Blue Valentine looks at Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy’s (Michelle Williams) marriage. Poignant flashbacks contrast the joy of their initial union with the misery of their present relationship. So where did it all go wrong? As I left the cinema, that question was still waiting to be answered.
The spontaneity and purity of their early relationship seems to be filtered through nostalgic longing as we see snapshots of their most intimate and important moments. Director, Derek Cianfrance’s choice to shoot all the sequences from the past on film soaks it in sepia – a vivid visual contrast to the present as the past continues to fade from miserable reality. The concluding memory depicts their simple, wedding day. As William’s stands pregnant yet angelic opposite Gosling, tears streaming down her cheeks, intercut with the tragic tears of their final row in the present as they stand on opposite sides of the kitchen.
Essentially the film offers an outsiders perspective, little context is given to their arguments nor is there much explanation for William’s utter exhaustion with Gosling’s character and total rejection of his physical affections. This is perhaps down to their intense method of Acting, Williams and Gosling lived together in the house seen on screen for 4 weeks, in a tangling of art and life; they lived the real lives of their characters. They certainly portray a toxic relationship that had obviously eroded over time. However as a viewer I couldn’t help feeling just a little left out, as if the catastrophe of their relationship was a secret I was not given access to.
The Soundtrack by Grizzly Bear is fantastic as is the brave acting performances given by Gosling and Williams. In real time the film actually only follows two days of their lives, so the ending is left deliberately ambiguous. Perhaps the charm of not being party to all the damaging factors of their relationship is that it allows for an element of hope even though the last shot follows Dean walks out of the house away from Cindy.
