July 1st was Canada Day, and it seems a perfect opportunity to celebrate one of contemporary Canadian cinema’s most interesting and promising talents, the brilliant and lovely actress/director Sarah Polley.  Some of you may have become acquainted with her from her long run in TV’s Road to Avonlea, but Sarah, who’s been an actress since she was just a child, has matured into a genuine creative force to be reckoned with, in addition to being one of the most thoughtful actresses working today.

These days Sarah’s getting well-deserved attention for her critically acclaimed direction of the feature Away From Her, starring Julie Christie, Canadian acting legend Gordon Pinsent, and Olympia Dukakis, and let’s hope the honors continue well into award season next year.  Possibly some brilliant mojo from directors like Hal Hartley and Atom Egoyan rubbed off on Polley, who has starred in movies for both these acclaimed talents during her impressive acting career.  Her first movie with Egoyan was Exotica (1994), but she’s better known for her powerful role in his The Sweet Hereafter from 1997.  Sarah worked with Hal Hartley in the unusual and unforgettable feature No Such Thing (2001), a contemporary and slightly askew version of Beauty and the Beast. 

Sarah, with her sometimes unbearably sad face and intelligent eyes, is never less than fascinating in any of her roles.  A few of my favorite Polley performances are as a sexually frustrated 19th century immigrant housefrau in director Kathryn Bigelow’s The Weight of Water (2001), her role as an innocent woman caught up in a murderous random crime in The Life Before This (1999), her sublime and not a bit maudlin role as a young woman dying of cancer in My Life Without Me (2003), and let us not forget her completely kick-ass turn in the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead.  She totally rocks in that last one, and it doesn’t seem like she’s slumming in a genre pic at all.  She gives it her all and she’s amazing and so is the whole movie, come to think of it.

Also intensely cool about Sarah Polley is that she’s a devoted political activist, especially so several years ago when she wasn’t afraid to hit the front lines at protests, and in fact lost a couple of teeth and was brutally kicked in the stomach during one fracas.   Sarah Polley’s personal and professional resume is long and distinguished, and she possesses a maturity, grace, intelligence and commitment far beyond her 28 years.  If you’re not yet familiar with her work, you have a treat in store.  If you already know her accomplishments, you know that I haven’t exaggerated a bit.  She’s wonderful, eh?