My Writings
Review - Blue Valentine
Blue Valentine was written and directed by Derek Cianfrance, who hand-picked both lead actors, Michelle Williams (Cindy) and Ryan Gosling (Dean), and proactively sought to use method acting to ensure the core of the film, their relationship, was realistic and empathic with audiences. Writer directors can often manage to nail the subtle resonances that flow through the screenplay, and this is no exception. Although the movie is very simplistic, it is imbued with realism and avoids being categorised as either a rom-com or a soap opera.
The storyline switches backwards and forwards over a period of approximately 5 years, covering the period before the couple meet, and their falling in and out of love.
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For Dean it is love at first sight. We find out he never really knew his mother and is desperate to get some family of his own. Cindy has some secrets too. Her parents hate each other, and she has responded by spreading her affections a little too widely in the local community. The scene when Dean serenades a tap-dancing Cindy is extremely heart warming, and the interaction between Dean and super-cute daughter Frankie (Faith Wladyka) cannot fail to engage audiences.
Maintaining a simplistic approach, and relying on the skills of both actors, the director lets us experience the highs and lows of this edgy relationship, as it plays out in various locations across a Pennylvania town. Michelle Williams deserves her Academy awards best actress nomination, but Gosling is critical as the film's emotional centre. The key message is whether love is a strong enough bond against the pressures of modern day living when those involved have disparate aspirations. The director gave us an answer, but the penultimate scene in the kitchen of her parent's home, gives us the opportunity to play out post-movie scenarios in our head, as we leave the cinema. For we cared, too.
Thought provoking romanticism 7/10
Review written by John Franklin : February 2011
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