress playing Diane Polley, to attempt to get a true sense of the Polley family's life. There are contradictions, there are twists that will tie you up in knots and leave your mouth hanging open at how spectacularly reasonable this family is. (Maybe it's just a Canadian thing.)

In spite of being the catalyst of the story, Polley mostly allows others to do the talking, yet doesn't spare herself too much either. She's intelligent and self-aware enough to put herself and her decision to make this documentary under scrutiny. It's understandable, yet mostly unnecessary.

In a time where people are practically expected to overshare, Polley and her family manage to turn what in other hands might have been a sleazy soap opera or a simple morality tale into a clever, candid, even elegant discussion about the nature of family, memory, and love itself.

The only negative thing about “Stories We Tell” ironically springs from its strongest feature. The candid and spot-on (and contradictory) anecdotes we get from the Polley family and those surrounding them begs the question of what other sumptuous delicacies were lost in the editing room, and how said editing has determined what kind of story is being told here. It's just another question that will probably remain lost to the unstoppable march of time.

Grade: A-