Blue Valentine

Jessie Savini
Review 4
Blue Valentine: 2010. Genre: Drama. Director: Derek Cianfrance. Cast: Ryan Gosling, Michelle Williams, Mike Vogel. Running time: 120 minutes.

To love is to live and to live is to love, though the love may not last forever. As in the case with many modern love stories, Blue Valentine tells the story of love lost over time with little hope of reconciliation. The film illustrates the story of a couple falling in love as teenagers, and the same couple drifting apart later in their marriage. The fact that the movie is set in both past and present contrasts the severe differences in the relationship over time. The film is heartbreaking, but it is real; people fall in and out of love every day. People grow apart, get divorced, and move on. Love is one of the greatest joys in life, but it can also be one of the most painful experiences a person can endure.

One part of the film is a sweet love story, while the other is painful and dramatic. It tugs at raw emotions for anyone who has ever been in love, or who has ever wanted to be in love. The movie is a roller coaster ride of extreme feelings, going from happy to sad intermittently. The movie begins with the failing relationship in present day, but eventually backtracks to explain how the couple met and fell in love. The flashbacks of their happy past are placed sporadically throughout the movie, and are used to explain how the marriage came to be unhappy and unconstructive.

Not only is the story beautiful, but it is beautifully filmed. Each scene in the movie has a purpose and contributes to the success of the film. Every scene also accomplishes the goal of showing that love can be kind and gentle, but it can also be cruel and spiteful. The director does an exemplary job at illustrating that while Dean (Ryan Gosling) may be a good husband to Cindy (Michelle Williams), the conditions the family lives in are not ideal. Dean works as a painter and does make much money. He is seen so frequently with a cigarette hanging from his mouth and a beer in his hand that I can almost smell the smoke of the cigarette and the alcohol on his breath. His destructive antics frustrate Cindy, who comments during the film that he should get another job that he likes so that he “does not have to start drinking at eight in the morning to get through the day”. He rebuttals this by telling her that “the reason he likes the job is because he can start drinking at eight in the morning”.

Ryan Gosling’s performance in the movie is stellar; he is convincing, real, and emotional. My favorite scenes in the movie are when he interacts with his young daughter – I could tell how much he loved the child and how he never wanted to let her go, even though the child is not biologically his. Michelle Williams, the main actress, is very compelling in her role as a frustrated wife, mother, and nurse. She gained fifteen pounds to film the “present day” scenes, so it truly did seem as though time had elapsed. Both actors usually star in box office hits, so it was interesting to see them work on an independent film with a small budget.

The ambition and determination of the director, Derek Cianfrance, is exceptionally impressive. The film was a twelve year process with over sixty drafts of the script written before settling on the final version. He fought to keep the cast and crew that he wanted; while most other directors would simply replace one of the main actors, Cianfrance completely moved the set of the film to accommodate one of the actors. He also made the main actors, Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling, live in a small house together for a month on the same budget that the characters would have had in their lives. This situation helped the actors get into the roles of their characters, and definitely contributed the believability and authenticity of the movie. The director’s drive for a successful, artistic version of a stereotypical love story is undeniably accomplished in this film.

The movie does not tell what is going to happen to the couple because ending of their story is left unclear. Are they going to get divorced, have affairs, or reconcile? The audience is left to wonder for themselves, to make their own ending. It is up to every individual to decide what will become of the once feverishly happy couple. A romantic myself, I want to imagine that they got back together and were able to reconcile their lost love. I want to believe the couple was able to work through their problems to have a stronger relationship than ever before, though I know that is not entirely realistic. But it does not even matter if it is realistic or not, because I can be the director in my mind and finish the film however I want.