FILM REVIEW: BLUE VALENTINE

Cindy (Michelle Williams) in Blue Valentine.

Love, rage and blood beneath the surface

By John Esther

Once upon a time in Super 16mm, 25mm lense, handheld camera land, Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams) were sort of happy. Compelled by his unwavering belief that Cindy was the one, Dean courted her in quite the charming manner, took a beating because of her (if he only had a cell phone), assumed co-responsibility in raising a child not his own and married her. For her part, Cindy gave up her current boyfriend, Bobby (Mike Vogel), and any potential or real ambition she had because of Dean. While they had their moments of despair they each made each other so happy. How could Dean and Cindy ever go on without each other?

Six years later, housepainter Dean and nurse Cindy dwell in a dinghy Scranton, Pennsylvania house miles away from the happy times of The Office. Shot on HD with two cameras at a time, Cindy's love for Dean has all but burned out, yet he still loves her madly and their daughter, Frankie (Faith Wladyka), too. In response to their demise, Dean tries a few things to save their marriage, which includes staying at a hotel for the night.

This hotel stay is but a mere reprieve. The relationship is pretty much doomed, but Dean never gives up. On the surface Dean deserves our sympathies for the most part, especially when you consider what transpired earlier in their relationship, yet by the time he appears at Cindy's work the suspicion that Dean has been given a few chances, out of the film's time and space, seems solidified.

Expanding and contracting in space while moving back and forth in time over the six years, Blue Valentine offers a refreshing and raw look at holy matrimony coming undone a la Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (1966), Revolutionary Road (2008) and this year's Rabbit Hole. Except Dean and Cindy are relatively poorer than those other clashing couples and co-writer and director Derek Cianfrance's film was made on a much tighter budget.

(In preparation for their roles, Gosling and Williams reportedly "lived" on housepainter and nurse budgets, respectively, for two weeks.)

Seven years in the making, Cianfrance (Brother Tied; Cagefighter) went through many trials and tribulations to get this film made. And if it were not for Williams and Rosling's dedication to their craft it probably would have never made. Not only did they support Cianfrance over many years – Williams was on board with the project since 2003, Gosling came on in 2005 -- they willingly accepted the physical changes required for the roles, including purposely gaining as much weight as they could in one month. Notably, Williams gained 15 pounds before they would shoot her nude scenes. Now how many actors would intentionally gain flesh before exposing her or his flesh?

Fortunately their hard work paid off. Blue Valentine oozes with so much honesty it might be hard for insecure couples to endure while garnering sympathy from those few couples out there who are lucky to stay happy for many years. Perhaps more amusingly, parents with adolescent or young adult children believing they have already found the love of their live may want to take to their idealistic offspring to see Blue Valentine -- especially if you do not care for the object of your child's affections.

For their dedications, Williams and Gosling give two of the better performances of the year and they are gaining nominations – although, I like her performance more. Dean's accent sounds more Bostonian than Brooklyn, where he lived when they met, or from Florida, where he claims to hail from during a job interview.

Beyond elocution of Gosling's character, the only other significant shortcoming is the pretty lame soundtrack to supplement the driving narrative. An underused and abused art form in film, Blue Valentine is no exception to the rule of sappy songs and mawkish melodies. However, Gosling/Dean's numbers are pretty amusing, including one very memorable scene where he plays the ukulele and Williams/Cindy does a tap dance.

(While shooting the film, Williams did not know Gosling was going to play the ukulele and Gosling did not know Williams was going to dance to his song until their cue: "Do you have any special talents?" Then they had to improvise the song and dance.)

Quality direction, excellent cinematography by Andrij Parekh (Half Nelson; Cold Souls) and featuring two very dedicated star actors, Blue Valentine offers an honest alternative to the fairy tale, love stories Hollywood offers throughout the year. A pyrotechnic display may go off at the end of a love story, but it is not at night, it is not romantic and it is not in anybody's head. That happens only in the movies (and in an episode of the Brady Bunch).

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AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL 2010: MEEK'S CUTOFF



Emily Tetherow (Michelle Williams) in Meek's Cutoff.

Trails and trials

By Don Simpson

The opening title -- which, hand-stitched in embroidery, establishes the intricately crafted nature of Meek’s Cutoff -- informs us that the characters of this tale are on the Oregon Trail in 1845. A small caravan of three families with covered wagons tediously crosses a river, first by walking the contents of their wagons across, then returning for the wagons and animals.

Outfitted in the shabby worn-out clothing of 19th-century emigrants, the characters concentrate intensely on the difficult task at hand and do not utter a single word. In fact no one speaks for the first several minutes of Meek’s Cutoff, that is until we hear the voice of a young boy (Tommy Nelson) reciting a Biblical passage about Eden from the Book of Genesis.

The incredibly harsh and barren landscape of Oregon Country is far from Eden; for these characters it must seem like a living hell. They are apparently lost, somewhere in the Great Basin, and water has become increasingly scarce. Stephen Meek (Bruce Greenwood), the guide who was hired to lead the caravan across the Cascade Mountains, is a grizzly (and not very meek) old man and, despite his unyielding sense of self-confidence, he appears to be a clueless leader who shepherds his clients towards an increasingly hopeless future. Apparently acting without thought or consideration of the possible consequences of his actions, Meek arrogantly trusts his initial assumptions and expects the caravan to follow him faithfully into oblivion with no questions asked.

This is a world where the men cast every deciding vote (the women -- all with opinions of their own -- are available for consultation). While their wives cook, clean, sew and take care of the sick. As with the embroidered title card at the onset of the film, director Kelly Reichardt obsesses on the menial and tedious handiwork of the characters -- from the scrubbing of bowls to the stitching of moccasins to the kneading of dough to the repairing of wagon wheels.

As with Reichardt’s Old Joy and Wendy and Lucy, Meek’s Cutoff is an artfully poetic representation of the most minute laborious details of the working-class fight for survival. They are not on this journey to become rich. These are not lazy or greedy characters. They obviously do not have a problem with getting their hands dirty. They probably just desire to no longer face the day-to-day struggle for survival.

Co-starring Michelle Williams as Emily Tetherow.  

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