Hello friends!
I’m switching it up this week, providing an audio commentary to accompany my notes below. Let me know what you think.
It’s Friday afternoon, and I’ve got an unusually busy weekend of cultural activities planned, which should help inject some sunshine after two days of solid rain. Tonight I’m off to a performance by Ukrainian bandura performer Maryna Krut, Saturday I’m going to sing myself hoarse with Choir! Choir! Choir! and the songs of Queen, and I’m thinking of going to the Sunday matinee of Bong Joon Ho’s new film, Mickey 17, his follow-up to his 2019 Oscar winner, Parasite.
From Child Star to Oscar-Winning Writer
I’ve got another Oscar winner on my mind for this week’s episode of Fashionably Late, my weekly dive into Canadian film and TV. I’m using Slings and Arrows, one of my favourite shows, as a jumping-off point to show off the work of Canadian talent.
C’mon over and meet Academy-awarding winning screenwriter Sarah Polley, who, over a three-decade career, has also won accolades as a director, producer, and actor.
Polley has spent her lifetime in film. She made her debut at the age of nine as Ramona Quimby in the 1988 TV series Ramona, based on Beverley Cleary’s popular children’s stories, and then went on to star in CBC’s The Road to Avonlea from 1990-94.
By the time she appeared in Slings and Arrows’ third and final season, Polley was a veteran actor. In it, she plays ingenue Sophie, cast as Cordelia in New Burbage’s performance of King Lear. However, the 2006 six-episode story arc would be one of her last in front of the camera.
From 2006 onward, Polley moved behind the camera, establishing an international reputation as an award-winning screenwriter, director and producer.
She is also an author, penning a 2022 memoir, Run Towards the Danger: Confrontations with a Body of Memory, which I recommend. It is a compelling read, particularly if you are familiar with her body of work in film, TV and on stage at the Stratford Festival.
The Sweet Hereafter (1997)
Actor
This Atom Egoyan film marks Polley’s transition to more adult roles. She stars as Nicole, a 15-year-old survivor of a bus crash that killed 14 children and left Nicole paralyzed and one of the only witnesses for a class action lawsuit.
The film, which explores the common Egoyan themes of trauma and healing, won the Grand Prix at Cannes and Best Picture at the Genie Awards.
Where to watch: CBC Gem
Go (1999)
Actor
The most 90s of films. It’s a bonkers crime caper that stars Polley in the lead as Ronna, a cashier who gets in over her head. Its ensemble cast includes Katie Holmes, Jay Mohr, Scott Wolf, Taye Diggs, Timothy Olyphant, and Jane Krakowski, and it marks the film debut of Melissa McCarthy.
Where to watch: Rent it from your favourite streaming platform or find it at your local library
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Actor
It is a remake of George Romero’s 1978 gorefest and a departure from Polley’s typical roles. She stars as Ana a nurse and after her husband gets infected, becomes a dedicated zombie fighter alongside Ving Rhames and Ty Burrell, from Modern Family. The film marked Zach Snider’s directorial debut with a screenplay written by James Gunn.
Where to watch: Rent it from your favourite streaming platform or find it at your local library.
Away From Her (2006)
Director, Writer
This marked Polley’s directorial debut; Atom Egoyan served as executive producer and directorial mentor. The film is the first of three projects adapted from the works of Canadian women authors. Away From Her is based on a 2001 Alice Munro short story. It stars Julie Christie and Gordon Pinsent in a beautiful, heartbreaking story about a retired couple, Grant and Fiona, and what happens as Alzheimer’s takes Julie’s memories of their life together. Away from Her won Best Picture at the Genies.
Where to watch: Crave
Trigger (2010)
Actor
This was Polley’s final acting role. Directed by Bruce McDonald, with a script by Daniel McIvor, it is a companion piece to McDonald’s Hard Core Logo. The story focuses on two former bandmates, played by Molly Parker and Tracy Wright, who reunite 10 years after Trigger broke up. The film was selected for the official opening of the TIFF Lightbox during the 2010 festival. Wright, the wife of Canadian actor and director Don McKellar, was being treated for pancreatic cancer while filming and died shortly after.
Both McKellar and Wright are also in Slings and Arrows – she in a single scene, and he a series regular, the horribly avante-garde-in-his-own-mind director, Darren Nichols.
Where to watch: Rent it from your favourite streaming platform or find it at your local library.
Take This Waltz (2011)
Director, Writer, Producer
Polley’s second directorial effort, the film stars Michelle Williams as a Toronto writer torn between her husband Lou, played by Seth Rogen, and artist Daniel, played by Luke Kirby, another Slings and Arrows alum, who lives across the street.
Where to watch: CBC Gem
Stories We Tell (2012)
Director, Writer
Fascinating documentary memoir that explores Polley’s family, centred on her parents, both actors. Her mom, Diane, died of cancer days before Polley’s 11th birthday, and her dad, Michael, had small parts throughout his career. Probably one of his best-known roles is Frank, the slightly deaf character actor in Slings and Arrows, who dances while his partner Cyril sings each season’s theme song.
This is one of my favourite documentaries. You think you’re going to be watching one type of film, and then halfway through, it becomes something different.
It won Best Documentary at the Canadian Screen Awards, Toronto Film Critics Award, the New York Film Critics, the National Board of Review, the Los Angeles Film Critics and the Writers Guild of America.
Where to watch: CBC Gem
Alias Grace (2017)
Writer, Producer
This is Polley’s second adaptation, this time from Margaret Atwood’s 1996 historical fiction novel of the same name. The story is based on the real-life Grace Marks, played by Sarah Gadon, who, in 1843, at the age of 16, was convicted of murdering her employer, Thomas Kinnear, played by Slings and Arrows star Paul Gross, and his housekeeper and mistress, Nancy Montgomery, played by Anna Paquin.
The is directed by Canadian director Mary Harron, who also directed American Psycho. She’s the daughter of the late Canadian actor and writer Don Harron, best known for his character Charlie Farqueson.
Where to watch: CBC Gem
Hey Lady! (2020)
Co-director
A curious, profane and oddly heartfelt series of little vignettes, each 5-7 minutes long, starring veteran Canadian actor and original Second City member Jayne Eastwood. She’s just known as Lady, a foul-mouthed seventy-something woman who, with her friend Rosie, played by another Canadian veteran, actor Jackie Richardson, goes on a tear through Toronto, wreaking havoc and basically being a complete and another a-hole. No filters on these women.
But just wait for the final episode. That’s when Hey Lady! becomes a thought-provoking piece. It’ll take 41 minutes to watch the whole thing. Stick with it – it’s got a really great payoff.
Where to watch: CBC Gem
Women Talking (2022)
Writer, Director, Winner, Best Adapted Screenplay, 2022 Oscars
Adapted from the Miriam Toews novel, Women Talking is about a group of women in a traditional Mennonite community who come together to discuss their options after discovering the men of the colony have been drugging and raping the women.
The ensemble cast included Frances McDormand, also executive producer, Claire Foy, Rooney Mara, Judith Ivey, Sheila McCarthy and Ben Whishaw.
Named one of the Top Ten Films of the Year, Women Talking is a challenging, beautiful film.
Where to watch: CBC Gem
And that’s Sarah Polley, that rare talent who has won international acclaim as an actor, writer and director. A true Canadian triple threat.
Hope you’ll enjoy the shows.
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