Culture

Directed by Derek Cianfrance. (5/5).
Blue Valentine documents the heart-breaking story of every married couple’s worst fear: falling out of love. Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams) meet when they are young and carefree. Six years on, their marriage is falling apart and they are driving each other crazy.

 
Despite what it might sound like, this film is not just about a grumpy married couple. It is a tragic but beautiful depiction of the degeneration of a perfectly happy relationship into a dysfunctional nightmare, a situation perhaps all too familiar to many people. The scenes from the beginning of Dean and Cindy’s affair could easily have been pulled from a Nineties romantic comedy. When they meet, Dean is a slightly aimless high-school dropout but he is sweet, caring and can play the ukulele. Cindy is drop-dead gorgeous, smart and hoping to get into medical school. They make a super cute couple. Alas, Blue Valentine is the perfect illustration of the maxim “good things don’t last forever”.

 
The saddest thing about this film is that neither party is completely at fault. There has been no infidelity, no abuse, nothing out of the ordinary. Marriage just isn’t all they thought it was cracked up to be. Although sweet and loving, Dean is still immature and not quite able to deal with the expectations of married life, while Cindy is stressed, frustrated and under pressure at work. Their constant bickering and lack of communication leads to a total breakdown in their relationship, which Cianfrance presents with devastating rawness. Williams and Gosling both deliver incredibly mature and affecting performances in these emotionally demanding roles.
 

Blue Valentine is also excellent on an artistic level. The visual representation of the two phases of Dean and Cindy’s relationship is very effective: grainy, Polaroid-like images reflect the initial bliss and lightheartedness of the relationship, while the bleak reality of the couple’s breakdown is encapsulated in the stark, dull cinematography of the latter part of the film. The soundtrack is largely made up of Grizzly Bear songs and even includes a couple of Ryan Gosling originals – cool, huh? 
 

WARNING: it’s probably not a good idea to go to this film with your boyfriend/girlfriend/crush. It is not a date film. Seriously, it will probably make you want to break up with each other. That said, do go and see it, just not with someone who you might potentially want to marry.