Cinema
I've Heard the Mermaids Singing
Patricia Rozema · 1987
Synopsis
Polly Vandersma, a clumsy temp secretary, lives alone, gets around by bicycle and photographs the city in black and white, developing her films in her bathroom; she dreams of making it her profession. Placed at an art gallery in Toronto, she admires Gabrielle, who runs it and eventually offers her a permanent job. Mary, Gabrielle's former lover, comes back into her life. Polly, in love with her employer, imagines herself flying above buildings or walking on water.
Context
The story takes the form of a confession that Polly records in front of a video camera. The film cost about three hundred and fifty thousand dollars, financed in part by the Ontario Film Development Corporation and by Telefilm Canada, and earned several million. Sheila McCarthy plays Polly and Paule Baillargeon plays Gabrielle. Presented at Cannes in May 1987, it was released in Quebec under the title Le Chant des sirènes in the autumn of the same year.
Who it is for
Eighty-one minutes, in English; a melancholy comedy made on a low budget, about creation and admiration.
Prizes and reception
Youth Prize at the Directors' Fortnight at Cannes; Genie Award for both lead actresses; ranked among the ten best Canadian films.
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