I've Heard the Mermaids Singing (1987)

I've Heard the Mermaids Singing is a quietly amusing and fresh tale told from the point of view of Polly (Sheila McCarthy), a self-admitted "organizationally impaired" temporary secretary. In her videotaped confession, she tells us how she got caught up in a voyeuristic fascination for her new boss, the beautiful and ambitious Curator (Paule Baillargeon) of the Church Gallery, an art gallery in downtown Toronto. Polly, innocent beyond her years, witnesses many things quite beyond her ken: pseudo intellectual "art talk" and the sexual relationship between the Curator and a young woman named Mary (Ann-Marie McDonald).

Polly responds to her discoveries through her hobby of amateur photography. After expeditions around the city, snapping pictures of her various new obsessions, she develops her pictures in her bachelorette bathroom. In the little red womb of her bathroom, she spaces off and slips into the black and white worlds inside, worlds where she can fly, walk on water and hear mermaids singing.

Buy here

Director: Patricia Rozema

Script: Patricia Rozema

Cinematography: Douglas Koch

Cast: Sheila McCarthy, Paule Baillargeon, Ann-Marie McDonald

Original Score: Mark Korven

Producers: Alex Raffé & Patricia Rozema