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A review by saareman
Run Towards the Danger: Confrontations with a Body of Memory by Sarah Polley
5.0
June 16, 2022 Update On the occasion of the UK publication of Run Towards the Danger, the Guardian/Observer published an extended excerpt on June 12, 2022 from the book which you can read here.
From Child Actor to Film Screenwriter/Director
Review of the Penguin Press hardcover edition (March 1, 2022)
Sarah Polley as Alice and Michelle Fisk as the Red Queen in a publicity still for the Stratford Festival's 1994 production of "Alice Through the Looking Glass." Image sourced from Pinterest.
From there she went on to work on many Canadian independent films, with a final on-screen appearance in Bruce McDonald's rock'n'roll movie Trigger* (2010) (a cameo appearance as the stage manager, glimpsed at 0'19" to 0'20" in the linked trailer).
In the last decade or so she has written, produced and/or directed her own films "Take This Waltz" (2011) and the family memoir/documentary "Stories We Tell" (2012), as well as adapting for the screen the works of several iconic Canadian writers with "Away From Her" (2006) (based on a short story by [a:Alice Munro|6410|Alice Munro|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1494056984p2/6410.jpg]), "Alias Grace" (TV mini-series 2017) (based on the novel by [a:Margaret Atwood|3472|Margaret Atwood|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1282859073p2/3472.jpg] and the upcoming "Women Talking" (late 2022 release?) (based on the novel by [a:Miriam Toews|8359|Miriam Toews|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1322022303p2/8359.jpg]). This all while raising 3 children in the past decade as well.
While all of that might sound idyllic and extremely accomplished, behind the scenes the journey was often fraught with the inordinate pressures and terrors of childhood acting, the loss of a mother at a young age, various childhood diseases and conditions: one which required major spinal surgery, an [alleged - have to be careful] traumatic pedophilic sexual assault by a now notorious and disgraced Canadian radio broadcaster and an accidental brain concussion which took years to overcome.
Polley approaches these most difficult periods and events in her life in 6 extended memoir essays in this recently published collection, some sections of which she mentions that she has been writing and editing for 20 years, as she has worked to overcome their psychological and physical effects. The result is an empowering and triumphal statement of her dedication, perseverance and survival.
Trivia and Links
There are excellent Sarah Polley mini-biographies / career overviews at Northern Stars and Wikipedia.
* The rather insanely catchy (to me anyway) song in the "Trigger" trailer is "Standing Alongside Gone" by the Canadian indie-band Cookie Duster and you can hear their original version here, and watch the song's full sequence from the "Trigger" movie here [language content warning if you click on the latter] (For context, the movie deals with a feuding fictitious rock duo with the band name of Trigger and their reuniting for a reunion concert, the duo are portrayed by Canadian actors Molly Parker and Tracy Wright, for the latter, the film was her final screen appearance prior to her death from cancer).
From Child Actor to Film Screenwriter/Director
Review of the Penguin Press hardcover edition (March 1, 2022)
When I first met concussion specialist Dr. Michael Collins, after three and a half years of suffering from post-concussive syndrome, he said, “If you remember only one thing from this meeting, remember this: run towards the danger.” - Sarah Polley.I don't know how well Sarah Polley (1979-) is known internationally, but in Canada she is pretty iconic. This popularity has its roots in her childhood with a starring role in Terry Gilliam's film "The Adventures of Baron Munchhausen" (1988), the popularity of the Canadian TV-series "Road to Avonlea" (1990-1996) based on the stories of [a:Lucy Maud Montgomery|20369871|Lucy Maud Montgomery|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png], and a theatrical debut at the age of 15 in the lead role of our Stratford Festival's stage adaptation of Lewis Carroll's [b:Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There|83346|Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, #2)|Lewis Carroll|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1359299332l/83346._SY75_.jpg|45962572] (titled as "Alice Through the Looking Glass").
Sarah Polley as Alice and Michelle Fisk as the Red Queen in a publicity still for the Stratford Festival's 1994 production of "Alice Through the Looking Glass." Image sourced from Pinterest.
From there she went on to work on many Canadian independent films, with a final on-screen appearance in Bruce McDonald's rock'n'roll movie Trigger* (2010) (a cameo appearance as the stage manager, glimpsed at 0'19" to 0'20" in the linked trailer).
In the last decade or so she has written, produced and/or directed her own films "Take This Waltz" (2011) and the family memoir/documentary "Stories We Tell" (2012), as well as adapting for the screen the works of several iconic Canadian writers with "Away From Her" (2006) (based on a short story by [a:Alice Munro|6410|Alice Munro|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1494056984p2/6410.jpg]), "Alias Grace" (TV mini-series 2017) (based on the novel by [a:Margaret Atwood|3472|Margaret Atwood|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1282859073p2/3472.jpg] and the upcoming "Women Talking" (late 2022 release?) (based on the novel by [a:Miriam Toews|8359|Miriam Toews|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1322022303p2/8359.jpg]). This all while raising 3 children in the past decade as well.
While all of that might sound idyllic and extremely accomplished, behind the scenes the journey was often fraught with the inordinate pressures and terrors of childhood acting, the loss of a mother at a young age, various childhood diseases and conditions: one which required major spinal surgery, an [alleged - have to be careful] traumatic pedophilic sexual assault by a now notorious and disgraced Canadian radio broadcaster and an accidental brain concussion which took years to overcome.
Polley approaches these most difficult periods and events in her life in 6 extended memoir essays in this recently published collection, some sections of which she mentions that she has been writing and editing for 20 years, as she has worked to overcome their psychological and physical effects. The result is an empowering and triumphal statement of her dedication, perseverance and survival.
Trivia and Links
There are excellent Sarah Polley mini-biographies / career overviews at Northern Stars and Wikipedia.
* The rather insanely catchy (to me anyway) song in the "Trigger" trailer is "Standing Alongside Gone" by the Canadian indie-band Cookie Duster and you can hear their original version here, and watch the song's full sequence from the "Trigger" movie here [language content warning if you click on the latter] (For context, the movie deals with a feuding fictitious rock duo with the band name of Trigger and their reuniting for a reunion concert, the duo are portrayed by Canadian actors Molly Parker and Tracy Wright, for the latter, the film was her final screen appearance prior to her death from cancer).