Most viewers always tend to perceive documentaries as “the truth,” contrary to the perception placed on other films. Nevertheless, this is not always the case because filmmakers understand that their work, whether true or not, tends to be constructed (Jordan, 2003). There are no rules that filmmakers are supposed to follow in making honest and truthful films. Noteworthy, there is no agreement on what truth, reality, or knowledge is, and there is a lot of freedom in the filmmaking industry. Bill Nichols (2001) applies modern film theory in the study of documentaries. The scholar developed a model for documentary modes of representation that attempts to help one understand the legitimacy, truthfulness, and authenticity of documentary films (Ward, 2012). Nichol’s model identifies six modes useful in achieving this objective- observational, participatory, expository, poetic, reflexive, and performance modes.
These modes effectively highlight certain legitimating strategies filmmakers apply to make viewers perceive documentary stories as authentic. The 2012 Canadian film Stories We Tell is perceived to be the absolute truth and reality behind the family history of the writer and director Sarah Polley. The film explores the secrets kept over decades by members of Sarah’s family, including her own identity. Generally, families normally have their narratives and stories passed from one generation to the next (Ward, 2012). In this way, the past continues to live, but such stories and narratives are prone to distortions and obscuring. Evidently, Sarah greatly uses Nichol’s participatory and expository modes to legitimize the narratives and stories provided by the subjects.
The participatory mode is one of the most prominent approaches that Polley uses in her documentary film. The participatory mode emphasizes the interaction between the subject and the filmmaker (Jordan, 2003). In this case, interviews and other forms of direct involvement between the two parties lead to conversations that induce provocations. The subject acts as a witness to provide testimony about the issue. Polley heavily relies on this mode as she interviews several members of her family, their friends, and other people with witness testimony about the family history. She interviews her father Michael Polley, her older sisters Joanna and Susy, and her older brothers Mark and John.
In addition, Polley interviews her late mother’s friends who purported to have in-depth knowledge of the deceased’s past. For example, as the story starts, Michael Polley is revealed as an interviewee with Sarah setting her in a recording position to do the narration (Polley, 2014). Later, it is revealed that Michael had written the script himself. In the same way, Sarah interviews the other subjects about their knowledge of family history, which also elicits provocations and discussions. In this manner, the audience is made to believe in the stories and narratives provided.
The expository mode is applied in the film to legitimize the narrations of the subjects. Nichol’s model argues that expert speech and expository intertitles are important strategies that filmmakers use to legitimize documentary stories (Jordan, 2003). There are some footages of Michael speaking about his past life and relationships with his deceased wife and other persons in the family. Sarah states that her family members and their friends are “storytellers,” which implies that they are experts in family history and secrets. Nichols (2001) also argues that the words of an expert in the subject matter are captured from another screen with such techniques as close shots to create an impression that the speaker is talking directly to the audience. This approach is repeated several times in the film, which makes the audience believe that the narrations are expert witnesses from the participations.
In conclusion, Sarah Polley’s film might not be based on the absolute truth or reality about her family, given that such narratives are always like to be obscured and prone to distortions. However, the director demonstrates the ability to apply participatory and expository modes. Therefore, it is possible to make the audience believe the narratives of the participants as they act as witnesses and experts on the topic of interest.
References
Jordan, R. (2003). The gap: Documentary truth between reality and perception. Web.
Nichols, B. (2001). Introduction to documentary. Indiana University Press.
Polley, S. (2014). Stories we tell [Documentary film]. The National Film Board of Canada (NFB). Web.
Ward, P. (2012). The documentary form. In J. Nelmes (Ed), Introduction to film studies. (pp. 210-227). Routledge.