DIRECTOR SPOTLIGHT SUNDAY


Welcome back to the newest installment of this week's series. This week's installment focuses on a actress who became a director in 2006 : Sarah Polley. She is a most known for her roles in Existenz , 2004's Dawn of the Dead and 2009's Splice. Now I will list the 3 movies she has directed starting with her directorial debut feature film Away From Her

Away From Her is about a retired married couple Fiona and Grant (Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent) living a normal life when Fiona starts experiencing memory loss. She is suffering from Alzheimer's Disease and they make a decision to check her into a nursing home. As she loses more of her memory, she also loses the memories of her love for her husband as she falls in love with another resident there. 

This is a great directorial debut for Sarah as she lets you see what the ravages of disease does to a married couple as Grant realizes that he is losing his wife and there is nothing he can do to stop it. Also this movie is a great showcase for Julie Christie as Fiona who goes through so much pain and emotion as she forget her love for one man and starts loving another. This is a great story of unconditional love of the sacrifices you make for that love.

 Take This Waltz is about a married couple that is going through the normal motions. Lou (Seth Rogen) seems pretty happy with how things are while Margot (Michelle Williams) is restless with it, talking with a man named Daniel (Luke Kirby) who she meets on a business trip. Slowly Margot is more and more enthralled with Daniel to the point she has to make a big decision on her marriage and her life. 

Sarah's second film is a wonderful tale of many mixes. Modern-day life, unfulfilled restlessness, and second-guessing is just many things dealt with as Michelle Williams delivers as a wife who is restless in her marriage but doesn't want to hurt her husband. Seth Rogen also is fantastic as a husband who slowly understands his wife is unhappy but understands he can't stop what is happening. A interesting tale of marriage, relationships, and regret.

 Stories We Tell is one of the most personal movies you will ever see. Also it is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen. Sarah tells the story of her mother as she learns about her, her father and the secret that was kept from her for many years. Interweaved with stories from family, friends and reenactments of key moments in her mother's life, you get to see what shaped Sarah and her life. I can not state how much I love this film. As raw and real as any doc can get, it is a masterpiece of a memoir told with restraint and yet also love. 


(Also Sarah wrote in her own words her thoughts on making this film here : http://blog.nfb.ca/blog/2012/08/29/stories-we-tell-a-post-by-sarah-polley/ )




Sarah's next film coming up is " Looking for Alaska" a film adaptation of John Green's 2005 novel. I cannot wait to see what she does with this material as she is just getting started in her directing career and hope to see much more from her in the future.