Blue Valentine was one of the buzz films at Sundance this year, though apparently it’s been in the works for over a decade. Kudos to writer/director Derek Cianfrance for his tenacity, and for landing talent like Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams to anchor the film, a rather defeatist exploration of a dying relationship.
Rough but handsome, the romantic Dean (Gosling) charms the aloof Cindy (Williams); an unintended pregnancy (with Cindy’s asshole ex) too quickly moves the naive couple out of the sexy glow of young love into the harsh glare of marriage and family life. The trick is that the film intercuts the tense, sad present with the dramatic, passionate flowering of their love, presumably to show how quickly love’s emotions can fester and rot. I am usually not a fan of split-time filmmaking, but Cianfrance effectively moves between the time periods; the editing is seamless and the visual cues on point.
Only five or so years seem to have passed between “then” and “now” but Cindy’s love for Dean has withered. We see the icy sadness of her earlier life before Dean, and the brief moments when Dean breathes joy into her, before she returns to the cold, weary state in which she ends their marriage. But no real cause is given for the cooling of her affections. Sure, Dean is immature, a dreamer with no ambition, but he loves her and is an adoring father to their girl Frankie (who is not even his daughter). Cindy’s misery is palpable and deep, and as unfathomable to us as to the bewildered Dean. His growing anger and frustration and her unrelenting rejection make their parting inevitable.
As is the case in all his work, cinematographer Andrij Parekh does a great job bringing beauty to this bleak story. His subtle camerawork draws the sting from some of the film’s harsher scenes. Cianfrance has no qualms about making the audience uncomfortable. He dissects intimate moments with almost surgical curiosity, pushing the camera where I often wished it wouldn’t go; Williams spends several scenes on her back but the secret to Cindy’s mercurial emotions can’t be found between her legs. In moments like these the talented actors and crew truly hold this film together. The production and costume designers perfectly translate the tone of the film, making manifest the shabbiness of the characters’ worlds. When Dean and Cindy go off to a cheap theme motel for one last attempt at a romantic escape, the tacky space-age room they end up in acts as a punchline and eventual metaphor for their disconnection; all blue light and cold metal, the windowless room is entirely devoid of romance or sentiment.
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