Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

STORIES WE TELL is a difficult movie to describe in a way that will make it sound interesting. So I'll focus mostly on what the movie ultimately explores and illuminates in exciting ways...rather than on the mundane sounding "what happened was." It's a documentary constructed by actress/director Sarah Polley (DAWN OF THE DEAD remake, GO). Essentially, she mixes interviews with family members and friends along with home movie footage, to tell the story of her deceased mother and the secrets she had. Polley is ostensibly searching for her identity (and that's all I'll say)...but the movie has ever so much more on its mind. First, it is an exploration of how the things that happen to us become the stories we tell to others and that few experiences are really FACTS, but are interpretations of those FACTS or events. While no one differs enormously on the details of the mother's life or other family events...the feelings about those details, the impressions DO differ, in ways subtle or big. For example, when various folks are asked "did you think my mother was afraid of dying?" the answers vary. The FACT is that she did die. But the story becomes either how bravely she faced it, or how she was in denial, or something else. Yet these impressions become facts to the person telling the story, and thus the LISTENER is also influenced. Second, the movie itself is a fascinating detective story. It's amazing to experience how engrossing this seemingly mundane family story becomes. And to me, not only was the story interesting...but the fact that it WAS interesting says something interesting too. We all have common bonds that we can recognize in each other...that empathy can flow easily when we get to know someone a little bit. The people we see in this film are REAL people sharing some real issues they faced or experiences they had...and these resonate in the viewer, even though we are strangers. I find this experience to have been uplifting to think about. Finally, the film is also about the idea of a movie documentary. One always knows that the documentarian MUST bring a point of view to their subject...even if only through what they chose to show and what falls to the cutting room floor. The questions asked. The subjects interviewed. Heck, even the title of documentaries often betrays a point of view. But we still watch and willingly absorb. Polley plays with that TRUST that we as viewers have in our STORYTELLER (the creator(s) of the documentary) and slowly turns that on its head. I wish I could explain more...but to do so would spoil a couple of gasp-worthy moments. So just trust me...this innocuous sounding film is gripping, exciting, incisive and richly rewarding. One of the best films I've seen in awhile.