Divorced and recently remarried director Sarah Polley showed moviegoers an unhappy woman at the end of a relationship in her new film "Take This Waltz," which premiered at the Toronto film festival on Sunday.
She insists, however, that the film is not autobiographical.
The script was actually hatched on the set of her directorial debut "Away from Her," which also premiered at the Toronto film festival in 2006, she told a press conference.
"I wanted to look at marriage… at the end of a marriage, when the honeymoon period was over, as well as explore that feeling of initial desire and love that sometimes peters out," she said.
Pregnant with her first child, due in February, Polley was beaming at the film festival after tying the knot with attorney David Sandomierski on August 23 in Toronto.
"Take This Waltz," which borrows its name from a Leonard Cohen song, stars Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen as a married couple, and neighbor Luke Kirby who comes between them.
"You’ve got to admire Polley for tackling a subject so thorny — an unhappy person who can’t recognize her own part in it — and sticking to it without compromise," said the daily Globe and Mail.
The Toronto Sun praised Polley for her "intense look at the workings of love and loyalty in a relationship."
The most telling review, however, came from Collider.com, describing the movie as "morally ambiguous" and "a tough film to take in."
Rogen, whose character ends up on the losing end of the breakup, urged audiences not to view his character as a "victim" but simply as a husband who "didn’t evolve" with his wife.
The Canadian actor also stars in Jonathan Levine’s comedy about cancer "50/50," which is premiering at the Toronto film festival too.
