TIFF 2021: All My Puny Sorrows
AMPS PRODUCTIONS INC.Michael McGowan’s All My Puny Sorrows follows the sisterly bond of Yoli (Alison Pill) and Elf (Sarah Gadon) Von Riesen as the pair navigate trauma and tragedy. Based on the novel by Miriam Toews, All My Puny Sorrows tiptoes the line between disheartening family drama and dark comedy, yet the film’s touching honesty allows the contradictions to succeed.
All My Puny Sorrows follows the Von Riesen women, former Mennonites who left the church after the unexpected suicide of their father (Donal Logue). While left unexplained, the film suggests that his involvement in the Mennonite Church influenced their father’s suicide. Yoli and Elf also have their mother Lottie (Mare Winningham), their aunt (Mimi Kuzyle), and Yoli’s daughter (Amybeth McNulty), but at its core, All My Puny Sorrows is about two sisters at odds with one another. Yoli is a struggling and self-doubting author and undergoing a divorce. She often feels pressure from her daughter Nora, encouraged by her ex-husband, as Yoli refuses to sign the divorce papers. Elf is a skilled concert pianist and has depression. After being hospitalised for a suicide attempt, Yoli constantly visits Elf in her hospital bed, and the sisters are forced to confront their grief and how they deal with it differently. There is a mutual dependence between the Von Riesen sisters, yet they struggle to understand each other.
Toews has said that All My Puny Sorrows is semi-autobiographical and, in turn, writer-director Michael McGowan makes it clear how much he respects and wants to do justice to the source material. The sharpness of his direction allows the literary drama All My Puny Sorrows to be quite riveting, but it does suffer a little bit with the writing. All My Puny Sorrows is extremely literary and clearly based on a novel. There are occasional voiceovers and the way characters speak feels like they just read a thesaurus before beginning a monologue, Yoli and Elf also namedrop classic authors and are even able to quote famous poems from memory. However, due to how deeply personal the on-screen emotions of All My Puny Sorrows are, the writing is forgivable and works well in the context of the characters’ lived experiences.
The banter between Alison Pill and Sarah Gadon is a special standout in the film, as it perfectly reflects the sisterly bond, yet also shows the frustrations the two sisters have with each other. Pill displays such restlessness in Yoli, her teasing of Elf displays the deeper anger she has towards her sister. Yoli cannot understand why her sister wants to die. There are some flashbacks and conversations about the past trauma of the Von Riesen sisters, but ultimately the audience is left to gather their own conclusions of what brought Elf to her breaking point. The past does not matter too much as Elf feels this way right now. Gadon brings a sense of fragility to Elf, she participates in conversations with her family but obviously doesn’t want to be around anymore. There are points when their sisterly relationship is hostile as Yoli and Elf continue to be at odds with one another. Their fight is irreconcilable and neither can accept this.
Both Elf and Yoli are human beings in pain, and All My Puny Sorrows does a brilliant job tackling the nuance of such tough topics. The film is guaranteed to provoke questions on the Canadian mental health system, assisted suicide, and mental illness in general. All My Puny Sorrows is a touching examination of grief and trauma and the honest depiction of the sisterly bond. With its memorable characters, All My Puny Sorrows is sure to strike a chord with people who have experienced similar traumas.