by Dot

“Isn’t life the strangest little thing
you’ve ever seen?” It is when you see it
through the eyes of Polly. Polly is doing her
own personal documentary, telling her
story to a camera she “borrowed” from
work, which is what she is so intent on
telling us about; work that is.

Polly is an artist of sorts, but she
doesn’t know that. She only knows that she
doesn’t deal with ordinary reality very
well. The way one of her ex-bosses put it,
Polly is “organizationally impaired.” Her
job record had been disastrous before she
met “The Curator” who for her own rea-
sons, needed someone like Polly around.

Played by Sheila McCarthy, Polly is
wonderfully fresh and naive. She has the
unbridled enthusiasm and creativity of a
child. She tells us in this “documentary”
she is making that this deep and impressive
women she now works for, The Curator,

. says wonderful things like “acute aware-

"|'ve Heard the Mermaids Singing"

‘ Directed by Patricia Rozema

ness”, which Polly misunderstands as “a
cute awareness, you know, like a cat face.”
Paule Baillargeon plays The Curator, Gab-
rielle, a jaded sophisticated, somewhat
spoiled art dealer. Polly, infatuated with
Gabrielle, is blind to Gabrielle’s sadness
and emptiness.

Enter Mary. A captivating, powerful
lesbian image portrayed by Anne-Marie
MacDonald, Mary shows up at the gallery
one day to claim her old romance with
Gabrielle. Polly who is jealous, spies on the
romantic scene through the gallery security
camera, the same one she will eventually
commandeer to record her story.

The theme of artful innocence versus
jaded sophistication is played out with the
use of some very nice devices. Pure art,
depicted as a solid luminescentrectangle, is
juxtaposed with Polly’s world: an apart-
ment with walls covered by black and white
photos of “everything she likes,” which are
indescribably free and fun.

It is a treat to be invited into Polly’s
delightful world of fantasy and to hear the

 

May 1989

voices of the mermaids singing.

The contrast of Gabrielle’s ludicrous
argument with a fellow art critic over the
socio-political messages conveyed by the
“egg, or is it the fork?,” in one of her gallery
paintings leaves no question as to the film’s
message.

Filmmaker Patricia Rozema does all
this with a stark simplicity that gives the
film an almost l960’s look. There is none of
the over-technologized slickness of the
popular American film. This simplicity is
part of the charm and reinforces Polly’s
down-to-earth straightforward character.

The lesbian theme consists of a few
suggestive embraces. We never really even
see them kiss, although when Polly asks
Mary, “do you love her like a mother or a
sister?,” Mary answers, “No. Like a lover.”
Nice to hear on the big screen. “l’ve Heard
the Mennaids Singing” is pure fun. If you
missed it at the theater, keep your eye out
for the video which is available at many
local video stores.

20 Elliot Street
Brattleboro, Vermont
Downstairs in the old church

L

 

  Distinction

Dancing Ni htl

New D.J.-Wednesdays-
Bernie Hartnett-

Nightclub

ichae Dear
on Board Thursday, Friday & Saturday

(802) 254-8646

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