Blue Valentine (2010)
Boy meets girl. They fall in love. 6 years later the fireworks end.
Yet Blue Valentine is not a typical Hollywood produced relationship drama and certainly not a common pick for lovers’ day. First-time director Derek Cianfrance casts carefully selected Ryan Gosling as his leading man Dean alongside Michelle William’s Cindy to portray a story of two people uniting for a 6-year journey only to part ways having nothing in common left. The choice of actors is remarkable – Cianfrance had to convince Williams to take the part and it almost feels like Cindy’s character has been created with her in mind. Gosling, on the other hand, comes out of his shell to prove that he is now a mature actor ready to challenge the acting elite and that there’s more to him than 15 minutes of fame gained in the Mickey Mouse Club and The Notebook. It never feels like neither Gosling nor Williams are acting and their performance onscreen might be easily confused with a silent observation of neighbours next door. But what if it turned out to be a mirror of your own failed relationships (?) – that’s one question not easy to ignore during film’s running time.
Blue Valentine is charming in its simplicity and leaves out exaggerated love expressions in favour of understated middle-class romance. Nevertheless, Gosling’s melancholic performance of You Always Hurt the Ones You Love alongside William’s tap-dancing won’t leave anyone longing for a more magical love expression. What the film lacks is explanation of why the relationship between Cindy and Dean was short lived – although Cianfrance’s filmmaking debut acknowledges that there won’t always be answers to all the questions beginning with ‘why’. The story of couple’s journey is therefore left to viewer’s imagination while the narrative cuts between scenes of their first meeting and the growing distance in present day. Sometimes relationships work, sometimes they don’t, and fireworks end. And Cianfrance has definitely has found the right color to deliver the message.
Rutterfly Rating: R R R R R
Memorable Moment: You Always Hurt The Ones You Love performance
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