Run Towards the Danger: Confrontations with a Body of Memory
a review of the new book by Sarah Polley
Please read this great interview with The New Yorker as well
For those who don’t know, Sarah Polley is one of my absolute favorite writers. I briefly met her at the very first Chicago Critics Film Festival for the premiere of Stories We Tell, which quickly became an all-time favorite documentary of mine. I was certainly a fan of her acting especially when I saw Go in the golden year of cinema that was 1999 and then kept up with her ever since. Her work with Atom Egoyan is also quite memorable. But when I first saw the quite divisive Take This Waltz as this transcendent pairing my favorite actress and one of my favorite writers, I almost couldn’t contain my excitement. I just have enjoyed seeing Polley’s career evolve over the years to where I knew that the second her debut collection of essays was released, I would take the time to immerse myself in her words and likely find the same connection to this memoir that I also have to her film work.
The first word that comes to mind with all of her films and this book, Run Towards The Danger, is fearless. In Away From Her, it was a well-observed look at aging and Alzheimer’s from such a compassionate stance that I felt overwhelmed with emotion in nearly every scene. Now she’s looking inward in a way that goes beyond the brilliant examination of family dynamics, identity and loss with Stories We Tell. These are stories that she’s telling about events that have directly impacted her in a variety of ways. And the writing is all the more engaging, vulnerable and warm. I’d expect nothing less.
Much like her films, she’s unafraid to confront some darkness along the way. In fact, some incidents she elaborates on made me have to pause and take a moment or two to collect myself. She details some traumatic and horrifying experiences in this book that I know a lot of readers will find difficult to process, particularly the chapter about Jian Ghomeshi, the former radio host accused of assaulting several women. Much like some of her themes explored in her previous work, there is a lot of reflection on the experience of memory and the re-contextualization of events. She’s struggled a lot through the years and explains why she was “The Woman Who Stayed Silent.”
Nearly every chapter involves some kind of personal struggle, whether it’s the scoliosis she had as a child or the concussion that made it impossible for her to function in recent years, or the fight for autonomy over her body, whether at work or in relationships. There’s also a glimpse into what it means to experience anxiety and a doctor’s advice to confront it head-on (no pun intended). At one instance, Polley describes what she found most hopeful about the #MeToo movement is how it asks men to take stock and reflect back on their own behavior.
A rather interesting moment occurs in the book where she reads to us a letter and response from director Terry Gilliam in which he does acknowledge her experiences. At the same time, he has said and done things since that are certainly disheartening. I almost thought of his reply as being mostly unapologetic yet sincere. Potentially passive while also using kind words for the most part. That’s when I started to think further about even how I process certain interactions from my own past - using certain words in hopes of placating any tension while also admitting regret. This is the kind of book in which the author looks inward and in turn, so does the reader.
Without a doubt, the act of sitting down to write something like this could very well be the embodiment of catharsis for Polley. As a wife, mother of three, activist, actress, writer, director, she does have a lot on her plate, but she comes across as one of the most resilient and intelligent people out there even before this book was released. As I expected, this collection of stories she tells is further evidence of her talent and bravery. It’s hard not to feel a lot of empathy for someone who has been through a lot of difficulty especially early on as a child star working with a mad genius like Terry Gilliam. She does have something to say early on about one of my favorite films, After Hours, that I totally respect and understand despite feeling differently. I imagine I am going to back to certain chapters again and again simply because they contain a lot of layers and depth that lead to plenty of introspection.
It’s indicative that some writers are just so adept at figuring themselves out without being self-indulgent at the same time. There’s levity, self-critique and honesty about certain moments that feel like sharing an intimate conversation with a close friend. She is a writer that examines how a person fits into the world while processing all of the challenges that come their way. Polley has come across like that for a while to me. There’s a lot of complexity going on in all three of her films and this book moved me just as much as what she has accomplished already. Her next film, Women Talking, is based on a book by Miriam Towes and will co-star another favorite actress of mine, Jessie Buckley. Guess who will be first in line when that comes out?
Buy this incredible book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/688129/run-towards-the-danger-by-sarah-polley
