134 Ratings

I've Heard the Mermaids Singing

Canada, 1987

Comedy, Drama, LGBT+

Synopsis

Scatterbrained Polly gets a job as a secretary in Gabrielle’s art gallery. Polly aspires to be a professional photographer, and idolizes Gabrielle for her artistic ability. When Gabrielle rekindles an old romantic relationship with a younger painter, Polly becomes jealous.

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I've Heard the Mermaids Singing Directed by Patricia Rozema

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Awards & Festivals

Cannes Film Festival

1987 | Winner: Award of the Youth (Directors' Fortnight)

Locarno International Film Festival

1987

Toronto International Film Festival

1987

São Paulo International Film Festival

1988

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Cast & Crew

Critics reviews

Film Comment

[Un zoo la nuit’s] eccentric tones and narrative twists make it worth hunting down, as do the more playful, Miranda July–ish enticements of Patricia Rozema’s I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing, another auspicious Canadian debut that also presages in style and story the New Queer Cinema soon to follow in the U.S. and U.K.

Nick Davis

May 17, 2017

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What are people saying?

Michael H. CLAES's rating of the film I've Heard the Mermaids Singing
Michael H. CLAES

Half lesbian soap, half blunders movie as in a Jerry LEWIS comedy. Very outdated & uninteresting. ======= Mi-soap lesbien, mi film de gaffes genre "Grand Blond avec une Chaussure Noire". Très démodé & sans intérêt.
January 24, 2019 18:43
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msmichel's rating of the film I've Heard the Mermaids Singing
msmichel

Patricia Rozema's debut film left such a mark on the Toronto film scene winning key Genie Awards that year as well as finishing on a list of the top 10 Canadian features of all time compiled in the 90's. Sheila McCarthy plays Polly a temp who inadvertently falls in love with the curator she works for but who is also given to flights of fantasy and awkwardness. A charming take on female sexuality and actualization.
September 02, 2018 22:52
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FISCHER's rating of the film I've Heard the Mermaids Singing
FISCHER

>>> Oeuvre étonnamment drôle, quelquefois émouvante qui ne peut laisser indifférent, avec ce personnage féminin, en marge et en imagination permanentes, une sorte de Jerry Lewis en jupons mâtiné de loufoquerie keatonienne, avec une anthologique séquence d'humour et de spontanéité dans un huppé restaurant japonais de Toronto... www.cinefiches.com
January 24, 2019 18:42
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Eric Rucker's rating of the film I've Heard the Mermaids Singing
Eric Rucker

Haven’t seen it since it came out, but I remember we enjoyed it so much we went back to see it a second time. Hoping to rewatch it soon.
June 15, 2018 01:18
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Henri de Corinth's rating of the film I've Heard the Mermaids Singing
Henri de Corinth

Harmless.
September 09, 2017 22:32
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Roy's rating of the film I've Heard the Mermaids Singing
Roy

Miranda July must have seen that film.
November 04, 2015 03:13
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gaporama's rating of the film I've Heard the Mermaids Singing
gaporama

A cool film, if you know what I mean.
November 04, 2018 03:52
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Juan Javier's rating of the film I've Heard the Mermaids Singing
Juan Javier

Genial
November 18, 2017 22:33
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