If you haven’t seen it, legendary swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman’s 14-minute short film Karin’s Face is a collection of still photos shown over a simple piano score. That’s it, there’s nothing more to it. A portrait of Bergman’s lineage. Whether or not it means anything to anyone besides Bergman, and his family is — well — debatable. It’s well photographed, and an interesting look into “who we were”, but other than that there’s no grander idea at play. It’s not universally interesting, and not everyone will find it powerful (I certainly don’t). The idea of a personal movie (autobiographical or otherwise), can be seen as narcissistic. Why should we care about your experiences? Why should we care about your family Bergman?
Sarah Polley’s 2013 documentary Stories We Tell is — like Karin’s Face — an examination into Polley’s family. Only this time it’s 109-minutes, and instead of pointing a camera at still photos she points it at her family — telling stories. A family like most families, with secrets, and hidden intrigue. Why should there be a documentary on Sarah Polley’s family, and not say David from New Jersey’s family? What’s the point of Bergman’s mother, and what’s the point of Polley’s parents? Does Stories We Tell succeed where Karin’s Face fails? Are all personal movies doomed to the fate of Karin’s Face?
The difference between Karin’s Face, and Stories We Tell is Polley uses her family for a larger picture. Karin’s Face is simply still photos, and a piano score. Stories We Tell is simply super 8 footage, and interviews. But, Stories We Tell becomes a universal idea of things beyond family. It’s about the meaning of stories, it’s about our familial relationships. It’s about things everyone understands. It becomes meaningful to the world in a way that could only be accomplished through Polley’s personal-essay-approach.
If all films, if all art is the way the artist sees the world, then doesn’t the personal film have the ability to be the purest approach? It doesn’t always work, but when it does, it’s more meaningful than Die Hard.
JFA
