Blue Valentine

A love story
A love story
BLUE VALENTINE (15)
D: Derek Cianfrance
TWC/Hunting Lane/Silverwood (Lynette Howell, Alex Orlovsky & Jamie Patricof)
USA 🇺🇸 2010
112 mins

Romance/Drama

W: Derek Cianfrance, Cami Delavigne & Joey Curtis
DP: Andrij Parekh 
Ed: Jim Helton & Ron Patane
Mus: Grizzly Bear

Ryan Gosling (Dean Pereira), Michelle Williams (Cindy Heller)

Like the previous year's '(500) Days Of Summer' (qv), Blue Valentine is a non-linear story of a doomed relationship, but where the former had comedy undertones, this is a far more serious study.
Switching between the past and present, it's a well-observed, realistic love story, focusing entirely on the breakdown of a marriage, but intersecting the depressing end of a relationship with it's bittersweet, romantic origins.
The performances of both Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams are excellent, and the soundtrack unearthed a gem with a previously unreleased 1960's soul hit entitled "You & Me", which becomes the young couples' 'song'.
There isn't really much point to the film, aside from the theory that you only hurt the one you love. Bleak and depressing, but also captivating, it's a film you certainly need to be in the mood for, but really ought to be avoided if you're personally going through heartbreak.
8/10

Michelle Williams & Ryan Gosling in Blue Valentine
Michelle Williams & Ryan Gosling in Blue Valentine